Hello Everyone!
We hope you all had a great weekend, and a great President's Day holiday. In this week's discussion topic we are switching gears. This week we will be discussing how interdisciplinarity has had or currently has an effect in our own lives. The ability to recognize interdisciplinary thinking is a crucial skill for an interdisciplinarian. As an active duty U.S. Marine, interdisciplinarity plays a crucial role in my life. As Marines we must posses a wide spectrum of skills. A Marine may have to act as any of these roles in any given time: leader, mentor, student, athlete, historian, peace keeper, humanitarian, first responder, aggressor, and many others. The ability to think from an interdisciplinary perspective and integrate disciplines such as history, criminal justice, sociology, and military science can be the difference between life and death on any given day.
Here is a link to video of our 235th Birthday Message given by our Commandant and Sergeant Major. The celebration of the Marine's birthday every year on November 10th is one our dearest traditions. This video will give you a small insight into the life of a United States Marine.
(Copy this link and paste if to your browser if it does not work)
Finally, recognizing interdisciplinarity and its applications is an invaluable skill that any interdisciplinarian must posses. You should keep your responses to about two to three paragraphs per question, and also respond to at least two of your fellow cornerstone students. We look forward to reading your responses. Have a great week!
1. How do you apply your interdisciplinarity in daily situations?
2. What is interdisciplinarity not?
3. Who do you do who has an interdisciplinary profession?
4. How are you integrating your disciplines or are you?
5. What are some opportunities (personal, professional or academics) that can increase our interdisciplinarity?
Remember to reply as a new comment not as a post. Please reply to two other students's comments.
1.) I apply being interdisciplinary in my every day life in many ways. Particularly this semester, I find that I have to discipline myself more than normal. I took on a lot this semester, really too much. I have four classes, two internships, 40 hours a week at my full time job, two new puppies, and bought a new house to take care of. I am interdisciplinary every day when I am keeping myself going (on hardly any sleep).
ReplyDelete2.) Being interdisciplinary is not simply working hard at what you do, but I think it is going above and beyond no matter how inconvenient it can be.
3.) My best friend is a social worker and her job is to work with kids that are foster children, addicted to drugs, or have been abused. It is her job to put them in better situations by the time they turn 18 to turn their life around. She is interdisciplinary in a way where she truly cares what happens to these kids. She spends time after hours and on weekends making sure that the kids are okay. I admire her so much has I would not know what to do in that situation; to alter her life to help others.
4.) I dont think I am integrating my disciplines very well. My disciplines are humanities, letters of modern language, and my minor is mass communications. I like all of my disciplines in many different ways, yet my ultimate career goal is not to use them all together. I am interning and hoping to work in advertising/ public relations. Using my disciplines as learning aids I am happy with my career path, but I dont think I am combining all of them completely.
5.) I think that volunteering is a great opportunity for people to be interdisciplinary. It gives you a way to work hard for an ultimate goal, yet help people. I try to volunteer as much as I can dispute my busy schedule. I
Maria, I think you make such a great point about being interdisciplinary! It is more than just doing what's required and really about going that extra step and using your other disciplines to do so.
DeleteJessica:
DeleteI thought I had a lot on my plate - wow - listening to your semester load leads me to believe that you are able to juggle quite a lot. You might be living more of a disciplinary life than you think.
Do you plan on continuing this pace and take classes this summer? If yes, how will you incorporate that into your life to also take the time to have fun?
Thanks.
Rosalind King Miller
Maria:
DeleteI didn't realize it before, but we're studying a lot of the same things (Letters and Modern Language and Mass Communication). Honestly, I think we use our knowledge from Letters and Modern Language everyday, especially foreign language. I use my writing and reading skills every time I write an email, whether it be when I'm analyzing something or composing a memo for work.
Similarly, things we learn from Mass Communication are always put to use. I learned a lot from my Public Relations class about how to simply talk to people, especially without stepping on toes while still maintaining my professionalism. That's why I loved studying those two areas, because I realized I could use the knowledge acquired in those classes to any job. Honestly, I think you may use your skills acquired from class more often than you think.
Its great that you volunteer and i too believe that its a good way to be interdisiplinary. But how do you fing the time??! Work, school, kids, I never would have time to volunteer. And this class alone has taken most of my time up!
DeleteWell luckly the vollunteering gives me great experiences. I am taking classes over the summer and am going to do another internship. I guess I cant call it "summer break." I really am going to enjoy spring break this week:)
Delete1. How do you apply your interdisciplinarity in daily situations? I apply my interdisciplinary by fulfilling all the many roles in my life: wife, mother, daughter, friend, student, employee, etc. Each role brings something unique to the others, and makes all the areas of my life richer.
ReplyDelete2. What is interdisciplinarity not? Interdisciplinary is not rigid. It is flexible, changing and able to fit into many different situations. In a world of black and white, interdisciplinary would be gray, which is the best thing about it! It's never cut and dry!
