Explores how cultural studies have bred a new type of academic, the public intellectual. Their goal is to make more elastic the boundaries between disciplines and between academe and the public sphere, bringing together certain critical and pedagogical discourses that traditionally have been kept apart. (EV)

Introduces the field of complex learning and describes the articles in this and a following special issue on complex learning in computer environments. Highlights include chaos theory; nonlinear systems; complexity theory, including the external complexity of the domain, interactive complexity, and internal cognitive complexity; and a…

Introduces an eco-column activity that provides an integrated approach to earth systems science education. Provides a list of the National Science Education Standards addressed in the activity. (YDS)

The interdisciplinary tradition of vocational psychology is a strength, but it has been slow to respond to technology. Strategic issues to be addressed include implications of human genome research, inclusion of goal setting and metacognition in career development, virtual work organizations, and time as an important dimension of career research.…

Describes the program Chemistry in an Aquarium which focuses on introducing the fundamental concepts and principles of chemistry in interaction with the ecosystem. (Contains 17 references.) (YDS)

In this response to Pinker and Jackendoff's critique, we extend our previous framework for discussion of language evolution, clarifying certain distinctions and elaborating on a number of points. In the first half of the paper, we reiterate that profitable research into the biology and evolution of language requires fractionation of ''language''…

As campuses across the country explore ways to strengthen interdisciplinary studies and involve undergraduates in research, questions emerge about how best to integrate existing course offerings and majors, develop curricular rigor and agility, and strengthen administrative coordination. This article discusses two successful initiatives to…

There has been increased interest during the past decade in combining music and children's literature in the elementary school. In addition to the apparent cognitive benefits, the current school climate has encouraged cross-curricular interactions, and many music specialists and classroom teachers see the music-literature connection as an…

Interdisciplinary research is being promoted in many quarters as the way forward, but "research islands" still persist. Taking computer-assisted learning (CAL) within health sciences as a case in point, this paper describes a detailed study of the references to source material within papers published in general medical, specific nursing and…

In response to changing federal priorities, much discussion has taken place recently about the need for graduate education programs to firmly embrace interdisciplinary research, or "interdisciplinary integration across related fields" (National Research Council, 2004, p. 6). The related fields usually are understood to be certain social and…

Dannels (2001) has advocated Communication in the Disciplines (CID) as a model for Communication Across the Curriculum (CXC) teaching and scholarship. Turning attention toward CID work requires an alternative way of thinking and planning, and invites an expanded, discipline-specific agenda for CXC scholarship. The purpose of this study was to…

Communication Across the Curriculum (CXC) has been gaining theoretical sophistication in recent years, slowly moving beyond an exclusively skills orientation. Proponents of Communication In the Disciplines (CID) focus on teaching students specific disciplinary communication conventions as productive of knowledge and identity. I claim in this essay…

This article describes a simple way to explain the limitations of statistics to scientists and students to avoid the publication of misleading conclusions. Biologists examine their results extremely critically and carefully choose the appropriate analytic methods depending on their scientific objectives. However, no such close attention is usually…

The field of gifted education is very complex, covering broad and deep conceptual terrain. Insights about giftedness and talent are available from diverse academic disciplines and at multiple levels of analysis. These levels are captured in an interpretive framework that moves from the macrolevels of broad sociopolitical, cultural, and economic…

The integration of feminist and multicultural approaches to psychotherapy, called for many times, has not yet materialized. This article reviews possible reasons this integration has not taken place and offers an approach to integration based on the guiding principles of power and responsibility, which builds on previous theories and approaches.