Environmental Policy and Planning Concentration
The Dissemination of Environmental Awareness and its Annexation to Social Consciousness
John Fitzgerald
To develop a clear and functional understanding of the biological processes of our environment, study our interactions with them, and attempt to improve upon them is the purpose I choose my major. Environmental Policy and Planning incorporates three different dynamic fields, environmentalism, politics, and planning techniques for development. These three fields have very strong ties that will become increasingly important in the future.
Currently, the economic values of our natural resources are not evaluated on a realistic basis. Our producer driven economic system does not support an everyday environmentally-friendly schedule. What once was a land of bounty is being raped for nothing more than profit at the loss of ideals that we as a nation once held dear. Our environment as well as our politics, and our physical development as a nation are interconnected systems that rely on each other to exist. The habitat we live in provides us with a physical plane on which we can determine how to interact with the habitat itself, the other people, animals, plants and various organisms which are sharing this habitat, and the best methods for organizing, managing and adapting our activities to promote the healthy function of these systems.
Through my studies in various academic organizations I have come to understand that my preferred method of approaching problems is awareness and appreciation of the whole while allowing magnification of more intricate, microscopic, aspects of the issue. Applying analytical knowledge to systems is a successful approach to gaining knowledge and problem solving. The skill of understanding these systems as whole and their interactions with each other, as well as the smaller processes acting within them and allowing them to function is contingent upon positive development. My choice of major reflects my manner of perception, as well as my personality. Human beings have a large impact on their surroundings, and have a large potential for positive growth. The promotion of a lifestyle that is disconnected with nature is the promotion of a wasteful lifestyle. While at the same time the promotion of a stronger connection with our natural world could inspire generations to come, and restore cultural and traditional aspects of human life through environmental appreciation.
A major stepping stone in the current environmental movement which is specifically relevant to us, considering our geographic location is mountain top removal. Mountains in the Appalachian region are marbled with rich coal seams. Modern mining methods have embraced mountaintop removal, which is the use of explosives to completely destroy the upper parts of the mountains so that the coal can be easily accessed. The “fill,” or debris, from what once used to be a mountain is then deposited into the surrounding valleys. The coal is then washed in slurry ponds, which seep water contaminated with heavy metals into nearby water killing off fish and other organisms which cannot tolerate the polluted water. Damaging our natural systems that provide vital services like cleaning water, providing sources of food for other organisms, and diversifying our environment are small issues that affect the major functioning of our environment. I am mentioning both mountaintop removal, and App Voices, because they are important on a local level and they involve key aspects of my major. As a local organization Appalachian Voices is a very influential non-profit environmental organization focusing on creating awareness of this issue.
Creating awareness of these issues, as App Voices does with their paper, is a key part in educating people about the weight of our impact on our planet, which is a first step towards adapting our lifestyle to be one that is in harmony with our habitat. I would like to be involved in the transition from educating the public about our impacts on the environment, to inspiring the public to make a positive change in their own lives, and possibly the planet. Another prospective direction for someone with a degree in this field would be lobbying for environmental organizations. One specifically dynamic part of this application would include applying biological field research to the justification of environmental regulations and providing a continuous reminder to politicians that people do indeed care about the environment even, and sometimes especially when it is juxtaposed to the economy.
Relevant to the issues of our environment and our economy is the issue of sustainability. Sustainability is an immediately important idea that is under increasing public contemplation these days. A sustainable future in regards to the principles of human rights, environmental protection, encouraging positive ecological economical investments is the goal of my concentration. The concentration of environmental policy and planning is a framework of courses that encourage the development of a conceptual knowledge of our environment and our interactions with it. An effective method for environmental protection is to teach respect and appreciation for the environment we inhabit. Our race populates this earth in common existence with many other life-forms. To reconnect people to the earth from which we arose is a fundamental idea behind positive environmental action and inspiring others to open their minds to a more harmonious existence. There are many changes we need to make in order to attempt to adopt a lifestyle of sustainability, the root of which occur with the initial change of perception from trying to compete with nature and control it, to developing with nature in mind. The principles of sustainability in conjunction with social leadership skills, a foundation in biology, and an array of classes spanning anthropology, geography and planning, Japanese, economics, anthropology, and ethics classes are the preparatory subjects I have studied and will continue to practice. These disciplines together make up integral knowledge formations which together create a functional manner of approaching our sustainability issue. From slowly drawing connections between these fields and observing their interactions a better understanding of the causes of our sustainability problem can be formed. Through the intricate study of these fields and the application of the skills learned from them, the issue of sustainability becomes increasingly accessible. Integration is a necessary fundamental part of IDS studies in general but also is a life skill which serves as a problem solving tool. This concentration is dependent upon the ability to disseminate the integrated parts of knowledge formations, so that the contributing factors can be observed individually, repaired and then reintegrated into the solved, repaired formation.
While approaching problems that occur on a global scale, such as that of sustainability, it is sometimes easier to compare them to a smaller similar example. Organizing a community garden is probably the most local application of this theoretical solution to environmental degradation. Creating a community garden helps to provide positive physical work for multiple people to contribute and gain from. Helping to reach compromise among contributing neighbors, developing an overall conceptual plan of the land available, organizing with diversity and efficiency included in plots, and finally the work of planting everything are managerial tasks I am currently employing to help develop my skills. What I aim to do could be considered to cause social change by providing a positive example for action, however there are many formations of knowledge operating at the same time, not only will I provide a positive role model for environmental responsibility, but I am also in a location where understanding the power relationships between the rental company; which may or may not own the land being used, the neighbors who have different priorities in what should be planted, what should actually be planted considering climate, surrounding plants, and sunlight are all my responsibility to contemplate and take into consideration. Developing a community garden helps promote diverse social growth, for plants and humans and it helps restore the connection between people and the environment that helps support them. Growing fresh food and preparing it can function as a conduit between people and our habitat, and works to help restore a respectful view of the land.
Developing environmental policy and planning for a sustainable future are two tremendous goals that cannot be accomplished without the skills required to manage and organize tremendous efforts. By redeveloping a cultural respect for the land which feeds us, and recognizing the potential of organized social progression we can make strides toward a sustainable future. Beyond the conglomeration of different subjects and their connection the IDS core classes help develop a method of meditation designed to help organize and renew the thought processes which are used most in academic studies. Observing the learning method by participation in it and analyzing it, helps to increase efficiency in personal understanding, as well as promote healthy emotional growth. By combining these courses and the ideas they promote I will develop and employ my skills to organize and inspire others to create a positive change in the way we think about and interact with our habitat.
Monday, December 8, 2008
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Senior Seminar Presentations
The Fall 2008 Senior Seminar Project Presentations will be in the Price Lake Room in the Plemmons Student Union on Reading Day, December 10, between 1:00 and 3:00 PM. Mark your calendars. This will be our last class event for our Praxis class. See you there.
Theories
In his paper, Newell discusses several forms of disciplines, looking at various authors definitions. I liked the way he set up this paper for the fact that he first looked at the ways people see interdisciplinary, defining what it is but then also looking at other definitions of what people might see as interdisciplinary. I have always seen my major as a fruit basket, from his examples, several separate entities put together to form something great, they all share space and time but they are not blended enough to not see their form or their placement. What I mean by that is if you look at the methods I study and the curriculum I take you can see where different theories arose and which discipline I got what from, BUT like a fruit basket things overlap and play into one another.
