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This discourse analysis of metaphors of the crossdisciplinary composite of inter- and trans-disciplinary research gleans in sights for science today. The first section establishes a baseline by comparing spatial images to growing use of organic metaphors in an ecology of knowledge production. Following logically from the comparison, the second reflects on metaphors of exchange and transaction in trading zones, transaction spaces, and third spaces, then addresses implications for the earlier exemplar of Mode 2 knowledge production. The third section considers the current exemplar of convergence as a new dynamic of fundamental and applied research then challenges the premise translation is a one-way transfer and application of findings from one domain to another, thereby recognizing complexity of relational capital, platforms as sites of collaboration, and ensuing tensions. The fourth reflects a widespread tendency to map domains of knowledge, building on Sheila Jasanoff's cartographic metaphor of Science, Technology, and Society Studies as an archipelago and broader implications for the nature and status of interdisciplinary fields. The fifth section weighs the balance of disciplinarity and interdisciplinarity, questioning the premise of a New Disciplinarity reinscribing a disciplinary home versus transversal flow and flux. The sixth recognizes growing momentum for decolonizing crossdisciplinarity, including the role of lay, traditional, and Indigenous knowledge in fostering a transdisciplinary science of sustainability. The seventh closing section reflects on preceding metaphors against the backdrop of a century of developments that have made interdisciplinarity and transdisciplinarity part of the fabric of science today, though more often in incremental ways than radical refiguration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This contribution to the special issue on transformative learning is an analytical essay that bridges discourses of boundary crossing and urban sustainability. Part I establishes a baseline for understanding the nature of learning that occurs. It begins with interdisciplinary education, accounting for structures, pedagogies, and competencies. It then turns to transdisciplinary education, accounting for multiple connotations of transdisciplinarity, proposals for reform of the university, and insights from two urban sustainability projects. Part II focuses on prospects for transformation, beginning with a broad-based heuristic tool to guide definition and, prompted by the co-editors' call to consider the role of new technologies, virtual horizons. The final section presents the concepts of an ecology of spatializing practices, a transdisciplinary orientation, double- and triple-loop learning, and methodological agility. The article ends with seven key take-aways from the foregoing analysis. Broadly speaking, transformative learning is inherently a constructivist process that fosters integrative, holistic, and reflexive capacity. The heterogeneity of structures and strategies that have emerged over time provides all parties with a rich portfolio of options for use in both existing institutions and new enclaves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Expertise in research integration and implementation is an essential but often overlooked component of tackling complex societal and environmental problems. We focus on expertise relevant to any complex problem, especially contributory expertise, divided into 'knowing-that' and 'knowing-how.' We also deal with interactional expertise and the fact that much expertise is tacit. We explore three questions. First, in examining 'when is expertise in research integration and implementation required?,' we review tasks essential (a) to developing more comprehensive understandings of complex problems, plus possible ways to address them, and (b) for supporting implementation of those understandings into government policy, community practice, business and social innovation, or other initiatives. Second, in considering 'where can expertise in research integration and implementation currently be found?,' we describe three realms: (a) specific approaches, including interdisciplinarity, transdisciplinarity, systems thinking and sustainability science; (b) case-based experience that is independent of these specific approaches; and (c) research examining elements of integration and implementation, specifically considering unknowns and fostering innovation. We highlight examples of expertise in each realm and demonstrate how fragmentation currently precludes clear identification of research integration and implementation expertise. Third, in exploring 'what is required to strengthen expertise in research integration and implementation?,' we propose building a knowledge bank. We delve into three key challenges: compiling existing expertise, indexing and organising the expertise to make it widely accessible, and understanding and overcoming the core reasons for the existing fragmentation. A growing knowledge bank of expertise in research integration and implementation on the one hand, and accumulating success in addressing complex societal and environmental problems on the other, will form a virtuous cycle so that each strengthens the other. Building a coalition of researchers and institutions will ensure this expertise and its application are valued and sustained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article describes a collaborative partnership of two librarians and an English professor who created a unit for a senior capstone seminar on “The Digital Turn in English Studies.” After reading Charlotte Perkins Gilman's “The Yellow Wallpaper” in both print and digitized versions, students completed a survey on reading preferences and provided feedback on an experimental eTextReader allowing for annotation. Students also did blog postings providing a fuller picture of attitudes toward digital texts. We situate quantitative and qualitative findings in three contexts: the field of digital humanities, reading in the digital age, and tool development. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Heart disease remains a major complication of diabetes, and the identification of new therapeutic targets is essential. This study investigates the role of the protein kinase MK2, a p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase downstream target, in the development of diabetes-induced cardiomyopathy. Diabetes was induced in control (MK2(+/+)) and MK2-null (MK2(-/-)) mice using repeated injections of a low dose of streptozotocin (STZ). This protocol generated in MK2(+/+) mice a model of diabetes characterized by a 50% decrease in plasma insulin, hyperglycemia, and insulin resistance (IR), as well as major contractile dysfunction, which was associated with alterations in proteins involved in calcium handling. While MK2(-/-)-STZ mice remained hyperglycemic, they showed improved IR and none of the cardiac functional or molecular alterations. Further analyses highlighted marked lipid perturbations in MK2(+/+)-STZ mice, which encompass increased 1) circulating levels of free fatty acid, ketone bodies, and long-chain acylcarnitines and 2) cardiac triglyceride accumulation and ex vivo palmitate β-oxidation. MK2(-/-)-STZ mice were also protected against all these diabetes-induced lipid alterations. Our results demonstrate the benefits of MK2 deletion on diabetes-induced cardiac molecular and lipid metabolic changes, as well as contractile dysfunction. As a result, MK2 represents a new potential therapeutic target to prevent diabetes-induced cardiac dysfunction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The article discusses various reports published within the issue, including the article "Dutch Dealings With the Delta," by Anna J. Wesselink.

