Interdisciplinary Research Practice Research Articles

Fields of Interdisciplinarity

This paper provides an empirical account of the problem of interdisciplinarity in the field sciences, considering it as a driver of ontological change. Our case study is an ongoing interdisciplinary research project in environmental science. Its objective is to trace the long-term histories of European old-growth forests. To account for the mechanisms involved when researchers seek to do interdisciplinary science in the field, we describe 1/ four research practices that take advantage of the spatial order of the study site in order to make forests temporal processes knowable, thereby producing a field site crisscrossed by multiple spatiotemporal orders; 2/ those practices geared towards articulating these spatiotemporal orders and the limits faced by the consortium towards their complete integration; 3/ how such articulation transforms the conception of old-growth forests as spaces shaped by historical processes integrating human activities and valued ecological processes. We argue that interdisciplinary research practice in environmental field sciences does not lead to a synthesis of pre-existing domains of knowledge production. Rather, it does tend to transform both the object of study and the disciplines involved. The field, as both an object of study and a research place, becomes a broker toward ontological changes.

Technology and Interspecies Musical Practice

This case study on the work of interspecies musician David Rothenberg explores how engaging with the songs and rhythms of other species continues to challenge his musical practice and aesthetic. Technology, science and art come together in an artistic and research practice, which is grounded in the belief that technologies can bring us closer to nature. The article outlines how Umwelt theory, enactive music cognition, biosemiotics and the phenomenology of human-technology relations are engaged in the perception and creation of musical experiences. It also looks at how interdisciplinary research practices that traverse zoomusicology, the visual and performing arts, and data visualisation contribute to interspecies music theory and practice. The article concludes by presenting four interspecies auditory dispositives as a guide to how knowledge, tools and practice are entangled in concrete examples from Rothenberg’s musical collaborations with nightingales, humpback whales, periodical cicadas and pond life.

Futures Education and Creativity: From Theory to Practice

"In a rapidly changing world, preparing students for the challenges and opportunities this new world provides is crucial. This paper investigates the integration of futures-oriented education and the pedagogy of creativity as a comprehensive approach to equip students with the necessary skills and mindset for the 21st century and beyond. We emphasize the importance of translating theoretical frameworks into actionable strategies to foster adaptable, innovative, and forward-thinking individuals. Futures-oriented education aims to develop students' abilities to think critically, plan for the long term, and make decisions based on diverse scenarios. It focuses on nurturing an in-depth understanding of complex systems and global interdependencies, enabling students to navigate the uncertainties of an ever-evolving world. On the other hand, the pedagogy of creativity seeks to cultivate imagination, problem-solving, and innovation by encouraging students to explore new perspectives, ideas, and solutions. Drawing upon interdisciplinary research, pedagogical models, and best practices, we outline the fundamental principles and instructional strategies for effectively integrating futures-oriented education and the pedagogy of creativity. We also provide a practical toolkit for educators to design and implement innovative curricula that seamlessly blend these two approaches, ensuring a well-rounded learning experience for students. This paper highlights the significance of bridging the gap between theoretical frameworks and classroom practice to equip future generations with the skills and new attitudes required to tackle complex global challenges. By incorporating futures-oriented education and the pedagogy of creativity, we can cultivate a generation of leaders prepared to navigate and shape the world of tomorrow. "

Documenting the Endangered North Atlantic Right Whale: Policies, Conservation Efforts, and Stakeholders Depicted in Entangled and Last of the Right Whales

Wildlife documentaries are a form of environmental media widely used in public engagement around sustainability and conservation issues, including biodiversity loss. Two recently released wildlife documentaries, Entangled (2020) and Last of the Right Whales (2021), are the first to tell stories focused on the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale (NARW) through film, despite the species having been imperiled for more than a century and experts sounding the alarm about the population’s decline for decades. While whales are highly regarded worldwide and their conservation has strong public support, the NARW case study is a complicated one due not only to biological and ecological challenges, but also to sociopolitical ones. Without drastic policy actions and changes to industry practices throughout its migratory range, the NARW may disappear within decades, becoming the first great whale species to reach extinction since the industrial whaling era. In this article we address a gap in current environmental media and documentary studies by engaging critically with Entangled and Last of the Right Whales and considering them within the socioecological contexts they showcase and aim to influence. Our findings indicate that these two films share an important environmental problem with their viewers but fail to overcome some important pitfalls that limit the ability of environmental films to achieve collective action and policy change. We use this case study to highlight opportunities and challenges associated with wildlife documentaries more broadly, specifically, their role in biodiversity conservation in the Anthropocene. We conclude with opportunities for future interdisciplinary research and collaborative practice that can help wildlife films to achieve more than accolades for filmmakers and mere general awareness of conservation challenges.