Newell shows multidisciplinary as a collection of ideas and concepts resting side by side, then on the other end you have transdisciplinary that come up with this assortment of goo that has no real components just a greater form to the previous additions, like a smoothie of fruit, and in the middle, balancing the two, you have interdisciplinary. Newell then acknowledges and confronts the most difficult thing about studying anything not defined as a discipline, degrees of synthesis and integration, first defining for the reader what integration is. To be honest, when I first began studying Interdisciplinary Studies it seemed like the easy way out, I could take a wide variety of classes and call it a day. I never thought about the “conceptual framework” or the “locus of activities”. However, reading through Newell it is intriguing to me to see the variety of ways to see this major. I think most people when they hear interdisciplinary studies, and see the courses I have taken see it as multidisciplinary an “absence of any deliberate attempt at integration”. My parents constantly ask “how does this apply or why is this study better than anyone already laid out for you?” I usually brush off their questions telling them that they are old and far removed from the education system that they just don’t see the art and the privilege in this form of study. It is not that we have complete freedom in this study, rather a free reign. I am in control of the study I wish to achieve. I other disciplines you are forced to continue in a cycle of classes and stay in a rigid system. However, just looking at the ten or so people in our class you can see the excitement found in Interdisciplinary Studies, as well as the limits. Looking at the Mission statement found in the same packet of paper, you can see that the authors agree with me. “Knowledges are disconnected by several sets of barriers, including: economic class, disciplinarity (e.g., sciences/humanities), collegiate structures (e.g., education/business), intra-psychic formations, race, ethnicity, gender, and the expert and non-expert”. This is exactly what I was talking about, other disciplines limit students into a specific category and yet even with the path laid out those students find barriers, women just because they are women find limits in pay and advancements, even though we have Equal opportunities people of color still find limits on their learning and their advancements. There are always limits to education but when in a place of study there should be more leeway to study that which is necessary, finding ways to encourage “creative practices in teaching”. There are so many degrees of which you can teach. In this class we all are reaching for different goals. I am working toward creating a non-profit that works with the disabled population. To my right someone is working toward becoming a movie critic or analyst, we have student who want to work in foreign countries, who want to expand the internet, the list continues. The beauty in this form of studying is the freedom we have to explore.
Individually focusing this paper toward my study, it is interesting to see my level of integration from last year to this year. At the beginning I was just taking classes that I thought would help me, so I took some communication classes, and some sociology classes. In my head I was making connections, hearing things repeatedly helped with that aspect, but I was not really integrating the practices into future plans or even discussing them with fellow students and faculty. This year, I am in several IDS specific classes and all I do is talk about my major, rather my life goal and the studies I am in to prepare. Newell would classify me as a fruit basket, interdisciplinary, in the second level of integration. I have a long way to go before I am integrated to the highest degree with a “single, intellectually coherent entity” but I think that is the joy found in this area. All disciplines are mapped out for students, you will take this class your freshman year, and this your senior year. With IDS we have requirements and things to work toward like the portfolio but classes are not laid out the same. I think this is one of the hardest things for me is actually sitting down to look at all the classes offered and deciding which one would be more beneficial to me. Another struggle is knowing that this is the proper way of achieving my future goals, if employers in my early year out of college will see my plan as crafty, original and exciting or as lazy and an easy way out.
I have talked with several employers to get their opinion and I have come up with this sense of peace. All of them agree that is the employee has a heart for their studies no matter what it is, and show true desire to execute their learning’s in an effective way then they will gladly hire them. So for me, I need to work on making sure the classes I am taking are teaching me but that I am being receptive to the lessons and having an open mind to hear something new!
Newell shows multidisciplinary as a collection of ideas and concepts resting side by side, then on the other end you have transdisciplinary that come up with this assortment of goo that has no real components just a greater form to the previous additions, like a smoothie of fruit, and in the middle, balancing the two, you have interdisciplinary. Newell then acknowledges and confronts the most difficult thing about studying anything not defined as a discipline, degrees of synthesis and integration, first defining for the reader what integration is. To be honest, when I first began studying Interdisciplinary Studies it seemed like the easy way out, I could take a wide variety of classes and call it a day. I never thought about the “conceptual framework” or the “locus of activities”. However, reading through Newell it is intriguing to me to see the variety of ways to see this major. I think most people when they hear interdisciplinary studies, and see the courses I have taken see it as multidisciplinary an “absence of any deliberate attempt at integration”. My parents constantly ask “how does this apply or why is this study better than anyone already laid out for you?” I usually brush off their questions telling them that they are old and far removed from the education system that they just don’t see the art and the privilege in this form of study. It is not that we have complete freedom in this study, rather a free reign. I am in control of the study I wish to achieve. I other disciplines you are forced to continue in a cycle of classes and stay in a rigid system. However, just looking at the ten or so people in our class you can see the excitement found in Interdisciplinary Studies, as well as the limits. Looking at the Mission statement found in the same packet of paper, you can see that the authors agree with me. “Knowledges are disconnected by several sets of barriers, including: economic class, disciplinarity (e.g., sciences/humanities), collegiate structures (e.g., education/business), intra-psychic formations, race, ethnicity, gender, and the expert and non-expert”. This is exactly what I was talking about, other disciplines limit students into a specific category and yet even with the path laid out those students find barriers, women just because they are women find limits in pay and advancements, even though we have Equal opportunities people of color still find limits on their learning and their advancements. There are always limits to education but when in a place of study there should be more leeway to study that which is necessary, finding ways to encourage “creative practices in teaching”. There are so many degrees of which you can teach. In this class we all are reaching for different goals. I am working toward creating a non-profit that works with the disabled population. To my right someone is working toward becoming a movie critic or analyst, we have student who want to work in foreign countries, who want to expand the internet, the list continues. The beauty in this form of studying is the freedom we have to explore.
Individually focusing this paper toward my study, it is interesting to see my level of integration from last year to this year. At the beginning I was just taking classes that I thought would help me, so I took some communication classes, and some sociology classes. In my head I was making connections, hearing things repeatedly helped with that aspect, but I was not really integrating the practices into future plans or even discussing them with fellow students and faculty. This year, I am in several IDS specific classes and all I do is talk about my major, rather my life goal and the studies I am in to prepare. Newell would classify me as a fruit basket, interdisciplinary, in the second level of integration. I have a long way to go before I am integrated to the highest degree with a “single, intellectually coherent entity” but I think that is the joy found in this area. All disciplines are mapped out for students, you will take this class your freshman year, and this your senior year. With IDS we have requirements and things to work toward like the portfolio but classes are not laid out the same. I think this is one of the hardest things for me is actually sitting down to look at all the classes offered and deciding which one would be more beneficial to me. Another struggle is knowing that this is the proper way of achieving my future goals, if employers in my early year out of college will see my plan as crafty, original and exciting or as lazy and an easy way out.
I have talked with several employers to get their opinion and I have come up with this sense of peace. All of them agree that is the employee has a heart for their studies no matter what it is, and show true desire to execute their learning’s in an effective way then they will gladly hire them. So for me, I need to work on making sure the classes I am taking are teaching me but that I am being receptive to the lessons and having an open mind to hear something new!
That nice little grey area
William Lehman
Praxis
Theories of Interdisciplinarity
That Nice Little Grey Area
The reading of the multi-author packet highlighted several ideas for application of Interdisciplinarity. Newell defined the differences between Interdisciplinarity, Multidisciplinarity, and Transdisciplinarity. I think he does a rather good job at it; describing Multidisciplinarity as a collection of know ledges, at ones disposal, Transdisciplinarity as a very comprehensive subject that then becomes its own monster. Whereas, Interdisciplinarity is a middle-ground to these two ideas. I liked the reprint of a definition for Interdisciplinarity from the Handbook of the Undergraduate. (San Fransisco: Jossey-Bass, 1997)
I personally liked the one from Carp/Wentworth about our program. “We were never comfortable being a department and cannot be a discipline with a particular object of study, but that we have no subject matter is not true; our subject is whatever makes the world whole.” To me that speaks about the all encompassing nature of Interdisciplinarity and its application to the world. I think it is very important that as long as we know how we can take the unique conglomeration of knowledge we are acquiring and apply it to life/the world around us.
