Interdisciplinarity is a buzzword in academic research and education, but few universities are able to pay more than lip service to this concept. Indeed, the very nature of academia resists interdisciplinarity. We are trained to become experts on the most minute aspects of our subject, and are chastised for being too broadly focused or having too many interests. As Simon Goldhill, director of the Cambridge Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities (CRASSH) states, we have people who know more and more about less and less. Thats the definition of a PhD, isnt it? This intense specialisation prevents us from seeing the forest among the trees. So it is completely unsurprising that cross-disciplinary efforts and inter-departmental initiatives often fail and do not go beyond initial superficial connections.
Posted on: Wed, 03 Sep 2014 05:23:53 +0000
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