ABSTRACT
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A few years ago, this chapter could not have been written. Definitions of interdisciplinary studies
had not been operationalized with sufficient specificity to even identify the requisite types, styles, or
processes of decision making involved. The field of interdisciplinary studies had an emerging
consensus definition-“interdisciplinary studies may be defined as a process of answering a ques-
tion, solving a problem, or addressing a topic that is too broad or complex to be dealt with
adequately by a single discipline or profession. IDS draws on disciplinary perspectives and
integrates their insights through construction of a more comprehensive perspective” (Klein and
Newell, 1996, 393-394). But the process itself had not been adequately identified. Indeed, there is
some opposition within the field to any greater specificity on the grounds that it might constrain
freedom of activity or suggest objectivist modernism. Others, however, believe the field cannot
advance or gain greater acceptance until it specifies how one draws on disciplinary perspectives and
especially how one integrates their insights.
