Interdisciplinary Marriage
Guest post by Kevin Flora(Cross post from kevinflora.com)
Think as if there isn’t a box, not just “outside the box”. Embrace change and accept your responsibility as a professional within the changing economy and world we live in. Cross the lines of discipline to collaborate and invent tomorrow’s reality!
In decades past, interracial marriage was unacceptable, interdenominational worship services were frowned upon, and inter literary scholarship was not tolerated. As times have changed, all “inter” concepts have become the current way of life for the world around us all. Very prominent and happy couples marry a different race / nationality than their own. Large concerts and various other venues bring multiple religious denominations together. And authors like Dan Brown (The Da Vinci Code) have combined the factual basis of a well-known organization with a nonfictional storyline to become a best seller – and movie.
Whether you realize it or not, most businesses and professional fields are interdisciplinary. The marriage of technology and health care has created a job market in informatics. The field of informatics then has extended to various other fields to bring data visualization and clearer understanding to disciplines other than health care. To make the point more clear, the combination of drawing and math is the basis of the field of architecture.
How does this effect education? I’m glad you asked. We all see how business and education have been merged to create a large sector of entrepreneurs looking to profit from the field of education. In my pursuit of an “Interdisciplinary PhD in Educational Sciences” I get to chase after the different marriages on a daily basis. Constantly, I feel that aha moment where combining fields or taking in multiple understandings can solve problems and create new solutions. Two quotes ring true in this light of intellect:
The world is your playground – Play around and don’t worry about who is watching and waiting on you to fall. When you do fall, get back up and start climbing again!
The world is your oyster – You are the one who formulates the world that you live in. Yes, we have laws and some guidelines, but your happiness and success relies on your perspective and mentality.
As you go through the grind of wake up, work, and go to sleep… think of ways your current skills, abilities, and expertise can be combined with a different field to innovate or make a future that no one else could realize.
IMAGE credit from Flickr user rhiannonstone.
