Trans-discipline: Coming Up for Air

October 10, 2010

Coming Up for Air

Well, I've been down so very damn long
That it looks like up to me - The Doors

Apologies for the absence. Last year was dominated by our accediidation reaffirmation process. I co-chaired and wrote our educational effectivenes review and am proud to say we earned a nine-year reaffirmation from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. Bravo to everyone at Woodbury who helped put this together, especially my co-chair, Paul Decker.

Last year also involved organizing a regional conference for Science Education for New Civic Engagements and Rsponsibilities (SENCER) on our campus. Perhaps some of my ideas from that conference will find their way into these pages in the near future.

So now I can come up for air. I'll try to post more regular offerings as the year wends it's way back to summer. Summer... well that's another topic. Ciao.

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Institute of Transdisciplinary Studies -- News

Fall 2011
The Institute is in its sixth year and moving ahead. We recently reorganized into six academic departments: Art History (incl. Philosophy), Interdisciplinary Studies (incl. Urban Studies), Mathematics, Politics and History, Sciences and Writing. We are increasingly seeking new ways to combine and entangle our efforts with those of others on and off campus, working on improving student writing in business, science learning in architecture, student learning in reading and organizational skills, etc. And we are supporting the efforts of several faculty with Senior Fellow appointments, working on Los Angeles street-scapes, terror and cyber war, educational leadership, discourse development, and student writing. More to come as the year progresses...
Fall 2010
It is with great pleasure that we make the following announcements regarding changes and promotions among our faculty and staff. Please join me in congratulating them on their accomplishments. -- Dr. Amy Pederson has been promoted to Associate Professor and named Chair of the Art History department. She will be leading the department in a proposed transition from a minor to a major providing program. -- Dr. Will McConnell has been promoted to Associate Professor and named Assistant Dean of the Institute. In this capacity he will advise all departments in the Institute in their assessment activities, coordinate the Interdisciplinary Studies major and the Interdisciplinary Studies Core Curriculum, and guide programs in the Interdisciplinary Studies department, including the disciplines of economics, literature, philosophy and urban studies. Dr. E.B. Gendel and Dr. Emily Bills will continue to coordinate the economics and urban studies programs, respectively. -- Dr. Elisabeth Sandberg, Dr. Emily Bills, Dr. Rubik Yegoryan, and Dr. Christine Carmichael have been named Senior Fellows in the Institute for the 2010-11 academic year. Dr. Sandberg is working on a project as a transdisciplinary teaching and learning consultant to architecture and design. Dr. Bills is finishing a writing project concerning Esther McCoy: Selected Writings of an Architectural Advocate. Dr. Yegoryan is developing a project concerning physics modules for first-year physics based on SENCER principles. And Dr. Carmichael is working on a project concerned with enhancing the learning process for students of physics. -- Dr. Reuben Ellis joins us for the 2010-11 academic year as a Visiting Professor of Writing. He is an accomplished writer, with a focus on the American Southwest, an experienced educator, and comes to us from Prescott College in Arizona. He is filling the vacancy created by Dr. McConnell’s move to his new position. -- Dr. Emerald Archer, Assistant Professor of Politics, has been named Chair of the Politics and History department. She is assuming a position held open since the retirement of Dr. Leo O’Hara one year ago. -- Ms. Linda Parks has been promoted to Administrative Coordinator. She will continue her regular duties as well as provide a collection and editing point for Institute communications and monitor all departmental budgets.
Fall 2009
First off, we mark the arrival of two new faculty -- Brian Burkhart (PhD, Indiana) in philosophy and Emerald Archer (PhD, UCSB) in politics and history -- and one new child, Gemma Lee Pederson -- Dr. Christine Carmichael has returned from sabbatical leave in Australia -- Eleven new junior fellows begin their transdisciplinary research seminar (see the Aug. 31 blog) -- We welcome them all -- Additionally, three senior fellows: Dr. Elisabeth Sandberg, Dr. Amy Pederson, and Dr. Rich Matzen, begin their projects in the Institute. Good luck to everyone this year.
Spring 2009
Many of us are away this semester, but many are still around. - Dr. Christine Carmichael is on sabbatical in Australia. - Dr. Amy Pederson is on maternity leave. - Dr. Nageswar Chekuri returns from another research trip to India. Dr. Elisabeth Sandberg returns from teaching in Rome. - And there are other comings and goings as well. - Dr. Leo O'Hara is retiring at the end of the semester. - Two new faculty members will be joining us in the fall, one in politics, the other in philosophy. - And we are all in new offices in the Isaacs Faculty Center where the Institute finally has a secure home. Hooray!!
Fall 2008
Welcome to a new academic year as may of our faculty return from studying and teaching abroad. - The peripatetic Dr. Nageswar Chekuri arrives fresh from a research trip to India as a national leadership fellow in the SENCER project. - Dr. Amy Pederson rejoins us after teaching architecture students about contemporary art in Berlin. - Dr. E. B. Gendel returns from leading a group of students through the garment industry of Costa Rica. - And Dr. Phil Pack comes back, not after travel, but after a sabbatical leave.
Spring 2008
-Dr. Elisabeth Sandberg joins us, bringing her gifts in literary and interdisciplinary studies to our labors. - More transdisciplinary lunches on trans-history and study abroad lie ahead. -Dr. Rao Chekuri recently traveled to Morocco to present a paper on student reasoning in physics. -Dr. Amy Pederson went to Mexico to study Spanish and contemporary Mexican art. -Courses in urban studies, outsider art, and globalization are launched.

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