Case Studies in Interdisciplinary Research

Allen F. Repko, PhD, is the former director of the interdisciplinary studies program in the School of Urban and Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Arlington, where he developed and taught the program's core curriculum for many years. The program is one of the largest in the United States. Repko has written extensively on all aspects of interdisciplinary studies, has twice served as coeditor of the interdisciplinary journal Issues in Integrative Studies, and has served on the board of the Association for Interdisciplinary Studies (AIS). Though recently "retired," he continues to write and speak at AIS conventions, where he conducts annual workshops on interdisciplinary program development and assessment. He can be contacted at allenrepko@att.net. William H. Newell is Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies Miami University (PhD, University of Pennsylvania) where he has been directing the two-semester 10-credit senior project workshop since 1995. He has edited two books, including the foundational Interdisciplinarity Essays from the Literature, and two special issues of journals. He has published over 30 articles and chapters on interdisciplinary studies, with seminal contributions to the theory and practice of interdisciplinarity recognized in his receipt of the Kenneth E. Boulding Award. Newell has served as consultant or external evaluator on interdisciplinary higher education over 100 times. The founding president of the Association for Integrative Studies in 1979, he has served since 1983 first as its Secretary-Treasurer and then as Executive Director. Rick Szostak, PhD, is a professor of economics at the University of Alberta, where he has taught for 31 years. He is the author of a dozen books and 50 articles, all of an interdisciplinary nature. Several of his publications address how to do interdisciplinary research, teach interdisciplinary courses, administer interdisciplinary programs, or organize information in order to facilitate interdisciplinarity. As an associate dean, he created the Office of Interdisciplinary Studies at the University of Alberta, the Science, Technology and Society program, an individualized major, and two courses about interdisciplinarity. He has twice served as coeditor of the interdisciplinary journal Issues in Integrative Studies. He was president of the Association for Interdisciplinary Studies (AIS) from 2011 to 2014. He can be contacted at rszostak@ualberta.ca.

Preface Acknowledgments About the Editors About the Contributors Part I. Introduction Chapter 1. The Interdisciplinary Research Process - Rick Szostak Rick Szostak Part II. Drawing on Disciplinary Insights Chapter 2. Jewish Marriage as an Expression of Israel's Conflicted Identity Marilyn R. Tayler Chapter 3. The Metropolitan Problem in Interdisciplinary Perspective - Michan Andrew Connor Michan Andrew Connor Chatper 4. Mektoub: When Art Meets History, Philosophy, and Linguistics - Mieke Bal Mieke Bal Part III. Approaches to Integration Chapter 5. Integrating Theory-Based Insights on the Causes of Suicide Terrorism Allen F. Repko Chapter 6. An Interdisciplinary Analysis of the Causes of Economic Growth - Rick Szostak Rick Szostak Chapter 7. Why We Talk: An Interdisciplinary Approach to the Evolutionary Origin of Language Ria van der Lecq Chapter 8. Understanding Human Action: Integrating Meanings, Mechanisms, Causes, and Contexts - Machiel Keestra Machiel Keestra Chapter 9. Integrative Theory in Criminology Applied to the Complex Social Problem of School Violence - Stuart Henry and Nicole L. Bracy Stuart Henry and Nicole L. Bracy Chapter 10. Research Integration: A Comparative Knowledge Base - Julie Thompson Klein Julie Thompson Klein Conclusion William H. Newell Author Index Subject Index