All the talk these days is about interdisciplinary studies. Not new, in particular, but the volume seems to be increasing. The disciplines are accused of producing graduates that too narrowly focussed and unable to think particularly critically. The poor old engineers seem to have been particularly pigeon-holed, especially by the humanities (who have of course been likewise scoffed at by the engineers) – good old academic disciplinary rivalry one might think. Increasingly this is seen as a bad not a good and I am tempted to agree.
I admit to being a product of the British system of the 70s and 80s and you would be hard pressed to find something more discipline based if your tried. The chances of a physicist being exposed to the writings of Marx was essentially zero. As a result, I have found it a continual struggle to catch up and become a broader scholar and commentator and I suspect I will never make up for that early deficiency.
The American system and to a lesser extent the Canadian system allows for a broader exploration of subject areas with a focus occurring in the latter years. Many universities offer a full degree program in interdisciplinary studies but in many cases it looks a little like filling up a shopping cart with a variety of unrelated courses and getting to the check out to get a degree.
However, there are lots of signs that interdisciplinary studies in being treated more seriously. Arizona State University has abandoned the disciplines and created 14 or so Colleges instead. Technologica de Monterrey is doing the same thing, these are two schools I have visited recently and so much more to report on that.
Many schools are getting more serious about integrated capstone projects, competency based assessment, work integrated learning, program mapping, big questions and core curricula (all subjects of future blogs). It looks like interdisciplinary studies are gaining some momentum but the disciplines are still juggernauts.