Creating interdisciplinary education within monodisciplinary structures: the art of managing interstitiality

Abstract

The literature on interdisciplinary higher education is influenced by two overall trends: one looks at the institutional level of specially designed interdisciplinary institutions, while the other assesses individual interdisciplinary educational activities. Much less attention is given to the processes of creating interdisciplinary education initiatives within traditional monodisciplinary universities. In this study we thus explore how interdisciplinary education and teaching emerge and develop within universities that have little or no established infrastructure to support interdisciplinarity. Using qualitative data from a multi-part case study, we examine the development of diverse interdisciplinary educational efforts within a traditional faculty-structured university in order to map the ways in which interdisciplinary educational elements have been created, supported, challenged or even strengthened by preexisting monodisciplinary structures. Drawing on theories from economics, literature studies and sociology of education we conclude that creating interdisciplinary education in such settings demands skills that we define as the 'art of managing interstitiality'.

Preparing the next generation of sustainability scientists

“…We acknowledge that the feasibility of incorporating integrated research training into existing graduate programs relies on department support for integrative research, faculty collaboration (Evans 2015), and ongoing student participation to provide feedback on coursework, and to organize and advertise workshops and research networks. However, entrepreneurial https://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol23/iss4/art39/ efforts to embed integrative education in traditional programs have proven to be successful (Lindvig et al 2017). Training opportunities identified by students in this study, such as developing a new team-science course or hosting stakeholder and team-science workshops are feasible and could generate high impact training (Fig.…”

“…Feasibility to incorporate specific training opportunities will likely vary depending on institutional structure. However, even without formal institutional structures that support integrative research, opportunities still exist within and among single discipline departments to better prepare sustainability scientists to address complex issues (Lyall et al 2015, Lindvig 2017. Ultimately, students and faculty should work together to develop and instill sustainable activities that promote integrative research skills within their specific graduate program.…”

Learning and Teaching Interdisciplinary Skills in Sustainable Urban Development—The Case of Tampere University, Finland

“…As global interest in sustainable development has increased, so have the number of higher education institutions offering degree programs on SUD [28,[50][51][52][53]. However, often, the teaching of sustainability is integrated into existing curricula without a suitable pedagogical framework based on ESD [19,54], and many existing programs-for example in urban studies and urban planning-are facing the challenge of embedding sustainability in their teaching [55].…”

“…In response to this, many institutions are opting to develop new interdisciplinary programs in SUD (e.g., [28,[51][52][53]), while there are fewer but increasing numbers of transdisciplinary courses (e.g., [61]). This trend is also apparent in the field of urban studies, which has witnessed the emergence of new master's and bachelor's degree programs.…”

Learning relations of knowledge transfer (KT) and knowledge integration (KI) of doctoral students during online interdisciplinary training: an exploratory study

“…Yet, for departments and faculties, providing interdisciplinary training is not a trivial undertaking due to pedagogical and organizational challenges (Lyall, Meagher, Bandola, & Kettle, 2015). Interdisciplinary training has been studied from the perspectives of the institutional process, learning outcomes, educational activities, and student experience (Hannon, Hocking, Legge, & Lugg, 2018;Lindvig, 2018;Lindvig, Lyall, & Meagher, 2017). The interdisciplinary learning process is a critical aspect of interdisciplinary training for doctoral students.…”