Interdisciplinary Thought

Thinking big, thinking small, or not thinking at all

Monty Hempel Center for Environmental Studies University of Redlands

or

Techies, Talkies, Tweenies, and Transies

Disciplinary Boundaries

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

Monty Hempel, University of Redlands

Current Educational Structure

Academic Disciplines

1.1 Astronomy 1.2 Biology 1.3 Chemistry 1.4 Physics 2.1 Mathematics 2.2 Computer science 3.1 Anthropology 3.2 Archaeology 3.3 Communications 3.4 Economics 3.5 Ethnology 3.6 Ethnomusicology 3.7 Folklore 3.8 Geography 3.9 Linguistics 3.10 Political science 3.11 Psychology 3.12 Semiotics 3.13 Sociology 4.1 Cultural Studies 4.2 Art 4.3 Creative w riting 4.4 Dance 4.5 Theatre 4.6 English literature 4.7 Film studies and f ilm criticism 4.8 History 4.9 Linguistics 4.10 Literature and cultural studies 4.11 Music 4.12 Philosophy 4.13 Religious studies 4.14 Women's studies and gender studies 5.1 Architecture and environmental design 5.2 Business 5.3 Education 5.4 Engineering 5.5 Ergonomics 5.6 Agriculture 5.7 Forestry 5.8 Family and consumer science 5.9 Journalism and mass communications 5.10 Law 5.11 Library and inf ormation science 5.12 Health sciences 5.13 Military science 5.14 Public af f airs and community service

http://www.wikipedia.org/

Micro-Specialization Increasing

Disciplinary Environmental Studies/Science Interdisciplinary Environmental Studies

Higher Education

Disciplinarity

Comparative Advantage

Adam Smith 1723-1790 Specialized knowledge leads to most productive use of factors and generates the greatest wealth; therefore the greatest social good.

David Ricardo 1772-1823

The fragmentation of knowledge and resulting chaos are not reflections of the real world, but are artifacts of scholarship

-- E.O.Wilson

The Interdisciplinary Mission: Making sense out of a fragmented world

Monty Hempel, University of Redlands

One response: Focus on

Human-influenced Ecosystems

Understand interactions between complex environmental systems and even more complex human social systems

Understanding interacting systems at 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

Firm boundaries

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

(Rosenfield, 1992) Permeable boundaries

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

No or blurred boundaries

Source: Dan Stokols, 2004

Disciplinarity

•

inter

prefix. [Lat. < inter]

between , among, within

trans

prefix [ Lat. < trans]

across , beyond, through

•

Interdisciplinary

Starts with

disciplines

and looks for lines of interest that connect them.

•

Transdisciplinary

Starts with complex

problems

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

Arguments for Transdisciplinarity

• • •

The problems we face transcend the disciplinary knowledge we practice.

Universities should be communities of scholars – incubators and testing laboratories of ideas – not confederations of turfdoms.

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

A Cautionary Tale: The Interdisciplinary Program Builder

The captain of the javelin team who won the “toss” and elected to receive.

Barriers to Transdisciplinary “Courtships”

•

Depth over Breadth

•

Faculty Recruitment

•

Curricular Incoherence Promotion & Tenure Need for a Core Certification

Monty Hempel, University of Redlands

Advantages

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

Disadvantages

of Transdisciplinary Collaboration

• • • • • •

Labor Intensive – Educationally Demanding Cooperation Hard to Sustain (turfdoms) Administratively Complex Breadth vs. Depth Tradeoffs Diffuse vs. Focused Conceptual Models Few Professional Incentives (tenure hurdles, less rewards for team contributions) Weak or Negative Incentive Structures!

NEEDED: A Science of Integration

Politics Policy Science Economics Ethics Env. Context History, Literature, Psychology, Geog., Sociology, etc

.

Management

The Redlands Approach

Center for Environmental Studies

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

Facilitating Interdisciplinary Work Tenure-Track Faculty lines in Natural Science, Social Science, and Humanities Conceptual Framework: Sustainability (Ecol/Econ/Equity) Tools of Integration: GIS – spatial literacy Heuristics: Ecological Footprint Analysis Team Research: Design Studios & Policy Clinics Experiential Learning: “Glocal” Program (community service learning plus travel courses and study abroad) Setting Examples on Campus: Green Buildings/Design

Buildings that Teach

Lewis 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 Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education

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 Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education

Resource Center Sustainability policy bank and assessment tools Specialized resources for academics, operations staff, sustainability professionals Publications (articles, reports, fact sheets, news, books) Directories Speakers Bureau Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education

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 Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education

Military Budgets FY 2006*

United States Russia China United Kingdom Japan France Germany Saudi Arabia India Italy All other countries, combined 492 Billion (US Dollars) 65 56 49 45 40 30 19 19 18 142 World Military Expenditures *

not including latest requests for Iraq & Afghanistan; Russia and China data for 2003

975 Source

:

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 Unknown

Chimaera Pup

Future Directions

The Home Computer of 2004!

Popular Mechanics, 1954 (Hoax!)

Means

• • • • • •

Guiding concepts

:

Resilience

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)

Core Courses (all degree tracks) EVST 100 – Introduction to Environmental Studies EVST 102 – Environmental Geography - Ecological Literacy PHIL/REL –Environmental Ethics EVST 110 EVST 250 (REL 122 or PHIL 330) – Introduction to Spatial Analysis & GIS – Environmental Design Studio I EVST 300 EVST 475 – Environmental Colloquium – Capstone Senior Project (Econ/Policy/Mgmt/Sci.) (minimum of 6 units) EVST (1) – Practicum (Choose one): Environmental Study Abroad, Biosphere 2 Semester, EVST 330, 350, 385, 485, or approved Travel Course

Resilience

• •

Resilience for engineers

: “the rate at which a system returns to a single steady or cyclic state following a perturbation.”

Resilience 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 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

• • • • • • • •

Traditional Science Integrative Science

Reductionist

•

Holistic Monodisciplinary

•

Inter- and transdisciplinary Single target/objectives

•

Synthesis of multi-objectives Expert interventions

•

Humility about intervening

•

Treats management as an Separates science from experiment management Decisions based on burden

•

Decisions based on precautionary principle of proof

•

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

•

adaptive/flexible Envision and understand Predict and Explain

Discovering patterns within patterns GIS

GIS is a “macroscope” for studying the Earth.

--Jack Dangermond Monty Hempel, University of Redlands

Discovering patterns within patterns Linking points lines and polygons Area

Monty Hempel, University of Redlands

What is a GIS?

•

An integrative technology that uses a 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.

Monty Hempel, University of Redlands

Monty Hempel, University of Redlands

The Confluence of “Streams” Carrying GIS

•

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)

Monty Hempel, University of Redlands

Human Disturbance of Terrestrial Ecosystems

Monty Hempel, University of Redlands

Sustainability Resilience GIS

Our greatest responsibility is to be good ancestors.

- Jonas Salk Monty Hempel, University of Redlands

Integrated Watershed Analysis

Climate change (altered water cycle) Human activities (resource & land use)

Freshwater habitat

(water quality, quantity & timing) Climate change Human activities (aquaculture, development) Climate change (sea level rise & ocean mixing) Human activities (fishing)

Health & Viability of PNW salmon Estuarine habitat

(water quality, mixing processes)

Ocean habitat