Release date: Jan. 29, 2003
Contact: Nancy Seideman at 404-727-0640 or nseidem@emory.edu

Interdisciplinary Scholarship is the Order of the Day at Emory University

According to a story by The Chronicle of Higher Education (June 12, 2002), government agencies are stepping up funding for interdisciplinary research collaboration to solve today's most complex problems. But a growing number of foundations and non-profits also have seen the value of interdisciplinary research, and are supporting scholars at Emory University, who relish the chance to do collaborative work in everything from the sciences to the humanities.

"Serious interdisciplinary work is critical to Emory's mission," says interim Provost Howard O. Hunter. "We seek ways to remove barriers to research that crosses school and department lines in order to attract the kinds of translational scholars who are leaders in their respective fields."

Chemistry and biology professor David Lynn is one such scholar, and the possibility of interdisciplinary work was a powerful draw for him to Emory from the University of Chicago. "There is a very clear sense of momentum and enthusiasm for the potential and the possibilities here," says Lynn. "There was the real sense of 'the ship is leaving the dock and you better be on board.'" His decision to change institutions was a big one, since his lab supported 12 graduate researchers, every one of whom came to Emory with him. He also is part of an initiative to bring scientific research into the undergraduate classroom as one of the inaugural Howard Hughes Medical Institute Professors.

Most of that research will be interdisciplinary, says Peter Bruns, vice president for grants and special programs at Howard Hughes Medical Institute. He points to a recent report by the National Academy's National Research Council, known as "Bio 2010," stating that "interdisciplinary thinking and work [must] become second nature" for biology students in the future. "Lynn is doing a lot of this work right now," says Bruns, "and he explores how to do that across all levels of students; he's bringing them all into the show."

Emory has put interdisciplinary work on the front burner in the humanities and social sciences as well, with major research efforts such as Emory's new Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Religion (CISR) attracting $3.2 million from The Pew Charitable Trusts. "Emory's strong faculty and many leading thinkers in religion made it a natural place to put a center of excellence," says Diane Winston, program director for religion at the Trusts.

"Centers are ways to bring scholars from multiple areas of discipline into conversation with each other," says Winston. "Emory has been particularly successful at this. There were already many academics thinking and working on religion here, and the center has put them in closer touch with each other, which has the effect of deepening and extending their insights." "What's interesting is that these collaborations have not occurred at the cost of the traditional disciplines," says John Witte, Robitscher Professor of Law and director of CISR. "To have refined interdisciplinary scholarship without a strong disciplinary core would be building in the air. It would be like opening an art museum of Dutch masters without a Rembrandt or van Gogh."

EXAMPLES OF INTERDISCIPLINARY WORK AT EMORY

• Collaboration the Draw to Emory for Top Chemist David Lynn

For chemistry and biology professor David Lynn, the possibility of interdisciplinary work was a powerful draw to Emory from the University of Chicago. "There is a very clear sense of momentum and enthusiasm for the potential and the possibilities here," says Lynn. "There was the real sense of 'the ship is leaving the dock and you better be on board.'" His decision to change institutions was a big one, since his lab supported 12 graduate researchers, every one of whom came to Emory with him.

That sense of possibility helped Lynn's graduate students choose Emory, but it also made hiring two new faculty in biomolecular chemistry "the easiest recruiting job I've ever had," says Lynn. "There is an infectious and rewarding feeling about being part of something that's moving forward. These things are fragile and need to be nurtured, but Emory has been thinking carefully and strategically about how to use resources and the direction they want to go."

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• Emory's NBB Program Takes an Interdisciplinary Look at the Brain and Behavior

Emory is home to one of the largest neuroscience and behavioral biology (NBB) programs in the country, making the university a leader in this growing field. The cross-departmental undergraduate program uses the concepts of evolution as a unifying theme, and provides a breadth and focus not found in traditional biology, psychology, biopsychology, neuroscience or anthropology programs.

By using the strengths and cooperation of such traditional departments, NBB has become a model of interdisciplinary cooperation, drawing from the expertise of more than 60 faculty members from seven different Emory College departments and the schools of medicine and public health as well.

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• Diversity of Approaches is Strength of Emory's Center for Myth and Ritual in American Life

One of the newest efforts drawing both humanities and social scientists together is Emory's Center for Myth and Ritual in American Life (MARIAL) which studies dual wage-earning, middle class families in the South. Launched in 2000 with a $3 million grant from the Sloan Foundation, MARIAL operates as a kind of umbrella over a collection of research projects ranging from family story telling to working mothers' use of alternative medicine.

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• Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Religion to Host International Conference on Sex, Marriage and Family

Emory University's Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Religion (CISR) will examine the problems of marriage and family life during the last 25 years and explore solutions during its conference, "Sex, Marriage and Family and the Religions of the Book: Modern Problems, Enduring Solutions," March 27-29, 2003 in Atlanta.

Eighty distinguished experts from a wide range of fields – anthropology, economics, ethics, history, law, primatology, psychology, sociology, theology and public health – will outline and debate the issues from a multitude of religious and political perspectives. The conference culminates two years of study on the issues surrounding sex, marriage and family as they relate to Christianity, Judaism and Islam. Eighteen senior fellows, most from Emory, participated in the interdisciplinary approach to solving family problems, producing a series of public forums and 29 new written works in various stages of publishing.

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