To think of interdisciplinarity as intercurrence: Or, working as an interdisciplinary team to develop an ML tool to tackle online gender-based violence and hate speech

The paper reflects on the working of an interdisciplinary team consisting of researchers and activists from the field of computer science and social sciences involved in developing a user-facing, browser plug-in to detect and moderate instances of online gender-based violence, hate speech and harassment in Hindi, Indian English, and Tamil. There have been multiple calls within the field of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) to include qualitative methods in one’s research design. These calls, while attuned to the importance of qualitative methods for HCI, ignore the intercurrent nature of different research methods, disciplines and practices. The paper borrows the concept of intercurrence from Orren & Skowronek (1996) and reorients it to explicate the practice of interdisciplinary research. It argues that intercurrence i.e. (in between, an occurrence within an occurrence) is a useful image to perceive interdisciplinarity wherein we argue that at any given point, an interdisciplinary team navigates multiple, yet simultaneously occurring temporal dimensions of differently disciplined bodies. An awareness of these multiple temporalities adds another dimension to thinking about conflicts and possibilities emerging from interdisciplinary practices and reorients interdisciplinary research towards unexpected outcomes.

Curating for Convergence: Data Stewardship for Interdisciplinary Inquiry

Advances in data infrastructure are often led by disciplinary initiatives aimed at innovation in federation and sharing of data and related research materials. In library and information science (LIS), the data services area has focused on data curation and stewardship to support description and deposit of data for access, reuse, and preservation. At the same time, solutions to societal grand challenges are thought to lie in convergence research, characterized by a problem-focused orientation and deep cross-disciplinary integration, requiring access to highly varied data sources with differing resolutions or scales. We argue that data curation and stewardship work in LIS should expand to foster convergence research based on a robust understanding of the dynamics of disciplinary and interdisciplinary research methods and practices. Highlighting unique contributions by Dr. Linda C. Smith to the field of LIS, we outline how her work illuminates problems that are core to current directions in convergence research. Drawing on advances in data infrastructure in the earth and geosciences and trends in qualitative domains, we emphasize the importance of metastructures and the necessary influence of disciplinary practice on principles, standards, and provisions for ethical use across the evolving data ecosystem.

Research and practice in harmonising nature and culture in Jaipur City, Rajasthan, India

PurposePlanning for Jaipur City in Rajasthan, north-western India, which was added to the World Heritage List in 2019, considers the surrounding hills and water systems. Rapid urbanisation is currently placing strain on the area, and natural resources and city green spaces are deteriorating. A multidisciplinary team of academicians, researchers and practitioners was assembled under the Heritage Place Lab (HPL) initiative with the aim of developing a research agenda to complement the city's Special Area Heritage Plan (SAHP) that is currently in development.Design/methodology/approachGiven the complicated urban structure of Jaipur, an interdisciplinary approach involving experts from various fields and engagement from all levels of the city's stakeholders was necessary. The partnership proceeded following the parameters provided under the HPL to jointly build a research agenda focussing on the management challenges of the World Heritage Site.FindingsThe co-produced research programme narrowed its initial emphasis on documenting of the natural heritage of the city to reflect the functions it served in a social setting. It was also revealed that the conflicting nature of activities within the World Heritage Site is caused by overlapping jurisdictions of several administrative and legislative components.Originality/valueJaipur, examined here by an interdisciplinary Research-Practice Team, provides a valuable and unique case study for heritage management, particularly given that most historic cities in India are facing comparable concerns surrounding urbanisation with rising pressures on natural resources.

Geo-Aesthetics, a concept of interdisciplinary research and artistic practice: the exposition STRATUM in Mexico City, in 2022

This article presents ideas about the function of the image, particularly in the fine arts, in the discourses on the current environmental crisis, determined by geological factors, which have a fundamental importance for the definition of the new epoch of the Anthropocene. Exemplified by an art installation in the University Museum of Sciences and Arts (MUCA, at the National Autonomous University of Mexico, UNAM), the visual strategies will be revised of how to present an alternative access to the understanding of the geomorphological destruction via the hyper-urbanization in the basin of Mexico City, i.e. the mega city and its agglomerations. The artistic geo-aesthetical intervention STRATUM, realized by artist Luis Carrera-Maul in summer/autumn of 2022, is an artificial landscape composed by ceramic and Styrofoam waste, as well as the cultivation of wild vegetation. The relation of these elements, as well as the support of the related disciplines, humanities and sciences, will be revised, focusing on the epistemic synergies materialized in this paradigmatic expression of the aesthetics of the Anthropocene.

