911

XClose

UCL Module Catalogue

Home
Menu

Approaches to Interdisciplinarity (BASC0053)

Key information

Faculty
Faculty of Arts and Humanities
Teaching department
UCL Arts and Sciences
Credit value
15
Restrictions
This is a compulsory Core module for students on the MASc Creative Health programme. Students studying part time can take this module during their first OR second year.
Timetable

Alternative credit options

There are no alternative credit options available for this module.

Description

Content: This module provides a theoretical grounding in interdisciplinary research, and practical insights into its application. Over the course of the term we will examine the nature and meaning of interdisciplinarity; the particularities of interdisciplinary research; and the value of various approaches. We will also engage with relevant debates over whether and when to take an interdisciplinary approach, its advantages and disadvantages. Finally, students will encounter interdisciplinary research in action as we look at case studies of interdisciplinary fields such as Bioethics, Digital Humanities, and Refugee Studies.

Teaching delivery: This module is taught in 10 weekly three-hour sessions. Each session combines a lecture and seminar discussion.

Indicative topics: based on module content in 2023/24, subject to possible changes:

  • What is interdisciplinarity?
  • Decolonisation and the origins of disciplines
  • Interdisciplinarity and Psychiatry
  • The Challenge of AI
  • Regional and thematic studies
  • Public health: An interdisciplinary approach
  • Interdisciplinary approaches to tackling planetary health
  • Parasitology and the environment
  • Humanitarianism, bioethics and interdisciplinarity
  • Reflecting on approaches to interdisciplinarity

Module aims and objectives: Upon successful completion of the module students will be able to:

  • Critically evaluate the evidence in favour of and against the benefits of interdisciplinary research and practice.
  • Demonstrate a strong understanding of a number of central concepts associated with interdisciplinarity.
  • Display a thorough and critical understanding of the literature associated with interdisciplinary research in the field of non- clinical/creative interventions in health.

Recommended readings

  1. S.B.J. Menken and Machiel Keestra (2016). An introduction to interdisciplinary research: theory and practice
  2. Christina Clark-Kazak (2023). Research Across Borders: An introduction to interdisciplinary, cross-cultural methodology
  3. Harvey J. Graff (2016). ‘The “Problem” of Interdisciplinarity in Theory, Practice and History’, Social Science History 40:4

This module is taught on the UCL EAST campus in Stratford.

Module deliveries for 2024/25 academic year

Intended teaching term: Term 2 Postgraduate (FHEQ Level 7)

Teaching and assessment

Mode of study
In person
Intended teaching location
UCL East
Methods of assessment
100% Coursework
Mark scheme
Numeric Marks

Other information

Number of students on module in previous year
32
Module leader
Dr Anne Irfan
Who to contact for more information
uasc-pg-office@ucl.ac.uk

Last updated

This module description was last updated on 8th April 2024.