Interdisciplinary research is highly useful in my field: cognitive psychology. Everything in the brain is highly interrelated, so although I specialize in understanding language, I find myself learning about memory, visual perception, and cortical anatomy because they are so interdependent that they are difficult to think about in isolation. Whether or not this kind of interdisciplinary research takes place in actual practice, I have yet to see. I understand that while interdisciplinary research is highly valued, it can be difficult to realize. Many universities don't give interdisciplinary research the same kind of institutional support that they give to disciplinary research, such as reimbursement for trips and consideration for promotions (Butler, 2011). Some universities, however, have made progress toward encouraging interdisciplinary research; one such effort included the use of seed funding and improvements in organizational layout (Sá, 2006). I have heard a lot of good things about the Beckman Institute's interdisciplinary practices here on campus, so I'm hoping that I will get to interact with other people in different, yet related fields.
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This is a space where UIUC SPI participants in the Summer 2013 Research Methods and Writing Seminar engage each other as researchers, intellectuals and members of a cross disciplinary knowledge producing community.
Your post about "cognitive psychilogy" made me think of synesthesia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synesthesia . Can we call that "interdisciplinarity of the senses"?
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear that you will have the opportunity to work with the Beckman Institute and indulge in the experience of learning and working with individuals from different fields. Truthfully, I think that is the best type of learning interaction.
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