Creating interdisciplinary campus cultures: a model for strength and sustainability

This book provides a primer for interdisciplinary change, offering a portfolio of practical strategies. These strategies are anchored in a conceptual framework that unites concepts from organizational theory and higher education studies, embodied in a variety of forms and practices that challenge the way we think about knowledge and education. ‘Interdisciplinarity’ has become a mantra for change in higher education. The word appears in countless reports and strategic plans nationwide, and its importance is affirmed by a growing literature and increased support from funding agencies. However, the gap between the rhetoric of endorsement and the reality of campus life has generated widespread concern about continuing barriers and impediments, such as uneven patterns of growth and institutional support. Beyond these obstacles, proponents of change are often uncertain about how to go about the systematic planning, implementing, and sustaining of interdisciplinary programs and projects. The central task of this book--creating campus cultures that enable rather than impede interdisciplinary work and thought--requires a systematic approach to identifying current activities and interests, leveraging existing resources, benchmarking ‘best practices,’ strategic targeting of initiatives alongside a general looseningof barriers, and scaffolding the work to higher levels of strength and sustainability. The portfolio of concrete strategies synthesizes lessons of practicefrom the voluminous print literature and ‘gray literature’ of conference papers, reports and guidelines, and increasingly materials in online forums. Not every campus will follow every strategy presented in the volume, nor can any primer for interdisciplinary change be a universal formula or set of rules. However, by providing a conceptual framework for interdisciplinary change coupled with lessons of theory and practice, this book provides an essential resource that will inform local decision-making."

• ISBN: 978-0-470-55089-2
• Editorial: John Wiley & Sons
• Encuadernacion: Cartoné
• Páginas: 240
• Fecha Publicación: 28/01/2010
• Nº Volúmenes: 1
• Idioma: Inglés