Are you talking to me? – calling laypersons in the sphere of data economy ecosystems

PurposeData economy is pervasively present in our everyday lives. Still, ordinary laypersons' chances to genuine communication with other stakeholders are scarce. This paper aims to raise awareness about communication patterns in the context of data economy and initiate a dialogue about laypersons' position in data economy ecosystems.Design/methodology/approachThis conceptual paper covers theory-based critical reflection with ethical- and empirical-based remarks. It provides novel perspectives both for research and stakeholder collaboration.FindingsThe authors suggest invitational rhetoric and Habermasian discourse as instruments towards understanding partnership between all stakeholders of the data economy to enable laypersons to transfer from subjectivity to the agency.Originality/valueThe authors provide (1) theory-based critical reflection concerning communication patterns in the data economy; (2) both ethical and empirical-based remarks about laypersons' position in data economy and (3) ideas for interdisciplinary research and stakeholder collaboration practices by using invitational rhetoric and rational discourse. By that, this paper suggests taking a closer look at communication practices and ethics alike in the data economy. Moreover, it encourages clear, rational and justified arguments between stakeholders in a respectful and equal environment in the data economy ecosystems.

Examining the Role of Resilience and Hope in Grit in Multiple Sclerosis.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of resilience and hope on grit when controlling for demographic covariates, depression, and anxiety in people with multiple sclerosis (MS). This was a cross-sectional study with a sample of 348 participants with MS. Descriptive statistics were performed to examine participants' demographic characteristics. A three-step hierarchical regression analysis was conducted to evaluate the extent to which resilience and hope explain the unique variance in grit while controlling for demographic covariates, depression, and anxiety. Findings suggested that resilience and hope explained a significant amount of variance in grit when controlling for demographic covariates, depression, and anxiety. Furthermore, higher resilience and hope scores were associated with higher grit scores. Given that resilience, hope, and grit are modifiable, rehabilitation and mental health professionals (e.g., psychologists, psychiatrists, rehabilitation counselors) can integrate strength-based interventions into their practices to bolster resilience, hope, and grit in people with MS. Our paper also has implications for interdisciplinary research and clinical practice.

Stories of the Heart: Illness Narratives of Veterans Living With Heart Failure.

Illness narratives for veterans living with heart failure (HF) have been largely unexplored, yet HF is a significant and impactful illness affecting the lives of many veterans. This study used narrative inquiry to explore the domains of psychosocial adjustments using the model of adjustment to illness, including self-schema, world schema, and meaning. Five illness narratives of veterans living with HF were cocreated and explored domains which were found across all the narratives explored in this study. Emergent themes included: uniqueness of the veteran experience and the social, historical, and cultural context of narrator and researcher. Veterans living with HF are a unique population who experience changes in their self-schema, world schema, and meaning through their illness experience. These findings have important implications for interdisciplinary health care research and clinical practice, providing important insight into how people live with chronic illness.

Interdisciplinary Co-Design Research Practice in the Rehabilitation of Elderly Individuals with Chronic Low Back Pain from a Senior Care Center in South Korea

The rehabilitation practices encounter multifaceted problems inherent in the current context of the elderly with chronic low back pain (LBP). We addressed a particular multifaceted problem in the current context using an interdisciplinary co-design research practice that consists of three phases: context exploration, patient-expert interaction, and patient-centered rehabilitation. Using an empirical study integrated with this practice, we investigated 30 Korean elderly patients suffering from LBP and introduced an exercise program design. In the context exploration phase, we found that the elderly patients neglected proper posture during work causing spine instability and resultantly developing chronic LBP. The patient–expert interaction phase explored latissimus dorsi (LD) and lumbar erector spinae (LES) muscles as the back trunk muscles that had caused LBP in most of these elderly patients. In the patient-centered rehabilitation phase, we designed an exercise program with exercise protocols and an exercise object for flexion and extension of trunk muscle relaxation and stabilization. Using electromyography (EMG), we found that the exercise program significantly increased the muscle activation levels of the muscles and reduced LBP. Our practice defines and addresses a multifaceted problem with several challenges both in healthcare design and the problem itself. This integrated approach can easily be expanded and adapted to other domain-related research projects that possess characteristics of complex problems.

A New Perspective on Eclectic Attributes in Architecture: Taking Eclectic Architecture in Beijing and Hong Kong as An Example

The development of society enriches the connotation of various professional concepts and leads to ambiguity in their interpretation. With the increasing comprehensiveness of human exchange activities, this uncertainty has become a common phenomenon present in multiple fields. In the field of architecture, the long-standing over-emphasis on imaginative and instinctive creation has led to a tendency to rely on the judgment based on the architect’s personal experience when confronted with ambiguous concepts. Besides, the “black box” in the professional field has made it difficult for other professions and the public to reasonably express their demands. “Eclecticism” is such a divisive architectural concept that has emerged from cultural exchange. This paper aims to develop a modeling tool that could grasp complex concepts in a clear and comprehensive way. The study constructs the “Eclectic Attribute Models” as a visual translation by using the Cartography of Controversies based on Actor-Network-Theory (ANT). Then tested and enriched models by intuition studies. As a result, this research clarifies the contemporary interpretation of eclecticism: a design concept encompassing the essential attributes of Pluralism, Historicity, Elitism, Decoration, Innovation, and Symbolism. Finally, this paper also discusses the advantages, limitations, and prospects of controversy mapping in future interdisciplinary research practice.

Kajian Budaya Perkotaan Perspektif Lefebvrian Tentang Ruang Urban Kontemporer dan Seni sebagai Disalienasi

Cultural studies has developed into an intrinsically interdisciplinary research practice. The emergence of Urban Cultural Studies, as an extensive field of cultural studies, tries to clarify that the humanities-centered method of urban cultural studies requires a common ground that can unite social scientists and humanities scientists, in an effort to understand urban culture by focusing on its textual dimensions. Identifying urban problems as an interdisciplinary scientific work centered on urban areas, seeks to find ways to return intellectual specialization to the totality of understanding of “cultural texts”. This paper explores the formulation of urban cultural studies to bridge the discussion about the material condition and the cultural imagination of the city in a wider social context. The focus is on the analysis of Henri Lefebvre's thoughts on urban philosophy, urban modernity, and contemporary urban culture. Lefebvre reveals an awareness of the importance of space. Space in Lefebvre's understanding is the field of experience that is perceived, felt, and, most importantly, actually lived. Through Lefebvrian's perspective, this paper offers an understanding that the position of artwork, as one of the manifestations of urban culture, by overcoming disciplinary fragmentation can be seen as a disalienation strategy, becoming "living art" in the perspective of "work" as an effort to overcome product instrumentalization. This is also what the study of urban culture must realize; the totality of understanding of urban phenomena, or urban space as a reality and complexity of knowledge, cannot be understood in a compartmental way, which is only accepted as a collection of objects-economics, sociology, history, demography, psychology, or geology.

Analytical Approaches to Electroacoustic Music Improvisation

This article introduces a framework for musical analysis applied to electroacoustic improvisation. After an introduction about the benefits of interdisciplinary research and research-creation practice there is a description of the different domains of the framework: acoustic analysis, music analysis itself and the design of graphic representations. The framework is based on the extraction of information from the audio signal (music information retrieval) to create data representations, some of which are very efficient for music analysis, such as the brightness standard deviation or the self-similarity matrix. The last part of the article demonstrates the use of the framework on extracts of electroacoustic improvisations performed by the Paris-based group Les Phonogénistes, of which the author is a member.

A call for exploring mathematics education researchers’ interdisciplinary research practices

Mathematics Education Researchers’ work in interdisciplinary research groups can be enriching and challenging in terms of communication, work processes, institutional support, and the translation of findings into viable results for existing disciplines. We contend that there is a need to explore practices (i.e., ways of being, operating, and interacting with others) in these groups. We searched Scopus and ERIC databases to find published works of interdisciplinary groups involving at least one Mathematics Education Researcher, which led us to five articles in peer-reviewed mathematics education journals. Thematic analysis of these articles helped us identify three practices: (1) working toward research interests, (2) cultivating trust and open-mindedness, and (3) understanding institutional support. We argue that consideration of these practices can facilitate Mathematics Education Researchers’ interdisciplinary collaborations. Further research documenting Mathematics Education Researchers’ interactions within interdisciplinary research groups is needed.

Rethinking long-term condition management: An actor-level framework.

To understand the complexities of managing long-term conditions and develop appropriate responses, micro-, meso- and macrolevels must be considered. However, these levels have not been combined in a single analytical framework of long-term condition management (LTCM). This article aims to describe a framework of LTCM practice and research that combines societal levels and key agents. The actor-level framework, based on the works of Abram De Swaan and Randall Collins, provides a broader understanding of LTCM as an interdisciplinary research field compared to previous contributions. The framework has three main advantages. First, it encourages knowledge production across levels and actors that address the complexity of long-term illness management. Second, it broadens the scope of LTCM as an interdisciplinary research field and practice field. Finally, it facilitates the integration of knowledge production from different disciplines and research traditions. The framework could stimulate interdisciplinary research collaboration to enhance knowledge of processes and interactions influencing the lives of individuals with long-term conditions.

