From: Amara Graps (amara@amara.com)
Date: Tue Sep 03 2002 - 01:39:31 MDT
>>Amara
>>But notice that 'inter-disciplinary' means
>>different things to different groups.
Serafino:
>'Inter-disciplinary'. Often I ask myself "there is such
>a thing?". Because sometimes there is nothing 'inter',
>in between.
Sometimes, but isn't the user of the term attempting to
make a connection?
>'Multi-disciplinary' is, perhaps, a better term?
It only means many, and doesn't imply a connection (imo).
>Organizing material 'by themes' helps people (and students) make
>'connections'.
Yes
>Plus, of course,
>the ability to 'synthesize' highly specialised information.
And that's key. It's a skill, maybe one that generalists have more
than others. This skill can be especially valuable for teaching.
I don't find things interesting unless I can see the layers of
connections in the object. The connections lead to a bigger picture
(sum being bigger than the parts), which is usually what inspires me.
>"Interdisciplinary studies... do not merely confront already constituted
>disciplines (none of which, as a matter of fact, consents to leave off).
>In order to do interdisciplinary work, it is not enough to take a 'subject'
>(a theme) and to arrange two or three sciences around it. Interdisciplinary
>study consists in creating a new object, which belongs to no one."
>- - Roland Barthes
Yes! (although I would hope the author of the new object receives
acknowledgement)
>[He may be right. Information theory. Is this a "new object"?]
Maybe, but it would help if someone made a mapping of word entropy
between the different groups who are using the same term!
---------------------
For Vanessa,
For the youngsters:
(National Science Teachers Association)
http://www.nsta.org/main/news/stories/nsta_story.php?news_story_ID=47197
Got a Great Elementary Interdisciplinary Lesson Plan?
2002-07-18 - NSTA
NSTA is collecting PreK-6 interdisciplinary science lesson plans, project-based
activities, and thematic units for an interdisciplinary website
designed for and
written by elementary educators. We are looking for plans that integrate
science with reading, English, math, social studies, and/or technology and are
based on the National Science Education Standards. To submit a lesson plan or
unit for consideration, please complete the online lesson plan template.
For the teensters:
(this is an inter-disciplinary bachelor's degree)
Welcome to the College of Arts & Sciences at Cornell! We are a
community of approximately 4,000 undergraduates, 1,500 graduate
students, 600 faculty members and 300 staff members. The college is
composed of 50 departments and programs that study and teach the
humanities and the arts, the basic sciences and mathematics, and the
social sciences. We are part of an Ivy League university which is
also the land grant institution for the State of New York. This
unique combination creates extraordinary resources for research,
scholarship, and interdisciplinary education unavailable at most
liberal arts institutions.
-- ******************************************************************** Amara Graps, PhD email: amara@amara.com Computational Physics vita: ftp://ftp.amara.com/pub/resume.txt Multiplex Answers URL: http://www.amara.com/ ******************************************************************** "Dare to be naive." -- Buckminster Fuller
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