The relevance holds true to my own field of study as well. As an IDS: Asian Studies with a Concentration on Japan Major, I initially had a hard time attempting to figure out the underlying direction of my knowledge progression. But seeing as I found myself inherently drawn towards a minor in Teaching English as a Second Language I think that I found an application to work towards. Then it was just the problem of how to prepare myself to integrate these different pieces of knowledge I had acquired from my time, at Appalachian State, to my Interdisciplinarity. I have found that by melding my brief studies of other languages, my knowledge of second language acquisition and my understanding of what makes one “Japanese” I think my Interdisciplinarity would be better defined into something like a “Scholar in Japanese Identity and Language Acquisitionist.” For I have learned much about Languages, acquiring them, societal impacts, and Japanese society. This makes me great for teaching Japanese to Americans in NC or English to native “Japanese.” But I would not go so far as to cross say I have crossed the line in to Transdisciplinarity in that I am a Japanese teacher of a TESL teacher.
I am certified as one but I still have much to learn in that aspect because the focus of my studies have centered around “Japanese.” And my own personal Pedagogy (http://www.appstate.edu/~wl65727/will_page.html) requires a strong connection to the learner. For one to have a strong connection to the learner it is important to meet them on a cultural and personal level. That is why I would not personally qualify myself as an ESL teacher, but as a good candidate for teaching in Japanese to Americans, or teaching English to Japanese.
Because of my situation I have had to search hard to find corollaries between everyday lessons and their application to my field of study. But it has been possible ever since I decided on my major. Because of what I have to prepare myself for in the future every aspect of my college experience has been a great learning experience. From the odd roommates, to the amazing professors everything can be further applied in life once I am able to reach a summation point (probably my senior seminar portfolio) in which I tie everything together. That is when I will probably be able to consider myself a student of Interdisciplinarity.
However, Currently I would have to say that I am more of a Multidisciplinarian. I have so much knowledge spread out in the different fields of study that I have yet to tie together. But being in my shoes I must be the one to do it because of my intention to go teach abroad and then follow up with hopefully international relations in Northern Japan in reference to territorial disputes between the technically warring states of Russia and Japan. So I will have to also apply my nonacademic experiences of international relations and personal life skills of mediating disagreements, but then applying the my knowledge of historical and cultural influences that could sway the tide, but also learning the new cultural influences of Russo-Identity.
In conclusion, I would have to say that my personal journey through the world of interdisciplinary is still incomplete in that I cannot self consider myself among the few that are interdisciplinary. Besides the fact that there is a limit to the knowledge we can contain and apply I think that it is very important for us to seek to better ourselves through our gaining of all knowledge and consuming it and applying it to the world around us.
Praxis
Theories of Interdisciplinarity
That Nice Little Grey Area
The reading of the multi-author packet highlighted several ideas for application of Interdisciplinarity. Newell defined the differences between Interdisciplinarity, Multidisciplinarity, and Transdisciplinarity. I think he does a rather good job at it; describing Multidisciplinarity as a collection of know ledges, at ones disposal, Transdisciplinarity as a very comprehensive subject that then becomes its own monster. Whereas, Interdisciplinarity is a middle-ground to these two ideas. I liked the reprint of a definition for Interdisciplinarity from the Handbook of the Undergraduate. (San Fransisco: Jossey-Bass, 1997)
I personally liked the one from Carp/Wentworth about our program. “We were never comfortable being a department and cannot be a discipline with a particular object of study, but that we have no subject matter is not true; our subject is whatever makes the world whole.” To me that speaks about the all encompassing nature of Interdisciplinarity and its application to the world. I think it is very important that as long as we know how we can take the unique conglomeration of knowledge we are acquiring and apply it to life/the world around us.
The relevance holds true to my own field of study as well. As an IDS: Asian Studies with a Concentration on Japan Major, I initially had a hard time attempting to figure out the underlying direction of my knowledge progression. But seeing as I found myself inherently drawn towards a minor in Teaching English as a Second Language I think that I found an application to work towards. Then it was just the problem of how to prepare myself to integrate these different pieces of knowledge I had acquired from my time, at Appalachian State, to my Interdisciplinarity. I have found that by melding my brief studies of other languages, my knowledge of second language acquisition and my understanding of what makes one “Japanese” I think my Interdisciplinarity would be better defined into something like a “Scholar in Japanese Identity and Language Acquisitionist.” For I have learned much about Languages, acquiring them, societal impacts, and Japanese society. This makes me great for teaching Japanese to Americans in NC or English to native “Japanese.” But I would not go so far as to cross say I have crossed the line in to Transdisciplinarity in that I am a Japanese teacher of a TESL teacher.
I am certified as one but I still have much to learn in that aspect because the focus of my studies have centered around “Japanese.” And my own personal Pedagogy (http://www.appstate.edu/~wl65727/will_page.html) requires a strong connection to the learner. For one to have a strong connection to the learner it is important to meet them on a cultural and personal level. That is why I would not personally qualify myself as an ESL teacher, but as a good candidate for teaching in Japanese to Americans, or teaching English to Japanese.
Because of my situation I have had to search hard to find corollaries between everyday lessons and their application to my field of study. But it has been possible ever since I decided on my major. Because of what I have to prepare myself for in the future every aspect of my college experience has been a great learning experience. From the odd roommates, to the amazing professors everything can be further applied in life once I am able to reach a summation point (probably my senior seminar portfolio) in which I tie everything together. That is when I will probably be able to consider myself a student of Interdisciplinarity.
However, Currently I would have to say that I am more of a Multidisciplinarian. I have so much knowledge spread out in the different fields of study that I have yet to tie together. But being in my shoes I must be the one to do it because of my intention to go teach abroad and then follow up with hopefully international relations in Northern Japan in reference to territorial disputes between the technically warring states of Russia and Japan. So I will have to also apply my nonacademic experiences of international relations and personal life skills of mediating disagreements, but then applying the my knowledge of historical and cultural influences that could sway the tide, but also learning the new cultural influences of Russo-Identity.
In conclusion, I would have to say that my personal journey through the world of interdisciplinary is still incomplete in that I cannot self consider myself among the few that are interdisciplinary. Besides the fact that there is a limit to the knowledge we can contain and apply I think that it is very important for us to seek to better ourselves through our gaining of all knowledge and consuming it and applying it to the world around us.
Theories of Interdisciplinarity
Reflections on “Interdisciplinarity”
The multi-authored packet presents a series of theories on what not only being interdisciplinary really is and what it means, but also how unlike circumstances could raise questions which displays the “differences of opinions” in how to define interdisciplinary work.
One definition of interdisciplinary work is established in the very beginning of the article. Julie Thompson Klein and William Newell describe it has “Interdisciplinary studies may be defined as a process of answering a question, solving a problem, or addressing a topic too broad or complex to be dealt with adequately by a single discipline or profession...” Steve Fuller and Bryan Turner offer another perspective however. “I want to move away from the common idea that interdisciplinary pursuits draw their strength from building on the methods and findings of established fields. Instead, my goal is to present models of interdisciplinary research that call into question the differences between disciplines involved, and thereby serve as forums for the renegotiation of disciplinary boundaries,” Fuller writes. Turner looks to the same perspective as he writes, “interdisciplinary aims in principle at academic fusion…it seeks a recognizable and integration of disciplines.”
