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T e n C h e e r s fo r I n t e r d i s c i p l in a r it y : T h e C a s e f o rIn t e r d i s c ip l in a r y K n o w le d g e a n d R e s e a rc h

M O TI N IS S A N I *W ayne S tate Universi ty

T h e f r e q u e n t l y - e n c o u n t e r e d w h o l e s a l e d i s m i s s a l o f e i t h e r i n te r d i s c i p l in a r y k n o w l -e d g e o r r e s e a r c h r e f le c t s a p r o f o u n d m i s u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f t h e i r v i ta l c o n t ri b u t i o n st o s c h o l a r s h i p , s o c i e t y , a n d i n d i v i d u a l s . T h i s a r t i c l e p r e s e n t s t h e o n l y s e l f - c o n -t a in e d , c o m p r e h e n s i v e d e f e n s e o f i n t e r d i s c i p l in a r y k n o w l e d g e a n d r e s e ar c h ,a r g u i n g t h a t t h e y a r e im p o r t a n t b e c a u s e : 1 . C r e a t i v i t y o f t e n r e q u i r e s i n t e r d i s c i p l i -n a r y k n o w l e d g e . 2 . I m m i g r a n t s o f t e n m a k e i m p o r t a n t c o n t r i b u t i o n s t o t h e i r n e wf i el d . 3. D i s c i p l i n a r i a n s o f t e n c o m m i t e r r o r s w h i c h c a n b e b e s t d e t e c t e d b y p e o p l ef a m i l i a r w i t h t w o o r m o r e d i s c i p l i n e s . 4 . S o m e w o r t h w h i l e t o p i c s o f r e s e ar c h f a l li n t h e i n t e r s t i c e s a m o n g t h e t r a d i t i o n a l d i s c i p l i n e s . 5 . M a n y i n t e l l e c t u a l , s o c i a l ,a n d p r a c t i c a l p r o b l e m s r e q u i r e in t e r d i s c i p l i n a r y a p p r o a c h e s . 6 . I n t e r d i s c i p l i n a r yk n o w l e d g e a n d r e s e a r c h s e r v e t o r e m i n d u s o f th e u n i t y - o f - k n o w l e d g e id e a l .7 . I n t e r d i s c i p l i n a r i a n s e n j o y g r e a t e r f l e x i b i l i t y i n t h e i r r e s e a rc h . 8 . M o r e s o t h a nn a r r o w d i s c i p l i n a r i a n s , i n t e r d i s c i p l i n a r i a n s o f te n t r e a t t h e m s e l v e s t o t h e i n t e l l e c -t u a l e q u i v a l e n t o f t r a v e l i n g in n e w l a n d s . 9 . In t e r d i s c i p l i n a r i a n s m a y h e l p b r e a c hc o m m u n i c a t i o n g a p s i n th e m o d e r n a c a d e m y , t h e r e b y h e l p in g t o m o b i l i z e i ts e n o r -m o u s i n t e l l e c t u a l r e s o u r c e s i n t h e c a u s e o f g r e a t e r s o c i a l r a t i o n a l i t y a n d j u s t i c e .1 0. B y b r i d g i n g f r a g m e n t e d d i s c i p l i n e s , i n t e r d i s c i p l i n a r i a n s m i g h t p l a y a r o l e int h e d e f e n s e o f a c a d e m i c f r e e d o m . T h e c a s e a g a i n s t i n te r d i s c i p l in a r y k n o w l e d g ea n d r e s e a r c h i s m a d e u p o f m a n y i n t ri n s ic d r a w b a c k s a n d p r a c t i c a l b a r ri e rs . T a k e nt o g e t h e r , t h e s e r e w a r d s , d r a w b a c k s , a n d b a r r i e r s s u g g e s t a m i l d s h i f t i n t h e c o n -t e m p o r a r y w o r l d o f l e a rn i n g t o w a r d s i n t e r d i s c i p l i n a r y k n o w l e d g e a n d r e s e a r ch .

*Direct all correspondence to: M oti Nissani, Interdisciplinary Studies Program, W ayne S tate University, 5700Cass A ve., Detroit, Michigan 48202.T he Soc ia l Sc ie nc e Jour na l , V o lum e 34 , N um be r 2 , page s 201 -216 .C op yr ight 1997 by JA ! P r e s s I nc .A l l r ights o f r e pr oduc t ion in any for m r e s e r ved . I SSN : 0362-3319.

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202 THE SOCIAL SCIENCE JOURNAL Vol . 34/N o. 2/1997

" Y o u r p l a n e t i s v e r y b e a u t i f u l ," [ s a i d t h e l i t t le p ri n c e ] . " H a s i t an y o c e a n s ? "" I c o u l d n ' t t e l l y o u , " s a i d th e g e o g r a p h e r . . ." B u t y o u a r e a g e o g r a p h e r ! "" E x a c t l y , " t h e g e o g r a p h e r s a i d . " B u t I a m n o t a n e x p l o r e r . I h a v e n ' t a s i n g l ee x p l o r e r o n m y p l a n e t . I t i s n o t t h e g e o g r a p h e r w h o g o e s o u t t o c o u n t t h e to w n s , t h er i v e r s , t h e m o u n t a i n s , t h e s e a s , th e o c e a n s , a n d t h e d e s e r ts . T h e g e o g r a p h e r i s m u c ht o o i m p o r t a n t t o g o l o a f i n g a b o u t . H e d o e s n o t l e a v e h i s d e s k . " A n t o i n e d e S a i n tE x u p e r y (The Little Prince, p p . 6 3 - 6 4 )

I N T R OD U C T I O NL o n g a g o , C . P . S n o w ( 1 9 6 4 a ) o b s e r v e d t h a t th e i n t e l l e c t u a l l i fe o f t h e W e s t w a s b e i n gi n c r e a s i n g l y s p l i t, w i t h l i t e r a r y in t e l l e c t u a l s at o n e p o l e a n d p h y s i c a l s c i e n t i s ts a ta n o t h er . A s a co n s e q u e n c e , t h e W e s t l o s t e v e n a p re t e n s e o f c o m m o n c u l t u re . T h i sc u l t u r a l d i v i d e , in S n o w ' s v i e w , e n t a i l e d s e r i o u s c o n s e q u e n c e s f o r o u r c r e a ti v e , in t e l -l e c t u a l , a n d e v e r y d a y l i fe .

B y n o w , m o s t o f u s n o l o n g e r t h in k i t p o s s i b l e t o b e c o m e a R e n a i s s a n c e S c h o l a r a laL e o n a r d o d a V i n c i . G r a d u a l l y d u r i n g t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y , t h e i d e a l o f t h e u n i t y o fk n o w l e d g e - - t h a t a g e n u i n e s c h o l a r o u g h t to b e fa m i l i a r w i t h th e s u m t o ta l o f h u m a n -i t y ' s i n te l le c t u a l a n d a r t is t i c o u t p u t - - g a v e w a y t o s p e c i a li z a t i o n . H u m a n i t y ' s e v e r -g r o w i n g s t o re o f k n o w l e d g e , a n d t h e fa c t t h a t e a c h p e r s o n i s b e s t o w e d w i t h a u n i q u es e t o f a p t i t u d e s , le f t m o s t s c h o l a r s a n d a r t i s ts s t r a n d e d i n e v e r - s h r i n k i n g i s l a n d s o fc o m p e t e n c e ( C u m m i n g s , 1 9 89 ) :

N o p e o p l e i n o u r o w n t i m e c o u l d r a t io n a l l y p r o c l a i m t h a t t h e y k n e w e v e r y t h in ga b o u t e v e r y t h i n g , o r e v e n e v e r y t h i n g a b o u t t h e i r o w n f i e l d s . .. I n s t e a d o f b e i n gc h a l l e n g e d b y t h e s l o w l y e m e r g i n g k n o w l e d g e o f t h e R e n a i s s an c e , w e a r e n o wb e i n g d e l u g e d b y t o r r e n t s o f n e w i n f o r m a t i o n a l m o s t d a i l y . I n s e l f -d e f e n s e , t o a v o i dd r o w n i n g a n d a t t a in s o m e k i n d o f f oo t in g , w e s e e k to c o m e a s h o re o n e v e r - s m a l l e ri s la n d s o f le a r n in g a n d i n q u i r y . . . T o l o o k b e y o n d . .. i s t o b e o v e r w h e l m e d b y t h eo c e a n ' s m a g n i t u d e : b e t t e r to r e m a i n i g n o r a n t o f a l l b u t o u r o w n t i n y p r o v i n c e . . . .T h e r e s u l t i n o u r o w n t i m e i s n o t j u s t S n o w ' s " t w o c u l t u r e s " b u t i n f a c t a m u l t i t u d eo f c u l t u r e s , e a c h s t a k i n g o u t a t e r r i t o r y f o r i ts e l f , e a c h r e f u s i n g t o t a l k t o t h e o t h e r ,a n d e a c h r e s i s t in g a ll a t t e m p t e d i n c u r s i o n s f r o m s u r r o u n d i n g " e n e m i e s " ( M i l e s ,1989 , pp . 15 - 16) .

