Introduction to Interdisciplinary Studies

Allen F. Repko, Rick Szostak, Michelle Phillips Buchberger

• Publisher: SAGE Publications, Inc
• Year: 2025
• Print ISBN: 9781071871041
• eBook ISBN: 9781071871010
• Edition: 4
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Sociology
• Index: Social Sciences

This book provides instructors and students in entry-level interdisciplinary courses and thematic programs with a comprehensive introduction to interdisciplinary studies. Authors Allen F. Repko, Rick Szostak, and Michelle Phillips Buchberger introduce students to the cognitive process that interdisciplinarians use to approach complex problems and eventually arrive at more comprehensive understandings of them. Students learn how to think like interdisciplinarians, understand interdisciplinary processes, and assess the quality of their own work. Changes to the Fourth Edition include revised content on epistemology and methods, more on integrative strategies, reordering of some chapters, new assignment ideas, and new examples which include student examples and insights from the latest scholarly works.

An instructor website at https://edge.sagepub.com/repkointrois4e includes PowerPoints, a test bank, and figures and tables from the book.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Acknowledgements
• Publisher Note
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Brief Contents
• Detailed Contents
• Preface
• About the Authors
• Part I Understanding Interdisciplinary Studies
• 1 Interdisciplinary Studies in the Real World
• 2 The Rise of the Modern Disciplines and Interdisciplinarity
• 3 Interdisciplinary Studies Defined
• 4 Academic Disciplines
• 5 The Intellectual Essence of Interdisciplinary Studies
• 6 The Interdisciplinary Studies “Cognitive Toolkit”
• Part II Thinking Critically About Interdisciplinary Studies
• 7 Thinking Critically About Disciplinary Perspectives
• 8 Thinking Critically About Disciplinary Insights
• 9 Thinking Critically About Integration and Its Results
• Part III Interdisciplinary Research and Writing
• 10 An Interdisciplinary Research “Road Map”
• 11 Identifying Relevant Disciplines and Gathering Information About the Problem
• 12 Analyzing Insights and Reflecting on Process
• Appendix A - Intellectual Autobiography
• Appendix B - Student Portfolios, Blogging, and Vlogging
• Appendix C - Service Learning, Internships, and Alternative Projects for Nontraditional Students
• Appendix D - The Broad Model Rubric: Instructor Version and Sample Student Outline
• Appendix E - Answer Key
• Glossary
• References
• Index