Transdisciplinarity: Resistance and opportunity for transformation

Year 2016, Issue: 44, 60 - 73, 01.04.2016

Lisa M. Bunkowski

Abstract

Springing from a recent university round-table on research methods, this reflective essay explores the potential benefits of transdisciplinarity to students and to the broader academic community. It discusses the various reasons for resistance to the notion of interdisciplinarity held by many who are engaged and invested in traditional approaches to their disciplines. This essay examines several approaches to and definitions of the concept of transdisciplinarity. Blending the frameworks of Basarab Nicolescu, Roderick L. Lawrence, and Richard Johnson distills the essence of transdisciplinarity: the transformative nature of the exchange of knowledge, methods, and understanding between the disciplines. Through several brief case studies, this essay explores opportunities presented by a transdisciplinary approach for reinvigorating and potentially transforming the disciplines, and for engaging students and communities in transdisciplinary study. This is a time of opportunity to help create new approaches to learning and knowledge – within, between, and beyond traditional approaches to the disciplines

Keywords

Interdisciplinarity, Transdisciplinarity, Liberal Studies, BorderWork, Engagement

References

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