O t h e r s t a k e a m o r e s a n g u i n e v i e w o f t he c o n t e m p o r a r y w o r l d o f le a r n in g :I t h a s b e c o m e t o o e a s y t o c r i t i c i z e e s o t e r i c r e s e a r c h a s n a r r o w , d e t a c h e d , a n d t r iv i a l .S u c h c r i t i c i s m l a c k s a n a p p r e c i a t i o n f o r t h e e l e g a n t w a y i n w h i c h f i e l d s o f s t u d ym e r g e . . . . S o m e l i n k s f a c i l i ta t e i n t e g r a t i o n a n d t h e r e b y p r e v e n t s p e c i a l i z a t i o n f r o mb e c o m i n g n a r r o w - m i n d e d n e s s . . . W e n e e d t o r e c o n c e p t u a li z e o u r m o d e l o f d i s c i-p l i n a r y g r o w t h a n d s p e c i a l i z a t i o n , a d o p t i n g a m o r e o r g a n i c m o d e l t h a t a c c o u n t s f o rt h e i n t r ic a t e l i n k s a m o n g t h e m a n y s p e c i a l i z a t i o n s . O u r c u r r e n t m e c h a n i s t i c m o d e ld i v i d e s d i s c i p l i n e s in t o n u m e r o u s b l o c k s o f s p e c i a l i z a t i o n s ; i t i s i n a c c u r a t e . . . a n dm i s l e a d i n g ( R u s c i o , 1 9 86 , p p . 4 3 - 4 4 ) .

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Ten C heers for Interdiscipl inarity 203R e g a r d l e s s o f o n e ' s v i e w s a b o u t t h e e x t e n t o f c o m p a r t m e n t a l i z a t io n in t h e m o d e r n

r e s e a r c h a n d c r e a t i v e e n t e r p r i s e s, i t is c l e a r t h a t s p e c i a l iz a t i o n i n o n e f o r m o r a n o t h e ri s h e r e t o s t a y . T h e q u e s t i o n t h a t k e e p s r e a r i n g i t s h e a d c o n c e r n s t h e f u t u r e a n d l e g i t i-m a c y o f i n t e r d i s c i p l i n a r i t y . S o m e p e o p l e f e e l t h a t a n y a t t e m p t a t i n t e r d i s c i p l i n a r i t ys m a c k s o f d i l e t t a n t i s m , p e r h a p s e v e n c h a r l a t a n i s m . T h i s a r t i c l e w i l l s h o w t h a t t h i sv i e w e n t a i l s a p r o f o u n d m i s u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f t h e i n te l l e c tu a l , so c i a l, a n d p e r s o n a lr e w a r d s o f i n t e rd i s c ip l i n a ry k n o w l e d g e a n d r e s e a rc h .

W H A T IS I N T E R D IS C I P L IN A R I T Y ?A l t h o u g h m a n y h a v e t r ie d t o d e f i n e i n t e r d is c i p li n a r it y (B e r g e r, 1 9 72 ; K o c k e l m a n s ,1979 ; M ayv i l l e , 1978 ; S t em ber , 1991) , i t s t i ll s eem s " to de fy de f in i t i on " (Kle in , 1990) .T h e m o s t w i d e l y c i t e d a t te m p t s b r e a k d o w n i n t e rd i s c ip l i n ar i ty in t o c o m p o n e n t s s u c ha s m u l t i d i s c ip l i n a r i t y , p l u r i d is c i p l i n a r it y , c r o s s d i s c i p l i n a r it y , a n d t r a n s d i s c ip l i n a r it y .B e c a u s e t h e s e s u b d i v i s i o n s t h r o w l i tt l e l i g h t o n t h e t h e o r y a n d p r a c t i c e o f i n t e r d is c i p li -n a r i t y , e l s e w h e r e ( N i s s a n i , 1 9 9 5 a ) I h a v e p r o p o s e d t h e i r r e p l a c e m e n t w i t h a m o r ea p p r o p r i a t e d e f i n i t io n . T o b e g i n w i t h , a discipline c a n b e c o n v e n i e n t l y d e f in e d a s a n yc o m p a r a t i v e l y s e l f - c o n t a i n e d a n d i s o l a t e d d o m a i n o f h u m a n e x p e r i e n c e w h i c hp o s s e ss e s i t s o w n c o m m u n i t y o f e xp e r ts , lnterdisciplinarity i s b e s t s e e n a s b r i n g i n gt o g e t h e r d i s t i n c t i v e c o m p o n e n t s o f t w o o r m o r e d i s c i p l i n e s . I n a c a d e m i c d i s c o u r s e ,i n t e r d i s c i p l in a r i t y t y p i c a l l y a p p l ie s t o f o u r r e a l m s : k n o w l e d g e , r e s e a r c h , e d u c a t i o n ,a n d t h e o r y . I n t e r d is c i p li n a r y k n o w l e d g e i n v o l v e s f a m i l ia r i ty w i t h c o m p o n e n t s o f t w oo r m o r e d i s c ip l in e s . I n t e r d is c i p l in a r y re s e a r ch c o m b i n e s c o m p o n e n t s o f t w o o r m o r ed i s c i p l in e s i n t h e s e a r c h o r c r e a t i o n o f n e w k n o w l e d g e , o p e r a t i o n s , o r a r t is t ic e x p r e s -s i o n s. I n t e r d i s c i p l in a r y e d u c a t i o n m e r g e s c o m p o n e n t s o f t w o o r m o r e d i s c i p l i n e s in as i n g l e p r o g r a m o f i n s t r u c t io n . I n t e r d i s c i p l i n a r y t h e o r y t a k e s i n t e r d i s c i p l in a r y k n o w l -e d g e , r e s e a r c h , o r e d u c a t i o n a s i ts m a i n o b j e c t s o f s t u d y .T h i s a r t ic l e is l a r g e l y c o n c e r n e d w i t h t h e d e f e n s e o f i n te r d i s c i p l in a r y k n o w l e d g e a n dr e s e a r c h i n t y p i c a l a c a d e m i c s e t t i n g s . A l t h o u g h a l m o s t i d e n t i c a l a r g u m e n t s c o u l d b eu s e d i n d e f e n s e o f i n t e r d i s c i p l in a r y k n o w l e d g e a n d c r e a t i v i t y in t h e a r ts , s u c h a d e f e n s ew i l l n o t b e u n d e r t a k e n h e r e . A l s o , th i s e s s a y i s l a r g e l y c o n f i n e d t o t h e k n o w l e d g e a n dr e s e a r c h a s p e c t s o f a c a d e m i c i n t e r d i s c ip l i n a r i ty , le a v i n g f o r a n o t h e r o c c a s i o n a d i s c u s -s i o n o f t h e s i m i la r , b u t m o r e c o m p l e x a n d a m b i v a l en t , c a s e o f e d u c a ti o n . L i k e w i s e ,t h i s e s s a y o n l y o f f e r s r e f l e c t io n s i n b u t n o t a b o u t i n t e r d i s c i p l i n a r y t h e o r y .R E W A R D S O F I N T E R D IS C I P L IN A R Y K N O W L E D G E A N D R ES EA RC H

W h e n p r e s s e d t o j u s t i f y i n t e r d i s c i p l in a r y k n o w l e d g e a n d r e s e a r c h , th e o r i s t s t y p i c a l l yc o m e u p w i t h tw o o r t h r ee a r g u m e n t s . N o s in g l e t r ea t is e k n o w n t o m e m a k e s a c o m p r e -hens ive case fo r i n t e rd i sc ip l ina r i t y . Th i s s ec t ion t r i e s t o f i l l t ha t gap . In do ing so , i tr e l ie s o n t h e r e f l e c t io n s o f i n t e r d i s c ip l i n a r y t h e o r is t s , o n t h e r e f l e c t i o n s o f o t h e r s, a n d( e s p e c i a l l y i n th e c h o i c e o f il l u s tr a t i o n s ) o n m y o w n e x p e r i e n c e s i n a v a r i e t y o f f ie l d s .A s w i l l b e s e e n , t h e s p e c i f i c r e w a r d s l i s te d b e l o w f a l l w i t h i n t h r e e o v e r l a p p i n g c a t e -g o r i e s: ( 1 ) g r o w t h o f k n o w l e d g e , ( 2 ) o t h e r s o c ia l b e n e f i ts , a n d ( 3 ) p e r s o n a l r e w a r d s .

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204 THE SOCIAL SCIENCE JOURNAL Vol . 34/N o. 2/199 7

Creative BreakthroughsT h e v e r y a c t o f c r ea t i o n o f t e n i n v o l v e s t h e b r i n g i n g t o g e t h e r o f p r e v i o u s l y u n r e l a te d

i d e a s ( K o e s t l e r, 1 9 6 4 ). H i g h l y c r e a t i v e a rt is t s a n d t h i n k e r s f o r m u n c o n v e n t i o n a l b u tf r u it f u l p e r m u t a t i o n s o f d i s p a r a t e i d e a s ( S i m o n t o n , 1 9 8 8 ). T h e c o m b i n e d a s p e c t s m a yb e d r a w n f r o m a s i n g l e d is c i p li n e , a s i n T o r r i c e l l i ' s s e a o f a i r h y p o t h e s i s , o r f r o me v e r y d a y e x p e r i e n c e s a n d a s in g l e d i s c ip l i n e , as in A r c h i m e d e s ' c e l e b r a t e d " e u r e k a "c a se . T h e a c t o f c r e at i o n m a y a l s o a r i se f r o m t h e p e r m u t a t i o n o f id e a s f r o m t w o o rm o r e d i s ci p l in e s . T h o m a s K u h n , f o r in s t a n c e, n o t i c e d t h e s t ri l d n g s i m i l a r it y b e t w e e n ag e s t a lt s w i t c h ( p s y c h o l o g y ) a n d a p a r a d i g m a t i c s h i f t ( h is t o r y o f s c ie n c e ).

