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). William H. Newell is Professor ofInterdisciplinary Studies Miami University (PhD, University of Pennsylvania)where he has been directing the two-semester 10-credit senior project workshopsince 1995. He has edited two books, including the foundationalInterdisciplinarity Essays from theLiterature, and two special issues of journals. He has published over 30articles and chapters on interdisciplinary studies, with seminal contributionsto the theory and practice of interdisciplinarity recognized in his receipt ofthe Kenneth E. Boulding Award. Newell has served as consultant or externalevaluator on interdisciplinary higher education over 100 times. The foundingpresident of the Association for Integrative Studies in 1979, he has servedsince 1983 first as its Secretary-Treasurer and then as Executive Director.Rick Szostak, PhD, is professor and chair of economics at the University of Alberta, where he has taught for 34 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.

• PrefaceAcknowledgmentsAbout the EditorsAbout the ContributorsPart I. IntroductionChapter 1. The Interdisciplinary Research Process - Rick SzostakRick SzostakPart II. Drawing on Disciplinary InsightsChapter 2. Jewish Marriage as an Expression of Israel′s Conflicted IdentityMarilyn R. TaylerChapter 3. The Metropolitan Problem in Interdisciplinary Perspective - Michan Andrew ConnorMichan Andrew ConnorChatper 4. Mektoub: When Art Meets History, Philosophy, and Linguistics - Mieke BalMieke BalPart III. Approaches to IntegrationChapter 5. Integrating Theory-Based Insights on the Causes of Suicide TerrorismAllen F. RepkoChapter 6. An Interdisciplinary Analysis of the Causes of Economic Growth - Rick SzostakRick SzostakChapter 7. Why We Talk: An Interdisciplinary Approach to the Evolutionary Origin of LanguageRia van der LecqChapter 8. Understanding Human Action: Integrating Meanings, Mechanisms, Causes, and Contexts - Machiel KeestraMachiel KeestraChapter 9. Integrative Theory in Criminology Applied to the Complex Social Problem of School Violence - Stuart Henry and Nicole L. BracyStuart Henry and Nicole L. BracyChapter 10. Research Integration: A Comparative Knowledge Base - Julie Thompson KleinJulie Thompson KleinConclusionWilliam H. NewellAuthor IndexSubject Index