Taking into consideration these terms of interdisciplinarity, Newell (who is the driving force behind the entire article) explains that to first conceptualize definitions one must also have an understanding of what integration or synthesis is. He describes how the four issues (the nature of interdisciplinarity, its outcomes, the role of disciplines, and the nature of synthesis or integration) all affect the other in a certain way or other. Three “distinct visions” can come from the idea of integration and synthesis to get a better understanding of it: conceptual framework, comprehensive perspective, and a locus of activity. The conceptual framework essentially pertains to the idea of creating a foundation so that the disciplinary actions can proceed, i.e. just some basic research of what the intentions are for your interdisciplinary work. A comprehensive perspective is a more detailed conceptual framework – it is “a larger, more holistic understanding of the question, problem, or issue at hand.” (Klein and Newell) The locus of activity is another concept of research, but it is the ultimate goal to reach – where the main focuses of study come together as “interdisciplinary” to create the common goal.
So then the questions arise, some being what is changed? And must integration succeed to be interdisciplinary? This leads to the confusion of how interdisciplinary can be specific as a discipline itself. As a result, degrees of interdisciplinary have been proposed, such as the lowest degree is that integration is left entirely up to the students, and so on.
The mission statement, vision statement and the manuscript by Carp and Wentworth of the IDS department are included, but I would only like to focus myself of the part of the packet just discussed.
I have held for some time my theory on social issues, which in my opinion lead to every other issue in the world, being affected by the way humans communicate with each other. Being a military child my entire life living around the world when told to, but also having an open mind about most issues, has led to an interdisciplinary mindset. I find it easy to take the strict structure mindset and mixing it with a liberal mindset to create an overall idea of whatever is at hand. Therefore I tend to agree with both definitions presented, while the work I’m doing is more appropriate with Fuller and Tuner’s definition as an academic fusion. Taking the construction of the Communication Studies discipline and fusing it with the Interdisciplinary layout of Third World Studies simply by taking the planned classes within the same vicinity of each other (i.e. within the same semester) to examine the comparisons of each discipline and to understand how the two disciplines can become something greater for my theory, with of course not losing the boundaries of what the disciplines are (but not individually designing my major). It can be complicated because it is hard to sit down and think about which courses directly affiliate with another in different departments, but there are moments when a subject will come up in class that was brought up in another class and in which the courses have nothing to do with one another – which gives me hope that my two disciplines can really become interdisciplinary.
All in all, my conceptual framework is laid out, but I am now beginning to dive into the comprehensive perspective aspect of my interdisciplinary work because of the way courses are beginning to overlap though they are not technically related, thus everything is working out as I planned. I feel that the locus of activity part of synthesis
will not occur until I begin practicing my degree in the appropriate manner (after university), but so far everything is looking like it won’t be as difficult as initially planned for my overall interdisciplinary work.
The multi-authored packet presents a series of theories on what not only being interdisciplinary really is and what it means, but also how unlike circumstances could raise questions which displays the “differences of opinions” in how to define interdisciplinary work.
One definition of interdisciplinary work is established in the very beginning of the article. Julie Thompson Klein and William Newell describe it has “Interdisciplinary studies may be defined as a process of answering a question, solving a problem, or addressing a topic too broad or complex to be dealt with adequately by a single discipline or profession...” Steve Fuller and Bryan Turner offer another perspective however. “I want to move away from the common idea that interdisciplinary pursuits draw their strength from building on the methods and findings of established fields. Instead, my goal is to present models of interdisciplinary research that call into question the differences between disciplines involved, and thereby serve as forums for the renegotiation of disciplinary boundaries,” Fuller writes. Turner looks to the same perspective as he writes, “interdisciplinary aims in principle at academic fusion…it seeks a recognizable and integration of disciplines.”
Taking into consideration these terms of interdisciplinarity, Newell (who is the driving force behind the entire article) explains that to first conceptualize definitions one must also have an understanding of what integration or synthesis is. He describes how the four issues (the nature of interdisciplinarity, its outcomes, the role of disciplines, and the nature of synthesis or integration) all affect the other in a certain way or other. Three “distinct visions” can come from the idea of integration and synthesis to get a better understanding of it: conceptual framework, comprehensive perspective, and a locus of activity. The conceptual framework essentially pertains to the idea of creating a foundation so that the disciplinary actions can proceed, i.e. just some basic research of what the intentions are for your interdisciplinary work. A comprehensive perspective is a more detailed conceptual framework – it is “a larger, more holistic understanding of the question, problem, or issue at hand.” (Klein and Newell) The locus of activity is another concept of research, but it is the ultimate goal to reach – where the main focuses of study come together as “interdisciplinary” to create the common goal.
So then the questions arise, some being what is changed? And must integration succeed to be interdisciplinary? This leads to the confusion of how interdisciplinary can be specific as a discipline itself. As a result, degrees of interdisciplinary have been proposed, such as the lowest degree is that integration is left entirely up to the students, and so on.
The mission statement, vision statement and the manuscript by Carp and Wentworth of the IDS department are included, but I would only like to focus myself of the part of the packet just discussed.
I have held for some time my theory on social issues, which in my opinion lead to every other issue in the world, being affected by the way humans communicate with each other. Being a military child my entire life living around the world when told to, but also having an open mind about most issues, has led to an interdisciplinary mindset. I find it easy to take the strict structure mindset and mixing it with a liberal mindset to create an overall idea of whatever is at hand. Therefore I tend to agree with both definitions presented, while the work I’m doing is more appropriate with Fuller and Tuner’s definition as an academic fusion. Taking the construction of the Communication Studies discipline and fusing it with the Interdisciplinary layout of Third World Studies simply by taking the planned classes within the same vicinity of each other (i.e. within the same semester) to examine the comparisons of each discipline and to understand how the two disciplines can become something greater for my theory, with of course not losing the boundaries of what the disciplines are (but not individually designing my major). It can be complicated because it is hard to sit down and think about which courses directly affiliate with another in different departments, but there are moments when a subject will come up in class that was brought up in another class and in which the courses have nothing to do with one another – which gives me hope that my two disciplines can really become interdisciplinary.
All in all, my conceptual framework is laid out, but I am now beginning to dive into the comprehensive perspective aspect of my interdisciplinary work because of the way courses are beginning to overlap though they are not technically related, thus everything is working out as I planned. I feel that the locus of activity part of synthesis
will not occur until I begin practicing my degree in the appropriate manner (after university), but so far everything is looking like it won’t be as difficult as initially planned for my overall interdisciplinary work.
theories of ids
In the article “Being Interdisciplinary Is So Very Hard to Do” Stanley Fish begins by examining the critique of left culturalist theory on boundaries and hierarchies formed within and between academic disciplines and institutional structures. According to Fish, much of this critique on the current arrangement of boundaries stems from the belief that the institutional and academic structures are constructed by parties interested in maintaining the status quo by means of a repressive political agenda. In order to break free of repressive boundaries, critics suggest that each discourse of knowledge be situated, understood, and critically examined in the context of the institutional, cultural, and historical forces from which the emerged. As knowledge formations transform and dissolve and disciplines are “freed” from their bonds, perspectives will broaden and discourse will be unconstrained. Interdisciplinary studies, by definition, does not respect the boundaries inherent in disciplines, and seeks to widen perspectives and examine the processes by which disciplines and divisions emerge. To many radical critics of disciplinarity, interdisciplinarity is an “assault on those boundaries and on the entire edifice of hierarchy and power they reflect and sustain” (Fish 242).
Fish poses that this vision of interdisciplinarity is incompatible with its accompanying epistemology – that meaning and knowledge are not simply “there”, but are produced by a system that escapes the foundations which it enables. In other words, the system which enables knowledge formations can not be presented, is ignorant of itself, and always “excludes more than it reveals” (Fish 243). If bringing to light the constructions and conditions of knowledge depends on viewing them through a perspective similarly constructed and veiled, then interdisciplinarity cannot free us from bound knowledge; new boundaries will be formed and knowledge formations will continue to be constrained within historical, institutional, and cultural contexts. If interdisciplinarity is defined by the breaking free of such cages, then interdisciplinarity understood in accordance with this epistemological view is quite impossible.
