Issues in Interdisciplinary Studies Volume 25 (2007)
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Item The Role of Intuition in Interdisciplinary Insight(Association for Interdisciplinary Studies, 2007) Navakas, Francine; Fiscella, JoanIntuition is a hotly debated topic in interdisciplinary scholarship, at the core of the conflict between the need for rigor as opposed to open-mindedness within interdisciplinary studies. To thoroughly investigate this subject, an integration of multiple disciplinary perspectives is required. The mechanisms of intuition are revealed through the studies of cognitive psychology. Intuition has an important role in scientific discovery and in the epistemological traditions of Western philosophy, as well as a central function in Eastern concepts of wisdom. It also is prized for its practical application in a multitude of professions, from business to health care to the military. Intuition can be trained and thus has a place in higher education. For interdisciplinarity, intuition is a crucial faculty for understanding complexity, and therefore must be recognized and included in the development of integrative method and theories of interdisciplinarity.Item Integrating Interdisciplinarity: How the Theories of Common Ground and Cognitive Interdisciplinarity Are Informing the Debate on Interdisciplinary Integration(Association for Interdisciplinary Studies, 2007) Nacakas, Francine; Fiscella, JoanWith the role of integration within theories of interdisciplinarity still contested, definitional and methodological questions persist within and outside of the field. Recent developments in cognitive psychology, with a particular emphasis on theories of common ground and cognitive interdisciplinarity, offer a productive vantage point for re-examining the debate. The synergies between these theories, the literature of interdisciplinarity, and the observed outcomes of student learning offer a sharper view of the place of integration in interdisciplinary process and of tools for more purposefully examining its impact.Item Modernism, Postmodernism, and Interdisciplinarity(Association for Interdisciplinary Studies, 2007) Navakas, Francine; Fiscella, JoanWhile postmodernist and modernist approaches to a range of epistemological and methodological issues are well established, there is less explicit attention given to the contribution of interdisciplinarity to these same questions. Through a comparison/contrast format, this paper will examine the particularities of modernist, postmodernist, and interdisciplinary theory and practice, and follow with observations regarding the ways in which, despite complementarities, the interdisciplinary position overcomes problems often associated with modernism and postmodernism. While in other arenas different aspects of these contested concepts might be explored, this study promotes inquiry that rigorously addresses how scholarship can be advanced and how the academy can exercise its responsibility in the public sphere.Item Profane Illumination, Genre, and the Integrative Study of Literature(Association for Interdisciplinary Studies, 2007) Navakas, Francine; Fiscella, JoanIn addition to questioning and crossing disciplinary boundaries, Integrative Studies scholars need to question and cross genre boundaries, reaching toward innovation in presentation as well as methodology. Scholarship, like creative writing, often grows out of a personal quest for knowledge and meaning; yet the two paths of inquiry often diverge rather than take advantage of the full spectrum of approaches that include narrative, speculation, and personal voice and the more widely accepted strategies of analysis and experimentation. The arguments for integration are worth exploring at greater depth. A consideration of Walter Benjamin's insights into the nature of thinking and Carl Jung's work on synchronicity can lead integrative scholars to imagine intellectual directions and prose forms that integrate the personal with the analytical and the critical with the creative without sacrificing creativity or scholarly rigor.Item The Integrated Self Crosses Borders Daily: Inviting the Mystical Realism of the Integrated Scholar(Association for Interdisciplinary Studies, 2007) Navakas, Francine; Fiscella, JoanThis call to self reflection arising out of the keynote presentation invites readers to encounter and participate in the practice of the integrated scholar--a path across borders and boundaries often considered "outside" of formal learning. Propelled by a traumatic head injury that challenged cognitive abilities, this author's journey across physical, geographic, and cognitive borders has resonance for the study of integrative learning and practice--a dynamic process characterized by constant interaction and negotiation, recognition and surprise, and response to invited and uninvited callings from unexpected sources. At its core is mystical realism, an engagement with one's experience that involves suspending reliance on the surface boundaries for validation of what is possible and wise.Item Distinctive Challenges of Library-based Interdisciplinary Research and Writing: A Guide(Association for Interdisciplinary Studies, 2007) Navakas, Francine; Fiscella, JoanThis article examines the current challenges of library-based interdisciplinary research and writing within the larger context of the theory and practice of interdisciplinarity. Based upon experience with college seniors researching and writing year-long interdisciplinary projects and informed by the literatures on library science and interdisciplinary studies, the essay identifies the underlying sources of those challenges, the implications for the teaching of interdisciplinary subjects, and the consequences for interdisciplinary scholarship at a critical time in the maturation of the field. The paper employs a pragmatic approach informed by the foundational literature of the field.