Purpose: In collaboration with their home cities, universities increasingly develop courses in which students investigate urban sustainability challenges. This paper aims to understand how far-reaching the collaboration with urban stakeholders in these courses is and what students are meant to learn from the transdisciplinary pedagogies.…

The majority of this essay describes the content, pedagogy, and assessments associated with an undergraduate, interdisciplinary honors seminar on science and religion. The seminar is structured around five major themes: (a) philosophy of science, religion, and their interactions, (b) historical and contemporary case studies, (c) the controversy…

Sophomore liberal arts and engineering students enrolled in a course to learn and practice some basic chemical engineering side by side. The course was developed around the theme of indigo dyeing, which has an interesting history, fascinating chemistry and is accessible to all students. The students participated in a variety of active learning…

This article explores the concepts advanced from the Australian Learning and Teaching Council (ALTC)-funded project, "Exploring Problem-Based Learning pedagogy as transformative education in Indigenous Australian Studies". As an Indigenous art historian teaching at a mainstream university in Canada, I am constantly reflecting on how to…

In this paper, a course on applied superconductivity is described. The course structure is outlined and the learning objectives and the learning activities are described. The teaching was multidisciplinary given by four departments each contributing with their expertise. Being applied superconductivity, the focus was on an application, which could…

This article demonstrates the educational value of an undergraduate course that integrates design and the liberal arts to teach about ecological systems, using study of the university campus as the means to connect theory and practice. It presents the curricular goals, objectives, results, and lessons learned from a qualitative case study of a…

As universities move towards more vocationally oriented courses, students expect pedagogic practices that make closer ties to potential workplaces. The pedagogical approach of authentic learning is well suited to this purpose as it proposes an apprenticeship-type model and a model that brings simulated work tasks into the classroom. In the social…

An interdisciplinary business administration course taught at Kent State University (Ohio) uses literature to teach bureaucratic structure, based on the idea that, for business students, studying literature is an opportunity to develop alternative methods of perceiving and managing human resources. The curriculum is described and the reading list…

Describes the origin, development, and format of an interdisciplinary course on global issues. Discusses topic areas addressed in the elective. Offers perspectives on the values and need for a course of this nature and provides suggestions for its extension. (ML)

A San Diego State University (California) graduate course in the School of Public Administration integrates literature study with professional education. Its objectives are to give students vicarious experience with the frustration and alienation felt by potential clients and the dilemmas faced by conscientious administrators and to rekindle…

Hampshire College (Massachusetts) offers an introductory, interdisciplinary course on the effects of drugs on the body to get students to think creatively and critically about science. It is hoped that, by becoming scientists for a term, they will experience both the power of science and its fallibility. (The course syllabus is included.) (MSE)

Describes the design of an interdisciplinary course intended to develop college students' skills in functioning both personally and professionally in a multicultural society. Concepts addressed include the systems and characteristics of culture; individual, familial, community, and cross-cultural dimensions of diversity; differences and…

Attempts by the faculty at Baker University to introduce American undergraduates to the history of the Western tradition as part of their general education are described. The strengths and weaknesses of the Western civilization course and of the core curriculum formerly offered by the college are analyzed. The rationale for the interdisciplinary…

Auburn University in Alabama shows how curricular innovations can stimulate the personalized, cross-disciplinary teaching and learning that are threatened by the large-size and scholarly compartmentalization of many university campuses. The Mentor-Interdisciplinary Seminar program for freshmen and the Ascent of Man interdisciplinary course for…

A course taught at Western Washington University's Fairhaven College brings together all 13 faculty and a third of the student population in an interdisciplinary effort to address the theme of conflict. The course is administered by a student and a faculty member and exemplifies the difficulties of collaborative administration. (MSE)