Writing instruction in the interdisciplinary classroom: Histories, challenges, possibilities.

摘要

The past several decades have brought a groundswell of enthusiasm for interdisciplinary courses in colleges and universities across the United States. While the term "interdisciplinary" remains exceedingly ill-defined, the claims made for it are enormous. Interestingly, writing instruction and interdisciplinary classes share a long, if largely overlooked, history; both first appeared in response to the specialization that occurred within American universities during the late 19th century. In this dissertation I seek to answer two fundamental questions: what can writing contribute to the interdisciplinary classroom, and what can the interdisciplinary classroom contribute to writing instruction? To answer these questions I present a comparative study of two team-taught interdisciplinary programs, drawing from a semester-long ethnographic study in the first case and historical archives in the second. In this dissertation, I propose a framework that can help teachers and students better recognize and understand the significance of interdisciplinary connections. I then use that framework to illuminate the challenges that face individuals as they work to negotiate the place of writing in the interdisciplinary classroom. Based on analyses of the connections made by students and professors in the spring 1998 Interdisciplinary Humanities sequence at St. Laurel University (a pseudonym), I propose that interdisciplinary connections can occur on the levels of content, propositions, and ways of knowing. Drawing on that framework and focusing on the concept of the "thesis-driven essay," I argue that interdisciplinary classrooms might facilitate awareness of the often invisible ways of knowing that shape disciplinary expectations for the ostensibly non-disciplinary concept of a thesis. Similarly, Alexander Meiklejohn's Experimental College at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (1927--1932) highlights how vital writing can be to the success of an interdisciplinary program. Focusing on the papers of four students, I examine how writing is central to the development of the interdisciplinary "scheme of reference," as well as to the ongoing dialogue of the College, an articulation of students' originality, and the negotiation of interpersonal relationships. The conclusion highlights an array of issues that teachers in interdisciplinary classrooms must face and recommends strategies for the successful incorporation of writing.