interdisciplinary thought thinking big, thinking small, or not thinking at all monty hempel center...

Interdisciplinary ThoughtInterdisciplinary Thought Thinking big, thinking small, orThinking big, thinking small, or

not thinking at allnot thinking at all

Monty HempelCenter for Environmental Studies

University of Redlands

Techies, Talkies, Techies, Talkies, Tweenies, and TransiesTweenies, and Transies

or

Disciplinary BoundariesDisciplinary Boundaries

Monty Hempel, University of Redlands

Deans and Department Chairs

““People have problems and universities have People have problems and universities have departments, and that’s the problem.”departments, and that’s the problem.” --Russ Mawby, President Kellogg Foundation--Russ Mawby, President Kellogg Foundation

Current Educational Structure

Academic Disciplines1.1 Astronomy1.2 Biology1.3 Chemistry1.4 Physics2.1 Mathematics2.2 Computer science3.1 Anthropology3.2 Archaeology3.3 Communications3.4 Economics3.5 Ethnology3.6 Ethnomusicology3.7 Folklore3.8 Geography3.9 Linguistics3.10 Political science3.11 Psychology3.12 Semiotics3.13 Sociology4.1 Cultural Studies4.2 Art4.3 Creative w riting4.4 Dance4.5 Theatre4.6 English literature4.7 Film studies and f ilm criticism4.8 History4.9 Linguistics4.10 Literature and cultural studies4.11 Music4.12 Philosophy4.13 Religious studies4.14 Women's studies and gender studies5.1 Architecture and environmental design5.2 Business5.3 Education5.4 Engineering5.5 Ergonomics5.6 Agriculture5.7 Forestry5.8 Family and consumer science5.9 Journalism and mass communications5.10 Law5.11 Library and information science5.12 Health sciences5.13 Military science5.14 Public affairs and community service

http://www.wikipedia.org/

Micro-Specialization Increasing

Disciplinary EnvironmentalStudies/Science

Interdisciplinary Environmental Studies

Higher Education

Disciplinarity Comparative AdvantageComparative Advantage

Specialized knowledge leads to most productive use of factors and generates the greatest wealth; therefore the greatest social good.David Ricardo

1772-1823

Adam Smith1723-1790

The fragmentation of knowledge The fragmentation of knowledge and resulting chaos are not and resulting chaos are not

reflections of the real world, but reflections of the real world, but are artifacts of scholarshipare artifacts of scholarship

-- E.O.Wilson

The Interdisciplinary Mission:Making sense out of a fragmented world


Human-influenced EcosystemsHuman-influenced EcosystemsUnderstand interactions between complex environmental Understand interactions between complex environmental

systems and even more complex human social systemssystems and even more complex human social systems

One response: Focus on

Understanding interacting systemsat multiple scales of space and time.

Elephant in the Wild

Elephant in the University

The Six Blind Men of Indostan(The Blind Men and the Elephant)

American poet John Godfrey Saxe (1816-1887)

Reductionist Method: breaking things into smaller and smaller

pieces until each piece can be accurately analyzed.

The Benefits of Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration

How Interdisciplinary Programs Are Viewed in Most Universities?

Cross-Disciplinary Evolution

multidisciplinary - researchers in separate disciplines work independently within their own disciplinary perspective, to address a common problem

interdisciplinary - researchers work jointly, but from each of their respective disciplinary perspectives, to address a common problem

transdisciplinary - researchers work jointly using a shared conceptual framework that draws together discipline-specific theories, concepts, and approaches, to address a common problem

(Rosenfield, 1992)

Firm boundaries

Permeable boundaries

No or blurred boundaries Source: Dan Stokols, 2004

Disciplinarity

• interinter-- prefixprefix. [Lat. < . [Lat. < interinter]]

betweenbetween, among, within, among, within

transtrans-- prefixprefix [ Lat. < [ Lat. < transtrans]]

acrossacross, beyond, through, beyond, through

• InterdisciplinaryStarts with disciplines and looks for

lines of interest that connect them.

• TransdisciplinaryStarts with complex problems and

looks for new conceptualizations that transform understanding of theory and practice.

Arguments for Transdisciplinarity

• The problems we face transcend the The problems we face transcend the disciplinary knowledge we practice.disciplinary knowledge we practice.

