Integration or Disintegration? The need for an interdisciplinary approach.

Globalization, climate change, public health, bioethics, biomimetics, genetically modified organisms, neuroengineering… we are witnessing an increasing number of professional fields that cross disciplinary boundaries in order to solve complex problems.  However, the challenges of developing a strategy that encompasses the priorities of multiple stakeholders who might see priorities differently (in the case of a natural ecosystem, for example: economic development versus environmental protection versus protection of indigenous cultures that depend on that natural ecosystem) are often intractable. The overarching challenge that we face as a species is this: if we cannot find a way to integrate key perspectives on complex and controversial problems, then we shall surely witness the disintegration of the civilization (and ecosystem) upon which we depend.
So first we need to understand the nature of key perspectives, which we call "disciplines" in the university. Students in our core writing intensive course, INDS 330 Ways of Knowing, spend part of the semester understanding disciplines as tools for understanding phenomena in the social and natural worlds.

Political Science by Asif Majid

            As defined by Repko, political science is a field that explores "the nature and practice of systems of government and of individuals and groups pursuing power" (85).  After identifying this as the base phenomena from which political science operates, he then connects political science to other disciplines, indicating that it is "influenced by theories from sociology, economics, and psychology" (91).  In terms of disciplinary techniques, the American Political Science Association indicates that political science "uses both humanistic and scientific perspectives" to examine the world; Repko agrees, writing that political science "does not have a single big methodological device all its own" (107).

            Major theories of political science include realism, constructivism, pluralism, game theory, and democratic peace theory, among others.  At the most basic level, these theories are used as structures upon which political scientists draw to understand what occurs around them.  Realism reflects a mentality that states are the primary actors on the world stage, while constructivism argues that societies play a key role in developing the world of international relations.  In this way, at least within some subfields, political science is interdisciplinary.  Pluralism indicates that decisions are made within the context of governmental institutions, and non-governmental institutions are, more or less, on the outside trying to get in.  Game theory analyzes different decision-making motivations, and various models like stag hunt, prisoner's dilemma, and chicken are derived from here.  Democratic peace theory is perhaps the one that maintains the most clout because of its growing truth.  It argues that liberal democracies never go to war with one another.  This theory has, time and time again, been affirmed by various global situations, so long as a liberal democracy is appropriately defined.

            As a discipline, political science has multiple geneses, including in Ancient Greece with Socrates, in Ancient India with Chanakya, and in Ancient China with Confucian and Taoist thought.  Each one of these areas emphasized different elements of importance, but the type that prevails in the West today is the evolved version of the Greek form.  It is based on individualism and works like Plato's The Republic.  Symbolically, political science is represented in various ways, depending on what type of political thought it reflects.  One worthwhile symbol is a set of scales, representing justice and balance.  Another symbol, since politics is also largely the study of power, could be a lightning bolt or a raised fist.

            Political science has certainly been combined with other disciplines, specifically within its subfields.  Political philosophy is largely reflective of thought experiments and other analytic explorations, while theories like constructivism within international relations blend political science and sociology.  Also, political science is heavily seeded in the history of governmental institutions, and is increasingly reliant on and intertwined with economics, particularly in the West.  This occurs because of the prevailing economic theory that individuals act primarily out of self-interest, which connects to individuals seeking power for personal benefit and gain.  Additionally, the role of markets and money in politics cannot be overstated, contributing to this disciplinary intermixing.

American Political Science Association. "What is Political Science?" the american political science association. 2011. 22 Feb 2011. http://www.apsanet.org/content_9181.cfm

Repko, Allen F. Interdisciplinary Research. Los Angeles: Sage Publications, Inc., 2008.

Anthropology by Rachelle Epstein

According to Allen Repko’s Interdisciplinary Research, Anthropology studies “the origins of humanity” and “the dynamics of cultures worldwide” (Repko 85), through cultural phenomena and social structure. Anthropologists use scientific and interpretive methods to collect data including experiments, cultural immersion, field work, interviewing, language, archaeology, biology, and many others. The fundamental assumption that one must be familiar with to contemplate anthropologically is that of cultural relativism, which “assumes that systems of knowledge possessed by different cultures are ‘incommensurable’” (Repko 91). Put simply, the idea behind cultural relativism is that people’s notions about what is good and beautiful are shaped by their surrounding culture and are therefore not comparable to the systems of knowledge of other cultures. Keeping in mind cultural relativism as a tenant of anthropological theory, it follows that both cultural and physical anthropologists would embrace the epistemology of constructivism, “which holds that human knowledge is shaped by the social and cultural context in which it is formed and is not merely a reflection of reality” ( Repko 96).

It has been suggested that anthropology originated as a discipline from the traveler Herodotus, who journeyed from Greece to Egypt in 500BC and returned with a travel log detailing his experiences with the people and the artifacts he came into contact with. It didn’t take long for these travel logs and their exotic subject matter to gain popularity, and in 1922 they became known as ethnographies, after anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowsi published his work, Argonauts of the Western Pacific. Since then, anthropologists such as Nicholas Miklouho-Maclay, Margaret Meade and E. E. Evans-Pritchard, have clarified the task of the cultural anthropologist with their ethnographic research. In the 20^th century, anthropology was defined as a discipline within the intellectual realm of the humanities; however, the discipline also borrows from the tenants of natural science and of sociology. In this way, anthropology, with its four sub-fields, including cultural anthropology, linguistic anthropology, physical anthropology and archaeology, is innately an interdisciplinary subject.  

If I could choose one object that, in my opinion, exemplifies anthropology, it would be a world map created before the 15^th century. Between the 15^th and 16^th centuries, leaders were beginning to take a greater interest in geography and as a result, many world maps were created. What is perhaps most interesting about these atlases is that they are vastly subjective and their orientations depended largely upon the perspective of the cartographer. The surviving images of these maps give anthropological insights into the state of mind of societies all over the world; for instance, where they place themselves (i.e. are they placed in the center, while the world revolves around them). These maps would be excellent tangible examples of cultural relativism and evidence of it in differing cultures and societies.

Bibliography

Repko, Allen F. Interdisciplinary Research: Process and Theory. Los Angeles, Calif: Sage, 2008. Print.

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/27505/anthropology/236828/History-of-anthropology

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/history-of-anthropology.html

http://historyofanthropology.eu/

Psychology by Donna Huynh

To define a discipline, we must elaborate upon its phenomena, assumptions, epistemology, theory, and methods, which Repko refers to as the "defining elements of a discipline." (Repko, 83)
A phenomenon attempts to explain something we do not understand. The phenomena of psychology are how our actions are regulated by our thoughts and other aspects within the environment around us. (Repko) Using the phenomena of different disciplines, we are able to approach problems quickly from an interdisciplinary view. Being interdisciplinary allows us to assess which phenomena from which disciplines are relevant to the task at hand, and to "decide which disciplines to mine for insights." (Repko, 84)
Assumptions are "something that we take for granted." (Repko, 89) Often in a particular discipline, we do not even recognize or acknowledge these assumptions, since we believe them to be present. Psychology however assumes that data that is collected through an empirical method that can create strong conclusions from a simple implication from observation. (Repko, 89-90) Research studies within the social sciences rely upon this assumption. Without this assumption of empirical research methods, it is hard to imply causation. To understand a discipline’s assumptions, it allows us to further understand their perspective. (Repko, 89)
Epistemology is "the branch of philosophy that studies how one knows what is true and how one validates truth." (Repko, 93) Based on this definition, psychologists are able to "know what is true," (Repko, 93) through observations and experiments and "validate truth," (Repko, 93) through the manipulation of certain variables and the control of other extraneous variables. Interdisciplinary students need epistemology to reflect "what is studied, how it is studied, and status the writer gives to the findings." (Repko, 95) However as interdisciplinary students we need to have an "appreciation of diversity” (Repko, 44) in order to be open to different theories and be unbiased.
A theory helps explain and understand a certain phenomenon. One of the major theories in psychology is psychoanalysis founded by Sigmund Freud. The theory emphasizes unconscious motives and thoughts that one has which causes ego dystonic between the id, ego, and superego. Although this theory is "rejected by most empirically oriented psychologists," we still study it today. (Wade, 19) Another theory within psychology is Maslow's hierarchy of human needs. This theory is a part of the humanist school of thought within psychology. Maslow conceptualized people's needs in a pyramid. At the bottom being basic survival needs, then security needs, then social needs, then esteem needs, and at the top self-actualization and self-transcendence. (Wade, 474-475) Maslow believed that if you were unable to achieve the level above, if you could not fulfill the ones just below, leading up to that level. But just as in any theory, there is always dispute about the accuracy and how it can be exemplified in daily life situations.
Methods are a systematic way in which we conduct experiments in order to interpret the results. The methods of psychology follow the scientific method, such as that in the natural sciences. The scientific method follows a cyclic system in which, observes a phenomenon, formulates tentative explanations, does further observing and experimenting, and refining and retesting. (Bordens, 23) However there are certain variables which psychologists cannot always control; therefore they must observe these different "levels of constraint." (Repko, 107) Ways in which psychologists can observe these effects are through naturalistic observation, case study research, correlational research, differential research, and experimental research." (Repko, 107)
Works Cited
-Bordens, Kenneth S., and Bruce B. Abbott. Research Design and Methods: a Process Approach.
-Wade, Carole, and Carol Tavris. Psychology. 9th ed.

