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IDS department faces intensive restructuring |
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Thursday, 12 October 2006 |
by JULIA MERCHANT
Intern News Reporter
The department of interdisciplinary studies is set to undergo an intensive restructuring process over the next few years, though “students wouldn’t perceive much [of a] difference,” College of Arts and Sciences Dean Dr. Bob Lyman said.
Lyman
said the Appalachian State University IDS department is currently
working with the College of Arts and Sciences, “looking at different
ways to do the same mission in a more effective way.”
“We want to continue the IDS program, and wish to find the best structure in which to do that,” Lyman said.
“I don’t want anyone to think this is an effort to eliminate or reduce
IDS programs – it isn’t a mechanism to reduce faculty either,” he said.
There were several motivating factors that prompted talks about the restructuring of the IDS department.
One is that “it was apparent there was a fairly widespread desire to
take a look at our current structure for offering IDS,” Lyman said.
Another factor, suggested by both the sustainable development and
women’s studies programs, is that they might be able to develop a
curriculum on their own.
In looking at ways to restructure the IDS department and best fulfill
its mission, Lyman and the IDS department have examined other IDS
programs within the University of North Carolina system.
Department Chair Dr. Richard M. Carp said every UNC campus uses the concept of interdisciplinary studies in some form.
One option being considered is offering different departmental programs instead of an IDS department.
A program is different from a department in that it does not have the
same faculty resources formally committed to the same extent as a
department. Rather, the program draws from shared or joint resources.
For example, faculty may be jointly appointed to the English or history
departments and also serve as an instructor in the IDS program. A
program is also more flexible, Lyman said.
Carp agrees with the desire for a broader scope for interdisciplinary studies.
“I’d like to see more members of faculty and more students involved in
IDS – connecting as broadly as possible [with the rest of the
university] while keeping intact the concept of IDS,” Carp said.
Carp also hopes for more conversations among faculty of different units
of the university, especially “more connections with sciences and the
College of Education.”
Talks will continue and plans may not be finalized until as late as 2008 or 2009, Lyman said.
As of fall 2003, there were 113 students majoring in interdisciplinary
studies – an enrollment that falls almost directly in the middle among
figures from all departments.
In the IDS department, students can choose to major in one of 15
pre-designed interdisciplinary concentrations, such as international
studies, sustainable development or environmental policy and planning.
Students can also design their own major with the help of an advisor.
For example, one self-designed major currently being pursued deals with
the relationship between society, consciousness and cultural change,
Carp said. Another student is pursuing a self-designed photojournalism
degree, since one is not offered at Appalachian State, he said.
According to the department’s Web site, the mission of IDS is partly
based on the idea that “to forge appropriate responses to contemporary
issues, we and our students will need to interrelate knowledge from
many sources.”
Carp said his simplified description of interdisciplinary is “bringing
all knowledge to bear on a question or problem that is necessary for
understanding and resolving it.”
“Throughout the U.S., IDS is kind of a conundrum - everyone wants it
but nobody knows how to handle it,” he said. “This is a virtue [of
interdisciplinary studies], but it also creates understandable
discomfort.”
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