Call for Articles and Essays for a Special Cluster of Pedagogy on“Interdisciplinary Pedagogies”

Guest edited by Michelle Gibson (University of Cincinnati) and Jonathan Alexander (University of California, Irvine)

The growing consensus in many academic fields is that students can and do benefit from interdisciplinary courses. These courses utilize pedagogical methods, research, theory, and other scholarship from multiple fields, applying them to issues, problems, or questions. Instructors of interdisciplinary courses usually choose materials based on what is applicable; this distinguishes interdisciplinary courses from multidisciplinary courses, which can often maintain a course focus on disciplinary thinking by providing “multiple perspectives” rather than offering students that theory and research which most effectively forms a nexus of knowledge around the subject(s) under discussion.
Some institutions have developed interdisciplinary programs in which faculty from diverse disciplines work together to create interdisciplinary programs. In other locations, particularly in area studies programs like Women’s Studies, Sexuality Studies, Ethnic Studies, etc., instructors working alone develop interdisciplinary pedagogies without the direct input of scholars from “other” disciplines. No matter whether teachers work collaboratively or independently to develop interdisciplinary pedagogies, interdisciplinary courses and programs are often touted for their comprehensiveness, their potential for offering creative and innovative coursework, and for the energy and enthusiasm they seem to engender in both students and faculty.

We seek articles for a dedicated “strand” or “cluster” of the journal Pedagogy which provide thoughtful and carefully presented definitions of interdisciplinary pedagogy, examples of interdisciplinary pedagogy “in action,” and/or theory about the interdisciplinary pedagogical endeavor. In general, we hope that authors will avoid simple “how-to” articles or simple “celebrations” of interdisciplinary pedagogy. The articles that will interest us most will be those which are themselves interdisciplinary and which are theoretical even as they narrate. Ultimately, we hope to expand our understanding of “interdisciplinary pedagogy” by problematizing our understandings of it. What is interdisciplinarity in the classroom? In our curricula? In our programs? And in our pedagogies and pedagogical theories?

All articles submitted for this strand will receive two levels of peer review. The strand editors will provide initial review and the articles selected for submission to the journal will then be reviewed using the journal’s usual peer-review process. The journal’s editors have final say on all essays submitted for publication.

For more information, contact either Michelle Gibson (gibsonma@ucmail.uc.edu) or Jonathan Alexander (jfalexan@uci.edu). Proposals for articles are welcome; full drafts for review will be due December 31, 2009.
Michelle Gibson, Ph.D.
Director of Undergraduate Studies
Department of Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
University of Cincinnati
620U Old Chemistry
Michelle.Gibson@uc.edu
513-556-1774