CATEGORIAL SCHEMES IN INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH

The unacceptably slow development of the theory and the practice of interdisciplinary re-search is closely related to the insufficient attention of intellectual culture in general to categorical schemes (CS). The properties distinguishing CS from conceptual constructions are picked out. The theoretical and practicable CS, which are created on the basis of the categorical-system methodology (CSM), the theory of dynamic informational systems (TDIS) are discussed. CS based on TDIS have found application in the development of an organizational and business game - insafing, in writing computer programs for solving problems of the automation of reasoning processes. Comparison of CSs formed on the ba-sis of CSM, TDIS with famous cognitive constructions, raises the question of the possibility of the development of original CSs for new intelligent technologies.

Learning to be an interdisciplinary researcher: incorporating training about dispositional and epistemological differences into graduate student environmental science teams

The interdisciplinary research (IR) that is necessary for the creation of innovative solutions for the many complex environmental challenges facing society requires collaboration and the sharing and integration of knowledge from different disciplines in teams. Higher education programs should deploy effective pedagogical approaches to train students in interdisciplinary, team research collaboration. This paper discusses the design of three learning modules that supported the development of collaboration and teamwork skills among doctoral students during an IR workshop held in 2017 at the University of Texas at El Paso. The module activities were scaffolded to provide multiple opportunities for students to develop knowledge about the impacts that individual dispositional characteristics and differences in epistemological philosophies can have on teamwork processes. The activities and the workshop overall created opportunities for the students to apply this knowledge in a variety of authentic, collaborative contexts. An inquiry approach to pedagogical practice was used to address two key questions: (1) Did the learning modules increase knowledge of the impact of sharing dispositional features of team members on the practice of IR? (2) How confident were workshop participants in their ability to adapt to dispositional and epistemological diversity during future IR team activities? Results from a post-workshop questionnaire data, group reflections, and retrospective pre- and post-assessment showed (1) participants learned and practiced essential collaborative skills in authentic contexts; (2) the modules were valued and helped participants recognize the important role that personal dispositional characteristics have on the development of effective IR teams; (3) participants’ confidence in adapting to differences among team members increased; and (4) participants recognized that effective collaboration is an emergent property of a team that benefits from the overall intentionality of using a defined process and communication strategy.

К разработке принципов построения курса междисциплинарной лингвистики

The article deals with general problems of the current state of fundamental linguistic research in connection with the development of the content and practice of teaching linguistic disciplines. The involvement of new knowledge about Man and Language that has been obtained in recent decades is regarded as a necessary condition for building a theory of language and models of its description for teaching theoretical linguistics in the system of linguistic and pedagogical education. As an example, the author gives a brief overview of the materials obtained by scientists from several experimental neurocognitive projects that can shed light on the problem of the relationship between Language and Thinking. The article considers works that systematize methodological aspects of language research using neurocognitive technologies, which indicate revolutionary changes in the technical equipment of neurocognitive experiments aimed at studying oral speech, the results of which can no longer be ignored in the construction of language theory. The author also mentions the most productive discussions of recent times, which use data from neurocognitive experiments as arguments. Assessing the contribution of foreign and domestic discussions on the relationship between Language and Thinking, the author notes the particular contribution of the Russian psycholinguistics, especially to the issues of linguistic and psychological aspects of the circulation of word meanings in the semantic field of culture. The basic principles on which the model of language description can be built within the framework of an interdisciplinary approach are proposed. They are associated with network models, which are the most developed in the current practice of interdisciplinary research in the light of human peculiarities as a species, which allows us to obtain universal data when considering different languages. Theoretical discoveries by Russian psycholinguists concerning Language Personality help to overcome the contradictions between Language and Thinking which arise when these phenomena are viewed as certain abstract and discrete entities represented within the framework of a traditional dichotomy. Sociocommunicative attitudes concerning the ways people manipulate the bodies of language units grow from the intentionality of the language personality, which can be accessed on the model of the associative-verbal network of the studied speech community. Different types of network models solve different problems in the Human and Language Sciences and can be used in a complementary way. Thus, the general idea of Interdisciplinary Linguistics and the corresponding theoretical courses should take into account the main dimensions of human formation.