Interdisciplinarity and philosophy

Franks, B., Hanscomb, S. and Harper, S. (2006) Interdisciplinarity and philosophy. Discourse: Learning and Teaching in Philosophical and Religious Studies, 6(1), pp. 123-143.

Abstract

This article describes and defends the interdisciplinary model of the Liberal Arts degree,1 set up at the Crichton Campus of the University of Glasgow in 1998.2 It describes the structure of this Scottish undergraduate MA, placing it within the wider context of contemporary debates concerning education, but does so in order to clarify and promote a particular view of interdisciplinarity: namely integrated interdisciplinarity.3 In doing so this paper aims to show both the role of philosophy in constituting a significant element of the content of the courses and, more importantly, its role in framing the structure that allows fruitful interaction between the disciplines. Overtly philosophical issues (principally, but not exclusively those from epistemology, meta- and normative ethics and informal logic) provide a set of themes and questions by which to structure potentially disparate courses from separate disciplines and assist them in interacting. Philosophy thus plays a vital role in integrating interdisciplinary study, especially within a contemporary liberal arts degree, yet this is a function that is often overlooked when documenting the merits of this academic specialism.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Hanscomb, Dr Stuart and Franks, Dr Benjamin
• Authors: Franks, B., Hanscomb, S., and Harper, S.
• Subjects: L Education > LB Theory and practice of education; B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > B Philosophy (General)
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > School of Social & Environmental Sustainability
• Journal Name: Discourse: Learning and Teaching in Philosophical and Religious Studies
• ISSN: 1741-4164
• ISSN (Online): 2040-3674