Published: Oct. 9, 2017

Interdisciplinary Research (in the Humanities)ÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌýÌý October 3, 2017

The Foundational Question: The inherent artificiality of disciplines.Ìý We could draw the lines in many ways, but we need some structure.

- We generally think of technology as a tool.

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Interdisciplinarity at CU means a STEM context.Ìý Interdisciplinarity in the humanities is different.Ìý It is all that makes us human: cultural production, human enterprise, human ambition.

  • I have training as a historian, but I draw from geology, get insights from literature.
  • The funding terrain in humanities has not driven interdisciplinary research the way it has been in STEM
  • Good interdisciplinary work is based on strong disciplines

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How do paradigms change in non-STEM collaborations?

  • Critical thinking is a unifying factor
  • The framing of the conversation here, focused education and discovery, is wrong.Ìý See Boyter 1990 – it’s a cycle of discovery, integration, teaching and synthesis

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What does interdisciplinary research look like in the humanities?

  • That kind of discovery does not include non-STEM based work, at least as it I communicated by CU Boulder leadership
  • The proposal requirements to work with OCG are onerous for non-STEM proposal.Ìý Could come up with a new form that better meets non-STEM criteria
  • For me, when I partner with social scientists, they are focused on building models and testing them.Ìý The work I do involves deep analysis of text.Ìý It’s not about model building.Ìý Technology doesn’t change the methods of the work itself.

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Community outreach as a mechanism of interdisciplinarity

  • Community engagement is needed to meet societal needs
  • Learning how to translate discovery to meet societal needs
  • Challenge:Ìý sometimes students can’t take classes abroad if we can’t fill on-campus classes, a policy that stems from funding sources

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Honors program does need more support for undergraduate interdisciplinary research

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Barriers to interdisciplinary Research (particularly in the humanities)

  • Incentives
  • Hard to evaluate from any one perspective
  • Cultural, the way we think
  • Lack of understanding what other disciplines are good for (narrowness)
  • Siloes – learning about other disciplines is hard work
  • Widen the way success is measured – change the culture to recognize it doesn’t dilute the rigor

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Some interdisciplinary research is not collaborative.Ìý It can be done by a single researcher.

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Finding ways to convene folks around topics that make their work more centrally connected (networking).Ìý Augmenting each other’s work.

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  • Communication on campus as a barrier
  • Staff are often the relationship builders and holders on campus
  • Support staff are needed to do interdisciplinary work?
  • They are the institutional memory

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There should be a conversation theme about staff

  • Appreciating them
  • Things aren’t heard without a faculty voice
  • Ways to support staff
  • Staff asked to do more and more with less time
  • Sabbaticals for staff
  • Staff experience being valued
  • Opportunities for promotion and professional development

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