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ThePresidentialForum RONALDC.ROSBOTTOM ASECSPresident,1994-95 InanefforttochallengetheSocietytothinkaboutitself,Barbara Stafford(President,1995-96)andIdevisedtheideaofaPresidential ForumtoreplacethetraditionalPresidentialAddressatourAnnual Meeting.ConcernedthatASECS,andotherlearnedsocieties,didnot provideadequate"space"fordiscussionofourculturalandintellectual organization,weofferedanalternativeinApril1995attheTucsonmeeting ,anddidsoagainattheAustinmeeting(1996).Ourpurposewasto examinetheinterdisciplinarypremisesonwhichtheSocietywasfounded andbywhichitoperates.MytaskwastoorganizeaForumaroundthe relationshipsbetweencurricularinterdisciplinarityandacademicadmin- istration;ProfessorStafford'swastoraisetheissueofinter-andtrans- disciplinarityasviableintellectualconcepts.Thecurrentdebatesover fiscalprioritieswithintheacademyandofourpoliticalinfluenceout- sidewillmakeinvestigationofourintellectualorganizationincreasingly pertinent. FormyForum,Iinvitedthreecolleaguestopresentremarkswhichwe hopedwouldelicitalivelydiscussion.IaskedourSecondVicePresident, PaulHunter(English,Chicago),tospeaktoconcernsthathavepreoccupied himasanEnglishprofessorandaformeracademicdean.IinvitedmyAmherst Collegecolleague,MargaretHunt(HistoryandWomen'sandGenderStud- ies),togiveusanaperçuofhowshehasgrownupinaninterdisciplinary 2/ROSBOTTOM programatasmallliberalartscollege.And,Ialsolookedtomycolleague BarbaraStafford(ArtHistory,Chicago)forhelp;herworkontheroleofthe visualinmodernhumanisticandscientificdisciplineshasledhertoaskques- tionsabouthowknowledgeispackagedbytheacademy. ThetitleoftheForumwas"WhatDoesItMeantobeDisciplined?"an archwayofbringingtheideasofcontrolaswellasordertothefrontofthe discussion.Thisisasubjectthatisattractingmoreandmorescholarlyatten- tion.Inarecentcollectionofessays,Knowledges:HistoricalandCritical StudiesinDisciplinarity,theeditorswriteintheirpreface: Foronlytwocenturies,knowledgehasassumedadisciplinaryform;for lessthanone,ithasbeenproducedinacademicinstitutionsbyprofession- allytrainedknowers.Yetwehavecometoseethesecircumstancesasso naturalthatwetendtoforgettheirhistoricalnoveltyandfailtoimagine howelsewemightproduceandorganizeknowledge.... Sociallyandconceptually,wearedisciplinedbyourdisciplines.First, theyhelpproduceourworld.Theyspecifytheobjectswecanstudy... andtherelationsthatobtainamongthem....Theyprovidecriteria forourknowledge...andmethods...thatregulateouraccesstoit. Second,disciplinesproducepractitioners,orthodoxandheterodox, specialistandgeneralist,theoreticalandexperimental.... Third,disciplinesproduceeconomiesofvalue.Theymanufacture discourseinabundance...;theyprovidejobs...;theysecure funding...;theygenerateprestige.... Finally,disciplinesproducetheideaofprogress.Theyproliferate objectstostudyandimproveexplanations....Theytellstoriesof progress.1 AtourForum,MargaretHuntadroitlydrewourattentiontotheadvan- tagesof"beingdisciplined":"[Disciplineshave]clearintellectualregimens, asinthecaseofhistory(myfavoritediscipline),withcenturiesofprecedent.There'sacommonsensibility,whichonegetslessoftenininterdisciplinary work,where[onegropes]forcommonalities.Beingwithinanalready-es- tablisheddisciplineis,insomeways,lessexhausting[thanbeinginanewer, interdisciplinaryone]." AnotherthemeoftheForumwasthatwearemembersofaconservative