The Politics of Interdisciplinary Studies: Essays on Transformations in American Undergraduate Programs

This collection of essays first highlights the popularity of interdisciplinary undergraduate studies and their recent gains in the world of higher education, and then addresses the paradoxical failure of these studies to achieve a permanent position in the curricula of individual universities and colleges. This question and its attendant issues are explored in three ways: 1) an overview of how these changes are affected by the political economy, 2) case studies from actual universities and colleges, and 3) a discussion of the new ways undergraduates are educated through the use of interdisciplinary studies.

Tanya Augsburg is assistant professor of Liberal Studies (Creative Arts and Humanities) at San Francisco State University. She is an executive board member of the Association for Integrative Studies (AIS). Stuart Henry is professor and director of the School of Public Affairs at San Diego State University. Previously he served seven years at Wayne State University as Chair of the Department of Interdisciplinary Studies. He is a member of the board of AIS.