Prelude: Write an academic paper on climate change drawing from two areas of discipline to strengthen you argument
Interdisciplinarity: it must draw from at least two different disciplines, incorporating elements, ideas, or findings from both.
Research: it must include at least two peer-reviewed sources from two different disciplines.
Civic / Community Engagement: it must have some element of civic mindedness or community engagement. In general, this means there must be a public element.
Writing: Come up with a plan to write the academic paper.
Examples:
Writing a paper about a complex problem facing society (like our climate change example) and using research from multiple disciplines to propose solutions and strategies.
How to Start:
From Interdisciplinarity: start with an issue or problem or topic or intersection that you’re really interested in or passionate about. Think about what research you would need to look into it and then think about how to present it (publicly or in a paper).
From Research: start with your research portfolio or an interesting article you have read in one of your in-discipline courses and then find articles on the same issue from another discipline to consider how the topic is viewed by each. Move from that into a paper or a public project.
Civic / Community Engagement: start with a community group or local organization. Speak with them about their needs for research or a problem they’re facing as well as what writing they might need. (You can find a need online)
For Now: Post an informal proposal of what you think you’d like to do. I’m just looking for a page maybe where you walk me through your plan, or as much of it as you’ve worked out. The goal is 1) to make sure you’ve started work on this, and 2) to give me a chance to give you feedback.
