|
| |
JIS WELCOMES SPONSORS
This unique educational initiative
welcomes partnerships with colleges,
universities, seminaries, foundations, and other scholarly
organizations interested in strengthening or developing interdisciplinary curricula
and/or honors programs. The National Academy of Sciences'
Facilitating Interdisciplinary Research
confirms the need for interdisciplinary approaches as the most relevant
methodology for addressing major dilemmas confronting humanity in the 21st
century. The National Science Foundation and the Association
of American Universities also encourage interdisciplinary research. The educational initiative
we developed
predates the NAS Report by two decades, since the Institute for Interdisciplinary Research and the International Christian Studies Association were
co-founded in 1983, and
following more brainstorming and panels at various
scholarly societies, launched a Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies: An
International Journal of Interdisciplinary and Interfaith Dialogue, a
refereed trilingual thematic annual, by 1989.
In its 24
thematic volumes published thus
far, JIS has pioneered interdisciplinary research synthesizing insights
and findings across the social sciences and humanities as
well as science-ethics-theology dialogue, exploring the
interfaces between knowledge, ethics and faith, and their significance for human
dignity, human rights, pluralism, and the moral and spiritual foundations of
democracy and an open society, encouraging dialogue across geographical, disciplinary, and
denominational boundaries. JIS' 5,376 pages of
peer-reviewed research feature a constellation of some 317
authors of articles, book reviews, review essays, responses, field reports,
occasional poetry, a stage play, and even a music score. JIS is more
than just another narrowly specialized academic journal of relevance only to a
few specialists. Rather, students and faculty in all fields can benefit from
JIS' modeling an integrative approach to the liberal arts. JIS
is an educational endeavor seeking a new synthesis of all the arts and sciences via intensive collegial mentoring, building a new generation of
interdisciplinary scholars, thus re-inventing the university for the 21st
century. In sum, IIR-ICSA-JIS are equivalent to a
global honors program--a
major resource for curricular innovation,
model courses, team-teaching, interdisciplinary research and instruction, and
strengthening or developing interdisciplinary honors programs at the
university level. Cf. also: Why JIS?
Sponsoring institutions
benefit by sharing an educational initiative which
serves as a guide for academe, reflected in
interdisciplinary curricula as the fastest-growing segment of U.S. higher
education.
This educational quest--equivalent to a
university Center for Interdisciplinary Studies--can
advance such worthy goals as:
 |
Create hubs for interdisciplinary research and instruction; |
|
Facilitate and enliven classroom discussion and
comprehension; |
|
Attract gifted students and
outstanding faculty to sponsoring institutions; |
|
Raise sponsoring institutions' visibility as leaders in
interdisciplinary studies; |
|
Encourage more private and public funding; |
|
Serve as a catalyst for internationalizing the campus; |
|
Broaden community outreach and ties to various
constituencies; |
|
Enhance interdisciplinary integration via
colloquia/symposia; |
|
Discover some of the world's most
creative interdisciplinary scholars; |
|
Engage the services of a multilingual
editor/mentor who provides intellectual leadership for
JIS' pace-setting
volumes. |
To Arrange a Presentation:
Journal of
Interdisciplinary Studies: Re-Inventing the University
Contact: Dr.
Oskar Gruenwald, IIR-ICSA Co-Founder/JIS Editor. E-mail:
JIS (click
to reveal e-mail)..
|
