LLAS Centre for Languages, Linguistics and Area Studies

Interdisciplinary Teaching and Learning Group

Integrating interdisciplinarity
Event date: 10 September, 2007 - 11 September, 2007
Location: Clare College, Cambridge

Interdisciplinary teaching and learning (13-14 July 06)
Event date: 13 July, 2006 - 14 July, 2006
Location: University of Birmingham Conference Centre, Birmingham

Disciplinary identity of Area Studies (29 Nov 2004)
Event date: 29 November, 2004
Location: CILT,

IALIC/Subject Centre Pedagogical Forum (16 Dec 2003)
Event date: 16 December, 2003
Location: George Fox Building, Lancaster University

Interdisciplinarity and inter-cultural learning in Area Studies curricula
Event date: 6 May, 2003
Location: CILT, London

Global perspectives in Area Studies: a complacent or creative response?

Higher Education is under pressure to produce graduates with the knowledge and skills for working in a globalised world and with the values and attitudes to behave as global citizens. Are Area Studies students developing these 'global perspectives' through their studies? A scoping study at the Royal Geographical Society (with with the Institute of British Geographers) has investigated the current status of the global dimension. The research project examined how global perspectives are manifest at three different levels within Higher Education: disciplines/subject areas, departments/teaching teams and institutions. In Area Studies, the picture is generally encouraging, with many of the building blocks for developing and strengthening global perspectives already in place. The long-term objective is for a holistic approach where all the components contributing to global perspectives are integrated and embedded into the ethos, structures, activities and daily life of Higher Education institutions.

Interdisciplinarity
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.

English language and linguistics: undergraduate study
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.

Call for bids: HE Academy Interdisciplinary Teaching and Learning Group

The HE Academy Interdisciplinary Teaching and Learning Group invites bids for up to £7,500 each for two small-scale projects. Practitioners from any discipline in UK higher education are welcome to apply.

Atlas: The Area Studies project bulletin

Atlas is the Area Studies Project Bulletin, published by the Subject Centre for Languages, Linguistics and Area Studies. It includes articles which provide examples of good practice, disseminate, news and publicises events of interest to the Area Studies community.

Journal of Area Studies/ Journal of European Area Studies: Articles on Theory and Practice of Area Studies 1980-2003

Interdisciplinary teaching and learning in Area Studies
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.