intellectualprofession.Onceweestablisha"discipline,"nomatterhowit mayhavebeenintheavantgardeatitsinception,professionalismwillsoon attenuatetheintellectualflexibilitythatoccasionedtheadventure.SaidPro- ThePresidentialForumI3 fessorHunter:"Institutionalstructuresofinterdisciplinarity—whenformed historicallyataparticulartimeininterdisciplinaryrelations—canbeahighly conservativefactorasnewinterdisciplinaryideas,relationships,andneeds develop.Onealmostinviolablelawininstitutionsinvolvesinertia:oncesomethingiscreateditisalmostimpossibletouncreateit ."Thisisourcentral conundrum,bothasmembersofparticularcollegeanduniversityfaculties, andasmembersofourprofessionallearnedsocieties:howdoweusedisci- plinarygrounded-nessasanengineforchange—orcanwe? Disciplines—thentheirbureaucraticanalogs,departments—evolvedtostructuretheactivitiesoftheungovernableintelligentsia.Academicdepart-ments,atleastinthiscountry,wereoriginallyformedtocontrolanincreas-inglypowerfulprofessorate.Asacounterweighttoinstitutionalbureaucra- cies,ataboutthesametime,professionalassociationslikeoursserved,as "invisiblecolleges,"togivedisciplinaryidentityandindependence.Another usewastoattenuate"amateurism,"alwaysthreateningtothe"expert."Be- ing"disciplined"meantthatwhereveronewas,onewasthesame.Noteven aninstitutionofemploymentcouldtellaprofessorthatshewasnotdoingwhatsheshouldbedoing:herprofessionalorganizationshadalreadyvali- datedherwork—andherworth."Disciplining"isareificationofactivity, notofideasorthings;itisaresultoftheideaof"progress,"themovementto perfectionthathasbeenleftusbyourEnlightenmentforebears.AsPaulHunterrepeated,though,disciplinesdotendtomakeusmorerigidratherthanflexible.Arguingthatthereisnothingtopreventus fromthinkingandworking,asindividuals,inaninterdisciplinarycon- text,heconcludes,"teachingisanothermatter,however.Thereislittle directsupport,andthedepartmentaldeterminationofcoursesandteachingloadsoftenmeansitishardtomountinterdisciplinary —ifwemean interdepartmental—coursesandprograms.It'seasytoblamethison higheradministration,butactuallythedifficultyjustasoftencomes frominflexibleorselfishdepartmentsandfacultyindividuals."Itis important,insuchasituation,torelyonthe"benignneglect"ofadmin- istrationsratherthanontheirattention,whichcanoftenfreezeadepart- mentintothemostconservativeofstances. ProfessorHuntertouchedonasubjectthatcouldwellleadusoutofthese contradictions:throughemphasizingteachingratherthan"research,"we mightjustbeabletobuildanewethosofintellectualactivitythaturgesusto considernewconceptionsofhowwedoourresearch.Itisintheclassroom whereweare,forthemostpart,leftalone;oneofthefrustrationsofthosewhowanttocontroltheintelligentsiaisindeedthisfreedomtoteachhowand whatwewant.Thisisanideathatespeciallyinterests—andconcerns—Bar- baraStaffordwhodrewourattentiontothefactthattheclassroom,aswe 4/ROSBOTTOM knowit,isbeingradicallytransformed.Ourprofession—asteachersandas criticsandscholars—ischangingbeforeoureyesourLEDconsoles.Increasingly ,theeducationalestablishmentwilllosecontrolofits"posses- sions"andofthemeansofitsproduction.Thisismostobviousinthelibrar- iesthatsustainus.Theyarebecomingonmanycampusesthecenterfor digitalizedinformationandcomputingaswellasdepositoriesforbooksand