Final Statement

Findings and reflections on interdisciplinary experiential education as related to the Gulf

Oil Spill and, more broadly, how interdisciplinary education resonates for you in your
current classes and outside class, outside UW

Our world is truly interdisciplinary. For most academic disciplines, you cannot
succeed by relying purely on your own subject. Scientists need communication skills as
much as communications experts need knowledge of the science behind language and
communication. Even though it really would be much easier to only focus only on your
one specialized area of expertise, an interdisciplinary perspective is necessary in life to
maintain clear global communication. By opening our eyes to other perspectives, we
maintain a better perspective on our own disciplines.
Interdisciplinary knowledge is essential to maintaining practically any business or
project in our modern world. For example, an oil rig along coastal shores must involve
countless disciplines in order to run smoothly. Of course the overpowering motive behind
an oil rig is profit, but business is certainly not the only discipline involved in an offshore
oil rig. As we were shown over and over in our Honors 100 lecture this quarter, many
disciplines can be applied to oil rigs. From philosophy to engineering, all disciplines must
contribute to the creation of such a huge venture in order for it to be successful.
Unfortunately, these ventures do not always work as they should, incorporating every
discipline, as in the case of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. Due to such major
catastrophes, we must utilize every resource we have in order to avoid further disaster.
In the future, from what we have learned about the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, we must
strive to avoid such disasters by ensuring things are right through all lenses and
disciplines.
In addition, I have found through my classes at UW that the interdisciplinary
approach must be applied in order to grasp underlying objectives. Throughout my Math
124, H. Physics 121, and Astronomy 192 classes this quarter, every topic I studied was
connected through each class. As I rush across Red Square between my math and
physics lectures, I often think of how the topic I just studied can also be applied to a
physics or astronomy problem. I believe that calculus, physics and astronomy are so
interconnected that they can hardly be considered separate disciplines. As I am currently
planning to double major in astronomy and physics, I know that you cannot have one
field without the other. In order to study astronomy you need physics and in order to
study physics you need calculus. All academic disciplines weave together into an overall
web of knowledge, so interdisciplinary knowledge is completely necessary to study every
subject.
A perspective without an interdisciplinary focus leaves you unprepared for the
real world. Since the world is completely interdisciplinary through connections in all
areas, attempting to maintain a perspective with only one discipline leaves you
extremely unprepared for dealing with all other ideas. My transition from high school to
college in many ways has been a move from a single discipline environment to an
interdisciplinary world. My high school was a small, private, all-girls school with a rigidly
set curriculum and overall academic focus. Moving to UW has been a test for me as I
have had to completely change my intellectual perspective. While I did receive an
amazing college preparatory education at my high school, my all-girls bubble failed to
prepare me for the interdisciplinary real world that includes people of all backgrounds
with varying ideas, beliefs and values.
Bridging the gaps between all disciplines is completely necessary in order to
bring improvement to our world. By encouraging an interdisciplinary perspective, we are
not just encouraging open discourse between academic disciplines we are
encouraging diversity. The problems of our time require interdisciplinary solutions, so we
must utilize all of our resources to make progress. By increasing diversity, we bring new
perspectives into each and every discussion. These discussions will lead to brand new
ideas with solutions applicable to all.