3. Who do you do who has an interdisciplinary profession? Like Maria, I also have friend in social work. Her job is to work with children, work with the courts, work with the foster parents and the guardians ad litem. Due to all the different demands of her job, she is definitely an interdisciplinary professional!
4. How are you integrating your disciplines or are you? I think I have integrated my disciplines well when looking at what I want to do with them. I'd like to go into education, and my disciplines are behavioral/social sciences, humanities, and education. I think the three really go seamlessly with the others!
5. What are some opportunities (personal, professional or academics) that can increase our interdisciplinarity? I think joining the student Interdisciplinary Association is a good way to increase ones' interdisciplinary. Talking to other students about being an IDS major and what they are planning on doing with it and learning more about how we can market ourselves and our major, is a great opportunity for us.
Jessica:
DeleteI agree that your disciplines go very well together. It is a great idea to talk with other IDS majors and get a feel from them how they are blending their disciplines and what they feel they are getting out of it and if they have any suggestions.
Have you learned anything from them that you could share?
Thanks.
Rosalind King Miller
1. I a mother, student, and entrepreneur. I combine the skills of a chef, domestic goddess, budget planner, accountant, nurse, creative designer, disciplinary, lover, etc.
ReplyDelete2. Interdisciplinary is not doing one thing one way and not try to blend several skills an know how to incorporate the best result.
3. My husband. He is a doctor who has to blend the best care for his patients, answer to health insurances, be the boss, accountant, the healer, etc.
4. I believe I am integrating my disciplines (psychology, humanities, law) in blending a better understanding of what people need, the best way to serve them, and do it all under the letter of the law.
5. I think in this day and age with complex lives, if we allow interdisciplinary to be a part of that we allow ourselves to bring a culmination of our life experiences blended together to the best possible use.
Rosalind King Miller
I can imagine that you incorporate all those things just with the job of being a mom alone! I absolutely agree with you that it is imperative for us to be interdisciplinary in this day in age. Today we're facing a very competitive job market with a surplus of talent that might not fit the mold of most jobs since people tend to train themselves in a single discipline.
DeleteBeing a doctor must be one of the most interdisiplinaary jobs someone can get. Your husband has had to study many disciplines. And has to figure out the best care for his patients.
Delete1. How do you apply your interdisciplinarity in daily situations?
ReplyDeleteI currently hold two jobs, both of which require me to integrate ideas from many areas everyday. In one job, which is at a retail store, I help create store layouts and visuals, but I’m also in charge of making sure that the budget it met and well communicated to our employees, while also handling any of their concerns in the workplace. I also help train new incoming managers and employees about sales, marketing, trends, budgets, finance and how to manage the operating systems. While it might not sound like the most challenging, everyday presents itself with new obstacles and opportunities.
My other job takes place in the world of finance where I work in a mentoring program for upcoming Financial Advisors. Everyday I either have to meet with employees, crunch numbers, analyze data, research investments and plan events. Talk about serious integration!
2. What is interdisciplinarity not?
Interdisciplinarity is not narrowing ones outlook on anything. As interdisciplinarians we strive to include ideas from many different areas of interests to come up with a single solution. If someone is not opened minded then they definitely do not have what it takes to be in the world of interdisciplinarity.
3. Who do you do who has an interdisciplinary profession?
Honestly, every job or internship I’ve ever had has included ideas and skills borrowed and integrated from other areas. Perhaps jobs might focus in one area or another, but in the end you’re always going to have to come up with new solutions to problems using innovate ideas. In today’s job market, one cannot expect to get hired because they’re well versed in a specific area; we must all know how to integrate ideas from everywhere to ensure success.
4. How are you integrating your disciplines or are you?
Well, first of all you all should know what my areas are: Hospitality Management, Communication, and Letters and Modern Languages, which encompasses writing, literature, and languages). I would say that the best way I’m integrating my disciplines is by making sure that I maintain effective communication. Languages and writing go hand in hand with communication in many ways. I am not, however, using most of what I learned through my hospitality classes aside from the business aspects, like accounting and the fundamentals of business.
5. What are some opportunities (personal, professional or academics) that can increase our interdisciplinarity?
Getting involved in your school or local community to learn about areas you’ve never gotten involved with will help you increase your opportunities to expand your horizons. I never thought I would end up in finance, but I liked it since I have to market myself and use ideas that I enjoyed learning about in both accounting and economics.
1. How do you apply your interdisciplinarity in daily situations?
ReplyDeleteWell just in my job alone I believe its interdisciplinary, I manage a restaurant. Being a manager in a restaurant my responsibilities can range from controlling the staff, guest, and operations. On any given day an issue can arise from a staff member having personal problems causing them to miss work or be visibly affected, to a guest unhappy with their service, to trying figure out ways to maximize profit.