M o s t o b s e r v e r s o f th e c r e a t iv e m o m e n t c o n c u r: " T h e c l a s h i n g p o i n t o f t w o s u b j e c ts ,t w o d i s c ip l in e s , t w o c u l t u r e s - - o f t w o g a l a x i es , s o f a r a s t h a t g o e s - - o u g h t t o p r o d u c ec r e a t i v e c h a n c e s . I n t h e h i s t o r y o f m e n t a l a c t iv i t y th a t h a s b e e n w h e r e s o m e o f t h eb r e a k - t h r o u g h s c a m e " ( S n o w , 1 9 6 4 a , p . 1 6 ). " I n t e ll e c t u a l c r o s s - p r e s s u r e s g e n e r a t e d b ya n i n t er d i s c i p li n a r y o u t l o o k l i b e r at e a p e r s o n ' s t h i n k i n g f r o m t h e l im i t i n g a s s u m p t i o n so f hi s o w n p r o f e s s i o n a l g r o u p , a n d s t i m u l a t e f le s h v i s i o n " ( M i l g r a m , 1 9 6 9 , p . 1 0 3 )." T h e p e r i o d s o f g r e a t e s t e x c i t e m e n t a n d o f e x p a n d e d v i s i o n i n o u r j o i n t w o r k a s s o c i a lp s y c h o l o g i s t s h a v e b e e n d u r i n g i n t e r d is c i p l in a r y e f f o r t s " ( S h e r if , 1 9 7 9 ; s e e al s oB e c h e r , 1 9 8 9 ; B e c h t e l , 1 9 8 6 ; F l o r m a n , 1 9 8 9 ; G a f f , 1 9 8 9 ; M i l e s , 1 9 8 9 ; M o f f a t , 1 9 9 3 ;R u s c i o , 1 9 8 6 ). C . W r i g h t M i l l s ( 1 9 5 9 , p p . 2 1 1 - 2 1 2 ) p u t s it w e l l :

The soc io logica l imagina t ion . . . in cons ide rable pa r t cons i s t s of the capac i ty tosh i f t f rom o ne pe r spec t ive to another , and in the p rocess to bui ld u p an adequa teview o f a to ta l soc ie ty and o f i ts com ponents . I t i s th i s imagina t ion , of course , tha tse ts of f the socia l sc ient is t f rom the mere technic ian. A dequ ate technic ians can b et rained in a f ew yea r s . The soc io logica l imagina t ion can a l so be cu l t iva ted ; ce r -ta in ly i t s e ldom occurs w i thout a grea t dea l of rout ine work . Ye t the re i s an unex-pec ted qua l i ty abou t i t, pe rhaps because i t s e s sence i s the combina t ion of ideas tha tno one e xpe c t e d w e r e c om bi na b l e - - s a y , a m e s s o f i dea s f r om G e r m a n ph i lo s ophyand Br i t ish econ omics . The re i s a p layfu lness of mind back o f such combin ing a swell as a truly f ie rce dr ive to mak e sense of the world, w hich the technic ian as suchusual ly lacks . Perhap s he is too w el l t ra ined, too prec ise ly t ra ined. Since one can b etrained only in w ha t i s a l ready known, t r a in ing som e t imes incapac ita tes one f ro mlea rn ing new ways ; i t makes on e rebe l aga ins t wha t i s bound to be a t f i r st loose andeven s loppy.

T h u s , i f c h a n c e f a v o r s t h e p r e p a r e d m i n d , a n d i f p r e p a r a t i o n o f t e n i n v o l v e s g r o u n d i n gi n tw o o r m o r e d i s ci p l in e s , t h e n t h o s e w h o w i s h t o s p e e d u p t h e g r o w t h o f k n o w l e d g es h o u l d p r o m o t e , o r a t l ea s t t o l er a te , i n t e r d i s ci p l i n a ry k n o w l e d g e a n d r e s e a rc h .O u t s i d e r ' s P e r s p e c t i v e

A c c o r d i n g t o s o m e o b s e r v e r s ( B e c h e r, 1 9 8 9 , p . 1 1 8 ), " c a r e e r m o b i l i t y . . . is a m o n gt h e m o s t p o t e n t s o u r c e s o f i n n o v a t i o n a n d d e v e l o p m e n t w i t h i n a d i sc i p l in e . " F o ri n s t an c e , s e v e n t e e n o u t o f f o r t y - o n e s c i e n ti s ts i n t h e p h a g e g r o u p ( w h i c h p l a y e d a d e c i -s i v e r o l e i n m i d - c e n t u r y b i o l o g y ) w e r e p h y s i c i s t s o r c h e m i s t s b y t r a i n i n g . H e i n r i c hS c h w a b e w a s a p h a r m a c i s t , J a m e s J o u l e a b r e w e r , P a u l G a u g u i n a s t o c k b r o k e r .T h o m a s H u n t M o r g a n w a s t r a i n e d a s a n e m b r y o l o g i s t , A . E . H o u s m a n a s a c l a s s i c i s t ,

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T e n Cheers f o r I n t e r d i s c i p l i n a r i ty 205S o m e r s e t M a u g h a m a s a p h y s i c ia n . T h e r e i s a p a t te r n h e re , w h i c h d e m a n d s a ne x p l a n a t i o n .

T h e f i rs t c a u s e i s o b v i o u s : i m m i g r a n t s b r i n g f r e s h in s i g h t s a n d m e t h o d o l o g i e s f r o mt h e i r o l d d i s ci p l in e s . T h i s m a y i n c l u d e , i n p a r t ic u l a r, a m o r e f r u i tf u l w a y o f te l li n ga p a r t w h e a t f r o m c h a f f .T h e s e c o n d c a u s e ca n b e b e st a p p r o a c h e d b y n o t i n g th e r e s e m b l a n c e b e t w e e n i m m i -g r a n t s t o a n e w d i s c i p l i n e a n d t o a n e w l a n d . F o r e i g n o b s e r v e r s l i k e H e r o d o t u s , d eT o c q u e v i l l e , o r M a r g a r e t M e a d s o m e t i m e s s e e c u l tu r a l a s p e c t s w h i c h a r e i n v i s ib l e tot h e n a t i v e s . T h e n a t i v e s l i v e a n d b r e a t h e t h e i r c u s t o m s ; t h e p e r c e p t i v e f o r e i g n e rd o e s n ' t . T h e s a m e g o e s f o r t h e h i s t o r y o f id e a s : o u t s id e r s a r e l e ss p r o n e t o i g n o r ea n o m a l i e s a n d t o r e si s t n e w c o n c e p t u a l f r a m e w o r k s .

A n o u t s i d e r ' s p e r s p e c t i v e , t h e n , i s p a r t i c u l a rl y v a l u a b l e a t ti m e s o f c ri si s. S u c h t i m e sa r e c o m m o n . I n d e e d , t h e r e a r e g o o d r e a s o n s t o b e l i e v e t h a t n o d i s c i p l i n e i s e x e m p tf r o m c y c l e s o f n o r m a l c y a n d r e v o l u t i o n ( K u h n , 1 9 7 0 ). S o m e t i m e s , a n e n ti r e d i s c i p li n ei s i n i n t e l l e c t u a l d i s a r r a y , e . g . , p r e - C o p e r n i c a n a s t r o n o m y w i t h i t s m u l t i t u d e o fe p i c y c l e s .

O n e c o u l d c i t e m a n y h i s t o ri c a l p e r i o d s o f d i sc i p l i n a r y c r is i s, b u t h e r e I s h a ll f o c u s o nt h e c o n t e m p o r a r y s c en e . A c c o r d i n g t o s o m e o b s e r v e r s ( K o e s t l e r, 1 9 5 9 ; S c h w a r t z ,1 9 9 2 ) , c o n t e m p o r a r y p a r t i cl e p h y s i c s i s i n a n u n s e tt l e d s t at e. T h e s o c i al s c i e n c e s m a ya l s o b e i n s u c h a s ta te . " T h e m o s t p r o m i n e n t i n d i c a t o r o f th e c r is i s . . . i s th e l o w w h e a t -t o - c h a f f r a t io i n t h e g l i tt e r in g p i l e s o f r e s e a r c h p u b l i c a t io n s . " O t h e r i n d i c a to r s o f c r is is ,a c c o r d i n g t o t h i s v i e w , a r e c o n t r o v e r s i e s a b o u t e v e r y t h i n g a n d p r e o c c u p a t i o n w i t hm e t h o d o l o g i e s ( S h e r i f, 1 9 7 9 , p p . 2 0 1 - 2 0 3 ) . A n o t h e r a l l e g e d c a n d i d a t e i s e d u c a t i o n( S w o b o d a , 1 9 7 9 , p . 81 ; W h i t l o c k , 1 9 8 6 , p p . 2 4 - 2 7 ) .

