"Cultures and disciplines: lessons in diversity for interdisciplinary practice."

Description

In the Netherlands, interdisciplinary studies are offered through broad bachelor degrees in eleven liberal arts and sciences programmes. Mirroring the American model, Dutch liberal arts education strives to train students as kosmou polites through a curriculum that increases cultural consciousness through regular reflection. Alemán and Salkever (2001) go further to advocate an “effectual pluralistic community,” drawing on John Dewey’s call for a pragmatic response to racial and ethnic diversity in America in the early 20th century. They present the paradigm of ‘Deweyan multiculturalism,’ which challenges the liberal notion of autonomous, individual progress occurring in an abstract, ageless vacuum by emphasizing a pluralistic community as a motor for intellectual growth.

This paper examines the relationship between cultural diversity and disciplinary diversity within the context of interdisciplinary practice. Ria van der Leq, founder of the Liberal Arts and Sciences bachelor program at Utrecht University, draws a parallel between cultures and disciplines (2016): “Contact with people from other cultures or disciplines makes students think about differences and similarities, and forces them to reflect on their own values.” Philomena Essed also compares cloning of cultures to cloning of disciplines, criticizing both practices (2002). Such parallels between cultures and disciplines bring critical insights that can result in the transfer of practices that promote cultural diversity as well as interdisciplinary cooperation, like the interventions recommended by Ghoreshi (2017) to adopt ‘continguity’, or a non-hierarchical view of difference. Finally, these insights augment the intersection of culture and discipline within interdisciplinary practice. The pluralistic values of liberal education confirm this relationship: cultural diversity can result in disciplinary diversity. This paper makes recommendations for interdisciplinary, liberal arts bachelor programs to use the intersection of cultures and disciplines to promote the diversity of both within an interdisciplinary curriculum.

Period	21 Apr 2023
Event title	Global Academy of Liberal Arts Conference 2023 : Sustainable Liberal Arts
Event type	Conference
Location	Utrecht, NetherlandsShow on map
Degree of Recognition	International