Interdisciplinarity is, itself, an interdisciplinary field of research. Scholars from a wide range of backgrounds have studied and theorized about the nature of interdisciplinary research and collaboration, including organizational psychologists, communications scholars, philosophers, sociologists, and others. In addition, scholars in fields that often find themselves in need of interdisciplinary collaboration often end up writing about their work integrating, for example, ecology and art. These are often some of the most helpful sources for understanding the complexities of interdisciplinary collaboration because they are grounded in hard-won experience.  

Finding resources to help you understand how better to characterize your work, how to collaborate across diverse disciplines, or how to understand the structures within which interdisciplinarity happens can often be challenging because this work scattered throughout academia. Below we suggest a list of references to help you get started on your interdisciplinary journey. This list will continue to grow as CIRCLE grows.

As we find new resources, we will add them to the CIRCLE Zotero group library, which is open and public. Feel free to add your own interdisciplinary resources to the reference library.  

Starting Points

These resources provide overviews of interdisciplinarity, map interdisciplinary landscapes, and suggest directions for research and practice. They would be a useful starting point for anyone new to interdisciplinary studies, or anyone who has stumbled into interdisciplinary work and now wants to know more.  

Harden, R. M. (2000). The integration ladder: A tool for curriculum planning and evaluation. Medical Education, 34(7), 551–557. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2923.2000.00697.x

Klein, J. T. (2017). Typologies of interdisciplinarity: The boundary work of definition. In R. Frodeman (Ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Interdisciplinarity. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198733522.013.3

O’Rourke, M., Crowley, S., Laursen, B., Robinson, B., & Vasko, S. E. (2019). Disciplinary diversity in teams: Integrative approaches from unidisciplinarity to transdisciplinarity. In K. L. Hall, A. L. Vogel, & R. T. Croyle (Eds.), Strategies for Team Science Success: Handbook of Evidence-Based Principles for Cross-Disciplinary Science and Practical Lessons Learned from Health Researchers (pp. 21–46). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-20992-6_2

Repko, A. F., Szostak, R., & Buchberger, M. P. (2019). Introduction to interdisciplinary studies. SAGE Publications.

Deeper Dives  

These resources explore some of the research done in varied subfields and related fields. We have included quite a few resources specific to art-science studies, interdisciplinarity in sustainability, and studies in the science of team science. These are particular areas of expertise among the CIRCLE leadership team and advisory board.  

Cardenas, E., & Rodegher, S. L. (2020). Art-science collaborative competencies: A mixed-methods pilot study for improving problem solving for sustainability challenges. Sustainability, 12(20), Article 20. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12208634

Derry, S. J., Schunn, C. D., & Gernsbacher, M. A. (2014). Interdisciplinary collaboration: An emerging cognitive science. Psychology Press.

Dixon, D., Straughan, E., & Hawkins, H. (2011). When artists enter the laboratory. Science, 331(6019), 860–860. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1203549

Ellison, A. M., LeRoy, C. J., Landsbergen, K. J., Bosanquet, E., Borden, D. B., CaraDonna, P. J., Cheney, K., Crystal-Ornelas, R., DeFreece, A., Goralnik, L., Irons, E., Merkle, B. G., O’Connell, K. E. B., Penick, C. A., Rustad, L., Schulze, M., Waser, N. M., & Wysong, L. M. (2018). Art/Science collaborations: New explorations of ecological systems, values, and their feedbacks. The Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America, 99(2), 180–191. https://doi.org/10.1002/bes2.1384

Frodeman, R., Klein, J. T., & Pacheco, R. C. D. S. (2017). The oxford handbook of interdisciplinarity. Oxford University Press.

Goralnik, L., Kelly, S. M., O’Connell, K., Nelson, M. P., & Schulze, M. (2021). Forest discovery: Place relationships on an environmental science, arts and humanities (eSAH) field trip. Australian Journal of Environmental Education, 37(2), 108–119. https://doi.org/10.1017/aee.2020.28

Goralnik, L., Nelson, M. P., Gosnell, H., & Leigh, M. B. (2017). Arts and humanities inquiry in the Long-Term ecological research network: Empathy, relationships, and interdisciplinary collaborations. Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences, 7(2), 361–373. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13412-016-0415-4

Halpern, M. K. (2012). Across the great divide: Boundaries and boundary objects in art and science. Public Understanding of Science, 21(8), 922–937. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963662510394040

Halpern, M. K., & Rogers, H. S. (2021). Art–science collaborations, complexities and challenges. In M. Bucchi & B. Trench (Eds.), Routledge Handbook of Public Communication of Science and Technology (3rd ed.). Routledge.

Halpern, M., & O’Rourke, M. (2020). Power in science communication collaborations. Journal of Science Communication, 19(4). https://doi.org/10.22323/2.19040302

Leigh, M. B., & Goralnik, L. (2022). In a time of change: A nested ecosystem of environmental arts, humanities, and science collaboration. Ground Works. https://doi.org/10.48807/2022.0.0074

Leigh, M. B., