gsmith
Posts by this author
September 21, 2009
Gladys Kalema-Zikusok has provided a concise, provocative list of concerns regarding sustainable development. I'd like to hone in one facet of her response to the second question, simply because it is new to me. Kalema-Zikusoka seems extremely attuned to the relationship between ecosystems and…
September 21, 2009
Below, Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka answers the second of our three questions.
The problems I see as ripe for cross-disciplinary research are those where multidisciplinary approaches have potential to promote sustainable development alongside sustainable environments in developing countries, because…
September 18, 2009
Saleem Ali's anticipation of a convergence between ecology and engineering definitely resonated with some of the Rev Minds readers. His broad assessment of the state of the academy and sustainable architecture:
University programs in environmental science and those in civil engineering and…
September 16, 2009
Below, Saleem Ali answers the second of our three questions.
The connection between ecology and engineering will need to be strengthened in coming years to see how natural systems can help with some of our most challenging development issues. Foremost among these challenges will be to supply…
September 15, 2009
Below, Skylar Tibbits answers the second of our three questions.
Cross-disciplinary opportunities lie at the intersection of opposing scales, and applications. On the micro scale, computational designers provide means for massive calculation, insightful and imaginative possibilities with…
September 14, 2009
Last week I shared a number of recommendations of original, well-founded contemporary projects to compliment comments by Michelle Borkin and Nick Matzke on data and visualization. I had intended to share some more this week but I became preoccupied with a debate that is taking place right now—…
September 14, 2009
Below, John Wilbanks answers the second of our three questions.
Cross-disciplinary work is where the big stuff happens. Watson and Crick were in their own way cross-disciplinary (bringing together the phage and the chemical work of each). Climate change is one very obvious place where the work…
September 11, 2009
Michelle Borkin is astute in recognizing the manner in which information visualization can collapse the distinction between disciplines. Borkin notes that reading visual representations of star formation and human disease are not unlike exercises as MRI and telescope data are similar in terms of "…
September 8, 2009
When asked about a discipline that would benefit from a more cross-disciplinary research approach, Nick Matzke proposed a data-driven approach to the study of history. While Matzke stressed that there is no replacement for "old-fashioned, document-based, interpretive history" he does sketch out a…
September 8, 2009
Below, Nick Matzke answers the second of our three questions.
History--old-fashioned, document-based, interpretive history--is a field that is ripe for an infusion of new methods and technology. Much as the biosphere and the organisms in it have evolved, individuals, documents, schools of thought…
September 4, 2009
There are a number of conversations that telescope out of Anthony Dunne's answer to the question as to how and where we might combine disciplines. Although brief, the comments reveal a (welcome) attitude that addresses fields of inquiry as approaches rather than binding frameworks. This desire to…
September 4, 2009
Below, Anthony Dunne answers the second of our three questions.
In my experience, the biggest obstacle to successful cross-disciplinary approaches is personality clashes, usually based on ego, territorialism and petty power struggles.
I think combining political science, economics, and ethics…
September 1, 2009
Conversation may be compared to a lyre with seven chords - philosophy, art, poetry, love, scandal, and the weather
Thus stated the nineteenth-century writer Anna Jameson and the truth of these words certainly still resonate today, perhaps even more so. It is definitely an honor to have been invited…