How, then, can culturally determined perspectives and knowledges be surveyed? If the concepts and vocabularies within my fields of study define themselves in relation to one another as well as shape my own thought processes, is there a possibility of being interdisciplinary? These problems are particularly relevant to my course of study, as I am examining processes by which power structures and social movements evolve, cultures clash and interact, and revolutions succeed. A shifting academic structure greatly parallels a shifting social structure. If it is impossible to break out of the “prison houses of our various specialties” (Fish 244), how will the walls between academia and the “outside world” be broken? If we are again to be enclosed by partiality of knowledge in our attempts to free ourselves from such boundaries, will we continually be dominated by powers out of our reach, oppressed by our own partial and situated knowledges? Will any social revolution repress us by new and unforeseen boundaries, institutional orders, structures of power? These questions are central both to this article and to the study of social change and power.
I must agree with Stanley Fish that this particular view of radical interdisciplinarity is incompatible with the epistemology accompanying it. I do not believe, however, that revolutionary reconstruction of disciplinary boundaries, and of larger society, is fruitless, impossible, or should be viewed as merely reshaping the cages we inhabit. Although our knowledge is always partial and constructed, we can change many of the channels through which it is formed. I reconcile these problems of radical political interdisciplinarity with this epistemological view by posing that revolution is to be understood in terms of a constant process of reconstituting boundaries in spite of, and in light of, the obfuscatory nature of knowledge. As long as boundaries exist within knowledge, a revolutionary potential exists within those boundaries. Interdisciplinarity, then, is always a revolutionary avenue and instrument, and is not limited to movement between the spaces between academic disciplines; it is a character of people moving and learning in the world, reconstructing boundaries and knowledges to suit their needs.
A goal within my own field of study is the transgression of boundaries between academia and public participation. My own purpose for individually designing an interdisciplinary degree is to equip myself with knowledge and theory necessary to guide my political activity outside an academic sphere after graduation. I wish to create new ways in which to know and move in the world. By constructing knowledges in an interdisciplinary, or integrative manner, boundaries can be broken, new pathways can emerge, and we can each participate in many disciplines or knowledge formations in order to shape and be shaped by an ever-changing world.
By studying social theory in relation to anthropology, history in relation to philosophy, new questions will arise, new boundaries will be formed and broken, and new possibilities for understanding the wholeness of the world will emerge. The wholeness of the world will remain hidden, partially concealed, but always filled with revolutionary potential. I must regularly ask myself, in what forms will newly constructed edifices of knowledge arise, by what means can I alter the paths of their construction to attend to our present dilemmas, and in what way is my participation in this system of formation affecting the change I wish to see?
Fish poses that this vision of interdisciplinarity is incompatible with its accompanying epistemology – that meaning and knowledge are not simply “there”, but are produced by a system that escapes the foundations which it enables. In other words, the system which enables knowledge formations can not be presented, is ignorant of itself, and always “excludes more than it reveals” (Fish 243). If bringing to light the constructions and conditions of knowledge depends on viewing them through a perspective similarly constructed and veiled, then interdisciplinarity cannot free us from bound knowledge; new boundaries will be formed and knowledge formations will continue to be constrained within historical, institutional, and cultural contexts. If interdisciplinarity is defined by the breaking free of such cages, then interdisciplinarity understood in accordance with this epistemological view is quite impossible.
How, then, can culturally determined perspectives and knowledges be surveyed? If the concepts and vocabularies within my fields of study define themselves in relation to one another as well as shape my own thought processes, is there a possibility of being interdisciplinary? These problems are particularly relevant to my course of study, as I am examining processes by which power structures and social movements evolve, cultures clash and interact, and revolutions succeed. A shifting academic structure greatly parallels a shifting social structure. If it is impossible to break out of the “prison houses of our various specialties” (Fish 244), how will the walls between academia and the “outside world” be broken? If we are again to be enclosed by partiality of knowledge in our attempts to free ourselves from such boundaries, will we continually be dominated by powers out of our reach, oppressed by our own partial and situated knowledges? Will any social revolution repress us by new and unforeseen boundaries, institutional orders, structures of power? These questions are central both to this article and to the study of social change and power.
I must agree with Stanley Fish that this particular view of radical interdisciplinarity is incompatible with the epistemology accompanying it. I do not believe, however, that revolutionary reconstruction of disciplinary boundaries, and of larger society, is fruitless, impossible, or should be viewed as merely reshaping the cages we inhabit. Although our knowledge is always partial and constructed, we can change many of the channels through which it is formed. I reconcile these problems of radical political interdisciplinarity with this epistemological view by posing that revolution is to be understood in terms of a constant process of reconstituting boundaries in spite of, and in light of, the obfuscatory nature of knowledge. As long as boundaries exist within knowledge, a revolutionary potential exists within those boundaries. Interdisciplinarity, then, is always a revolutionary avenue and instrument, and is not limited to movement between the spaces between academic disciplines; it is a character of people moving and learning in the world, reconstructing boundaries and knowledges to suit their needs.
A goal within my own field of study is the transgression of boundaries between academia and public participation. My own purpose for individually designing an interdisciplinary degree is to equip myself with knowledge and theory necessary to guide my political activity outside an academic sphere after graduation. I wish to create new ways in which to know and move in the world. By constructing knowledges in an interdisciplinary, or integrative manner, boundaries can be broken, new pathways can emerge, and we can each participate in many disciplines or knowledge formations in order to shape and be shaped by an ever-changing world.
By studying social theory in relation to anthropology, history in relation to philosophy, new questions will arise, new boundaries will be formed and broken, and new possibilities for understanding the wholeness of the world will emerge. The wholeness of the world will remain hidden, partially concealed, but always filled with revolutionary potential. I must regularly ask myself, in what forms will newly constructed edifices of knowledge arise, by what means can I alter the paths of their construction to attend to our present dilemmas, and in what way is my participation in this system of formation affecting the change I wish to see?
Statement of Purpose Part Two
Statement of Purpose Part Two
Here at Appalachian State University I am studying film. This school does not technically have a film studies program so I am studying it through Interdisciplinary Studies. I am pulling classes from the English department, the Curriculum and Instruction department, the Theatre and possibly the Communications departments. My main focus will be on the technical aspect of film because that is what I am most passionate about.
The classes I am taking from the English department are Introduction to Film, Survey of World Cinema I and II, Advanced Studies in Film, and possibly Film Theory and Criticism or Screenwriting. The two classes I am taking from the Curriculum and Instruction department are Introduction to Sight and Sound and Beginning Video Production. The only class I know of right now that I will take in the Theatre department is Producing the Narrative Film, but I think there is a film workshop offered over the summer by the same professor as the production course. I do not know if I am going to take any classes from the Communications department because I think they are more geared towards television production not films.
I had originally planned to major in English with the concentration in film, but when I went to each one of my classes one semester I knew I would not last. English is not even close to one of my favorite subjects, so majoring in it would have been pure torture! After that I was shopping around different majors trying to figure something out, I looked at the Communications major, Business major, and a few others. I even considered transferring schools until someone told me about the Interdisciplinary Studies program. I looked into it and immediately made an appointment with Richard Carp. After the meeting I had a vague idea of the classes I wanted to take because I already knew all the film classes from the English department.
