As a university studies student as well as a pharmacology student, I shall try to demonstrate both of these areas into the area of interdisciplinary studies. What exactly constitutes interdisciplinary studies programs appears to vary from study to study. In general, the main idea appears to be that interdisciplinary studies programs encompass areas that include both research and teaching and also include programs that are directed at public engagement, undergraduate research, and service learning projects.
As universities seek to receive funding from an ever growing number of sources, it is important that the schools also broaden their scope of where they serve through service learning projects. These projects tackle challenges that are faced by local and global societies. Rarely do these challenges fall into one of the university’s single disciplines, or categories, which is where the interdisciplinary study area enters the picture. The current boundaries of the universities’ discipline structure are how the university order and hierarchy is maintained. These structures do not conform to the outreach projects that are occurring in society by the universities service learning programs (Stone, Bollard, & Harbor, 2009).
Reference
Stone, T., Bollard, K., & Harbor, J. (2009). Launching interdisciplinary programs as college
signature areas: An example. Innovative Higher Education, 34(5), 321-329.
doi:10.1007/s10755-009-9119-y
