June 8, 2007

A Grand Unified Theory of Interdisciplinarity

By LENNARD J. DAVIS

When everyone in academe agrees on something, you've got to be worried. The university is a famously noisy kennel, and if you propose X, you'll always hear barks from those watchdogs who strongly suggest Y. So why is it that when you say the word "interdisciplinary," all the breeds, large and small, lie down, roll over, and wag their tails?

I first heard the term about 15 years ago, used by a provost who had recently come to a university where I was teaching. The faculty members there

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