About the Consortium of Centres for Disciplinary Innovation
The CDI forms part of a Mellon-funded international
consortium. The other partner humanities centres are The Franke Institute (University of Chicago), The Heyman
Center for the Humanities (University of Columbia) and The Townsend Center (University of
California at Berkeley).
Growing out of a Mellon-funded initiative at the Franke Institute (New
Perspectives on the Humanities: Comparative Studies in Higher
Education), the consortium will collectively address the problem of
how universities in the twenty-first century can best respond to the
challenge of disciplinary change in the humanities and social sciences
(and beyond). Each of these universities has been characterised by their
intellectual vitality and by the wish to reflect on the structures and
procedures of disciplinary knowledge. The four Centers will pursue their
programmatic activities according to the local strengths and needs of
their institutions.
Aims and Activities of the Consortium
The aim of the Consortium is to link disciplinary innovation with curricular change. At Cambridge, building on programmes recently launched at CRASSH for graduate/faculty research groupus and for early career fellowships, the focus will be on disciplinary innovation at graduate level and on linking research to the curriculum. Drawing Cambridge graduates and faculty into the work of the Centre, the CRASSH programmes encourage the piloting of interdisciplinary courses at both graduate and undergraduate level.
The Chicago programme focuses on development in graduate education with a series of team-taught courses involving both Chicago faculty and invited faculty. The Columbia programme will sponsor a series of disciplinary retreats on the major disciplines to reflect on possibilities for new structures and linkages at graudate and undergraduate level. The Berkeley programme focuses on the undergraduate curricululm, tracing thematic 'threads' through multiple disciplines in relation to undergraduate concentrations. The consortium will meet annually during the project.
