Traversing Boundaries
took place on 25 May 2017 at the University of York for postgraduate
students to meet and share ideas on interdisciplinarity. Despite being
organised by PGR students in the Department of Sociology, we were delighted to
welcome speakers, keynotes and delegates from across disciplines for a vibrant
discussion on the challenges and opportunities offered by traversing
disciplinary boundaries.
One of the keynotes, Dr Des Fitzgerald from Cardiff
University, spoke about the unspoken ‘grubby’ realities of grappling with
theory or method outside of the constraints of traditional taxonomy. He
discussed the embodiment of research in the negotiation of commitments and the
difficulties of crafting an academic identity between boundaries when jobs or
journals tend to work within disciplinary constraints.
Dr Des Fitzgerald
introduced by Prof. Joanna Latimer.
Whether interdisciplinary work is considered a trendy or
embarrassing concern in academia, the event proved a vibrant space to explore
how interdisciplinarity is made sense of by early career scholars and how it
manifests in practice through imaginative means and impactful collaborations.
The day ended by raising the question; is it possible for a scholar not to
traverse boundaries and how can we embrace post-disciplinary thinking?
If you missed the event, the programme of speakers can be
found here
and the conversation continues on Twitter @isrconference17.
Many thanks to the Department of Sociology, Centre for
Modern Studies and White Rose DTC for their generous support.
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