• Universities should be communities of Universities should be communities of scholars – incubators and testing scholars – incubators and testing laboratories of ideas – laboratories of ideas – notnot confederations confederations of turfdoms.of turfdoms.

• It’s not either/or! We need disciplinary, It’s not either/or! We need disciplinary, interdisciplinary, interdisciplinary, ANDAND transdisciplinary transdisciplinary programs in Higher Education. programs in Higher Education.

A Cautionary Tale:A Cautionary Tale:The Interdisciplinary The Interdisciplinary

Program BuilderProgram Builder

The captain of the javelin

team who won the “toss” and

elected to receive.


Barriers to Transdisciplinary “Courtships”Barriers to Transdisciplinary “Courtships”

•Depth over Breadth Promotion & Tenure•Faculty Recruitment Need for a Core•Curricular Incoherence Certification

AdvantagesAdvantages of Transdisciplinary Collaboration

• Greater Explanatory Power • Increased Capacity for Synthesis

(not just analysis)• Better Integration of Science,

Management, and Policy• Methodological Pluralism• Promotes Coupling of Models• Builds Foresight Capacity

DisadvantagesDisadvantages of Transdisciplinary Collaboration

• Labor Intensive Labor Intensive –– Educationally Demanding Educationally Demanding• Cooperation Hard to Sustain (turfdoms) Cooperation Hard to Sustain (turfdoms) • Administratively ComplexAdministratively Complex• Breadth vs. Depth TradeoffsBreadth vs. Depth Tradeoffs• Diffuse vs. Focused Conceptual ModelsDiffuse vs. Focused Conceptual Models• Few Professional Incentives (tenure hurdles, less Few Professional Incentives (tenure hurdles, less

rewards for team contributions)rewards for team contributions)

Weak or Negative Incentive Structures!Weak or Negative Incentive Structures!

NEEDED:A Science of Integration

Science

ManagementPolicy

PoliticsPoliticsEthicsEthics

EconomicsEconomics

Env. ContextHistory, Literature,Psychology, Geog.,Sociology, etc.

The Redlands ApproachThe Redlands ApproachCenter for Environmental Studies

Facilitating Interdisciplinary WorkFacilitating Interdisciplinary Work1. Tenure-Track Faculty lines in Natural Science, Social

Science, and Humanities2. Conceptual Framework: Sustainability (Ecol/Econ/Equity)3. Tools of Integration: GIS – spatial literacy4. Heuristics: Ecological Footprint Analysis5. Team Research: Design Studios & Policy Clinics6. Experiential Learning: “Glocal” Program (community

service learning plus travel courses and study abroad)7. Setting Examples on Campus: Green Buildings/Design

Buildings that Teach Lewis HallLewis Hall

Center for Environmental Studies

Disaster Preparedness

Teaching is the art of assisting discovery

Mark van Doren

Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education

Serving the Campus Sustainability Community

Photo and design credit: Mithun Architects+Designers+Planners

Mission:Promote sustainability in all sectors of higher education - from governance and operations to curriculum and research – through education, research, dialogue and action.

Vision: campuses modeling sustainability in all learning, operations, and outreach



About AASHE

Higher education association, serving U.S. and Canada.

Membership-based, member-driven

Serves all sectors of higher education

Professional home for sustainability coordinators

Goal - umbrella organization for campus sustainability community


Resource CenterSustainability policy bank and assessment tools

Specialized resources for academics, operations staff, sustainability professionals

Publications (articles, reports, fact sheets, news, books)

Directories

Speakers Bureau


Professional Development and Networking

Conference (Oct 4-7, 2006, ASU)

Workshops & trainings

Interest groups, discussion lists, conference calls, web seminars, other networking opportunities

Task forces – energy, curriculum

Professional home for sustainability coordinators, practitioners

Military Budgets FY 2006*United States 492 Billion (US Dollars)

Russia 65

China 56

United Kingdom 49

Japan 45

France 40

Germany 30

Saudi Arabia 19

India 19

Italy 18

All other countries, combined 142

World Military Expenditures 975*not including latest requests for Iraq & Afghanistan;

Russia and China data for 2003Source: Lester Brown, Plan B 2.0 (Norton, 2006, p. 258)

Equity -- 2006

• The wealth of the world’s 3 richest people is more than the combined income of the world’s 550 million poorest.

• Over 800 million people do not get enough to eat every day.

