Issues in Interdisciplinary Studies Volume 12 (1994)
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Item Interdisciplinary Research for Integrated Rural Development in Developing Countries: the Role of Social Sciences(Association for Interdisciplinary Studies, 1994) Bailis, Stanley; Gottlieb, Stephen; Klein, Julie ThompsonThis article is based on the experiences of various interdisciplinary research and planning teams at Wageningen Agricultural University. After giving a typology of interdisciplinary research, the authors examine the role of social sciences in interdisciplinary research in various fields of importance for rural development in developing countries. The type of interdisciplinary research discussed is the so-called "broad" interdisciplinary research in which participating disciplines have very different paradigms. The article closes with an overview of the potentials and constraints in broad interdisciplinary research and some general observations. Finally, systematic evaluations of interdisciplinary research programs will contribute to its progress.Item The Main Forms of Interdisciplinary Development of Modern Science(Association for Interdisciplinary Studies, 1994) Bailis, Stanley; Gottlieb, Stephen; Klein, Julie ThompsonItem Interdisciplinary Studies as Change of Perspective(Association for Interdisciplinary Studies, 1994) Bailis, Stanley; Gottlieb, Stephen; Klein, Julie ThompsonThis framework for introductory science courses presents a theoretical perspective in the context of an experimental tertiary college at the University of Bielefeld, the Oberstufen-Kolleg, It examines general assumptions about interdisciplinarity and illustrates the theoretical perspective with a concrete example of a course entitled "Maker or Marionette? Perspectives on Man in Industrial Society."Item Overcoming Barriers: Interdisciplinary Studies in Disciplinary Institutions(Association for Interdisciplinary Studies, 1994) Bailis, Stanley; Gottlieb, Stephen; Klein, Julie ThompsonItem Interdisciplinary Thought(Association for Interdisciplinary Studies, 1994) Bailis, Stanley; Gottlieb, Stephen; Klein, Julie ThompsonThis essay examines types of overlapping thought between subjects. The definition of "interdisciplinarity" that is proposed is a thought process that overlaps subjects. It is oriented toward a topic as a whole, leading to standardization of the comprehension of phenomena by connecting partial explanations of different sciences with one another. The task of interdisciplinary research is not to be solved with a global interdisciplinary theory. It must be pursued within individual sciences in daily usage, and must entail attention to problems of language and clarifying the core questions. Theory should nurture practice, effecting a gradual change that promotes attention to questions that border on individuals' areas of specialization.Item Key Issues in Recent German Interdisciplinary Scholarship(Association for Interdisciplinary Studies, 1994) Bailis, Stanley; Gottlieb, Stephen; Klein, Julie ThompsonItem Interdisciplinarity: The Construction of Worldviews and the Dissemination of Scientific Results(Association for Interdisciplinary Studies, 1994) Bailis, Stanley; Gottlieb, Stephen; Klein, Julie ThompsonThis essay consists of four parts: an introduction by Vanlandschoot to the Woridviews project and the Centrum Leo Apostel, the text of a videotaped interview with Apostel shown at the 1989 meeting of the AIS at Sonoma State University, a fuller account of the Worldviews project by Vanlandschoot, and excerpls from an essay in self-criticism by Apostel, with final reflections by Vanlandschoot.Item Crossing of Boundaries: Interdisciplinarity as an Opportunity for Universities in the 1990s?(Association for Interdisciplinary Studies, 1994) Bailis, Stanley; Gottlieb, Stephen; Klein, Julie ThompsonThis essay discusses interdisciplinarity as a theoretical, historical, and political scholarly issue. Vosskamp emphasizes, first and foremost, that interdisciplinarity is both dependent upon and indebted to disciplinarity and, further, that successful dialogue and cooperation among the disciplines require both independence within and competence of individual disciplines. He offers a scholarly history of interdisciplinarity before embarking upon an explanation and illustration of interdisciplinary communicative competence; these discussions lead him to draw specific institutional conclusions pertinent to research and teaching in universities in the 1990s.Item Introduction: European Perspectives(Association for Interdisciplinary Studies, 1994) Bailis, Stanley; Gottlieb, Stephen; Klein, Julie Thompson; Gerber, Leslie E.Item Esperantists in a Tower of Babel(Association for Interdisciplinary Studies, 1994) Bailis, Stanley; Gottlieb, Stephen; Klein, Julie ThompsonThe problems and possibilities of interdisciplinarity are explored in this essay from the perspective of a favorably-disposed agnostic. It is argued that a piecemeal, step-by-step approach may prove more effective in helping to promote the necessary changes in attitude and practice than a radically proselytizing one. Some of the main hindrances - both social and cognitive - to interdisciplinary development are reviewed before noting that. at the micro-level of individual specialisms, a number of relevant activities already occur. Though there remain significant barriers to progress, an encouraging area of common concern can be identified on which to base a systematic move towards greater intellectual unity.