Interdisciplinary Agenda Research Articles

Sport

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine current momentum in the sport policy arena congruent with the sustainable development agenda. It presents two consensus frameworks endorsed by the UN that provide mechanism for coherent action to 2030. With a human rights backdrop it outlines the role of organisations operating in the domains of physical education, physical activity and sport (PEPAS), promoting multidisciplinary partnerships and aligning to global agendas that enhance health and well-being for all.Design/methodology/approachThis position paper is a narrative literature review reporting on the status of sports policy frameworks in the UN system of relevance to the sport sector generally. It relates these to research evidence on the interlinkage between sport, human rights, health and well-being based on critical literature.FindingsThe advent of the Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development, the Kazan Action Plan, the WHO Global Action Plan on Physical Activity 2018–2030 and allied developments across the sports movement provides an opportunity for revisiting and realigning the definitions and policy objectives of sport and health.Research limitations/implicationsThe author’s bias as a UNESCO chair towards UN frameworks is acknowledged as is leniency towards physical education, PEPAS.Practical implicationsMultilateral agencies, health and sport authorities, are encouraged to review and leverage their resources and engage with the call for action of global agendas to improve public health.Originality/valueThis paper presents the global policy backdrop for action and investment in inclusive sport, physical education and physical activity. It presents a fresh new health and well-being perspective aligned to wider interdisciplinary agendas, on which sport organisations can make a significant contribution.

STEM and STEAM and the Spaces Between: An Overview of Education Agendas Pertaining to ‘Disciplinarity’ Across Three Australian States


 
 
 This article presents an overview of how interdisciplinary education agendas are being interpreted and enacted within three Australian states: New South Wales, Tasmania and Victoria. A comparative discussion is offered to ascertain the common and contrasting inhibitors and enablers of these agendas, specifically approaches to STEM and STEAM across the three states. Consideration is given to the priorities espoused in current State and Federal policy agendas. The article explores how disciplinary acronyms such as STEM and STEAM are being mobilised to empower or exclude particular disciplines, and how this implicates upon enactment of the three dimensions of the Australian Curriculum. By focusing on the contested spaces between these disciplines, the distinctiveness and potential of various interdisciplinary agendas can be better understood. In turn, ways of recognising, embracing and prioritising different forms of disciplinary knowledge can be identified in the spaces between disciplinary curriculum and pedagogy. These diverse ways of knowing are posited as integral to equipping young people for uncertain futures.
 
 

Inequality Generation & Persistence as Multidimensional Processes: An Interdisciplinary Agenda

The papers included in this issue are the result of sustained collaborations within the Successful Societies program, which has meet three times a year since 2003. Each team of authors developed their contribution through extensive discussions at meetings of the entire group over two years. Program members (Bloemraad, Grusky, Hall, Jenson, Kymlicka, Lamont, Pierson, Polletta, Raibmon, Son Hing, and Wilson) and advisory committee members (Gourevitch, Le Gales, and Markus) have created teams to attack a question of mutual interest. In all cases, authors focus on the core set of questions and theoretical concerns outlined in this introductory essay, and their contributions draw on a continuing conversation among members of the group. This results in a productive yet all too rare conversation drawing on insights from sociology, political science, social psychology, and history.

The cost of unequal integration: an interdisciplinary agenda for its rediscovery in North America and beyond

Abstract This paper addresses the need for a new analytical framework to reach a thorough understanding of the outcomes of unequal trade integration, in North America and beyond. To achieve this goal, it was divided in four main sections: the deconstruction of the orthodox argument of free trade areas; the assessment of the contrasting outcomes of NAFTA; an overview of relevant literature; and the delineation of an interdisciplinary agenda. The hypothesis is that the lack of theoretical certainty is due, in parts, to the causal opening of the object of study and to the scarce interaction of specialties.

Defining well-being in community development from the ground up: a case study of participant and practitioner perspectives

AbstractThe concept of well-being is part of an inter-disciplinary agenda for health improvement and human flourishing, critiqued as a superficial ‘solution’ to structural inequality (Friedli, L. (2003) Mental Health Improvement ‘concepts and definitions’: briefing Paper for the National Advisory Group, Scottish Executive, Edinburgh; White, S. C. (2010) Analysing wellbeing: a framework for development practice, Development in Practice, 20 (2), 158–172). This article discusses an evaluation of three health promoting community projects, over a two-year period. The study identifies important features for understanding well-being at grassroots, community and practice levels. Local people had viable and holistic perceptions of well-being that helped them reflect on their current contexts. Practitioners tended to have a more limited conceptualization by associating wellbeing with mental health or community safety. Consideration of findings identified five conditions of wellbeing for community development practice: creating a sense of community; strong volunteering ethos; networking and partnership working; positive language; enhanced relationships. Applying these findings in practice helped to create a new reflective grid, incorporating seven elements of well-being. Participants found this grid easy to use and affirming in facilitating reflection on their personal well-being. This was also beneficial for community practitioners, who were not clinically qualified, to facilitate reflective learning at grassroots level. Analysis of this research enables a conclusion to be drawn to suggest that well-being is a valuable construct in unifying community development.

Interdisciplinary Planning and Scientific Support to Rehabilitate and Preserve the Values of the Holy Aedicule of the Holy Sepulchre in Interrelation with Social Accessibility

The need for the immediate rehabilitation of the Holy Aedicule of the Holy Sepulchre involved the collaborative efforts done by the religious communities, scientific experts, and policy makers with the aim to secure the structural integrity and sustainable rehabilitation of the monument, which stands as a par excellence landmark of spiritual renewal and worshiping for the generations to come. Using best practices and integrating specific disciplinary expertise knowledge, the rehabilitation project has been throughout relevant and extrovert to the society, engaging the public in order to share problematic as well as scientific findings, to understand and promote its cultural resources. In order to achieve this, an innovative scientific method was developed by the National Technical University of Athens Interdisciplinary Team involving methods and perspectives from different disciplines, namely, from the scientific fields of architecture, civil engineering, surveying engineering, materials science and engineering, information technology, archaeometry and archaeology in dialogue with the religious communities. Reference is made to the cultural policy, highlighting the benefit of the interaction between ideas, institutions, and the common interest for the protection of monuments. The aforementioned, along with the organization programming, the integrated governance of the project, based on management functions, such as planning, budgeting, fundraising, evaluation and quality control, designed a prolific interdisciplinary agenda. This paper presents practical and theoretical work in heritage protection management, communicates the tools involved in master scientific issues, while it seeks to engage the interest of the public in order to interact actively, participate in its protection and add constructively on its future life.

Teachers´ challenges with new interdisciplinary science in Denmark

In Denmark, a new interdisciplinary agenda has been invented across the science subjects in lower secondary school. Interdisciplinary integration around six major problem-based teaching sequences in grades 7-9 has been made mandatory, and a new interdisciplinary oral end examination has been devised. The new examination format was piloted with volunteering teachers/classes during spring 2016 end examination. The present study captures teacher challenges facing and implementing the new interdisciplinary agenda in its pilot-year, including the end examination. Empirically, we have surveyed interdisciplinary beliefs, attitudes, and related practices amongst a diverse sample of teachers across the sciences (N=94). Further, we have made observations and teacher interviews with nine teachers participating in the 2016-pilotting. Against a generally positive background, we have identified substantial challenges related to teacher beliefs, subject matter knowledge and interdisciplinary self-efficacy, traditional teaching practices, as well as a range of organizational barriers to the implementation of reform intentions.

Occupational motivation and intergenerational linkages of rangers in Asia

AbstractExamining the human dimensions of conservation science continues to generate attention, with a move towards an interdisciplinary agenda that incorporates both the natural and social sciences, and recognition of the importance of understanding human involvement in biodiversity and ecological matters. However, one line of enquiry has been largely neglected: the job perceptions of front-line conservation area rangers. Examining intrinsic and extrinsic motivational factors can shed light on job stress and job satisfaction, recruitment, productivity, and retention and turnover. Furthermore, little is known about potential intergenerational linkages within the ranger profession, which is a significant gap, given the potential role of the family in pre-employment socialization and career choice. Drawing from surveys of 530 rangers working in 39 conservation areas in 11 Asian countries, we found variation amongst intrinsically motivated, extrinsically motivated, and mixed-motivated rangers in terms of a desire to see their children become rangers. Extrinsically motivated rangers were most likely to want their children to enter the profession, and intrinsically motivated rangers expressed significant concern about the inadequacy of the work environment. Implications for both conservation and criminal justice policy and research are discussed.

The Presence of the Spirit in the Academy

The academic discipline of Pentecostal and Charismatic studies represents an interdisciplinary concern because the chief concern of Pentecostal and Charismatic movements is the presence of God’s Spirit. This study pursues the modest goal to outline the contours of this interdisciplinarity by mapping the terrain of the recent renaissance of pneumatology with the emergence of Pentecostalism and its pursuit of the Spirit. The essay delineates the interdisciplinary character of the pursuit of the Spirit as an academic concern, offers a definition of Pentecostal and Charismatic Studies in terms of its pursuit of the Spiritual Presence, identifies boundaries and potential forms of this interdisciplinary discourse, and concludes by drafting a course towards a more fully interdisciplinary agenda.

Mediated Histories: How Did Victorian Periodicals Parse the Past?

Mediated Histories:How Did Victorian Periodicals Parse the Past? Leslie Howsam (bio) Victorian periodicals put historical knowledge at the centre of readers' experience along with the news of the day and the fictions of the moment. Printed and reprinted, revised and reiterated, a body of more-or-less familiar narratives of the past appeared in the same range of generic and material formats as did news, fiction, essays, and poetry. Journalists, editors, and other contributors recast well-known events afresh for an eager readership. The same stories, from Alfred and the cakes to Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon, were told over and over again in daily newspapers, weekly and monthly magazines, and quarterly and annual reviews. This ubiquity has been largely overlooked, however, by scholars of nineteenth-century British historiography and is just beginning to be investigated by those who study the Victorian periodical press.1 This article has two purposes. First, I posit that historical writing was published in two basic forms, two journalistic genres, in the Victorian periodical press. One was the account of an event or a moment in time. Long accounts were aimed at various target audiences—from adolescents who liked a hero's story to adult readers who knew there was an anniversary to celebrate. Shorter accounts, seemingly pointless little paragraphs, may have served primarily to fill space on a page being put together in a hurry or to celebrate a local event. The other genre, the book review, was a complex combination of evaluation and reiteration (often through excerpting), which offered an opportunity to comment on the relevance of the past to current events. I argue that the proliferation of both accounts of the past and reviews of historical books in the Victorian periodical press reinforced the contemporary sense that history should be accessible to anyone, in [End Page 802] different flavours and increasing levels of complexity. Articles reinforced national pride, denominational identity, imperial ambition, or xenophobia. Historical content might reinforce concepts of national greatness, selfless heroism, or individual agency in a format that was accessible to readers. It had to be, because accounts and reviews of history were commissioned and paid for by editors and were written by the journalist-authors for whom they constituted the bread and butter of a literary life. My second purpose in this essay is to frame this preliminary study and its limited conclusions within the context of changing methodologies for the study of historical print. My research on history and the periodical press began in 2005 when I gave the Michael Wolff lecture at the RSVP conference in Washington, DC, and my engagement with the topic intensified in 2007 when I received a research grant to investigate proprietary online databases (which at that stage offered untested new resources for scholars in periodical studies). The project stalled after 2009 when administrative responsibilities intervened. This retrospective essay, then, is a reflection on how the field has transformed over these years and serves as an apologia for a research methodology that no longer passes muster as up-to-date scholarship. I am aware that my sample is flawed and my figures are of little value. Short of redoing everything from scratch, my objective is to frame my report in the context of how the methodology of researching history and the periodical press has changed, in the hope that other scholars will take the subject further. Where Is the History in Book History and Periodical Studies? Whenever I comment on disciplinary boundaries in the history of the book, my interdisciplinarity has a territorial edge to it. I try to ensure that history (as an academic discipline) is given due respect, and I'm aware that, despite the term "book history," the field is overpopulated by literature scholars and librarians, with historians in the minority. We are a distinguished minority, including three former presidents of the American Historical Association who are book historians (Natalie Zemon Davis, Robert Darnton, and Anthony Grafton). But the disciplinary priorities of historians sometimes get swamped by an interdisciplinary agenda. The same goes for book history's close cousin, the study of the Victorian periodical press. Although I have discussed this situation in print, I've also...

Rehearsing democracy: Enhancing community through the interdisciplinary performance improvisation series ‘Shared Agendas’

This article presents the inter-disciplinary improvised performance series Shared Agendas , an annual event at the University of Otago, Aotearoa New Zealand, as a vehicle for reinforcing effective democratic community interaction. I am referring to interaction that is inclusive, open, non-hierarchical, non-judgemental and socially responsive and responsible. In couching these inclusive spontaneous events as a form of academic meeting, where members work together to solve problems and find a common ground of understanding or agreement, I contend that the artists involved are practising the kind of socially concerned democratic process that we might wish for all groups, organisations or nation states worldwide. Dance therapist Adwoa Lemieux (1988) suggests that, within a danced improvisation, any difficulties and conflicts of interest are evident, physical, real, immediate and therefore immediately resolvable. In this form of community engagement, the conversation is directed towards co-operation, mutual sharing and communication between the performers, technical personnel and the viewers as active critical witnesses. Because of the intense engagement and preoccupation with the process by all participants, including the audience, this kind of performance meeting becomes what Schechner (1988) terms, a ‘ living entity’ or microcosm of society. In describing this theatre of inter-relationship, I draw on the literatures of art and social justice theory, deep ecology, cognitive biology, somatics, perception psychology, education and dance in order to support this discussion.