As for my portfolio, I have put a lot of thought into it and I figured out that I’m going to make a website and create links to everything I do that relates to my major. Any films that I make, reviews that I write, papers that I write that relate to interdisciplinarity. The only thing I haven’t figured out yet is whether I’m going to strictly follow the portfolio requirements or create my own guidelines. I have a few papers I have written for Praxis that might be able to go in the portfolio, along with papers I have written for Introduction to Film and Survey of World Cinema I. The only actual film I have made was the one from the Apple iMovie Contest and once I actually create the website I will put it up. I will also create a link to my Introduction to Sight and Sound website because there are a lot of great projects I have done in that class that would fit well in the portfolio.
Here at Appalachian State University I am studying film. This school does not technically have a film studies program so I am studying it through Interdisciplinary Studies. I am pulling classes from the English department, the Curriculum and Instruction department, the Theatre and possibly the Communications departments. My main focus will be on the technical aspect of film because that is what I am most passionate about.
The classes I am taking from the English department are Introduction to Film, Survey of World Cinema I and II, Advanced Studies in Film, and possibly Film Theory and Criticism or Screenwriting. The two classes I am taking from the Curriculum and Instruction department are Introduction to Sight and Sound and Beginning Video Production. The only class I know of right now that I will take in the Theatre department is Producing the Narrative Film, but I think there is a film workshop offered over the summer by the same professor as the production course. I do not know if I am going to take any classes from the Communications department because I think they are more geared towards television production not films.
I had originally planned to major in English with the concentration in film, but when I went to each one of my classes one semester I knew I would not last. English is not even close to one of my favorite subjects, so majoring in it would have been pure torture! After that I was shopping around different majors trying to figure something out, I looked at the Communications major, Business major, and a few others. I even considered transferring schools until someone told me about the Interdisciplinary Studies program. I looked into it and immediately made an appointment with Richard Carp. After the meeting I had a vague idea of the classes I wanted to take because I already knew all the film classes from the English department.
As for my portfolio, I have put a lot of thought into it and I figured out that I’m going to make a website and create links to everything I do that relates to my major. Any films that I make, reviews that I write, papers that I write that relate to interdisciplinarity. The only thing I haven’t figured out yet is whether I’m going to strictly follow the portfolio requirements or create my own guidelines. I have a few papers I have written for Praxis that might be able to go in the portfolio, along with papers I have written for Introduction to Film and Survey of World Cinema I. The only actual film I have made was the one from the Apple iMovie Contest and once I actually create the website I will put it up. I will also create a link to my Introduction to Sight and Sound website because there are a lot of great projects I have done in that class that would fit well in the portfolio.
Senior Portfolio
here is a link to the wiki that I am using to present my senior portfolio. It is still a rough draft.
-kegan
-kegan
Monday, December 1, 2008
Campus Events: Farmers Market
Sorry Y'all. I thought there was a holiday farmers market this coming Saturday but in fact it was Nov. 29. However the market is a continuous event that will start again on May 2nd. Here's a link to the website which has more info. I strongly recommend you attend at some point.
P.S. the goat cheese, and the molasses alone are worth the trip.
http://wataugacountyfarmersmarket.org/
P.S. the goat cheese, and the molasses alone are worth the trip.
http://wataugacountyfarmersmarket.org/
Campus Events
John Fitzgerald
IDS Praxis
Campus Events
The Andy Warhol Exhibit was an enjoyable event to attend. There was a live Jazz band in the northwestern wing of the Turchin Center and a DJ playing remixed period themed songs. Energy was bouncing around the room with the music and imagery stirring imaginations. People were flowing around socializing, celebrating, and absorbing the effect of Warhol’s art.
The easily graspable Polaroid photography of well-to-do clients and models were intriguing, and almost nostalgic. Rich women slathered in white makeup and posed in highly dramatic poses, Warhol’s photographic plastic surgery was way ahead of its time reflecting the current usage programs to alter digital photographs to achieve astounding contrast in portrait photography.
The event was interdisciplinary in that it was a social celebration of previously unobservable art being delivered to the public, so that more people can be inspired by the artist’s unique sense and portrayal of ideas. There was a feeling of attending an exhibition with Warhol’s presence that was generated by the atmosphere.
The main connection between this event and my studies are purely the social and inspirational factors. Believing in the interconnectedness of human beings, or Warhol’s famous idea that everyone has 15 minutes of fame resonates with increasing global awareness, and the rapid adoption of new technology. The social aspect of generating the aura of the artist and creating his influence through both the physical art and peoples reactions to it is similar to the philosophical and anthropological focus of my major.
The other event I attended was the Watauga County Farmers Market. The market is an ongoing community gathering on Saturdays through the temperate seasons. Fresh produce and crafts are available from local vendors and crafters. This market is a good way to support local businesses and find high quality produce and crafts at reasonable prices. It’s also a cultural display of the products of the region. Through these physical items and comparing them with mass-produced items we can attempt to attain a better understanding of the real importance of our connection with the environment.
Buying local food and supporting locally owned businesses are two important concepts in promoting sustainability. Purchasing food that has been grown with traditional methods, and has been transported under one hundred miles prevents a lot of energy consumption and helps to establish a fundamental connection between the people inhabiting an area and the products of the land in that area. Supporting local business ensures the continual progress of the area, rather than slowly filtering funds to larger corporations that threaten inter-industry competition and prevent the consumer from having a variety of choices concerning production methods.
The market is also a great place to see friends, enjoy local musicians, pick up some seriously good food, and find some well made handcrafts. All parts of the reason why it exemplifies my studies in connecting the community with the environment, and exposing how fruitful the labors can be.
IDS Praxis
Campus Events
The Andy Warhol Exhibit was an enjoyable event to attend. There was a live Jazz band in the northwestern wing of the Turchin Center and a DJ playing remixed period themed songs. Energy was bouncing around the room with the music and imagery stirring imaginations. People were flowing around socializing, celebrating, and absorbing the effect of Warhol’s art.
The easily graspable Polaroid photography of well-to-do clients and models were intriguing, and almost nostalgic. Rich women slathered in white makeup and posed in highly dramatic poses, Warhol’s photographic plastic surgery was way ahead of its time reflecting the current usage programs to alter digital photographs to achieve astounding contrast in portrait photography.
The event was interdisciplinary in that it was a social celebration of previously unobservable art being delivered to the public, so that more people can be inspired by the artist’s unique sense and portrayal of ideas. There was a feeling of attending an exhibition with Warhol’s presence that was generated by the atmosphere.
The main connection between this event and my studies are purely the social and inspirational factors. Believing in the interconnectedness of human beings, or Warhol’s famous idea that everyone has 15 minutes of fame resonates with increasing global awareness, and the rapid adoption of new technology. The social aspect of generating the aura of the artist and creating his influence through both the physical art and peoples reactions to it is similar to the philosophical and anthropological focus of my major.
The other event I attended was the Watauga County Farmers Market. The market is an ongoing community gathering on Saturdays through the temperate seasons. Fresh produce and crafts are available from local vendors and crafters. This market is a good way to support local businesses and find high quality produce and crafts at reasonable prices. It’s also a cultural display of the products of the region. Through these physical items and comparing them with mass-produced items we can attempt to attain a better understanding of the real importance of our connection with the environment.
Buying local food and supporting locally owned businesses are two important concepts in promoting sustainability. Purchasing food that has been grown with traditional methods, and has been transported under one hundred miles prevents a lot of energy consumption and helps to establish a fundamental connection between the people inhabiting an area and the products of the land in that area. Supporting local business ensures the continual progress of the area, rather than slowly filtering funds to larger corporations that threaten inter-industry competition and prevent the consumer from having a variety of choices concerning production methods.
The market is also a great place to see friends, enjoy local musicians, pick up some seriously good food, and find some well made handcrafts. All parts of the reason why it exemplifies my studies in connecting the community with the environment, and exposing how fruitful the labors can be.