A l t h o u g h t h e s e b l e a k a s s e s s m e n t s o f c o n t e m p o r a r y p a r ti c l e p h y s i c s , s o c i a l s c i en c e ,a n d e d u c a t i o n c o u l d b e m i s t a k e n , t h e h i s t o r y o f i d e a s l e a v e s li tt le d o u b t t h a t s o m ef i e ld s a r e , o r w i ll b e , i n a n u n s e t t l e d s ta te . T h e d i s a r r a y m a y b e m o r e k e e n l y f e l t a n da c t e d u p o n b y n e w c o m e r s w h o h a v e n o t y e t g r o w n h a b i t u a t ed t o i t f r e s h r e c ru i t s o nt h e o n e h a n d , i m m i g r a n t s f r o m o t h e r f i e ld s o n t h e o t h er .C r o s s d i s c i p l i n a r y O v e r s i g h t s

Th e gaps am on g [ the socia l sc ience] disc ipl ines are mu ch too large . . . As a result ,ma ny soc io logi s t s . . . [ long cont inued] to draw the i r image ry of the Pro te s tan t Re f -orma t ion f rom M ax W eber , a l though profe s s iona l h i stor ians have long s ince re le -gated his theor ies to the dustbin. In the same way, sociologis ts long cont inued todraw the i r ima ge ry of pr imi t ive soc ie t ie s f rom Pat te rns o f Cu l tu re f a r a f te r the t imewhen anthropologis t s had d i smissed Benedic t ' s e thnographic depic t ions a s qui temis leading . In ne i the r ca se does the r e jec tion o f the w ork deny the in t rigu ing qua l -i ty of the conceptua l s cheme , but i t does brand the spec i f i c h i s tor ica l or e thno-graphic accounts a s so f a l l ac ious empi r ica l ly tha t the concepts w ould not be u t i l i zedwi thout the mo s t ca re fu l recons ide ra t ion . A nd, bo th cases se rve to i l lust r a te how thegap be tw een d i sc ip l ines has l ed to one of them re ly ing on theor ie s and da ta wh icha re qui te inva l ida ted amo ng the or ig ina t ing d i sc ip l ine (W ax, 1969, pp . 8 1-82) .Insu la ted f rom re la ted d i sc ip l ines and lacking a c lea r no t ion o f i ts bea r ings r e la t iveto wh at others have done, in tens ive s tudy w ithin a s ingle [socia l sc ience] disc ipl ine

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sooner or la ter leads to f loundering in to terr i tor ies a lready explored b y o thers . Theresul t is confusion and d isp lays of needless ignorance , of the k ind typif ied in thepas t by psycho log is t s who improv ised the i r own soc io logy o f the fam i ly o r o f cu l-ture, or w ho declare d social institutions to be fictions (Sherif, 1979, p. 217).

T h e p r o b l e m i s b y n o m e a n s c o n f i n e d t o t he s o c i a l s c i en c e s . A t t h e t u rn o f t h ec e n t u r y s o m e b i o lo g i s ts b e l i e v e d t h a t d o m i n a n t g e n e s w o u l d i n c r e a s e i n f re q u e n c y i nr e l a t i o n t o r e c e s s i v e g e n e s . I n t h i s c a s e , t h e i n t e r d i s c i p l i n a r y c o r r e c t i v e w a s p u t i n t oe f f e c t b y t h e m a t h e m a t i c i a n H a r d y .

N o r i s t h is p r e d i c a m e n t c o n f i n e d t o th e p a st . T h e w r i ti n g s o f s o m e c o n t e m p o r a r ye c o n o m i s t s o f t e n f l y in t h e f a c e o f b a s ic e c o l o g i c a l c o n c e p t s . M o s t b o o k s , o n e n o t e de c o n o m i s t s a y s ,

d iscuss ing environmenta l and resource problems begin with the proposi t ion thatthere is an environm enta l and resource cr isis. I f th is me ans that the s i tua t ion ofhumanity is worse now than in the past , then the idea of a cr is is --and a l l tha t fo l-lows f rom i t - - i s dead wrong . In a lm os t eve ry re spec t impor tan t to human i ty , thetrends have been improving, not deter iora t ing . [Therefore , g lobal and U.S. t rendswil l go on] im provin g ins tead of deter iora t ing .

H a d o u r e c o n o m i s t c o n s u l t e d a n i n t r o d u c t o r y l o g i c t e x t , h e m i g h t h a v e p e r c e i v e dt h a t t h is p a s s a g e e m p l o y s a p e r s u a s i v e d e f i ni t io n o f " c r i si s " ( h u m a n i t y ' s s i tu a t io n i sw o r s e n o w t h a n i n th e p a s t ) , i n s t e a d o f th e m o r e a p p r o p r i a t e l e x i c a l d e f i n i t i o n ( " a nu n s t a b l e s ta t e o f a ff a ir s in w h i c h a d e c i s i v e c h a n g e i s i m p e n d i n g " - - W e b s t e r I n t e r n a -t io n a l) . H a d h e c o n s u l te d a m i d d l e - o f - t h e r o a d e c o l o g y t e x t, h e m i g h t h a v e r e a l i z e dt h a t t h i s p a s s a g e i g n o r e s t h e w i d e l y a c c e p t e d t h e o r e t i c a l d e f i n i t i o n o f " c r i s i s . "O r t a k e t h e f o l l o w i n g l i n e s , q u o t e d a p p r o v i n g l y in a n e i g h t h e d i t i o n o f a l o g i c t ex t ." T h e s c h o o l - b o o k p ic t u r es o f p r i m i t i v e m a n s o m e t i m e s o m i t s o m e o f th e d e tr a c t io n s o fh i s p r i m i t i v e l i f e - - t h e p a i n , t h e d i s e a s e , f a m i n e , t h e h a r d l a b o r n e e d e d j u s t t o s t a ya l i v e . " N o w , t h e a s s e r t i o n a b o u t h a r d l a b o r i g n o r e s a n t h r o p o l o g i c a l f i n d i n g s t h a t s o m e" p r i m i t i v e " t r i b e s e n j o y e d m u c h l ei s ur e .

O r t a k e , f i n a l ly , t h e k e y a s s e r t i o n i n a n i n f lu e n t i a l, a n d o t h e r w i s e e x c e l l e n t , e d u c a -t i o n t r e a ti s e , t ha t , o f a ll t h e a n i m a l s , " m a n i s t h e o n l y o n e t o t r e a t n o t o n l y h i s a c t i o n sb u t h i s v e r y s e l f as th e o b j e c t o f h is r e f l e c t i o n . " A p a s s i n g a c q u a i n t a n c e w i t h a p eb e h a v i o r an d , e s p e ci a l ly , w i t h G o r d o n G a l l u p ' s w o r k o n s e l f - a w a r e n e s s i n c h i m p a n -z e e s a n d o r a n g u t a n s ( G a l l u p , 1 9 7 9 ), w o u l d h a v e s u r e l y l e d th i s a u t h o r to q u a l i f y b o t ht h i s s t a t e m e n t a n d i t s i m p l i c a t i o n s .

T h i s c o m e d y o f e rr o r s c o u l d b e e x p a n d e d t o fi ll v o l u m e s . S u c h o v e r s i g h t s c a n b ef o u n d i n w o r k s o f t h e h i g h e s t q u a l i t y : t h e y a r e p a r t a n d p a r c e l o f th e s c h o l a r l y c o n d i -t i on . I n t h e n o n - e x i s t e n t w o r l d o f p u r e d i s c i p l in a r i t y , t h e p e o p l e w h o c o m m i t s u c he r r o r s a n d t h e i r c o l l e a g u e s , b e i n g s t ri c t d i s c i p l in a r i a n s , w o u l d h a v e n o t b e e n i n a p o s i -t i o n t o c a t c h t h e m . A n d a l l t h o s e f a n c i e d s t r i c t d i s c i p l i n a r i a n s w h o c o u l d s p o t s u c he r r o r s w o u l d h a v e n e v e r l e a r n e d o f t h e ir e x i s t e n c e . Z e a l o u s d i v i s i o n s o f t h is t y p e a r eo f c o u r s e f i c t i o n a l ( R u s c i o , 1 9 8 6 ). T h e r o u t i n e d e t e c t i o n o f c r o s s d i s c i p l i n a r y o v e r -s i g h t s s h o w s t h a t w e d o n o t y e t l i v e i n a p u r e d i s c i p l i n a r y w o r l d . N o n e t h e l e s s , t h eo v e r s i g h t s t h a t d o e s c a p e n o t i c e f o r y e a r s s u g g e s t t h a t t h e w o r l d i n w h i c h w e d o l i v e i s

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Ten Ch eers for Interdiscipl inarity 207

not as interdisciplinary as it ought to be. Indeed, with more thinkers straddling moredisciplines, and with greater tolerance for interdisciplinary conceptualizations andvocabularies, such embarrassing episodes would be less common than they are now(cf. Whitman, 1953).Disciplinary Cracks