Experimental Life: Vitalism in Romantic Science and Literature

Experimental Life: Vitalism in Romantic Science and Literature

A Fruitful Marriage: Interdisciplinary Approaches to International Relations and International Law

Interdisciplinary Perspectives on International Law and International Relations: The State of the Art. Edited By Jeffrey L. Dunoff, Mark A. Pollack. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2013. 672 pp., $38.81 paperback (ISBN-13: 978-1-10768-402-7). For the past two or three decades, the marriage between international relations (IR) and international law (IL) has been a fruitful one. This interdisciplinary agenda has generated many research programs—legalization in world politics, rational design of international institutions, research on compliance with IL—just to name a few. IR and IL seem to be natural partners. International politics operates within the international legal and normative environment; IL is enmeshed with international power politics and the changing landscape of world politics. As a stock-taking book that also provides a way forward, Interdisciplinary Perspectives is a welcome addition to this literature. The contributors to the edited volume are well known to both fields; each has generated new collaborative research programs that have advanced the field. Researchers and students in both IR and IL will benefit greatly from this book, both as a reference and as food for further thought. The book starts with the big-picture debates that have defined the field: realism, liberalism, constructivism, and institutionalism. The contributors provide a good survey of each tradition without losing sight of the possibility of dialogue between different “isms.” Very appropriately, the book also questions the utility of an interdisciplinary approach. Did we get it right when IR and IL scholars started talking to each other in …

Social Media Analytics

Der vorliegende Beitrag setzt sich mit dem neu aufkommenden Forschungsgebiet „Social Media Analytics“ (SMA) auseinander. Nach Ansicht der Autoren wird dieses Feld erheblichen Einfluss auf die kunftige Forschung im Bereich sozialer Medien in unterschiedlichen wissenschaftlichen Fachrichtungen ausuben. Es wird verdeutlicht, dass SMA in der interdisziplinaren Wissenschaft mehrwertstiftend als Methodengerust in der Forschung zu sozialen Medien eingesetzt werden kann. Besonders fur die Wirtschaftsinformatik wird deutlich, dass SMA helfen kann, Bezugsmodelle fur Entscheidungsfindungen oder Entscheidungsunterstutzung zu entwickeln. Dies gilt sowohl fur die Messung der Auswirkungen sozialer Medien innerhalb von Organisation als auch fur die Analyse offentlicher sozialer Netzwerke, einschlieslich deren Auswirkungen auf Organisationen. SMA unterstutzt zudem dabei, Architekturentwurfe fur die Entwicklung neuer Anwendungen und Informationssysteme bereitzustellen, die auf sozialen Medien basieren. Im Bereich der SMA ist eine interdisziplinare Forschungsagenda notwendig, die gleichermasen eine verstarkte interdisziplinare Zusammenarbeit erfordert und fordert. Gemeinsames interdisziplinares Ziel muss es sein, Fortschritte bei der Entwicklung von wissenschaftlichen Methoden fur die Analyse von sozialen Medien zu erreichen, die zu der Beantwortung von Forschungsfragen verschiedener Disziplinen beitragen.

Memória coletiva, trauma e cultura: um debate

Os estudos sobre memória se multiplicaram a partir da década de 80, abrindo uma agenda interdisciplinar e questionamentos teóricos. Na última década, considera-se uma diferenciação entre a memória cotidiana ou comunicativa, diretamente formada por grupos sociais, conforme estabelecido pelo sociólogo francês Maurice Halbwachs, e a memória cultural, que seria a relação entre a memória individual e do grupo com um ponto fixo. Nesse último caso, autores como o historiador alemão Aby Warburg têm sido considerados. Além disso, há estudos sobre a transmissão de experiências traumáticas. A norte-americana Marianne Hirsch, especializada em literatura comparada, criou o termo “pós-memória” para caracterizar a experiência daqueles que crescem dominados por narrativas e silêncios daqueles que viveram eventos traumáticos. O objetivo deste artigo é analisar a pertinência teórica de conceitos como memória cultural e pós-memória.

The Challenge of Writing Remediation: Can Composition Research Inform Higher Education Policy?

Background/ContextThis article presents a review of research relevant to postsecondary writing remediation. The purpose of the review is to assess empirical support for policy aimed at improving the degree completion rates of students who arrive at tertiary settings under-prepared to write.Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of StudyOur purpose is to bridge composition studies for a higher education policy audience. Our agenda is to offer a balanced portrait of disciplinary literature framed for organizational decision-making that can improve graduation rates. The research question that guides inquiry is: How can writing and composition research inform remediation policy to increase college-going success?Research DesignThis is a critical synthesis of prior conceptual and empirical work. We first provide a historical perspective to explicate important disciplinary issues that may be unfamiliar to a policy audience. We then present a critical synthesis of the disciplinary-based literature from two viewpoints. The first involves rhetorical frames that are related, but have significant conceptual differences. The second considers student achievement, attainment, and developmental outcomes.Findings/ResultsThe review comprehensively demonstrates the seriousness and scope of policy problems perpetuated by two obstacles. The first is a lack of clarity on what constitutes college writing. The second is a dearth of assessment tools with which to measure writing aptitude. The incongruities between standards and assessment of college writing have resulted in a body of research that does not provide the kind of evidentiary support weighted in policy discussions. Both issues require attention if writing remediation policy is to be improved.Conclusions/RecommendationsThe review suggests that writing remediation policy and programs will remain accountable to the rhetorical and paradigmatic viewpoints that dominate writing assessment and that relegate underprepared students to dubious degree pathways. The negative implications of the review for college writing preparation are discussed in the context of the K–12 Common Core State Standards. Recommendations are tendered for an interdisciplinary agenda to increase the educational opportunities of underprepared writers and decrease the social inequities associated with remediation policies and programs.

The Health Benefits of Nature: Introduction to the Special Section

This special section of Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being brings together four original articles at the intersection of the environment and well-being. As a field of inquiry, positive psychology cuts across disciplinary boundaries to encompass many fields, including psychology, sociology, economics, and public health. The articles in this special section underscore the importance of environmental psychology for this interdisciplinary agenda. Whether the forms and structures within which people interact are humanmade or natural, the environment is crucial to the development, maintenance, and expression of human potentials. The environment, both built and natural, can promote social interaction, community cohesion, and mental health. Features of the built environment (e.g. bicycle paths, tree-lined streets, community gardens) and natural environment (e.g. natural landscapes, habitats, and wildlife) can also promote physical health by spurring physical activity. Finally, the environment can be conducive to mental health by reducing mental fatigue and replenishing vital resources that have been depleted by stress. Environmental psychology will continue to play an important role in our understanding of human health and well-being. This special section spotlights some of the noteworthy work to date that will, we hope, stimulate new investigations. APPLIED PSYCHOLOGY: HEALTH AND WELL-BEING, 2011, 3 (3), 229 doi:10.1111/j.1758-0854.2011.01056.x

Toward a Comprehensive Demography: Rethinking the Research Agenda on Change and Response

This essay drafts a new interdisciplinary agenda for research on population and development. Starting from Kingsley Davis's 1963 formulation of change and response, Davis's analytical categories are broadened to include inertia as well as change and to encompass both demographic and non-demographic responses at the micro, meso, and macro levels. On that basis the essay proposes what can be called a comprehensive demography, an approach drawing principally on micro-level methodologies like those employed in anthropological demography. Like anthropological demography, comprehensive demography questions the rationality of actors, emphasizes cultural infuences, and stops short of the postmodernist extremes of anthropology. But it also takes explicit account of higher-level social, economic, and political factors bearing on demographic behavior and outcomes. The conclusion raises some epistemological issues. Illustrative examples are offered throughout to demonstrate the feasibility of the approach, mainly referring to sub-Saharan africa and the Caribbean and often drawn from the authors' own fieldwork.

Spare parts demand: Linking forecasting to equipment maintenance

Demand for spare parts is typically intermittent and forecasting the relevant requirements constitutes a very challenging exercise. Why is the demand for spare parts intermittent and how can we use models developed in maintenance research to forecast such demand? We attempt to answer these questions; we present a novel idea to forecast demand that relies upon the very sources of the demand generation process and we compare it with a well-known time-series method. We conclude that maintenance driven models are associated with a better performance under certain conditions. We also outline an inter-disciplinary agenda for further research in this area.

Shell midden research: An interdisciplinary agenda for the Quaternary and Social Sciences

Thanks to their components, formation dynamics and physico-chemical nature, shell middens offer ideal conditions for the preservation of social and environmental proxies. In this sense they can be thought of as field laboratories for the development of interdisciplinary research in the Quaternary and Social Sciences. The progress of such approach depends on a reassessment of regional shell midden studies and on the establishment of common guidelines that allow research focus to shift from regional to continental scales and back. An effective implementation of interdisciplinary Quaternary and Social (archaeological and anthropological) research on shell middens would potentially allow redefining key aspects in human history, from the origins of our species to its spreading to the most remote areas of the world.