EESS talk on "Making a difference by marking the difference: Boundary-work in interdisciplinary teams"
Event details
| Date | 05.05.2020 |
| Hour | 12:15 › 13:00 |
| Speaker | Adj. Professor Ulli Vilsmaier, Transdisciplinary methods, Institute of Philosophy and Sciences of Art, Leuphana University Lüneburg, Germany |
| Location | |
| Category | Conferences - Seminars |
Abstract:
The call for inter- and transdisciplinary research has increased significantly in the academic landscape and a young generation of researchers is already trained in highly interdisciplinary fields. Nevertheless, empirical studies show that there is still a significant gap between the promise of interdisciplinary team research to tackle complex problems, and their actual performance. Besides institutional factors, integration has been discussed as one of the main challenges. It requires a certain epistemic agility and awareness of one’s own situatedness in knowledge production, and reflexivity to deal with differences in research cultures. To foster integration, it is therefore necessary to elaborate on differences. Boundary work is a basic strategy to establish common ground and mutual understanding by making boundaries between disciplines, specialized fields of knowledge or societal fields visible and tangible. Methods of boundary work support the systematic exploration of boundaries, addressing the multiple dimensions of a research process. In this presentation, methods of boundary work for interdisciplinary teams will be presented and discussed based on examples in the field of sustainability studies.
Short biography:
Dr Ulli Vilsmaier has been Junior Professor for Transdisciplinary Methods at the Methodology Center and Presidence Delegate for Inter- and Transdisciplinarity at Leuphana University. Currently she is Adj. Professor at the Institute of Philosophy and Sciences of Art at Leuphana University and Visiting Professor at EPFL from March-May 2020. Her research and teaching focus is on methodological and epistemological foundations of inter- and transdisciplinary research and the development of methods for boundary-work in inter- and transdisciplinary teams.
The call for inter- and transdisciplinary research has increased significantly in the academic landscape and a young generation of researchers is already trained in highly interdisciplinary fields. Nevertheless, empirical studies show that there is still a significant gap between the promise of interdisciplinary team research to tackle complex problems, and their actual performance. Besides institutional factors, integration has been discussed as one of the main challenges. It requires a certain epistemic agility and awareness of one’s own situatedness in knowledge production, and reflexivity to deal with differences in research cultures. To foster integration, it is therefore necessary to elaborate on differences. Boundary work is a basic strategy to establish common ground and mutual understanding by making boundaries between disciplines, specialized fields of knowledge or societal fields visible and tangible. Methods of boundary work support the systematic exploration of boundaries, addressing the multiple dimensions of a research process. In this presentation, methods of boundary work for interdisciplinary teams will be presented and discussed based on examples in the field of sustainability studies.
Short biography:
Dr Ulli Vilsmaier has been Junior Professor for Transdisciplinary Methods at the Methodology Center and Presidence Delegate for Inter- and Transdisciplinarity at Leuphana University. Currently she is Adj. Professor at the Institute of Philosophy and Sciences of Art at Leuphana University and Visiting Professor at EPFL from March-May 2020. Her research and teaching focus is on methodological and epistemological foundations of inter- and transdisciplinary research and the development of methods for boundary-work in inter- and transdisciplinary teams.
Practical information
- General public
- Free
- This event is internal
Organizer
- EESS - IIE
Contact
- Prof. Claudia Binder, HERUS