Loud and soft voices of interdisciplinarity in higher education

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This chapter explores a configuration of interdisciplinarity that has developed in Danish higher education since the turn of the century. It argues that the concept of interdisciplinarity has been mobilised as a strategic move by way of performing and showing off accountability and innovation to the larger publics e.g. the politicians and public system, the private funders and the international research community, meanwhile being a recurring and often unnamed trait of local everyday research and education practices at the university. Based on data from empirical fieldwork in an interdisciplinary research programme, these practices, processes and manifestations are named ‘loud’ and ‘soft’ voices of interdisciplinarity. While these voices of the configuration individually impact and effect the organisation of research and education, the combination of the two also have implications for the faculty and students caught between performing and practising interdisciplinarity. Elaborating on this, the chapter shows how students and faculty navigate the tensions between interdisciplinary performances and monodisciplinary structures in a Danish setting. Finally, it is argued that while the present configuration of interdisciplinarity derives from a specific context, it also mirrors larger and wider issues at play around accountability and interdisciplinarity in Higher Education.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publication Configurations of Interdisciplinarity Within Education : Danish Experiences in a Global Educational Space
EditorsTrine Øland, Sofie Sauzet, Marie Larsen Ryberg, Katrine Lindvig
Place of PublicationLondon
PublisherRoutledge
Publication date2022
Pages94-118
Chapter5
ISBN (Print)9780367537616
ISBN (Electronic)9781003083245
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2022
SeriesRoutledge Research in International and Comparative Education

ID: 336760802