- 1 July 2004
According the Area Studies Benchmarking statement, Area Studies courses are interdisciplinary and/ or multidisciplinary. By thinking about the nature of the discipline itself, this article introduces some of the challenges for teaching staff on interdisciplinary courses.
- 5 April 2004
This keynote speech was originally presented at the
Area Studies Project conference: Understanding the world: Developing interdisciplinary area studies to meet the needs of the 21st century. The day began with an impassioned plea by former UK Ambassador to Iraq Sir Harold Walker that it is in the national interest that Area Studies programmes are maintained in the UK. In light of current events in Iraq and Afghanistan it is imperative that universities produce graduates who understand the languages and cultures of regions such as the Middle East.
R.J Ellis - 13 February 2003
Interdisciplinarity in Humanities/Social Sciences teaching since the mid-1970s has come to be defined as a learning mode involving the exploration of issues, problems and knowledges through integration and synthesis of theoretical and/or methodological procedures which draw upon more than one discipline or challenge conventional disciplinary approaches. It has proved particularly relevant to Linguistics, which has developed strongly-defined interdisciplines (such as Psycholinguistics and Sociolinguistics) and to Area Studies (both within and without Modern European Language Departments), which characteristically draws upon several disciplines. In the latter case, developing interdisciplinarity learning approaches proves challenging in terms of syllabus design.
Niall Palmer - 18 October 2002
A general overview of the nature and variety of American Studies degree courses in United Kingdom universities, including notes on the differing structures and content of degree courses at undergraduate and postgraduate levels, opportunities for study abroad and the wide range of resources available for students and lecturers in American Studies.
Anne H Anderson - 27 September 2002
In this section of the Web Guide the relationship between psychology, and linguistics is considered with respect to learning and teaching. The main questions adressed are: what linguistics does a psychologist need to know and why? What psychology does a linguist need to know and why? A brief historical background to the relationship between linguistics and psychology is provided. An overview is given of how this has fed in to the curriculum of undergraduate courses in psycholinguistics in UK psychology and linguistics departments. Samples of web resources for psycholinguistics are provided.
Gunilla Anderman - 27 September 2002
A survey of Scandinavian studies teaching in UK universities from interdisciplinary and single discipline perspectives, including history, literature, and the culture of Scandinavia and the Nordic Countries.
Ronald Carter - 27 September 2002
This article explores the balance between structural and functional approaches to the study of English language and linguistics in undergraduate courses. Undergraduate courses should provide students with the ability to describe the language accurately and systematically as well as provide the capacity to discuss its functions and uses, both in particular societies and in the wider world.
Michael Smith - 27 September 2002
European Studies is a type of interdisciplinary programme, widely established in the UK since the 1970s, which combines modern languages with disciplinary studies in the social sciences or humanities. Programmes fall predominantly into two groups: those based on progressive study of two or more disciplines applied to Europe, typically history, politics and economics, and those in which language is studied in the context of European cultures and societies. The study of the EU is a core part of most programmes. Degrees are usually of four years with one year spent at university or in a placement in continental Europe.