According to most interdisciplinary theorists, some problems of knowledge areneglected because they "fail to fit in with disciplinary boundaries thus falling in theinterstices between them" (Huber, 1992, p. 285; see also Campbell, 1969; Kavaloski,1979; Kockelmans, 1979). For instance, it seems reasonable to suppose that psychol-ogy has something to do with price raising, but, in 1977, this problem fell outside thedomain of both psychology and economics; it therefore received insufficient attention(Boulding, 1977).Before this sensible claim can be accepted, it must be borne out by the historicalrecord. So far, this record is open to an opposite interpretation: potentially productivequestions in No Man' s Lands do eventually get attention. Witness, for example, theongoing search for extraterrestrial life, which shifts along between astronomy andbiology. Or witness explorations in scientific parapsychology, which fall betweenpsychology and mysticism. Perhaps, as Ruscio (1986) argues, the disciplines are not inpractice as sharply demarcated as most theorists suppose. Disciplinary researchersseem capable of filling productive, yet unoccupied, niches, so that the opportunities forfruitful research in the gray areas among the disciplines are perhaps not missed forlong.Regardless of the historical reality of unexplored gray areas, one point is perfectlyclear: such areas include important topics which often require interdisciplinaryresearch.Co mp le x o r Pr a c t i c a l Pr o b le ms

Suppose that you wished to understand the Soviet-American Cold War. Supposefurther that you were interested in fathoming this ent ire conflict, not merely one oranother of its aspects. A few years and a few bookshelves later, you might realize thatmost experts have failed to arrive at a self-contained portrait because they examinedthis subject from a single disciplinary perspective. An integrated approach, you mightconclude, holds a greater promise of bringing you closer to a finn grasp of thiscomplex subject than any important but one-sided study. Thus, in this particularinstance, you may begin with history. At some point of your ambitious undertaking,you would realize that history falls short, and that the Third World policies of bothAmerica and Russia are important to your subject. At another point you mightconclude that the theories and practices of totalitarianism and democracy must beunderstood as well. You may prolong this branching out process for a while, until areasonably coherent picture emerges. If you persevered, your broad synthesis maywell embody a deeper understanding than any uni-disciplinary approach could possi-bly muster.Or suppose you wanted to understand the nature of political liberties. You mightexamine the subject from a philosophical perspective, and, if you are an original

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t h i n k e r, c o m e u p w i t h s o m e in t e r e st i n g o b s e r v a t i o n s . O r y o u m i g h t e x a m i n e i t f r o m ah i s t o ri c a l s ta n d p o i n t , f o c u s i n g p e r h a p s o n t h e c o n f l i c t b e t w e e n A t h e n s a n d S p a r t a , o rb e t w e e n t h e T h i r d R e i c h a n d F r a n c e . O r , i f y o u h a p p e n e d t o b e a s c i en c e h i s to r i a n , y o um i g h t f o c u s o n t h e s i m i la r it i es b e t w e e n s c i en t i fi c a n d d e m o c r a t i c d e c i s i o n - m a k i n g . A l lt h e s e d i sc i p l i n a ry c o n t r i b u t i o n s m a y b e v a l u a b l e . B u t s o m e h u n t e r s f o r t ru t h g o b e y o n dt h i s p o i n t : w h e n their q u a r r y ig n o r e s h u m a n - m a d e " n o t r e s p a s s in g " s ig n s , th e y c o n t i n u et h e c h a s e . I f , b e s i d e s t h i s i n t e r d i s c i p l i n a r y r e s o l v e , t h e y a l s o h a v e a n o r i g i n a l m i n d , t h e ym a y e n d u p w r i ti ng a n e p o c h - m a k i n g b o o k o n t he Open Soc i e t y and i t s Enem ies .

I n s u c h c a s e s , t h o s e w h o s t o p a t t h e d i s c i p l in a r y e d g e r u n t h e r i sk o f t u n n e l v i s i o n .B e s i d e s t h e s e o b v i o u s i n t e l l e c t u a l c o s t s ( c f . S a x e , 1 9 4 5 ) , n a r r o w d i s c i p l i n a r i t y i sf r e q u e n t l y a c c o m p a n i e d b y a s o c i a l c o s t. I t i s p o s s i b l e , f o r i n s t a n c e , t h a t th e h i g h c o s t sa n d r i sk s h u m a n i t y e n d u r e d t h r o u g h o u t t h e C o l d W a r p e r i o d a r e t r a ce a b l e i n p a r t to t h et u n n e l v i s i o n o f d e c i s i o n - m a k e r s a n d t h e ir a c a d e m i c a d v i s o r s ( N i s s a n i, 1 9 9 2 ). H u m a n -i t y ' s u s e o f n e w r e p r o d u c t i v e t e c h n o l o g i e s i s o p e n t o a s i m i l a r i n t er p r e ta t io n :

The fa i lure to engag e wisdo m o f an adequa te breadth for address ing the subjec t a thand, a long with the disc ipl inary norms tha t encourage such fa i lure , a re pa inful lyevident even in the bes t o f the r ecent books on the impac t of the new reproduc t ivetechnologie s . . . [books which] f a i l to t r anscend the na r row bounda r ie s o f the i r ownargumen ta t ive f ie lds to of fe r broad-based and wide ly com prehens ib le opt ions forou r colle ctive future (Condit, 1993, p. 234).B e r t r a n d R u s s e l l ' s ( 1 9 6 0 , p . x v ) c h a r a c t e r iz a t i o n o f p o l i ti c s m a y s ti ll m e r i t o u r a t t e n -

t io n : " I t i s t h e c u s t o m a m o n g t h o s e w h o a r e c a l le d ' p r a c t i c a l ' m e n , " h e s a y s , "t oc o n d e m n a n y m a n c a p a b l e o f a w i d e s u r v e y as a v i s io n a r y : n o m a n i s t h o u g h t w o r t h yo f a v o i c e i n p o l i ti c s u n l e ss h e i g n o r e s o r d o e s n o t k n o w n i n e t e n t h s o f th e m o s t i m p o r -t a n t r e l e v a n t f a c t s . "

E v e n w e l l - m e a n i n g s t a t e s m e n m a y e r r b e c a u s e t h e y d o n o t u n d e r s t a n d t h e t e c h n i c al ,s o c i a l, o r s c i e n t i fi c a s p e c t s o f a p o l i c y :

I t is dange rous to have two cul tures w hich can ' t o r do n ' t com mu nica te . . . Sc ien ti st scan g ive bad advice and dec i s ion-makers can ' t k now whe the r i t is good or bad . Onthe other hand, scient is ts in a divided cul ture prov ide a kn ow ledg e of som e poten-t ia li ties which is the irs a lone . A ll this m akes the pol i t ica l proce ss mo re com plex ,and in som e ways m ore dange rous , than we shou ld be prepa red to to le rate for long ,e i ther for the purp oses o f avoiding disas ters , or for fulf i l ling . . . a def inable socia lhope (Snow, 1964b, p. 98) .

T h e i n t el l ec t u a l, s o c ia l , a n d p e r s o n a l p r i c e o f n a r r o w c o m p a r t m e n t a l i z a t i o n h a s b e e no f t e n r e m a r k e d u p o n ( B o u l d i n g , 1 9 7 7; E a s t o n , 1 9 9 1 ; E l ia d e , 1 9 7 7; G a f f , 1 9 8 9 ; G a s s ,1 9 7 2 ; M a y v i l l e , 1 9 7 8 ; P e t ri e , 1 9 8 6 ) . I n d e e d , h i s t o r y m i g h t h a v e b e e n d i f f e r e n t i f t h ee x p e r t s w h o d e v e l o p e d f ir e r e t a rd a n t s i n c h i l d r e n ' s n i g h t w e a r e x a m i n e d t h e i rm u t a g e n i c p o t e n t i al ( S w o b o d a , 1 9 7 9 ), i f t h e p e o p l e w h o p u t t o g e t h e r t h e A s w a n D a mh a d b e e n t r a in e d t o r e m e m b e r t h e l ar g e p ic t u r e, i f t h e p e o p l e w h o m a r k e t e d t h a l i d o m i d el o o k e d b e y o n d i t s t r a n q u i li z i n g a n d e c o n o m i c p o t e n t ia l . A n i n t e r d i s c i p l in a r y b a c k -g r o u n d m a y h a v e n o t c a u s e d i n d u s t r y e x p e r t s t o a d o p t a m o r e b a l a n c e d v i e w o f t h et o b a c c o / c a n c e r l in k , b u t i t m i g h t h a v e t e m p e r e d t h e i r o u t fi g h t a d v o c a c y o f s m o k i n g .

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I n m o r e g e n e r a l t e r m s , " r e c e n t h i s t o r y i s f i l l e d w i t h c a u t i o n a r y t a l e s [ a l l s h o w i n g ]t h e d a n g e ro u s , s o m e t i m e s f a t al , n a rr o w n e s s o f p o l i ci e s r e c o m m e n d e d b y t h o s e w h op o s s e s s e x p e r t k n o w l e d g e . " E x p e r t s p r e f e r q u a n t i f i a b l e v a r i a b l e s , t h e y t e n d t o i g n o r ec o n t e x t u a l c o m p l e x i t y , a n d t h e i r s c o p e i s o f t e n l im i t e d ( M a r x , 1 9 8 9 ). A l l t o o o f t e n ,e x p e r t s f o r g e t t h a t " p r o b l e m s o f s o c i e t y d o n o t c o m e i n d i s c i p l i n e - s h a p e d b l o c k s "( R o y , 1 9 7 9 , p . 1 6 5 ) .