A Summary of Life by Greeshma Sasi

           Biology, or the study of (from Greek suffix –logia) life (from the Greek word,

bios), spans a range of independent sub-disciplines that vary mostly in scale of

examination, from elemental biochemistry to ecology. It encompasses such divergent

phenomena as “biological taxonomies of species; the nature, interrelationships, and

evolution of living organisms; health; nutrition; disease; fertility” (Repko 85). The date of

origin of the field varies depending on how closely the originating form should resemble

modern biology.

            In its oldest recognizable form, biology was part of natural philosophy, or the

study of the physical world, in the ancient Mesopotamia, Egypt, India and China. Then,

Hippocrates founded the study of medicine and Aristotle followed with the specialization

most fitting of the modern study of biology. He wrote the first literature that was

explicitly biological, with his History of Animals. While he focused on zoology, a

contemporary, Theophrastus wrote the first literature of consequence on botany.

Thereafter biology and specifically the subfields of botany, zoology, and anatomy and

physiology were bolstered by Arab and Persian scholars who borrowed heavily from

Aristotleian schemata (Magner). The invention of the microscope and the resultant

attention given to the cell caused the proliferation of theories, especially the three-part

cell theory proposed by the microbiologists Schleiden and Schwann: the basic unit of life

is the cell, all individual cells express the characteristics of life, and (the later updated

idea that) cells arise only from the division of preexisting cells (Coleman). Currently,

four more theories are added to the idea of the cell being the structural unit of life (and so

exemplifying the discipline): that “new species and inherited traits are the product of

evolution”, “genes are the basic unit of heredity”, “an organism regulates its internal

environment to maintain a stable and constant condition”, and “living organisms consume

and transform energy” (Avila).

Despite being a science and thus claiming objectivity, biology is steeped in its

own research culture. For example, deductive inferences, or using general theories to

arrive at predictions or hypotheses is favored over making inductive leaps from

phenomena to laws (Repko 90). Although experimentation, including the use of controls

to isolate causative agents, is considered the superior instrument to knowledge (Repko

94), there is still dissonance as to the favorability of fieldwork versus laboratory work.

The latter fits the ideal of objective experimentation the best and allows the use of

invasive and discerning imaging techniques such as electron microscopy, but proponents

of the former argue that organisms should be studied ‘in vivo’, or as they naturally exist

(Repko 105).

            Biology is oft studied in its own respect even though it is quickly ‘blebbing’

formidable sub-disciplines as more information is uncovered. Nevertheless, there is much

cross-talk with other foundational disciplines, as anthropology (biological anthropology),

philosophy (bioethics), and sociology (ethnobotany). Just as this versatile discipline

fragments into self-sufficient fields, the density of its connections with the other

disciplines also increases.

           

Works Cited

     Avila, Vernon L. (1995). Biology: Investigating life on earth. Boston: Jones and artlett.

     Coleman, William. Biology in the Nineteenth Century: Problems of Form, Function, nd Transformation. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1977.

     Magner, Lois N. A History of the Life Sciences. New York: M. Dekker, 1979.

     Repko, Allen. Interdisciplinary Research (Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, nc,2008), 12.