The Call for Papers is now open!

Conference Theme: Mapping Interdisciplinarity: Finding our way

This year’s conference theme concentrates on that moment, in an interdisciplinary process, when students bring together different perspectives to generate something new and interdisciplinary. What research processes are used to prepare students for practising integration? How do we facilitate cross-disciplinary communication? What theories influence our teaching? How do we assess integration? We are also interested in the wider context in which interdisciplinarity is taught, for example, whether on introductory modules or as part of an interdisciplinary programme. Wider still, we are interested in examples where the teaching of interdisciplinarity has been supported at an institutional level.

The organisers invite submissions for short papers (15 minutes), hands-on workshops, and poster presentations. We are looking for submissions that report on actual experiences as well as potential future directions and opportunities. Submissions which feature case studies are of interest, especially with an eye on what makes a module interdisciplinary as opposed to multidisciplinary. Interdisciplinary integration can be pursued at all levels, but this event will focus on integration at Higher Education and secondary school levels. 

We especially encourage contributions from early career academics, students, and professional staff who support interdisciplinary teaching and learning.

Proposals for papers, panels, workshops and poster presentations should aim to address one or more of the following sub-themes. Please identify the relevant theme(s) when submitting your application:

Mapping Interdisciplinarity

We are interested in how the teaching and learning of interdisciplinarity is supported at programme, institutional, and sector levels. At programme level, how are learning experiences engineered to create integration (i.e., how does a multidisciplinary programme become an interdisciplinary one)? At institutional level, we are interested in best practice examples that demonstrate how interdisciplinary teaching are supported by a university, college, or school.  At the sector-wide level, how larger interdisciplinary projects aim to integrate knowledge from various sources, disciplines or subjects to break down the silos of knowledge. For example, how is interdisciplinary teaching recognised and supported by academic journals, publishing houses, and through benchmarking of interdisciplinary programmes?

Methods of Integration

How is the singularity of integration engineered and taught? What interdisciplinary research processes are used to support and advance integration at the level of a module or a specific lesson? We encourage submissions that focus on theory or practice.

Assessing Interdisciplinarity

This topic continues to be an important and challenging area for anyone engaged in interdisciplinary learning and teaching. How is it possible assess the integration of disciplines, practices, or knowledge? Submissions which feature theory or practice are welcome and should focus on how integration is attained when assessments are designed, employed, and realised. Student perceptions of interdisciplinary assessments and their experiences are of particular interest.

Closing date for Submissions: 21 December 2021

• Short Papers should be a 15-minute presentation (in the format you prefer), plus 5 minutes for questions.
• Posters should be A1 size.
• Workshops should be practical hands-on, experience-based sessions of 40 minutes duration.

The submission form can be found here (you may need to paste into your browser): https://forms.gle/Lc2Ju6jnefjWHz8i9

The submission form asks for the following details, which you may wish to have ready:

• Name and contact details of the presenter(s)
• The Type of Submission (Short Paper/Workshop/Poster) and the sub-theme of the submission (Mapping Interdisciplinarity/Methods of Integration/Assessing Interdisciplinarity/Other)
• A Title of the Submission and an Abstract of no more than 250 words
• A short biography of the presenter(s) of no more than 150 words (each)
• Any special requirements for the presentation, if applicable

This is the sixth conference of this kind. Information regarding previous conferences can be found at this website: https://interdisciplinaryuk.net/ .

Conference information page: https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/ilt2022

For further information please contact the conference organisers:

Dr Simon Scott, Liberal Arts and Natural Sciences, University of Birmingham, s.scott@bham.ac.uk

Ida Kemp, Chair, Interdisciplinary Learning and Teaching Conferences (UK), interdisciplinary.ac.uk@gmail.com