O f th e m a n y e p i s o d e s w h i c h c a p t u r e o u r s o c i e t y ' s d i sc i p li n a ry d i l e m m a in m o r ep e r s o n a l t e r m s , I s h o u l d l i k e t o r e l a te o n e . I t in v o l v e s a n u c l e a r w e a p o n s s c ie n t is t w h og r a d u a l ly b e c a m e a l ie n a te d f r o m h i s w o r k . H i s e p i p h a n y c a m e i n

the expe r ience he had in the mid-1980 s wh en v i s i t ing the Sovie t Union for the f i r stt ime : W alking in Red Squa re . . . [ seeing] so m any young peo ple . . . he began toweep u ncont ro l lab ly . . . Be fore tha t , M oscow had been no m ore than a se t o f l ine sa t va r ious l eve l s of r ads and p re s sure s and ca lor ie s pe r squa re cent ime te r tha t onehad to ma tch wi th the bombs . (L i f ton & M arkusen , 1990, pp . 273-274)

A g a i n , f o r al l I k n o w , t h e p r o d u c t i o n o f n u c l e a r w e a p o n s c o u l d b e j u s t i fi e d o n m o r a lg r o u n d s , b u t t h i s is n o t th e p o i n t h e r e . T o d e m o c r a t s a n d h u m a n i t a r i a n s , t h e f r i g h t e n i n gp o i n t i s t h is : i n t h is w o r d o f s p e c ia l i st s , a h i g h l y e d u c a t e d p e r s o n c a n b e u n a w a r e o ft h e s o c i a l an d m o r a l d i m e n s i o n s o f h e r a c ti o n s . H . G . W e l l s s a id s o m e p l a c e t h a t h i s t o r yi s a r a c e b e t w e e n e d u c a t i o n a n d c a t a s t r o p h e , b u t t h i s c a p t u r e s o n l y p a r t o f o u r p li g h t .I r o n i c a l ly , in th i s a g e , o n e m a y k n o w m u c h a b o u t a s u b j e c t a n d y e t k n o w l it tl e a b o u ti ts ra m i f ic a ti o n s . I fo r o n e k n o w d e c e n t p e o p l e w h o k n o w e v e r y t h i n g a b o u t th e c h e m -i s t ry o f C F C s a n d n o t h i n g a b o u t t h e o z o n e l a y e r ( N i s sa n i , 1 9 9 6 ); e v e r y t h i n g a b o u ti n te r n al c o m b u s t i o n e n g i n e s a n d n o t h i n g a b o u t g l o b a l w a r m i n g ; e v e r y t h i n g a b o u tm i n i m u m w a g e l e g is l at io n a n d n o t h i n g a b o u t p o v e r t y . C o m p a r t m e n t a l i za t i o n , b e s id e sl a c k o f e d u c a t i o n , i s t h e e n e m y ; a n e n e m y t h a t c a n o n l y b e c o n q u e r e d t h r o u g h h o l i s t ics c h o l a r s h i p a n d e d u c a t io n :

Previous ly , men co uld be d iv ided s imply in to the l ea rned and the ignorant , thosemo re or l e s s the one , an d those mo re or l e s s the o the r. But y our spec ia l i st cannot bebroug ht in unde r e i the r of these two ca tegor ie s . He i s no t lea rned , for he i s forma l lyignorant of a l l tha t does not enter into his specia l ty; but ne i ther is he ignorant ,because he i s "a sc ien t i s t, " and "kn ow s" ve ry we l l h i s own t iny por t ion of the uni-ve r se . W e sha ll have to say tha t he i s a l ea rned ignoramu s , which i s a ve ry se r iousmatter , as i t implies tha t he is a person who is ignorant , not in the fashion of theignorant man, bu t w i th a l l the pe tu lance of one w ho i s l ea rned in h i s own spec ia ll ine (Ortega y Gasse t t , 1932) .

T o s u m u p . M a n y c o m p l e x o r p r ac t ic a l p r o b l e m s c a n o n l y b e u n d e rs t o o d b y p u l l in gt o g e t h e r i n s ig h t s a n d m e t h o d o l o g i e s f r o m a v a r i e ty o f d i s c ip l i n e s. T h o s e w h o f o r g e tt h i s s i m p l e t ru t h r u n t h e i n t e l l e c t u a l r i s k o f t u n n e l v i s i o n a n d t h e s o c i a l r i s k o f i r r e s p o n -s i b l e a c t i o n . I n s o m e a r e a s , i n t e r d i s c i p l i n a r y r e s e a r c h h a s l o n g b e e n p r a c t i c e d , e . g . ,m a t e r i a l s r e s e a r c h o r A m e r i c a n s t u d ie s . S u c h a r e a s, a n d t h e h a b i t o f h o li s ti c v i s i o nt h e y f o s t e r, s h o u l d b e c o m e m o r e n u m e r o u s . F u t u r e s p e c i a l is t s w i l l p e r h a p s b e a b l e tos e e t h e i r fi e l d " a s p a r t o f a w i d e r c o n t e x t , t o r e f l e c t o n t h e i m p a c t o f t h e ir d i s c i p l i n e ' s

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activities on society, and to enhance their ability to contribute to social developmen ts"(Huber, 1992, p. 290).U n i ty o f K n o w l e d g e

It is of course impossible, in our age, to become an expert in everything. But if wemistake disciplinary knowledge for wisdom; if we forget how much we do n't know; ifwe forget how much we cannot know; if we don 't set for ourselves, in principle at least,the ideal o f the unity o f knowledge; we lose something o f great importance. By persis-tently aiming at the hazy target of omniscience, interdisciplinarians help us rememberthese things. They thus spur us to see the various components of human knowledge forwhat they are: pieces in a panoramic jigsaw puzzle. And they inspire us to recall that"the power and majesty of nature in all its aspects is lost on him who contemplates itmerely in the detail of its parts, and not as a whole" (Pliny, 1977, p. 581).

Familiarity with other cultures enables us to see deficiencies in our own:The modem mind divides, specializes, thinks in categories: the Greek instinct wasthe opposite, to take the widest view, to see things as an organic whole .... It wasarete that the [Olympic] games were designed to test the arete of the whole man,not a merely specialized skill .... The great event was the pentathalon, if you wonthis, you were a man. Needless to say, the Marathon race was never heard of untilmodem times: the Greeks would have regarded it as a monstrosity. As for the skillshown by modem champions in games like golf or billiard, the Greeks would cer-tainly have admired it intensely, and thought it an admirable thing--in a slave, sup-posing that one had no better use for a slave than to train him in this way.Impossible, he would say, to acquire skill like this and at the same time to live theproper life of a man and a citizen. It is this feeling that underlies Aristotle's claimthat a gentleman should be able to play the flute but not too well (Kitto, 1957, pp.173-174).

Flexibil i ty of ResearchMost fields experience exciting periods of rapid, sometimes revolutionary,

advances, followed by periods of comparative stagnation. Most people stick it outthrough thick and thin; without their dedication, the world of culture would have beenin a sorry shape. (Although sometimes, as we have seen, immigrants bring freshperspectives and thereby contribute to their new subspecialties or disciplines.) Be thatas it may, in personal terms, individual scholars eager to migrate to a new disciplineenjoy greater flexibility and freedom in their career, an obvious personal reward of thewillingness to cross disciplinary boundaries.L a w o f D imin i s h in g Re tu r n s

The law o f diminishing returns states that, bey ond a certain point, the yield on fixedincrements of input gets progressively smaller. It takes hours to learn chess, months toget to be reasonably good, and years to become an expert.

A similar situation seems to prevail in the world of learning. An insect anatomist,for instance, must keep abreast of his field. He might have never read Tolstoy or

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Ten Cheers o r Interdisciplinarity 211P l a to ; n e v e r h e a r d B a c h o r V iv a l d i. A s a h u m a n b e i n g , h e c o u l d u n d o u b t e d l y g a i nm o r e f r o m g e t t i n g a c q u a i n t e d w i t h t h e s e a u t h o r s a n d c o m p o s e r s t h a n f r o m s p e n d i n gt h e s a m e a m o u n t o f ti m e o n i n s e c t a n a t o m y . B u t l i fe is s h o r t . I n a b e t t e r w o r l d , w ew o u l d a l l h a v e " w o r l d e n o u g h , a n d t i m e . " I n t h i s w o r l d , a c h a m p i o n m a r a t h o n e r , ac o n c e r t m a s t e r i n a m a j o r o r c h e s t r a , a S t a k h a n o v , o r a l i v e r t o x i c o l o g i s t , a r e t h ev i c t im s o f t h e l a w o f d i m i n i s h i n g r e t u r n s. T o r e a c h t h e p i n n a c l e o f th e i r p r o f e s s i o n ,t h e y o f t e n e n d u p e x p l o r i n g o n e i n t e r e s t i n g f e a t u r e o f a s i n g l e a t o ll . In t e r d i s c i p l in a r i -a n s , b y c o n t r a s t , a r e f o r e v e r t r e a t i n g t h e m s e l v e s t o th e i n t e l le c t u a l e q u i v a l e n t o fe x p l o r i n g e x o t i c l a n ds .Social Change

A l t h o u g h t h e m o d e r n u n i v e r s i t y i s r i c h i n i n t e l l e c t u a l r e s o u r c e s , i t i s o n l y m i l d l ye f f e c t i v e a s a n a g e n t o f s o c i a l c h a n g e . O n e w o u l d e x p e c t a s t ro n g h o l d o f p r o f e s s i o n a lt h in k e r s t o h a v e a f u n d a m e n t a l i m p a c t o n p o l it ic s , b u t it d o e s n ' t : t h e a c a d e m y e n j o y sl it t le s u c c e s s i n m o b i l i z i n g i ts v a s t i n t e ll e c t u a l r e s o u r c e s t o i m p r o v e s o c i e t y .

