Creating Interdisciplinary Campus Cultures (PDF)

Praise for Creating Interdisciplinary Campus Cultures

"Klein's analysis shows convincingly that from research in the
sciences to new graduate-level programs and departments, to new
designs for general education, interdisciplinarity is now prevalent
throughout American colleges and universities. . . . Klein
documents trends, traces historical patterns and precedents, and
provides practical advice. Going directly to the heart of our
institutional realities, she focuses attention on some of the more
challenging aspects of bringing together ambitious goals for
interdisciplinary vitality with institutional, budgetary, and
governance systems. A singular strength of this book, then, is the
practical advice it provides about such nitty-gritty issues as
program review, faculty development, tenure and promotion, hiring,
and the political economy of interdisciplinarity. . . . We know
that readers everywhere will find [this book] simultaneously richly
illuminating and intensively useful."

--from the foreword by Carol Geary Schneider, president,
Association of American Colleges and Universities

"Klein reveals how universities can move beyond glib rhetoric
about being interdisciplinary toward pervasive full
interdisciplinarity. Institutions that heed her call for
restructured intellectual environments are most likely to thrive in
the new millennium."

--William H. Newell, professor, Interdisciplinary Studies,
Miami University, and executive director, Association for
Integrative Studies

"In true interdisciplinary fashion, Julie Klein integrates a
tremendous amount of material into this book to tell the story of
interdisciplinarity across the sciences, social sciences, and
humanities. And she does so both from the theoretical perspective
of 'understanding' interdisciplinarity and from the practical
vantage of 'doing' interdisciplinarity. This book is a must-read
for faculty and administrators thinking about how to maximize the
opportunities and minimize the challenges of interdisciplinary
programming on their campuses."

--Diana Rhoten, director, Knowledge Institutions Program, and
director, Digital Media and Learning Project, Social Science
Research Counsel