Theorizing an Emerging Discipline: Philanthropic Studies

Abstract

Philanthropic studies has made impressive gains in recent decades in terms of its research achievements and its curriculum and program offerings. That success creates the pressure for it to develop its standing as a discipline or as an interdisciplinary field that operates with the responsibilities of a discipline. This article outlines the process that Indiana University—Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) philanthropic studies faculty undertook to create a rationale for their work and suggests that the work o fers a model for any faculty group facing deep and important changes in their contexts. Articulating the values and parameters of a field, as indicated by what the philanthropic studies faculty at IUPUI have done, needs to be pursued with increasing regularity as the conditions of faculty work continue to change and respond to new pressures on the academic community.