Theories of Interdisciplinarity
Integrative Praxes: Learning from Multiple Knowledge Formations written by Richard Carp explores and expands upon William Newell’s, “A Theory of Interdisciplinary Studies.” While Newell’s theory stays within the realms of disciplinarity, Carp travels beyond these historical and cultural restraints and uncovers the goal of all our studying.
Carp’s article divulges Newell’s beliefs that the disciplines are the foundations of interdisciplinarity (p. 78). In Newell’s words, “By definition, interdisciplinary study draws insights from relevant disciplines and integrates those insights into a more comprehensive understanding” (p. 83). Carp acknowledges Newell as an integral part of defining interdisciplinarity over the last thirty years, but fears that interdisciplinary study is losing more than it gains.
Carp talks of, “…creative insurgency—a desire to change the structures through which knowledge is generated and disseminated by confounding, resisting, transforming, and replacing existing institutional forms (perhaps in perpetuity)” (p. 85). Carp describes his understanding of interdisciplinary study as, “a search not only for new ‘knowledge’ but also of new ways to know and of new ‘things’ to be known, including new social relations that generate and validate knowledge, new spatial experience giving rise to new ‘knowing subjects,’ and new dimensions for knowledge (p. 85). The Integrative Praxes article wants to push past the constraints of disciplinary structures and open up dialogue to future foundations of knowledge systems.
What I have gathered from reading this article is that Western knowledge is based on a disciplinary knowledge formation that is only two centuries old. The disciplines formed, to keep our capitalist society moving smoothly for the people who created it. With the academy in place, it solidified people’s status and the cycle began. With this new knowledge system in place other forms of attaining knowledge fell to the wayside; with new technology comes new problems needing solutions.
Carp eventually begins to use the phrase, “integrative praxes” instead of interdisciplinarity. With interdisciplinary studies relying heavily on a disciplinary foundation, Carp prefers a vocabulary that encompasses a broader range of knowledge formations. These formations would come from other forms of learning such as, the knowledge of woman and mothers, the knowledge of apprenticeship, the knowledge from our bodies, and many more. When different types of knowledge come together, Carp says life happens.
The objective of Carp’s article is to clarify that the goal of the journey of knowledge formation is to live well (p. 71). Throughout his article, Carp describes and explains that knowledge comes from everything we do not just one institution or one experience. “The world we study is the world we live, and our studying of it is one component of our living in it. But the end and goal of all our studying is our life” (p.112).
Thus far in my life, my knowledge formations for the majority have come from inside the academy. I was taught from a young age that school was the way to do what you wanted in your life. No questions asked, until I went to college. The knowledge processes I cherish, and am most passionate about have come from other sources. I have learned so much from family and family history. Travel experiences and work experiences have taught me more than I could have learned from sitting in a blank classroom. I began learning about art on my own somehow, but wanted to take classes. My art degree is coming from a foundation of disciplinarity, but I do not believe that it had to happen in that way. Through my interdisciplinary studies, I have gained the knowledge and foundation to now see this. I have learned a great deal, I do not mean to discount it, but I feel strongly that there are other ways for me to learn and I know I will discover them. The academy is only one way to form knowledge processes and now, I am more confident in exploring other means of acquiring knowledge for myself in the future.
The overall goal of “living well” along with a lifetime of learning is a belief I share with Richard Carp. Reading his article, revitalized my thoughts and feelings about a lifetime of learning. The path I have taken for knowledge, I do not feel, could have been satiated in a disciplinary department. I feel this because, “living well” is what motivates my journey and takes me to unexpected places. Knowing that I am becoming more and more comfortable as a perpetual learner.
Carp’s article divulges Newell’s beliefs that the disciplines are the foundations of interdisciplinarity (p. 78). In Newell’s words, “By definition, interdisciplinary study draws insights from relevant disciplines and integrates those insights into a more comprehensive understanding” (p. 83). Carp acknowledges Newell as an integral part of defining interdisciplinarity over the last thirty years, but fears that interdisciplinary study is losing more than it gains.
Carp talks of, “…creative insurgency—a desire to change the structures through which knowledge is generated and disseminated by confounding, resisting, transforming, and replacing existing institutional forms (perhaps in perpetuity)” (p. 85). Carp describes his understanding of interdisciplinary study as, “a search not only for new ‘knowledge’ but also of new ways to know and of new ‘things’ to be known, including new social relations that generate and validate knowledge, new spatial experience giving rise to new ‘knowing subjects,’ and new dimensions for knowledge (p. 85). The Integrative Praxes article wants to push past the constraints of disciplinary structures and open up dialogue to future foundations of knowledge systems.
What I have gathered from reading this article is that Western knowledge is based on a disciplinary knowledge formation that is only two centuries old. The disciplines formed, to keep our capitalist society moving smoothly for the people who created it. With the academy in place, it solidified people’s status and the cycle began. With this new knowledge system in place other forms of attaining knowledge fell to the wayside; with new technology comes new problems needing solutions.
Carp eventually begins to use the phrase, “integrative praxes” instead of interdisciplinarity. With interdisciplinary studies relying heavily on a disciplinary foundation, Carp prefers a vocabulary that encompasses a broader range of knowledge formations. These formations would come from other forms of learning such as, the knowledge of woman and mothers, the knowledge of apprenticeship, the knowledge from our bodies, and many more. When different types of knowledge come together, Carp says life happens.
The objective of Carp’s article is to clarify that the goal of the journey of knowledge formation is to live well (p. 71). Throughout his article, Carp describes and explains that knowledge comes from everything we do not just one institution or one experience. “The world we study is the world we live, and our studying of it is one component of our living in it. But the end and goal of all our studying is our life” (p.112).
Thus far in my life, my knowledge formations for the majority have come from inside the academy. I was taught from a young age that school was the way to do what you wanted in your life. No questions asked, until I went to college. The knowledge processes I cherish, and am most passionate about have come from other sources. I have learned so much from family and family history. Travel experiences and work experiences have taught me more than I could have learned from sitting in a blank classroom. I began learning about art on my own somehow, but wanted to take classes. My art degree is coming from a foundation of disciplinarity, but I do not believe that it had to happen in that way. Through my interdisciplinary studies, I have gained the knowledge and foundation to now see this. I have learned a great deal, I do not mean to discount it, but I feel strongly that there are other ways for me to learn and I know I will discover them. The academy is only one way to form knowledge processes and now, I am more confident in exploring other means of acquiring knowledge for myself in the future.
The overall goal of “living well” along with a lifetime of learning is a belief I share with Richard Carp. Reading his article, revitalized my thoughts and feelings about a lifetime of learning. The path I have taken for knowledge, I do not feel, could have been satiated in a disciplinary department. I feel this because, “living well” is what motivates my journey and takes me to unexpected places. Knowing that I am becoming more and more comfortable as a perpetual learner.
paper 4- multi authored packet
Christina Fisher
Interdisciplinary Praxis
December 2, 2008
It Really Does Take A Village…
In the multi-authored packet of information on interdisciplinarity, there are several points that explain not only what interdisciplinary studies means, but also the several ways by which to obtain the goals and why they are hard to do. Klein and Newell see the goal as being “a more comprehensive perspective”; i.e., a larger more holistic understanding of the question, problem, or issue at hand.” Today the world has many problems that can only be solved by pulling resources from many areas to achieve the most complete answer. It is true that within a given situation, one must pull from sources that do make some sense in their relations to one another. Fuller discussed the concept of “interpenetration” which is described as a “process that transforms the disciplines in ways that help them to see each other as engaged in a common enterprise. Not every discipline interacts with each other well, but finding the ones that do correlate and using them to achieve one greater good is vital.
