Why and How to Be Interdisciplinary

Abstract

conversations are fast becoming a central feature of academic and intellectual life. We believe this revolution-in-progress, in which faculty engage in the once-fringe activity of figuring out how to do what we haven't been trained to do, offers an antidote to many of the ills of the discipline-focused academic tradition. It is invigorating disciplinary work and calling attention to broader patterns and new areas of exploration that we may not perceive if we look only from our own disciplinary perspectives. Like all revolutions, the movement toward interdisciplinarity stems from unmet aspirations, and its justification and evolving practices remain a little inchoate. Because interdisciplinary research and teaching differ sharply from what we were educated to do, they can also be daunting. We offer here our own experiences to help persuade you to become a willing perhaps even enthusiastic explorer of interdisciplinary terrain. Our essay reflects the different perspectives of a literary scholar, a biologist, and a physicist, as well as the voices of colleagues in other disciplines who have worked together under the auspices of the six-year-old Center for Science in Society at Bryn Mawr College (http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/local/scisoc). By illustrating a blending of voices, we hope to show that meaningful interdisciplinary conversations can be productive and need not be difficult or abstruse.1