2. What is interdisciplinarity not?
It is not a study of one disipline and one focus. And a narrow way of thinking.
3. Who do you do who has an interdisciplinary profession?
My cousin, who works for the police department in Miami. He is a Sargent now and has command of special unit within the department. His work has many aspects to it and is very interdisciplinary.
4. How are you integrating your disciplines or are you?
My disciplines are Digital media and Sports Business with a minor in Coaching. I have integrated coaching in my job because im constantly trying to motivate the staff and finding ways to create a positive work place. I haven't been able to integrate my other disciplines just yet, but I am changing my career hopefully so I'll be able to utilize my areas.
5. What are some opportunities (personal, professional or academics) that can increase our interdisciplinarity?
From a professional standpoint, I think I can increase my interdisciplinarity by attending business seminars. And reading inspirational and leadership books. Maybe even volunteering for local charities. Some networking functions also would help.
What are some things that your cousin does that is interdisciplinary? I think networking functions are a great way to increase your interdisciplinary skills, it's also a super fun way to meet people and learn new and exciting things that might be fun to explore in your personal life also.
Delete1. As mentioned before, I develop a custom Android operating system for a handful of devices. Keeping these devices up to date for such a large user base causes this to be a daily task. My disciplines are as follows, Information Technology, Marketing, and the area of writing/communication. Not a day goes by where I do not use the knowledge gained from these disciplines collectively. I treat my Android “hobby” as if it were an actual job. Recently, I have found an interdisciplinary way to organize these efforts using a triangle diagram. Each point of the triangle consists of a different area of focus from week to week, each of equal importance. “Development”, “Marketing”, and “Support” are the areas that make up this triangle. Information Technology gave me the knowledge necessary to write the code necessary to develop new features, fix bugs, improve performance, etc. Marketing discipline teaches the insights needed to reach more people so that they may choose to use my product. To market and support a product, one must be able to write and communicate about it well; this is why I have chosen to study this area.
ReplyDelete2. For me, one of the first things that come to mind when thinking about what interdisciplinary is not is to be close minded. Without an open mind, there is no way to succeed in this major. You must be able to adapt quickly and process information from a variety of different views.
3. Last week I spent some time with my family in Miami. My cousin Danny produces music and is currently an intern at Cool & Dre’s studio. When my cousin showed me everything that is involved with his work, I knew it was an interdisciplinary profession. Not only do producers need to know how to make music, they also need to be able to network and get there music noticed. These are only some of the ways producers must use a variety of disciplines to succeed.
4. The answer to this question is explained in my answer to question 1.
5. As a UCF student, I think some of the best opportunities to increase our interdisciplinarity are by getting involved with clubs on campus. Since I enjoy marketing and communication, I naturally tend to enjoy photography as well. Good photographs have the ability to make people feel a certain way (maket) and even speak without words (communicate). To improve my skills in this area, I have joined the UCF Photography club. For more information about clubs on campus visit www.getinvolveducf.com
The UCF photography club is a great way to increase opportunities on campus I love that club and the people are great.
Delete1. Interdisciplinary has been applied to my life in many different ways. I feel like I am constantly using interdisciplinary to achieve one goal, efficiency. I try to pack in as much as I can into my days because I don’t have time to be on any single task at one time. If I can use multiple techniques to create a general focus of efficiency in my life then bring it on! I love that This class has provided my with a broader perspective in achieving these goals in my everyday life.
ReplyDelete2. Interdisciplinary is not simple but it is a discipline that makes life simpler. Today, there is just so much stuff that is constantly moving and on a global scale, Interdisciplinary helps to achieve the most bang for your buck. We can no longer simply apply the logic that things are possible by step one and step two to get to step three. Interdisciplinary allows you to get to step three in a way that is most effective and efficient on a grander scale.
3. I am a sports photographer and I use Interdisciplinary everyday at my job. I am first a photographer using art to capture moments. I am also a psychologist that has to use all sorts of psychology to deal with parents and children who are getting their pictures taken. I also am in customer service. I deal directly with the ‘client’ a parent with a bunch of questions and a ‘subject’ who could be a four year old that only wants to play soccer and I have to convince to be happy and pause to take a individual picture and join his other 12 team members to take a team shot. Interdisciplinary in my best friend at getting work done successfully and efficiently.
4. Right now I am integrating my digital media background into my profession. If something technical comes up I can now apply my skills to achieving the best picture possible all the while dealing with a team who is gathering up next to me to take a team picture. I use professional speaking to accurately communicate to the kids in order to get the pictures taken quickly so they can get moving to their game.
5. Honestly, customer relations has been something that has always needed an interdisciplinary perspective. I have a goal that I would like to get to let’s say at my job. I use a number of different disciplines in order to achieve my goal of capturing pictures at work in a short period of time, in order to keep on schedule all while keeping not only keeping the kids happy, but the parents happy too.