In my concentration, environmental stewardship is a means by which certain social problems can be solved. This will require several steps. First a specific problem must be defined as having the ability to somehow be answered. Within the range of environmental concerns as well as socioeconomic ones, there is an ocean of possibility. One simply cannot justify that their knowledge of the breeding habits of whales will bring world peace. More plausible connections can however be made that can help both the environment and the quality of life for today’s children and families.
The question of helping to better the lives of children through addressing the problems of the environment concurrently is still a difficult one, which does require knowledge of several fields. One must understand from geological and environmental standpoints, what is going on with the Earth itself. Also in examining environmental links to social problems, there must be an understanding of social problems themselves. The most difficult aspect of determining an interdisciplinary course on a seemingly broad topic is that the interdisciplinary approach needs to be able to create the solution or it is not useful. Sometimes it takes a lot of simultaneous instruction or field study to see the connections that can make this happen. As the author Bal has found, there are links to sources and text from several different areas of study than can provide that more technical proof of the necessity of integration to solve an issue.
In working with children in their early years on a microscale, I got a personal view of what is needed for a child to properly grow and be well integrated into society. Strangely at first, I noticed connections between their personal environments and their personal growth. Several children had chronic asthma and could not play outdoors in temperatures that were too high because the chemical content in the air was bad for them. The ozone depletion has affected their ability to go out into the sunlight as children should. Sunlight helps the absorption of vitamin D that helps them grow strong. Children with weaker bone structure and general health in infant or toddler stages could potentially have long term problems with bone growth.. As well, their teeth may be more prone to cavities and diseases of the mouth that could later in life actually affect the heart, if badly enough infected. Also, pesticides and additives in foods and toys children put in their mouths have been linked to mental impairments and conditions from ADD to autism. One last point on this, is that the sun is vital for mental health as well, so not being able to go outside because air quality is so bad is a pretty sad thing. On the other side of the chemical coin, not using pesticides in playgrounds are leading to higher rates of tick and other insect related diseases. Parents react to these problems by trying to keep everything sanitized so much so that children as a whole are less immune to certain communicable diseases because they do not have enough healthy bacteria in their bodies, which can lead to overuse of antibiotics and steroids to combat the illnesses.
These personal issues have become wide scale because of the lack of concern for what is put into foods, toys, textiles, and building materials. Add that to the depletion of resources and the problems will only get bigger. Special needs classes are becoming more of a norm than they ever should be. Many parents who have to constantly deal with expensive treatments and schooling issues have to work longer hours to physically take care of their children especially in this economy, that families have much less time and energy for simply having fun.
The reason I chose this specific issue to describe is to illustrate how closely related we are to our habitats. Everyday lives have become very complicated, and that is before the factors of war, direct dire poverty, and natural disasters that humans are escalating with our consumption patterns; buy now, pay later. Unfortunately, people are having to pay much sooner than expected for what they do right now. This issue has to be dealt within a multidiscipline because the chain reaction it long. My personal experiences with sustainability, sociology, child care, and technology and design shape the way I will approach this issue. Changing home environments and small communities to support healthier lifestyles of the American family is a reasonable mission, but as of now, few companies and builders are as concerned as they need to be because they have not studied long term effects of fast and cheap. Being involved in community planning and home environmental counseling for families of infants is one way that can begin to reverse the downward turn. The ideas really are more like a fruit basket than a puzzle because there is no one right answer for every situation. However, noticing patterns ahead of time and trying to keep children healthy as opposed to expensively treating their illnesses, can save families money and time but more importantly, children’s present well being and future on this planet.
Interdisciplinary Praxis
December 2, 2008
It Really Does Take A Village…
In the multi-authored packet of information on interdisciplinarity, there are several points that explain not only what interdisciplinary studies means, but also the several ways by which to obtain the goals and why they are hard to do. Klein and Newell see the goal as being “a more comprehensive perspective”; i.e., a larger more holistic understanding of the question, problem, or issue at hand.” Today the world has many problems that can only be solved by pulling resources from many areas to achieve the most complete answer. It is true that within a given situation, one must pull from sources that do make some sense in their relations to one another. Fuller discussed the concept of “interpenetration” which is described as a “process that transforms the disciplines in ways that help them to see each other as engaged in a common enterprise. Not every discipline interacts with each other well, but finding the ones that do correlate and using them to achieve one greater good is vital.
In my concentration, environmental stewardship is a means by which certain social problems can be solved. This will require several steps. First a specific problem must be defined as having the ability to somehow be answered. Within the range of environmental concerns as well as socioeconomic ones, there is an ocean of possibility. One simply cannot justify that their knowledge of the breeding habits of whales will bring world peace. More plausible connections can however be made that can help both the environment and the quality of life for today’s children and families.
The question of helping to better the lives of children through addressing the problems of the environment concurrently is still a difficult one, which does require knowledge of several fields. One must understand from geological and environmental standpoints, what is going on with the Earth itself. Also in examining environmental links to social problems, there must be an understanding of social problems themselves. The most difficult aspect of determining an interdisciplinary course on a seemingly broad topic is that the interdisciplinary approach needs to be able to create the solution or it is not useful. Sometimes it takes a lot of simultaneous instruction or field study to see the connections that can make this happen. As the author Bal has found, there are links to sources and text from several different areas of study than can provide that more technical proof of the necessity of integration to solve an issue.
In working with children in their early years on a microscale, I got a personal view of what is needed for a child to properly grow and be well integrated into society. Strangely at first, I noticed connections between their personal environments and their personal growth. Several children had chronic asthma and could not play outdoors in temperatures that were too high because the chemical content in the air was bad for them. The ozone depletion has affected their ability to go out into the sunlight as children should. Sunlight helps the absorption of vitamin D that helps them grow strong. Children with weaker bone structure and general health in infant or toddler stages could potentially have long term problems with bone growth.. As well, their teeth may be more prone to cavities and diseases of the mouth that could later in life actually affect the heart, if badly enough infected. Also, pesticides and additives in foods and toys children put in their mouths have been linked to mental impairments and conditions from ADD to autism. One last point on this, is that the sun is vital for mental health as well, so not being able to go outside because air quality is so bad is a pretty sad thing. On the other side of the chemical coin, not using pesticides in playgrounds are leading to higher rates of tick and other insect related diseases. Parents react to these problems by trying to keep everything sanitized so much so that children as a whole are less immune to certain communicable diseases because they do not have enough healthy bacteria in their bodies, which can lead to overuse of antibiotics and steroids to combat the illnesses.
These personal issues have become wide scale because of the lack of concern for what is put into foods, toys, textiles, and building materials. Add that to the depletion of resources and the problems will only get bigger. Special needs classes are becoming more of a norm than they ever should be. Many parents who have to constantly deal with expensive treatments and schooling issues have to work longer hours to physically take care of their children especially in this economy, that families have much less time and energy for simply having fun.
The reason I chose this specific issue to describe is to illustrate how closely related we are to our habitats. Everyday lives have become very complicated, and that is before the factors of war, direct dire poverty, and natural disasters that humans are escalating with our consumption patterns; buy now, pay later. Unfortunately, people are having to pay much sooner than expected for what they do right now. This issue has to be dealt within a multidiscipline because the chain reaction it long. My personal experiences with sustainability, sociology, child care, and technology and design shape the way I will approach this issue. Changing home environments and small communities to support healthier lifestyles of the American family is a reasonable mission, but as of now, few companies and builders are as concerned as they need to be because they have not studied long term effects of fast and cheap. Being involved in community planning and home environmental counseling for families of infants is one way that can begin to reverse the downward turn. The ideas really are more like a fruit basket than a puzzle because there is no one right answer for every situation. However, noticing patterns ahead of time and trying to keep children healthy as opposed to expensively treating their illnesses, can save families money and time but more importantly, children’s present well being and future on this planet.
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