The article reports on finding resources for course design and teaching, with emphasis on works that have appeared in the past 10 years in the United States. It also highlights important new print and Web-based material with an emphasis on the past five years. The Web site of the Association for Integrative Studies has materials that may be down-loaded, including sample course syllabi, a directory of doctoral programs, guidelines for accreditation in interdisciplinary general education, interdisciplinary writing assessment profiles. William Newell's 1998 interdisciplinarity reprints "classic" essays on the nature of interdisciplinary studies include a guide to syllabus preparation and a synthesis of the reprinted essays organized around seven categories of questions about interdisciplinary study and integration.

Presents a global model of interdisciplinary problem-solving based applicable on urban design and planning and policy-making. Requirements for the achievement of the unity of interdisciplinary approach; Theoretical basis of the model; Components of the practice portion of the model; Functions of the model for K. Van Lohuizen's ideal of achieving unity in urban planning.

Since World War II there has been a growing momentum for interdisciplinary problem-focused research (IDR) performed by teams of disciplinary specialists. Increased efforts to understand the nature and successful management of IDR have led to an exponential increase in, and a growing consolidation of scholarship on the subject. By tracing the evolution of the current body of knowledge on IDR, we can not only determine the sociological and epistemological factors in the production and use of that knowledge but also ascertain the current state of the art in the field. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Presents a survey of source material for interdisciplinary studies (IDS). Starting out in IDS; Findings models and syllabi; Entry points into pertinent scholarly literatures; Use of electronic information systems; Individual networking strategies for locating less visible and emergent sources; Concept of interdisciplinary; Interdisciplinary fields.

Discusses the interdisciplinary needs of library users and the activities that create those needs. Analysis of the knowledge system; Factors influencing the interdisciplinary fields; Indications that interdisciplinary is no longer peripheral to the academy but is regarded in many quarters as essential to the knowledge system; Description of the cumulative effect of alternative organizations of knowledge.

The title of this article signals increasing collaboration across boundaries aimed at understanding and solving complex scientific and societal problems. The article is a reflective analysis of five intersecting keywords in discussions of sustainability and boundary crossing. This genre of discourse studies interprets language use, drawing in this case on a representative sample of authoritative definitions, case studies, and state-of-the-art accounts. The Introduction situates the discussion around the increasing number and size of teams as well as research across both academic disciplines and other sectors, followed by the five keywords that structure the overall argument. Section 2 examines the first of the five keywords, defining interdisciplinarity by marking its alignment with integration, confluence, interdependence, interaction, and balance. Section 3 considers the second keyword—transdisciplinarity—by tracing evolution of a problem-focused connotation, links to sustainability, inclusion of stakeholders, the imperative of critique, and transdisciplinary action research. Section 4 brings together insights on inter- and trans-disciplinarity in a composite "crossdisciplinary" alignment with collaboration, factoring in the nature of teamwork, public engagement, and translation. Section 5 then turns to learning, noting the difference between education and training then emphasizing transformative capacity, double- and triple-loop learning, reflexivity, and a transdisciplinary orientation. Section 6 takes up the final keyword—knowledge—by calling attention to inclusion, indigenous and local perspectives, nomothetic versus idiographic perspectives, the question of fit, and the nature of crossdisciplinary knowledge. The article concludes by identifying future research needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]