What is the Identity of Interdisciplinarity?

Abstract

Interdisciplinarity is nothing new. The earliest attempts to understand,

organize, or codify knowledge and learning were infused with what today

look like interdisciplinary thinking and approaches. Indeed, interdisciplinarity

only makes sense if it is preceded by some system of disciplines that perceive

themselves and/or are perceived to be separable and bounded. There have to

be lines to transcend, categories to move between, before something can be

“inter-” anything. So to call the education of philosopher kings in Republic

interdisciplinary is a bit anachronistic, as the current forms of

interdisciplinarity are rooted in the post-Enlightenment and modern divisions

within academia, well post-dating Plato. It was in that post-Enlightenment

moment when disciplinary beliefs and practices made the biggest leap toward

becoming disciplinary identities as well.