Being an Interdisciplinary Academic: How Institutions Shape University Careers

Description

This book highlights the importance of interdisciplinarity in the academic landscape, and examines how it is understood in the context of the modern university. While interdisciplinarity is encouraged by research funders, academics themselves receive mixed messages about how, when and whether to follow this route. Building upon a series of career history interviews with established interdisciplinary researchers, the author reveals fundamental misunderstandings about the nature of interdisciplinary knowledge, how this is shared, and the skills these researchers bring. The book addresses these issues on both a personal and systemic level, identifying how a resilient researcher can craft their own research trajectory to view interdisciplinarity as a truly embedded approach. Front Matter ....Pages i-xvii Introduction: Mixed Messages for the Interdisciplinary Research Community (Catherine Lyall)....Pages 1-17 “What Am I?” The Path to Becoming an Interdisciplinary Academic (Catherine Lyall)....Pages 19-37 “Are You One of Us?” How Institutions Impact Interdisciplinary Careers (Catherine Lyall)....Pages 39-56 The Nets We Weave: Consequences for Interdisciplinary Capacity Building (Catherine Lyall)....Pages 57-74 Facilitating Serendipity? (Catherine Lyall)....Pages 75-90 Towards New Logics of Interdisciplinarity (Catherine Lyall)....Pages 91-109 Conclusion: “The Funding Can Only Do So Much” (Catherine Lyall)....Pages 111-119 Back Matter ....Pages 121-134