This article introduces some data regarding the teaching of mathematics in "La Sapienza" in the 17th century, with particular reference to the discipline's role in the statutes, the lecturers, the courses' programmes, the interest that Popes took in it. Specifically, it will focus on the changes that occured at the end of the 17th…

The crisis in physics education necessitates searching for new relevant meanings of physics knowledge. This paper advocates regarding physics as the dialogue among discipline-cultures, rather than as a cluster of disciplines to be an appropriate subject of science education. In a discipline-culture one can distinguish elements of knowledge as…

Sociology is often portrayed as an errant discipline, driving forward without any apparent direction or purpose. We contend that these perceptions about the central tenets of our discipline derive from a lack of standardization of core material, which reduces the social value of sociology as a scientific field and erodes its credibility as a…

How has sociology evolved over the last 40 years? In this paper, we examine networks built on thousands of sociology-relevant papers to map sociology's position in the wider social sciences and identify changes in the most prominent research fronts in the discipline. We find first that sociology seems to have traded centrality in the field of…

This article looks at four theoretical themes that scholars insist on when studying history. The themes--social memory, liminality, community, and critique--may be useful in stimulating the direction, planning, and practice of physical activity in young adults. These particular themes were chosen because they seem to match some of the…

Rhetoric is often about "good guys" and "bad guys." Even more basically, it concerns who is in and who is out, what is included and what is excluded, who is placed inside and who outside a cultural community, a political movement, a professional organization. These ins and outs concern both the commonplaces of rhetoric and the rhetoric of …

The rise of neo-liberal universities over the last 15-20 years has been characterised as an inevitable effect both of globalisation and the associated dominance of capital. In this article we will analyse that rise, seeking to understand how it has come about and its impact on intellectual work. In the final pages of the article we turn towards…

Using data collected from 583 bibliographies from student research papers, this study analyzes the effect that the class year of the student, the academic discipline of the course, and the level of the course have on the type and the mean number of sources cited by undergraduates. All three variables had some significant effects on student…

The article explores how four different theories have been used to investigate technology. It highlights the worth and limitations of each theory and argues that an eclectic, ever-evolving approach to the study of technology is warranted. (Contains 1 table.)

This article reviews the emergence of international business (IB) as an academic discipline through an examination of IB research, curriculum, and location within the organisational structures of universities and business schools. A selective review of the literature on IB education is used to identify different approaches to the formulation of…

This article presents the findings of two case studies of leadership and management in engineering departments in two British universities, one a chartered university and one a statutory university. The studies are the first in a series of "pairs" of such studies in departments of various academic discipline and size, in the two types of…

The authors explore both theoretical issues in feminist pedagogy and the politics of the contemporary university classroom. They examine various intersections of gender, power, pedagogical theory, and academic discipline in order to bring greater attention to the struggle many teachers face in "walking the walk" as feminist teachers.

In this article, the author describes a key challenge facing liberal arts presidents: to accommodate a reciprocal relationship between thinking and doing. Achieving a continuum between thought and action has never been easy--on the academic side is the fear of diluting intellectual rigor matched on the practical side by the fear of paralysis.…

Bioethics--the study of ethical issues in science and medicine--has grown to become a significant academic and service-oriented discipline with its own research centers, conferences, journals, and degree programs. As these issues have moved to the center of public debate, the law has assumed an increasingly important place in the discipline of…

The convention is the professional equivalent of the "Thanksgiving Dinner". Several generations of the "family" come together year after year and share meals, news, successes, and failures. They talk about those who could not attend, and reminisce about those who are no longer among them. Conventions are flames in the den's fireplace: without…