T h e r e a s o n s f o r t h is a r e n o d o u b t c o m p l e x , b u t o n e a m o n g t h e m i s c l e ar : " t h e fr a g -m e n t a t i o n o f th e d i s c i p li n e s r e n d e r s a l l o f u s p a s s i v e b e f o r e a w o r l d b e c o m ei n c r e a s i n g ly o b s c u r e a n d a r b i t r a r y " ( B i r n b a u m , 1 9 8 6 , p p . 6 5 - 6 6 ) .

A c o m m u n i t y w h o s e m e m b e r s s p e a k a m u l t i tu d e o f m u t u a l l y u n i n t e ll ig i b l el a n g u a g e s c a n n o t b u il d h i g h t o w e r s ; f u n c t i o n a l i t y r e q u i re s e f f e c t i v e c o m m u n i c a t i o n( H i r sc h , 1 9 8 7 ). T o t r a n s f o r m t h e o r y i n to p r a x i s, t o t a p t h e t r e m e n d o u s p o t e n t ia l f o rp r o g r e s s a n d j u s t i c e i n th e i n t e l le c t u a l a n d a r t is t ic c o m m u n i t ie s , c h a n n e l s o f c o m m u n i -c a t io n , a n d a c o m m o n l a n g u a g e , m u s t b e r e i n f o r c e d . In t e rd i s c ip l in a r ia n s , b y r e m i n d i n gu s o f t h e u n i t y - o f - k n o w l e d g e i d e al , b y t h e i r m a s t e r y o f t w o o r m o r e l in g u a a c a d e m i c a s ,m a y b e a b l e t o c o n t r i b u t e to a g r e a t e r i n te g r a t io n o f th e w o r l d o f c u lt u r e.A c a d e m i c F r e e d o m

C u l t u ra l s y s t e m s - - l i k e e c os y st em s -- -- -c a n b e d i s r u p t e d o r d e s t r o y e d b y e x t e r n a li n t e rv e n t i o n s . " T o o f o r c e f u l a s u p e r i m p o s i t i o n o f t h e e x t r in s i c v a l u e s o f a c c o u n t a b i l it ya n d r e l e v a n c e o n t h e i n t ri n s ic v a l u e s o f r e p u t a t i o n - s e e k i n g a n d q u a l i ty c o n t r o l b y p e e rg r o u p ju d g m e n t c a n o n l y l e a d to i n t e ll e c tu a l s u b s e r v i e n c e , a n d t h e n c e t o a c a d e m i cs t e r il i ty . O n t h e c o g n i t i v e s i d e o f t h e e q u a t i o n , k n o w l e d g e i t s e lf , v i e w e d a s a c u l t u r a lr e s o u r c e , d e m a n d s g o o d h u s b a n d r y a n d s t e a d y r e p l e n i s h m e n t " ( B e c h e r , 1 9 8 9 , p . 1 6 9 ).O w i n g t o t h e d i s c i p li n a r y f ra g m e n t a t i o n o f th e w o r l d o f l e a r n in g , a c a d e m i c s f a il ton o t i c e t h o s e l a r g e r t h re a t s to a c a d e m i c f r e e d o m w h i c h a f f e c t t h e a c a d e m i c c o m m u n i t ya s a w h o l e .

To preserve even a mode s t degree of in t e l lec tual in t egr ity , t he ene my wi th in shouldnot r emain unnot i ced . . . T he problem rem ains of how to br idge the evident d iv i -s ions a nd thus to prom ote that recogn i t ion of com m ona l i ty which seems essentialto the m aintenance o f some measure o f co l lec t ive independence . . . An enh~incedrecog ni t ion of mutual i ty could serve as be t ter defen se agains t the int rus ive mana-ger ial ism which seeks to impose a crude form of accountabi l i ty, based on falseassumptions abou t the n ature o f intel lectual endeav or , and bols tered by insens it iveand of t en spur ious " indica tor s of per forman ce . " It might eve n help to per suade the

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wider society, on whose patronage the pursuit of knowledge ultimately depends, tomaintain for academics a reasonable liberty--if one which remains well short oflicense--in their choice of what to study and how to study it (Becher, 1989, pp.169-171)If we accept Becher's analysis and share his concern for academic freedom, an addi-tional advantage of interdisciplinary knowledge, research, and education, emerges:

perhaps more than any other group within the academy, interdisciplinarians are posedto build bridges among the disciplines.

A B R IE F C A S E A G A I N S TI N T E R D I S C IP L I N A R Y K N O W L E D G E A N D R ES EA RC H

At times, interdisciplinary perspectives may prove a handicap. Indiscriminate attemptsto apply one discipline to others have often had unsavory consequences. BothArchimedes' physics and Spinoza' s philosophy suffered for being clad in an ill-fittingmathematical dress. Evolutionary theory suffers because it contradicts religiousbeliefs. Some people believe that the social sciences could advance faster by blazingtrails with their own axes, not with fancy imports from the natural sciences.

More often than not, amateurs and outsiders will miss an essential facet. They oftenblunder, as did the many "inventors" of perpetual-motion machines, the religiousfundamentalists who dismissed Galileo's telescope on spurious grounds, allegedobservers of UFOs, or the music lovers who rioted during early performances ofStravinsky's works.

Even under the best circumstances, an interdisciplinarian is unlikely to gain ascomplete a mastery of her broad area as the specialists upon whose work her ownendeavor is based. She must risk dilettantism to gain her bird's eye view. She maybecome jack of all trades, master of none. Literary critics, for example, often borrow atheory from another discipline, even though they fail to "first understand what it meansin that discipline and how it is judged there" (Levin, 1993, p. 33).The impossible ideal of the unity of knowledge may lead some people to scom thenever-ending search for knowledge: since humanity 's stock of knowledge cannot bemastered, and since reality itself must forever elude us, the quest for truth might begiven up as misguided in principle. Also, ignorance in some cases is bliss. Knowingthe negative consequences of their actions, interdisciplinarians may wrestle withdilemmas which are dimly perceived by their straight-and-narrow brethren. Fragmen-tation, on the other hand, renders mastery of a subject manageable, it helps us forgethow much we cannot know, and it keeps us blissfully unaware of untowardrepercussions.An interdisciplinary dialogue runs the risk of going stale. The interdisciplinarycommunity can become "cut off from fresh infusions of disciplinary knowledge." Itcan slide into naive generalism with little disciplinary training (Grant and Riesman,1978, p. 35).

In some cases, interdisciplinary research requires cooperation of experts with differ-ent disciplinary backgrounds and different ways of thinking--a notoriously difficultundertaking.

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Ten Cheers for In terd isc ip l inar i ty 213

I n t e rd i s c ip l i n a ry k n o w l e d g e a n d r e s e a r c h a re d e m a n d i n g . T o k e e p r e a s o n a b l ya b r e a s t o f j u s t t w o f i e l d s , f o r i n s ta n c e , r e q u i re s t r e m e n d o u s i n v e s t m e n t o f ti m e a n di n t e l le c t u a l e n e r g y .

B AR RIE RS T O I N T E R D I S C IP L I N A R Y K N O W L E D G E A N D R ES EA RC HI n t h e w o r l d o f l e a r n i n g a s i t i s p r e s e n t l y c o n s t i t u t e d , c o m m i t t e d i n t e r d i s c i p l i n a r i a n st y p i c a l l y f in d t h e m s e l v e s i n a d i s c i p l in a r y e n v i r o n m e n t . " D i s c i p l i n e s s e r v e n o t o n l y a sa c o n v e n i e n t . . . w a y o f d iv i d i n g k n o w l e d g e i n to i ts c o m p o n e n t s , b u t . .. t h e y a l sos e rv e a s a b a s is f o r o r g a n i z in g t h e i n s t i t u t i o n - - a n d h e n c e t h e p r o fe s s io n a l s e n g a g e d i nt e a c h i n g a n d r e s e a r c h - - i n t o a u t o n o m o u s f i e f s " ( G a s s , 1 9 7 9 , p . 1 1 9) . T h e c o n s e -q u e n c e s a r e p r e d i c t a b l e . I n a r e c e n t c a s e , t h e p r o m o t e r s o f a n i n t e r d i s c i p l in a r y p r o g r a mw e r e c a l le d u p o n t o f o r m a l l y e x p l a i n h o w t h e ir p r o g r a m w o u l d a c h i e v e discipl inaryd e p t h . E x p e r t s t e n d t o v i e w w i t h s u s p i c i o n p e o p l e l a c k i n g a f i r m a n c h o r i n a n y d i s c i -p l i n e . R e g a r d l e s s o f t h e q u a l i t y o f t h e i r w o r k , i n t e r d i s c i p l i n a r i a n s o f t e n e x p e r i e n c ed i f f i c u l ti e s s e c u r i n g r e s e a r c h g r a n t s , g o i n g o n e x c h a n g e p r o g r a m s , p u b l i s h i n g , g a i n i n gr e c o g n i ti o n , s e c u r in g a j o b , o r b e i n g p r o m o t e d : " R e s e a r c h e r s w h o i d e n t i fy th e m s e l v e sp r o f e s s i o n a l l y w i t h c r o s s - d i s c i p l i n a r y c a te g o r i e s f a c e t h e e n t i re p a n o p l y o f g a t e k e e p -i n g m e c h a n i s m s , w h i c h b y a n d l a r g e f a v o r e x i st i n g d i s ci p l in a r y c a t e g o r ie s " ( K l e i n ,1993, p. 193).

