This document discusses interdisciplinarity, defining it as the integration of knowledge and modes of thinking from two or more disciplines to produce a more comprehensive understanding of a problem. It notes that interdisciplinary research is needed when problems are complex, insights come from multiple disciplines, or a societal issue remains unresolved. The document then outlines the interdisciplinary research process, including defining the problem, justifying an interdisciplinary approach, conducting literature reviews in relevant disciplines, identifying conflicts, creating common ground, and integrating understandings. It also discusses types of integration, borrowing concepts from other fields, and criteria for excellence in interdisciplinary work.

1. Speaking about
Interdisciplinarity
Ria van der Lecq

2. Boundaries (…) exist to be transgressed, they are there
to facilitate crossings, not to frustrate them. It is not (…)
in those places whose exact frontiers have already been
defined for us, but in the regions of uncertainty where
definitions have yet to be located, that we must find our
place.
Alex Miller, The Ancestor Game (1992)

3. Overview
• Why interdisciplinarity?
• Defining interdisciplinarity
• Integration
• Borrowing
• Interdisciplinary research process

4. Why interdisciplinarity?
• The problem or question is complex.
• Important insights or theories of the problem are
offered by two or more disciplines.
• No single discipline has been able to address the
problem comprehensively or resolve it.
• The problem is an unresolved societal need or issue.

5. • The integration of knowledge and modes of thinking
from two or more disciplines.
• The integration of knowledge means identifying and
blending knowledge from relevant disciplines to
produce a more comprehensive understanding of a
particular problem or intellectual question.
• This understanding is limited in time and to a
particular context and would not be possible by
relying solely on a single disciplinary approach.
Defining interdisciplinarity

6. Interdisciplinary research questions
1. Academically oriented (Endogenous ID):
originates within science.
2. Problem-focused (Exogenous ID): concerns
real problems of the community.

7. Integration
• Partial integration
• Contextualizing ID
• Auxiliary ID
• Composite ID
• Full integration
• Generalizing ID
• Integrated ID

8. Borrowing
• The results of other disciplines
• Concepts and models of causation from other
academic disciplines

9. Borrowing: six common problems
1. Distortion and misunderstanding of borrowed material;
2. Use of data, methods, concepts, and theories out of context;
3. Use of borrowings out of favor in their original context;
4. “Illusions of certainty" about phenomena treated with caution
or skepticism in their original disciplines;
5. Overreliance on one particular theory or perspective; and
6. A tendency to dismiss contradictory tests, evidence, and
explanations.

10. Criteria for excellence
• Disciplinary clarity
• The clarity of cross-disciplinary
communications
• The utilization and combination of existing
knowledge to help solve a problem or to
raise or advance knowledge about a new
issue

11. Interdisciplinary Research Process
• Phase A: Beginning the research process
1. Define the problem or state the research question
2. Justify using an interdisciplinary approach
3. Explain how each discipline illuminates some aspect of the
problem
• Phase B: Disciplinary insights
4. Conduct a literature search in each discipline
5. Analyze and evaluate the theories and insights
6. Identify conflicts
• Phase C: Integration
7. Create common ground
8. Construct a more comprehensive understanding
9. Reflect on, test and communicate the understanding

14. Creating common ground
1. Redefinition of concepts/terms
2. Theory-extension
3. Organization of insights
4. Transformation: addressing opposites by
placing these on a continuum

15. Sources
• Carolyn Haynes. Designing and teaching an interdisciplinary
course. Resource Manual.
• Lisa R. Lattuca (2001). Creating interdisciplinarity. Nashville
(TN): Vanderbilt UP.
• Catherine Lyall (2011). Interdisciplinary research journeys:
Practical strategies for capturing creativity. London:
Bloomsbury.
• Allen F. Repko (2012). Interdisciplinary research: Process
and theory. Thousand Oaks (CA): Sage.
• Julie Thompson Klein (1990). Interdisciplinarity: History,
theory & practice. Detroit (MI): Wayne State UP.
• Julie Thompson Klein (2010). A taxonomy of
interdisciplinarity. In: The Oxford Handbook of
Interdisciplinarity. Oxford: UP, 15-30.