• There have been 26 international conferences on poverty and hunger in the past 30 years.

Describing the UnknownDescribing the Unknown

Chimaera Pup

Future DirectionsFuture Directions

The Home Computer of 2004!

Popular Mechanics, 1954 (Hoax!)

MeansMeans

• Guiding concepts: ResilienceResilience and Sustainability (study both uses and limitations)

• Core faculty that includes natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities

• Core courses that combine science, policy and management

• Design Studios and Policy Clinics• Buildings as “adjunct faculty members”• Integrative Technologies (e.g., GIS)

EVST 100 – Introduction to Environmental StudiesEVST 102 – Environmental Geography - Ecological LiteracyPHIL/REL –Environmental Ethics (REL 122 or PHIL 330)

EVST 110 – Introduction to Spatial Analysis & GISEVST 250 – Environmental Design Studio IEVST 300 – Environmental Colloquium (Econ/Policy/Mgmt/Sci.)

EVST 475 – Capstone Senior Project (minimum of 6 units)

EVST (1) – Practicum (Choose one): Environmental Study Abroad, Biosphere 2 Semester, EVST 330, 350, 385, 485, or approved Travel Course

Core Courses (all degree tracks)Core Courses (all degree tracks)

ResilienceResilience

• Resilience for engineersResilience for engineers: “the rate at which a system returns to a single steady or cyclic state following a perturbation.”

• Resilience for ecologistsResilience for ecologists: “the amount of change or disruption that is required to transform a system from being maintained by one set of mutually reinforcing processes and structures to a different set of processes and structures.” --The Resilience Alliance

Ecological ResilienceEcological Resilience

• focused on persistence, adaptiveness, variability and unpredictability

• measured by the magnitude of disturbance that can be absorbed before the system changes its structure by changing the variables and processes that control behavior

--The Resilience Alliance

Approaches to the Science of Sustainability

• Reductionist

• Monodisciplinary

• Single target/objectives

• Expert interventions

• Separates science from management

• Decisions based on burden of proof

• Hierarchy/rule-based, one path to “Truth”

• Predict and Explain

• Holistic• Inter- and transdisciplinary• Synthesis of multi-objectives• Humility about intervening• Treats management as an

experiment• Decisions based on

precautionary principle• Networking/collaborative,

adaptive/flexible• Envision and understand

Traditional Science Integrative Science

Discovering patternsDiscovering patternswithin patternswithin patterns

GIS


GIS is a “macroscope” for studying the Earth. --Jack Dangermond

Discovering patternswithin patterns

Linking points

lines

and polygons

Area


What is a GIS?What is a GIS? • An integrative technology that usesa computer based mapping and information retrieval system for assembling, storing, manipulating, and displaying geographically referenced information, i.e. data identified according to their locations.

• A set of convergent tools for“drilling” into complex systems and revealing an organized set of thematic layers all linked by geography


ESRI, Inc.

• Increasing rate and magnitude of change; increasing scale and complexity of interactions

• Realization that most data has a spatial component (location-based, “geo-referenced”)

• Faster, more powerful, and cheaper computers (and resulting flood of digital data and “Infoglut”)

• The internet!

• Shift in emphasis from thinking about data to thinking about relationships; from micro-analysis to synthesis

• Foresight and inventiveness of key researchers and entrepreneurs (e.g., Roger Tomlinson and Jack Dangermond)

The Confluence of “Streams” Carrying GISThe Confluence of “Streams” Carrying GIS


Human Disturbance of Terrestrial EcosystemsHuman Disturbance of Terrestrial Ecosystems


Our greatest responsibility is to be good ancestors. - Jonas Salk

Sustainability Resilience

GISGIS


Human activities (fishing)

Freshwater habitat

(water quality, quantity & timing)

Estuarine habitat

(water quality, mixing processes)

Ocean habitat

Climate change (altered water cycle)

Human activities (resource & land use)

Human activities (aquaculture, development)

Climate change (sea level rise & ocean mixing)

Health & Viability of PNW salmon

Integrated Watershed Analysis

Climate change

interdisciplinary thought thinking big, thinking small, or not thinking at all monty hempel center...

Documents

university slide

disciplinary boundaries

wilson slide

wild slide

disciplinary knowledge

complex problems

interdisciplinary starts

interdisciplinary programs