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Tamara: Journal for Critical Organization Inquiry

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Year 2013 
Volume 11 
Issue 4

Moving Beyond the Single Discipline: Building a Scholarship of Engagement that Permeates Higher Education

Linda Silka
University of Maine

Robert Glover
University of Maine

Karen Hutchins
University of Maine

Laura Lindenfeld
University of Maine

Amy Blackstone
University of Maine

Catherine Elliott
University of Maine

Melissa Ladenheim
University of Maine

Claire Sullivan
University of Maine

2013 11 (4) Tamara: Journal for Critical Organization Inquiry

Article contents

Abstract

Communities face complex problems that are best addressed by integrating the perspectives of multiple disciplines, yet many forms of engaged scholarship remain disciplinarily specific. Universities struggle to bring together highly disparate disciplines linking knowledge with action to address community problems. Sustainability is an important example of a complex, urgent problem that is best addressed by integrating multiple disciplines. In the United States, a unique multi-year initiative, Maine’s Sustainability Solutions Initiative (SSI), addresses sustainability problems by working across disciplines on engaged research. Scholars, representing multiple disciplines and most of the higher education institutions in the state, working with their community partners, are addressing sustainability problems related to landscape change, specifically urbanization, forest ecosystem management, and climate change. This initiative is composed of over two dozen interdisciplinary, engaged research projects that include diverse stakeholders (e.g., nongovernmental organizations, communities, policy organizations, and governmental leaders) as members of the research teams. Reflecting on the challenges of involving multiple disciplines in research projects, we discuss SSI as an exemplar of interdisciplinary, engaged campus initiatives. The scale and reach of the initiative (on-campus and statewide), the number of disciplines and stakeholders involved in the project, and the conversations around engaged scholarship occurring at the University of Maine capture the challenges and opportunities of moving the scholarship of engagement beyond the isolated work of individual disciplines.

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APA style

Silka, Linda & Glover, Robert & Hutchins, Karen & Lindenfeld, Laura & Blackstone, Amy & Elliott, Catherine & Ladenheim, Melissa & Sullivan, Claire (2013). Moving Beyond the Single Discipline: Building a Scholarship of Engagement that Permeates Higher Education. (2013). Moving Beyond the Single Discipline: Building a Scholarship of Engagement that Permeates Higher Education. Tamara: Journal For Critical Organization Inquiry, 11(4), 41-52. (Original work published 2013)

MLA style

Silka, Linda and Glover, Robert and Hutchins, Karen and Lindenfeld, Laura and Blackstone, Amy and Elliott, Catherine and Ladenheim, Melissa and Sullivan, Claire. “Moving Beyond The Single Discipline: Building A Scholarship Of Engagement That Permeates Higher Education”. 2013. Tamara: Journal For Critical Organization Inquiry, vol. 11, no. 4, 2013, pp. 41-52.

Chicago style

Silka, Linda and Glover, Robert and Hutchins, Karen and Lindenfeld, Laura and Blackstone, Amy and Elliott, Catherine and Ladenheim, Melissa and Sullivan, Claire. “Moving Beyond The Single Discipline: Building A Scholarship Of Engagement That Permeates Higher Education”. Tamara: Journal For Critical Organization Inquiry, Tamara: Journal for Critical Organization Inquiry, 11, no. 4 (2013): 41-52.

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