A f e w e x a m p l e s : T h e F u l b r i g h t S c h o l a r P r o g r a m h a s n o i n t e r d i s c i p l i n a r y c a t e -g o r y - n o i n te r d is c i p li n a ri a n s n e e d a p p ly . " T o b e a c c e p te d , P i a g e t ' s s e m i n a l w o r kh a d t o b e r e p l ic a t e d i n c o n f o r m i t y t o th e A m e r i c a n m o d e l " ( B e c h t e l , 1 9 8 6 , p p. 2 2 -2 3 ) . I t t o o k 3 5 y e a r s f o r M e n d e l ' s w o r k t o b e n o t i c e d ( N i s s a n i , 1 9 9 4 a ) . W i l l i a mJ a m e s f e l t th a t " i t s e e m s a g r e a t p i t y t h a t a s o r i g in a l a m a n a s [ C h a r l e s P e ir c e ] . . .s h o u l d b e s t a r v e d o u t o f a c a r e e r " ( 1 9 5 2 , p . 2 7 9 ) . I s a a c A s i m o v c a m e c l o s e to b e i n gf i r e d f r o m a n a c a d e m i c p o s t f o r b e i n g a g e n e ra l i st . A s i m o v ' s c a s e , h o w e v e r , i s n o tn e a r l y a s t ra g i c a s P e i r c e 's : A s i m o v n o t o n l y k e p t h i s j o b , b u t , t w e n t y - f o u r y e a r sl a te r , m a d e t h e g r a d e f o r f u l l p r o f e s s o r ( A s i m o v , 1 9 8 0, p p . 1 1 1 , 7 9 8 ; s e e a l s oNis san i , 1994b ; Ni s san i , 1995b) .

U n l i k e i n te r d is c i p li n a ri ty , s p e c i al i za t io n m a y b e i n h a r m o n y w i t h W e s t e r n t e n d e n -c i e s " t o c o m p e t e , e x c e l , d o m i n a t e , a n d c o n t r o l " ( G u s d o r f , 1 9 7 9 , p. 1 47 ). P e o p l ee d u c a t e d i n o u r u n i v e r s i t ie s f i n d i t d i f fi c u l t t o c o n c e i v e o f a n y t h i n g o t h e r t h a n t h ec u r r e n t d e p a r t m e n t a l s t r u c tu r e . P r o m o t e r s o f i n t e r d i s c ip l i n a r y r e s e a r c h a n d e d u c a t i o nm u s t o v e r c o m e t h e i r c o l l e a g u e s ' r e s i s t a n c e t o c h a n g e ( N i s s a n i , 1 9 9 4 b ; N i s s a n i a n dH o e f l e r - N i s s a n i , 1 9 9 2) . I n a w o r l d o f l i m i t e d r e so u r c e s , i n t e r d i s c i p l in a r i a n s m a y b ep e r c e i v e d a s c o m p e t i t o r s . D i s c i p l i n a r i a n s m a y b e p e r f e c t l y c o n t e n t d o i n g t h i n g s t h e i rw a y a n d r e l u c ta n t t o l a b o r fo r a d e v i l t h e y d o n ' t k n o w . I n s id e a n d o u t s id e a c a d e m i a ,t h e i n t e r d i s c i p l i n a r i a n s ' c o n c e r n w i t h i n t e r c o n n e c t i o n s a n d t h e l a r g e r p i c t u r e m a y b ev i e w e d a s p o t e n t i a l l y s u b v e r s iv e .

A l l t h e s e d r a w b a c k s a n d b a r r i e r s e x p l a i n t h e h o s t i l e r e c e p t i o n o f i n t e r d i s c i p l i n a r yin i t i a t i ves (Roy , 1979 , p . 167) :

G iven the intractability of the departmental structure, the cha nge resistance of fac-ulty . . . i t is unlikely that mo dem universit ies can produce m any graduates wh o wil lreflect the no w elusive Renaissance ideal . There w il l of course con tinue to be those

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214 THE SOC IAL SCIENCEJOURNAL Vol. 34/N o. 2/1997

r a re hum an ins tances of ex t raord ina ry and com prehens ive know ledge ; bu t suchpeo ple will em erge as mu ch in spi te of as becau se of univers i t ies (Miles , 1989,p. 17).

P R A C T I C A L I M P L I C A T I O N SD e s p i t e t h e b a r ri e r s a n d d r a w b a c k s , t h e f o r e g o i n g d i s c u s s i o n f o r c e f u l l y c a l ls f o r a m i l ds h i f t ( i n b o t h a t t it u d e s a n d i n s t i t u t io n a l a r r a n g e m e n t s ) t o w a r d s i n t e r d i s c i p l i n a r yk n o w l e d g e a n d r e s e a rc h . T o o v e r c o m e t h e n e g a t i v e s i d es o f s p e c ia l i za t i o n , t o r e t a in i tsv i t al it y , t h e a c a d e m y m u s t c u l t i v a te i n t e r d is c i p l in a r y k n o w l e d g e a n d r e s e a rc h . I t m u s tn e v e r f o r g e t t h at a v ib r a n t c o m m u n i t y o f s c h o l a r s - - j u s t l i k e a t h ri v in g e c o s y s t e m - -n u r t u r e s s p e c i a l i s t s a n d g e n e r a l i s t s , d i v e r s i t y a n d i n t e r c o n n e c t i o n s .

N o d o u b t , m o s t a c a d e m i c s " w i l l g o o n t e n d i n g t h e ir o w n g a r d e n " ( S h e ri f , 1 9 7 9 ,p . 2 1 8 ) . T h i s i s a ll as i t s h o u l d b e , p r o v i d e d t h e s e s p e c i a l i s t s " f o r c e t h e m s e l v e s t od e f i n e a l l o f t h e a v a i l a b l e r e s e a r c h o n t h a t p r o b l e m a s o f p o s s i b l e r e le v a n c e , a n d t o s e et h e m s e l v e s a s c o n t r ib u t i n g t o t h e r e s o l u t io n o f a p r o b l e m r a t h e r th a n a s a d d i n g i n f o r -m a t i o n t o a n is o l a t e d d i s c i p l in e " ( C o n d i t , 1 9 9 3 , p p . 2 4 5 - 2 4 6 ) . N o d o u b t t o o , a n dd e s p i te t h e h a r d s h i p s , a f e w c r e a t i v e i n d i v id u a l s w i l l c o n t i n u e t o t r e a d f r o m o n e g a r d e nt o a n o t h e r . W e s h o u l d s e e t o i t t h a t t h e i r l e s s - t r a v e l e d p a t h s a r e n o t o v e r r u n w i t hth i s t l e s .

T h e c a s e f o r i n t e r d i s c i p l i n a r y e d u c a t i o n , i t s e e m s t o m e , i s n o t a s s t r a i g h t f o r w a r d a si ts k n o w l e d g e a n d r e s e a r c h c o u n t e rp a r t s. B e c a u s e e d u c a t i o n a l p h i l o s o p h i e s a r e s h a p e di n p a r t b y i d e o l o g y , i n tu i t io n , a n d a e s t h e t i c s , t h e c o n t r o v e r s y a b o u t t h e e x t e n t , t i m i n g ,a n d n e e d f o r h o l i s ti c e d u c a t i o n m a y w e l l b e i r r e so l v a b l e . H e r e I c a n d o n o m o r e t h a no f f e r a p e r s o n a l v i e w . T h e s o u n d e s t c o u r s e o f ac t i o n m a y a g a i n i n v o l v e e n r i c h i n g t h ev a s t d i s c i p l i n a r y a r c h i p e l a g o w i t h i d i o s y n c r a s i e s a n d b r i d g e s . A t t h e g l o b a l l e v e l , t h i si m p l i e s a w i d e r a n g e o f d i sc i p l in a r y a n d i n t e r d is c i p l in a r y e d u c a t i o n a l p r o g r a m s . A t t h ei n s t i t u t i o n a l l e v e l , t h i s i m p l i e s e n c o u r a g i n g s t u d e n t s t o t a k e a t l e a s t o n e c o n s c i o u s l yi n t e g r a t i v e c o u r s e .Acknowledgments: The author wishes to thank Donna Nis sani , Shreedha r Lohani , NormaShif rin, Bob C ar ter , David A . Freeman, and s tud ents - -ea ch in he r/h i s spec ia l way m ade thewri t ing and publ ica t ion o f this a r t ic le poss ible .

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