Crossing Boundaries: Knowledge, Disciplinarities, and Interdisciplinarities

A conceptual framework for understanding, studying, and supporting interdisciplinary practice focusing on the production and organization of interdisciplinary knowledge. In contrast to a guide or curriculum manual, the discussion poses arguments for the investigation of institutional contexts of interdisciplinary activity, the reasons for boundary permeation, and the "trading zones" formed by boundary crossing. This intellectual formulation is developed further in case studies considering work in an interdisciplinary field, an individual discipline, and a national research system. The conclusion presents the ideas of integrative process, criteria of judgment, and institutional strategies as the three issues crucial to the future of interdisciplinary activity. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.