Undisciplining Knowledge: Interdisciplinarity in the Twentieth Century

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JHU Press, 2015 - Business & Economics - 323 pages

Interdisciplinarity—or the interrelationships among distinct fields, disciplines, or branches of knowledge in pursuit of new answers to pressing problems—is one of the most contested topics in higher education today. Some see it as a way to break down the silos of academic departments and foster creative interchange, while others view it as a destructive force that will diminish academic quality and destroy the university as we know it. In Undisciplining Knowledge, acclaimed scholar Harvey J. Graff presents readers with the first comparative and critical history of interdisciplinary initiatives in the modern university. Arranged chronologically, the book tells the engaging story of how various academic fields both embraced and fought off efforts to share knowledge with other scholars. It is a story of myths, exaggerations, and misunderstandings, on all sides.

Touching on a wide variety of disciplines—including genetic biology, sociology, the humanities, communications, social relations, operations research, cognitive science, materials science, nanotechnology, cultural studies, literacy studies, and biosciences—the book examines the ideals, theories, and practices of interdisciplinarity through comparative case studies. Graff interweaves this narrative with a social, institutional, and intellectual history of interdisciplinary efforts over the 140 years of the modern university, focusing on both its implementation and evolution while exploring substantial differences in definitions, goals, institutional locations, and modes of organization across different areas of focus.

Scholars across the disciplines, specialists in higher education, administrators, and interested readers will find the book’s multiple perspectives and practical advice on building and operating—and avoiding fallacies and errors—in interdisciplinary research and education invaluable.

"[A] complex tapestry of the history of interdisciplinary knowledge production and institutionalization. Undisciplining Knowledge offers a detailed and illuminating account of the historical and intellectual forces that shaped interdisciplinarity in the twentieth century and those that continue to do so today."—Science Magazine

"Graff's carefully-argued book is much to be welcomed."—The Quarterly Review of Biology

"I am fascinated by Undisciplining Knowledge. The most comprehensive and complicating examination of interdisciplinary study yet undertaken. Graff pushes on the boundaries of received wisdom."—Mike Rose, author of Why School? Reclaiming Education for All of Us

Harvey J. Graff is the Ohio Eminent Scholar in Literacy Studies and a professor of English and history at the Ohio State University. He is the author of The Literacy Myth: Cultural Integration and Social Structure in the Nineteenth Century, Conflicting Paths: Growing Up in America, and The Dallas Myth: The Making and Unmaking of an American City.

 

Contents

The Problem of Interdisciplinarity in Theory and Practice over Time
1
Genetic Biology and Sociology 1890s1920s
20
The Humanities and Communication 1870s1960s
52
Social Relations and Operations Research 1930s1960s
91
Cognitive Science and New Histories 1940s1980s
124
Materials Science and Cultural Studies 1950s1990s
176
Bioscience and Literacy Studies
214
Notes
237
Select Bibliography
283
Index
315
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About the author (2015)

Harvey J. Graff is the Ohio Eminent Scholar in Literacy Studies and a professor of English and history at the Ohio State University. He is the author of The Literacy Myth: Cultural Integration and Social Structure in the Nineteenth Century, Conflicting Paths: Growing Up in America, and The Dallas Myth: The Making and Unmaking of an American City.

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