manuscripts.Librariansarehavingtoretrainthemselvesbothtechnically andconceptually.Nolongercantheycontrolwhatisheldandwhatisal- lowedout;theymustnoweducate—train—andexplaintoapublicsuddenly overwhelmedwithwhatisavailabletoit.Educationisleavingthelibraryandthearchivestheclassroomandthecampus,tooccurontheInternetandinothertelecommunicationalmodes.AsStaffordargues:"Inthecomingelec- tronicera,interactive'homelearning'willplaceagreaterpremiumonthe viewer'schoice.Thisopensupthepossibilityofatrulyweblikeinterdisci- plinarity;conversely,itraisesthespecterofanewnarrownessinthefaceof thealmostlimitlesschoiceofferedbyfivehundredcablechannelsandMo- saicorAmericaOn-Line.Thisdispersalintocyber-spaceaddsanadditional noteofuncertaintysinceitisdifficulttopredictwhichdisciplineswillcon-tinue,emergeorfadeinthevirtual,digitaluniversity."Notinsignificantly,shouldweplanasweshould,thistransformationwill leadusinexorablyintoadiscussionaboutthecostsofeducationanditsde- livery.Theacademy'ssuccessatmakingappropriateuseoftheradicalchanges inthecreationandtransmissionofinformationwillbegreatlyinfluencedby therealfiscalrestraintsunderwhichwemustoperate."Downsizing"isan attractivefiscalconcepttomanyadministratorswhohaveyettoaddressthe complexityoftheintellectualenterpriseandofthetraditionsandstructures thatnowareembeddedinAmericanhighereducation.(Thisisasubject worthyofaprefaceallitsown.) Itissomewhatunusualinaprefacetoabookcontainingsomeofour Society'sbestscholarlyworktowriteabouttherealandmundanedifficul- tiesthatconfrontoutcareersasscholarsandteachers.Butifalearnedsoci- etyistohavemorethanself-congratulatoryvalue,itmustuseitsmeetings andpublicationstoenablememberstotalkaboutthemselves—whotheyare andhowtheyworktogether—andhowtheyteachaswellasaboutthedis- coveriesandproductsoftheirresearch.For,professionalizationispowerful. Anemotionalandintellectualcommitmenttoone'schosenfield(s),itbegins asearlyasourundergraduatemajor,andisfirmlyinculcatedduringgraduate studywherethinkingaboutintellectualboundary-crossingisgenerallycasual ,ifnotcounter-intuitive.Howweorganizeourselvesprofessionallycan eithersolidifythatsenseofdisciplinarycommitmentorprovidealternatives toit.Weintellectualsstillcontrolourdestinies,andwemustnotallowour ThePresidentialForum/5 nervousnessofeachother,ourxenophobia,tokeepusfrommaintainingan orderlyhouse.Wemustworkhardtoavoidbecoming,asPaulHuntersug- gested,the"fossilsofhubrisoroverreaching."Weshouldnotchoosethe interdisciplinarywayinordertoenhanceourpowerortosatisfyselfishinterests ,butratherseethatwayasthemosteffectivemeansbywhichwecan remain"disciplined,"yetstillimaginativeandtolerant.Wemustusethecu- riosityandfaithincommonsensethatdrewustotheseprofessionstoset limitsofchangewhilechallengingthepoweroftradition.Otherwise,wewill increasinglybecomeinsignificanttoaworldthatisimpatientwithwhatwe do.2 NOTES 1.EllenMesser-Davidow,DavidR.Shumway,DavidJ.Sylvan,eds., Knowledges:HistoricalandCriticalStudiesinDisciplinarity(Charlottesville: UniversityPressofVirginia,1993),vii-viii. 2.IwouldliketothanktwoofmyAmherstCollegecolleaguesfortheirsugges- tionsandpatienceasIworkedmywaythroughwhatIwantedthisForumtodo: theyareProfessorArthurZajoncofthePhysicsDepartmentandProfessorHugh HawkinsoftheHistoryandAmericanStudiesdepartments. ...

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