The following postings are a transcript of students' responses to an assignment made on the first day of class to the question "what does 'intersdisciplinary' mean?" Students were to post prior to the second day of class. Student postings have not been edited in any way.
The assignment:
Message no. 23: posted by Deborah Vess (IDST_2310) on Sun Aug 20, 2000 15:52 Subject Assignment: What does it mean to be interdisciplinary?
By the time you get through with these three initial postings, you should be very comfortable with WEBCT and the rest of the semester should be a breeze. I am curious. You by now will have noticed that you are required to take at least two interdisciplinary courses in your career here at GC&SU and many of you may take more than two IDST courses. Have you heard the word "interdisciplinary" before? What does this word mean to you? What would you expect an "interdisciplinary course" to be? Do you expect it to be different from other courses you take in departments, such as English, History, or Modern Foreign Languages?
Student postings:
Message no. 120: [Branch from no. 23] posted by student 13 on Wed Aug 23, 2000 15:19 Subject re: Assignment: What does it mean to be interdisciplinary?
I have never heard of the word 'interdisciplinary' before. I had no clue what it meant, so I looked up inter- and discipline (The American Heritage Dictionary). Inter- means between or among. Discipline is training, especially that which is expected to produce moral or mental improvement. So, I guess interdisciplinary is a class in addition to your other classes that promotes moral/mental improvement. I suspect that this class will be different than English, Math, etc., but in a good way.
Message no. 126: [Branch from no. 120] posted by Deborah Vess (IDST_2310) on Fri Aug 25, 2000 20:36 Subject re: Assignment: What does it mean to be interdisciplinary?
hmmm..very interesting. In fact, many scholars suggest interdisciplinary courses do promote more ethical awareness and empathy for others. I wonder how your opinion of what these classes are will change throughout the course.
Message no. 121: [Branch from no. 23] posted by student 6 on Wed Aug 23, 2000 15:56 Subject re: Assignment: What does it mean to be interdisciplinary?
My guess is that IDST classes are about understanding ourselves, our culture, and the people and cultures elsewhere. it is different then English, Math and other classes because instead of focusing on just the literature of culture, like in an English class, IDST classes focus on the whole.
Message no. 127: [Branch from no. 121] posted by Deborah Vess (IDST_2310) on Fri Aug 25, 2000 20:37 Subject re: Assignment: What does it mean to be interdisciplinary? I like your ideas; we do try to be more holistic in IDST courses by integrating materials from many disciplines.
Message no. 124: [Branch from no. 23] posted by student 19 on Thu Aug 24, 2000 21:05 Subject re: Assignment: What does it mean to be interdisciplinary?
Before attending Georgia College, I had no clue what an interdisciplinary course was. I just viewed the IDST heading as meaning "classes I have to take to graduate". I have now learned to love the unique nature of these classes. Being a music major myself, I love hearing the way Music is compared to painting, sculpture, etc. In a normal music class, I would never hear these mediums compared in such a way, as I am sure in a regular painting or other art class that the subject of Music would never occur. I think although we are being forced to take these classes, that it is a wonderful thing and will help me graduate with a more well rounded education.
Message no. 128: [Branch from no. 124] posted by Deborah Vess (IDST_2310) on Fri Aug 25, 2000 20:38 Subject re: Assignment: What does it mean to be interdisciplinary?
I really hope this proves to be true for you. TAlk to me about it as the course goes on. I hope to add to your awareness of how music realtes to the other disciplines.
Message no. 141: [Branch from no. 23] posted by student 21 on Fri Sep 01, 2000 20:19 Subject re: Assignment: What does it mean to be interdisciplinary?
I feel that IDST classes are designed to allow students to engage in a full understanding about theirself, their religion, their surroundings and culture, and just absolute knowledge of the world around us. '
Message no. 147: [Branch from no. 23] posted by student 24 on Mon Sep 04, 2000 23:13 Subject re: Assignment: What does it mean to be interdisciplinary?
interdisciplinary.... to me that means learning about one's own beliefs, emotions, and culture. also learning about other cultures. a class beyond a regular english or history class.
Message no. 322: [Branch from no. 23] posted by student 3 on Sun Nov 26, 2000 23:18 Subject re: Assignment: What does it mean to be interdisciplinary?
The following is a reposting: To me, an interdisciplinary course is one that combines aspects of all disciplines (English, Science, History, Philosophy, etc.) into one course. While the purpose isn't to treat each of these topics as seperates, it is in turn to combine them and integrate them together. They should compliment each other. For example, it is difficult to understand art without having knowledge of the history and philosophy behind each artisan and the movement represented.
Message no. 74: posted by student 5 on Tue Aug 22, 2000 11:57 Subject My Response
I don't have the slightest clue as to what an interdisciplinary course is, I can only guess. My guess is that it is a course that allows you to find out more about yourself, your culture, and other cultures.
Message no. 122: posted by student 14 on Wed Aug 23, 2000 18:55 Subject
Interdisciplinary is a word that I have heard of before, but to tell you the truth I don't think I had heard it until I began taking classes at GC&SU. I am assuming that interdisciplinary(IDST) courses are a part of receiving a liberal education. I think that hte word describes something which combines and relates several things, such as educational subjects. This is the second time I have taken an IDST course, and I am currently enrolled in two of them which is a total of three thus far. In all three of these courses, I have found that the instructors teach in a much different way than your average History or English instructor. The classes are much more entertaining. Students are able to see how several topics/subjects are related, and they often help one to understand other cultures and areas of the world. Before I was enrolled in my first IDST course I had no idea what to expect. I thought that I was just being forced to take some stupid course that I would not enjoy and would never use again. These courses are usually a lot of work, but all-in-all they are actually quite enjoyable.
Message no. 123: posted by student 10 on Wed Aug 23, 2000 23:20 Subject My Opinion of IDST
I think that IDST classes are classes to expose us to more than one subject at a time. These classes aren't like regular math, english, or history. They are classes that bring our understanding of ourselves, our culture, and our society together as a whole.
Message no. 133: posted by student 2 on Wed Aug 30, 2000 18:08 Subject
I thought it was just a class I had to take to graduate. Now I see that it is much more. I think an IDST course is used to tie many subjects together. It provides for a well rounded education and linking of many subjects, some of which not all of us will take.
Message no. 150: posted by student 4 on Tue Sep 05, 2000 08:16 Subject my idea
i believe that the interdisciplinary courses are supposed to broaden you knowledge. All of our other required courses such as english, foreign languages and sciences are based upon one definite subject. Interdisciplinary courses are spread out over a range of cultural and political subjects. These are here to teach us about what is going on in our world. All of the topics that surface in these classes are relevant to today's society; they are not going to be found in a book re-translated by some English scholar or in a disection textbook. These classes are supposed to help us become better acquainted with our society and that of others so we will be knowledgeable if we are ever faced with, for example, a person with different beliefs as our own or a different political structure. This will help us make less mistakes and possibly start a WAR (heh heh heh, just kidding!)