30th Annual Association for Integrative Studies Conference
Hosted by the University of Illinois at Springfield
October 23-26, 2008
Springfield, Illinois
Interdisciplinarity and the Engaged Citizen:
Integrating Higher Education, Public Policy, and Global Action
Higher education today aims to create an intellectually rich and culturally diverse campus environments that promote engaged and active learning and offer safe places to explore multiple perspectives. Moreover, higher education places itself at the forefront of public policy debates, efforts to define citizenship, and calls for societal change. Interdisciplinary and integrative problem-solving strategies can be actively employed to promote the kind of reflection, dialogue, and action on public policy and civic culture that result in informed engagement with the world.
To integrate interdisciplinarity and citizenship, we welcome proposals for papers, panels, workshops, roundtables, and creative presentations that address issues such as the following:
Engagement and Knowledge Making: theories of interdisciplinarity; epistemological conflicts and intersections in the academy and beyond; engaging the boundaries of disciplines; transdisciplinarity as engagement beyond the disciplines; new research and trends.
Engagement and Public Policy: intersections between liberal arts and public affairs; connections between higher education and public policy; interdisciplinary public policy issues surrounding issues such as health, the environment, and government at the local, regional, national or international levels; debates surrounding the Spellings Commission; discussions regarding the future of higher education.
Engagement in Teaching and Learning: interdisciplinary approaches to general education, active learning, service-learning, or learning in majors or graduate programs; liberal arts and professional programs assessment of engaged curricula; interdisciplinary approaches to engaging the “other”; integrating undergraduate and graduate education; integrating P-12 and higher education; intersections between student affairs and academic affairs to promote engagement.
Engagement and Action: discussions about the role of higher education in promoting social or environmental justice and activism; interdisciplinarity and citizenship; interdisciplinarity and social or political problem-solving at different level—local, regional, national or global; engagement and online learning; integrating the academy and the community.
Extended Proposal Deadline: April 25, 2008