interdisciplinary higher education: perspectives and practicalities. edited by martindavies,...

lenges us to more effectively assess theimpact of these practices on our campuses.

Peg ShafferBall State University

Interdisciplinary Higher Education:Perspectives and Practicalities. Editedby Martin Davies, Marcia Devlin, andMalcolm Tight. Bingley, U.K.: EmeraldGroup Publishing, 2010. v + 349 pages.ISBN 978-0-85724-371-3. $144.95.

The term “interdisciplinary” has becomecommon within academic discourse aboutteaching. With discussions on courses,majors, and university collaborations,many use the term indiscriminately andwithout clarity. As a religion-trainedprofessor in an environmental sciencesprogram self-described as “interdiscipli-nary,” I was drawn to this book in contentand concept. My research involves theintersections of environment and religionand is thereby intentionally interdiscipli-nary. Since teaching is not confined to aparticular discipline, interdisciplinaryteaching and research can complicate pro-motion and tenure reviews, collaboration,assessment of student learning, andclassroom practice.

Key words in the title, namely, “per-spectives” and “practicalities,” aptlydescribe the nature of this volume. As onepart of a series on International Perspec-tives on Higher Education, this editedvolume includes work by thirty-seven con-tributors from Australia, New Zealand,Hong Kong, Malaysia, the Netherlands,and the United Kingdom. This geographiceducational context diversity underscoresparticular global commonalities associatedwith interdisciplinary teaching in highereducation.

With two main sections highlightingtheory and practice, the volume is straight-forward in its organization and is user

friendly, but by no means is this a “quickread.” Part I focuses on various theoreticalframeworks and operational definitionsand nomenclature. For example, a fewyears ago, an administrator corrected mewhen I used the term “interdisciplinary,”telling me that “transdisciplinary” wasmore appropriate. What is the real differ-ence between these terms? This volumeexplains that one is a variant or subset ofthe other. That is, interdisciplinary inquiryinvolves the use of methods and conceptsfrom different academic disciplines innovel ways. Transdisciplinary inquiry is avery specific subset along an interdiscipli-nary continuum, involving the emergenceof new disciplines through the collapse ofspecific academic borders.

This volume includes and clarifiesother terms often used in association withinterdisciplinary teaching. For example,“multidisciplinary” refers to the existenceof more than one academic discipline. Toexplain the term “cross-disciplinary,” thephysics of music was used as an example;more specifically, in the cross-disciplinaryenterprise, musicians do not learn detailedphysics, nor do physicists learn a greatdeal about music. Conversely, as issues tostudy, such as AIDS or climate change,that may be too complex to be fullyaddressed by a single academic disciplineemerge, “pluridisciplinary” inquiryrequires experts to learn from otherdisciplines.

The theoretical section examines thedefinition of “academic disciplines” andlooks at disciplinary boundaries asobstacles and opportunities. Involvingboth specialization of knowledge andcommunity discourse, the volume stressesthe importance of collaboration and insti-tutional support systems in the success ofinterdisciplinary higher education, as wellas the inclusion of professional develop-ment. The volume includes models ofinterdisciplinary work as well as bothquantitative and qualitative surveys of

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requirements for successful interdiscipli-nary higher education.

Part II of the book contains thirteenpractical vignettes that highlight the inclu-sion of authors from a number of coun-tries, as well as perspectives from varieddisciplines. These case studies includeinstitutional level as well as undergraduateand graduate program and course levelanalyses. In addition, issue-based vignettesare included to illustrate application of thetheoretical frameworks through study ofglobal issues and perspectives. The casesalso look at differences in changing exist-ing programs versus establishing newinterdisciplinary programs.

Course and program design, as well asspecific pedagogical tools and assess-ments, are described. For example, onevignette explores the design of an assess-ment for a project involving students fromfour disciplines; the design requires abalance of common elements as well asspecific disciplinary elements. Anothercase study looks at the difference instudent and faculty perceptions of anePortfolio project for language learning.

The organization and diverse content ofthis volume make it an ideal resource formetered doses of theory and practice ofinterdisciplinary higher education. Por-tions of the book may assist in the devel-opment of interdisciplinary collaborationsby providing a common language for dis-cussion among scholars across diverseacademic disciplines.

Interdisciplinary Higher Educationcould serve as a valuable resource forgraduate students as they develop aware-ness about distinctions between theory andpractice. The volume will be of majorinterest to academic deans, curriculumdevelopers, and assessment professionalswho are leaders in conversations aboutinterdisciplinary programs – from concep-tual ideas to implementation. The book’sthemes, chapter headings, summaries, anddisciplinary perspectives allow readers to

choose how much or how little to read forspecific purposes.

Marcia Allen OwensFlorida A&M University

Teaching Inclusively in Higher Educa-tion. Edited by Moira A. Fallon andSusan C. Brown. Charlotte, N.C.: Infor-mation Age Publishing, 2010. vii + 186pages. ISBN 978-1-160752-445-8. $45.99.

Moira A. Fallon and Susan C. Brown’sTeaching Inclusively in Higher Educationis a collaborative volume written byscholars in the field of education inter-ested in pedagogical methods and strate-gies that make learning accessible to amore diversified college population.College faculty and instructors who sensethat their classroom environments areincreasingly complex in ways difficult toparse and educators perplexed by institu-tional pressures to change time-honoredteaching methods will find the book illu-minates the increasing diversity of studentlearners and the orientation of educationscholars assessing its implications forteaching.

A Fallon and Brown co-authoredopening chapter sets the agenda for thebook. Following the lead of M. Sapon-Shevin’s Widening the Circle (BeaconPress, 2007), they define “inclusive educa-tion” as the right of all students – ofdiverse cultural backgrounds, social identi-ties, learning styles, and aptitudes – tocollege education, extending Sapon-Shevin’s case for inclusive education atthe primary and secondary levels. Fallonand Brown strongly believe that collegeeducation is becoming the assumed educa-tional path for all rather than the privi-leged few. In their estimation, thissociological reality has profound implica-tions for the diversity present in collegeclassrooms. They strongly advocate that

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