Multidisciplinary programs have a venerable history, but most of the early history was either at big university equipment projects or at first-rate industrial laboratories. There has always been a small amount of interdisciplinarity, such as the physicist's or chemist's cadging crystal specimens from the geologist. But only in the post World War…

This bulletin highlights the efforts of the St. Louis Community College District to revitalize the liberal arts on its campuses. First, the structures and activities that were used to develop a liberal arts curriculum are described, including: (1) the formation of districtwide and campus Liberal Arts Committees; (2) the development of project…

An introduction is provided to the Interdisciplinary Studies (IDS) Program at Valencia Community College (VCC), a 2-year general education core curriculum divided into four courses. A description of VCC is followed by an overview of the program, which integrates the arts, philosophy, religion, English, mathematics, social sciences, and physical…

This teacher's guide was developed for the first of four courses in Valencia Community College's Interdisciplinary Studies Program, a 2-year core general education curriculum which chronologically examines the major developments in the evolution of human knowledge. The guide provides an introductory overview of the semester's topic (i.e., the…

Sociologists have much to contribute to the nuclear debate, yet they have remained largely unorganized and hesitant about their potential contribution to this crucial issue. While physical scientists and social scientists from other disciplines have developed numerous organizations to address the threat of war, especially nuclear war, since the…

The project, mandated by the California State Legislature, selected 61 children (7-14 years old) identified as mentally retarded, emotionally disturbed, or learnining disabled in five school districts to examine the process of identifying children with exceptional needs and the extent of misdiagnosis. Independent assessments were performed by…

Reasons for changing the way business and management students are educated are considered, along with the results of a survey of almost 200 personnel managers from major employers in the greater Rocky Mountain area. Currently, in many business and management curricula, general education courses are taught during the first 2 years and business…

The paper examines the current debate over the Regular Education Initiative within the field of special education. The views of both proponents and opponents are summarized. The paper then identifies five ethical issues and value conflicts which have been largely ignored by both sides and discusses them in the context of the Regular Education…

The report describes Year 1 activities under Part H, the Infant and Toddler Program, of Public Law 99-457, the Education of the Handicapped Amendments of 1986. State contacts for the Part H Program were asked to respond to questions in several major areas including: Interagency Coordinating Council, the use of Part H funds, the status of states'…

The practicum addressed the need to serve a group of severely handicapped preschool children within local neighborhood programs rather than in a segregated preschool center. The practicum goals were: (1) to maintain the enrollment of severely handicapped children in neighborhood preschool and daycare centers through the provision of adequate…

Based on the Carnegie Foundation study of baccalaureate programs, which found that many colleges are confused as to their mission and are fragmenting the disciplines into smaller and smaller pieces, a case is made for revising the higher education curriculum. Coursework is fragmented because of the growth of specialized fields within the…

In a holistic approach to education, the various parts are related to the whole in such a way that education is no longer fragmented and unrelated to the larger society. Because it is difficult to define what is meant by the term "holistic," educators have been hesitant to use such an approach even though a growing body of literature supports the…

A description is given of the Interdisciplinary Seminar in Education, an integral part of the Doctor of Education Degree Program at Mississippi State University. The broad goals of the course are as follows: (1) It provides doctoral-level students with the opportunity to develop informed positions on the major issues confronting education as a…

If the various academic disciplines are considered as cultures, with their own language, literature, behavior, and mode of discourse, then more and more the need of educated readers is to read across disciplines or multiculturally, and the goal of college writing teachers should be to encourage students' interdisciplinary reading. Respect for the…

Linguistics is on the verge of becoming an experimental discipline; an undergraduate major tailored to reflect this can attract a wider range of students, relate linguistics subject matter to the real world in a more exciting way, challenge students to address more deeply the problems of philosophy and philosophy of science than in some other…