Interdisciplinarity in the Real World

Here we are in Week 4! You guys have been doing really well so far, so keep up the good work!

You may be asking yourself, "OMG WHAAAT IS THE POINT OF THIS?" Well, the reason we study a subject is to be able to use what we learn in real-world situations. Applying our acquired knowledge is the whole point of going to college! With that said, think about your disciplines and how you would integrate them in order to apply them to what it is you want to do.

This week’s post is about inderdisciplinarity in the real world. Keep this in mind as you answer the following questions:

•How do you apply your interdisciplinarity in daily situations?
•What is interdisciplinarity not?
•Who do you know who has an interdisciplinary profession? If you can't think of someone personal, discuss someone famous.
•How are you integrating your disciplines, or are you?

After you’ve answered the above questions, consider this: in the very first blog post back in Week 1, you analyzed two pictures (a smoothie and a fruit salad) and explained how they are or are not good representations of interdisciplinarity. Now, come up with your own example! What would be a different metaphor you could use to explain interdisciplinary studies? Be creative, and make sure you’re giving an example of interdisciplinarity, not multidisciplinarity!


Be sure to answer everything clearly and concisely. Also, remember to comment on at least two other posts!

Critical Thinking

Hello everyone, this week’s topic of discussion is critical thinking. When the term critical thinking comes up I don’t automatically think about my major in college, but a problem that has to be solved. But isn’t that what being an Interdisciplinary Studies major is all about? We have the opportunity to create a major that will give us the flexibility to define specifically what we want to do. As cornerstone students you have probably thought long and hard about what this degree looks like for you and how you are going to use it to solve problems, but here is some food for thought…how will you incorporate philosophy and ethics into your degree?

Below is a link to a tool for you to discover just that, it’s called the virtual philosopher. So take a few minutes to go through the activity. Then answer the following question in 2-3 sentences each. Don’t forget to reply to other students as well.

Virtual Philosopher:

http://web.uncg.edu/dcl/courses/vicecrime/vp/vp.html

·         Be sure to note, at the end of the activity, whether or not your answers were consistent or inconsistent.

Questions:

1.       How does your critical thinking relate to being interdisciplinary?

2.       Comment on how the Virtual Philosopher scored your response. From the comments you received about your responses, what insight have you gained about your own critical thinking and reasoning?

3.       How does the outline of your critical thinking disposition match with the application of it in doing the Virtual Philosopher?

4.       Speaking of philosophers, the following is a quote by a philosopher about another philosopher:

“Aristotle was asked how much educated men are superior to uneducated: “As much,” he said, “as the living are to the dead”.- Diognes

Do you agree with what Aristotle said? Do you disagree? Explain your position. 

Week 2 Integration

1. Week 2 Integration

Hello Everyone, this week we going to talk about the topic of integration. Integration is a process that brings individuals or groups together. When I first came to UCF, I wanted a degree in business. I also had an interest in humanities and interpersonal/ organizational communications. I wanted to be able to study all of these, but I didn't know which one was the right choice for me. So I decided to make my major IDS, I got to use all of my choices, and I was able to integrate my major. By integrating my major, I found it helped me experience more ways to progress in my education and career course!

A news story that I find to be very interdisciplinary is the Occupy Wall Street movement. This current event is about the wealthy holding one percent of all the wealth in America and the ninety nine percent of Americans are not wealthy. Many people in that 99% are students with unpaid student loans, unemployed people looking for jobs, and people in financial difficulties. They are protesting all over the United States to make a stand against economic inequality. The Occupy Wall Street demonstrations have rallied many people who would like to see a change for Americans and less corporate greed.

Through my major of IDS I was able to integrate my areas of study and analyze this news story interdisciplinary. The Occupy Wall Street movement has many disciplines that it effects in many ways. For me I was able to integrate my areas of business, humanities, and I/O communications to take everything into consideration and look at this news story interdisciplinary. The Occupy Wall Street movement has many different views, and it is our job as interdisciplinarians to integrate those views together to form a diverse view!

Now it’s your turn please give us your thoughts on these questions: Write 2-3 sentences for each question. Post as a comment.

Also, make sure to respond to at least two other students posts.

• What is integration? What are examples?

• How have or haven't you integrated your areas and minor?

• Why is integration of areas/minor important in terms of professional, academic, and/or personal developing?

• How can your areas/minor be better integrated?

• Now think of a news story, past or present, and explain its interdisiplinarity or what an interdisciplinary solution might be.