University of Wisconsin–Madison
Third Annual Conference on Interdisciplinarity
When:
Thursday, February 28, 2008, 3–8 p.m.
Friday, February 29, 2008, 8 a.m.–2:30 p.m.
Where:
Howard Auditorium, Fluno Center
601 University Avenue [Map]
Theme:
The Future of Interdisciplinarity
Conference Description
The Provost’s Annual Conference on Interdisciplinarity this year will focus on the future of interdisciplinarity. While the University of Wisconsin–Madison has been an internationally recognized leader in breaking down traditional disciplinary barriers since the 1920s, the increasing pace of change and discovery in our world today has lead to new conceptions of knowledge, methods, and collaboration within and beyond the university borders, and our conference will highlight a variety of ways UW–Madison will lead the way.
What will the interdisciplinary campus of the future be like? How will it be managed and administered? What will the implications be for buildings and grounds, fundraising, tenure and promotion, graduate and undergraduate education, research and collaboration, information management, and public/private engagement? Five panels and an internationally renowned keynote speaker will answer these questions over the two days of the conference.
Keynote Speaker
Since the mid-1990s interdisciplinary science has experienced a revival of sorts, with agencies and universities alike taking up interdisciplinary initiatives in both research and education. Underlying these initiatives are assumptions about the current landscape and future directions of science including, for example, that the most challenging research problems demand the integration of diverse disciplinary frameworks and methods; that unanticipated novelty arises from the fusion of disparate disciplinary ideas; that deeper or more extensive explanations emerge from a concerted interdisciplinary approach. In 1997 the National Science Foundation (NSF) committed to interdisciplinarity in a profound and far-sighted fashion by creating the Integrative Graduate Education and Research Training (IGERT) program. The IGERT program is intended to prepare a new generation of scientists with training that transcends traditional disciplines, emphasizes problem-oriented research, enhances collaborative abilities, builds integrative explanations, and engages diverse publics. In this presentation, Diana Rhoten will present the results of a recently completed study designed to explore the expectations, experiences, and the comparative expertise of Integrative Graduate Education and Research Training students. Using social science survey, social network analysis and quasi-experimental methods, this study asks: “Do Integrative Graduate Education and Research Training students collaborate and integrate across departments, disciplines and sectors? Do they work, think, and problem-solve in measurably different ways? What are the individual and institutional implications of the Integrative Graduate Education and Research Training program's success or failure to catalyze a cultural change in favor of interdisciplinarity?” UW–Madison Provost and Professor of Mechanical Engineering, Patrick Farrell, will provide the introduction to Rhoten’s address.
Rhoten is Director of Knowledge Institutions and Innovation at the Social Sciences Research Council and program director in the areas of Virtual Organizations and Learning & Workforce Development for the Office of Cyberinfrastructure at the National Science Foundation. Rhoten’s research focuses on the social and technical conditions as well as the individual and organizational implications of different approaches to knowledge production and dissemination. Much of her recent work in this area concerns the study of interdisciplinary and collaborative practices in science. She is particularly interested in the implications that geographically distributed and scientifically diverse networks pose for traditional research questions and institutions—particularly in light of the many emerging technological capacities before us. She will present the results of an extensive study on the effectiveness of a number of institutional strategies aimed at fostering interdisciplinary collaboration.
Co-Sponsored by the Provost’s Office, the Wisconsin Center for the Advancement of Postsecondary Education, and the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation.