Limits of Interdisciplinarity
Presented at the Modern Language Association, December, 2003

In colleges and universities across the United States, teachers of writing are being asked, or required, to design classes which are interdisciplinary, which address academic literacy issues across the disciplines. In a considerable number of cases, this mandate is insulting to our disciplinary practices, as in the recent case of an associate dean at my university viewing writing courses as mere adjuncts to those with the real content. The issue in this case was not so much economic as it is hierarchical: after all, “writing classes have no content,” according to this administrator.
In other cases, however, collaborations between writing faculty, particularly if they are initiated by the faculty themselves, can be both intellectually justified and enriching.

According to a number of studies, including “Academic Literacy: A Statement of Competencies Expected of Students Entering California’s Public Colleges and Universities” (2002), students in postsecondary education will be writing papers in various courses requiring them to do the following:
• Critically analyze the ideas and arguments of others
• Summarize ideas and/or information contained in text
• Synthesize ideas from several sources; and
• Report facts or narrate events.

What do these competencies mean in terms of disciplinary practices? And how can these practices illuminate our teaching of writing?

In this presentation, I will report on the research that has been conducted with faculty across the curriculum for a composition textbook that I have been writing. I will discuss, in particular, the intersections found in critical analysis, summary, and synthesis in classes in the humanities and the social sciences. I will conclude with comments about how this research informs my teaching and textbook writing and enriches the learning and research experiences of my students.

Ann Johns, ajohns@mail.sdsu.edu
San Diego State University, Department of Rhetoric & Writing Studies

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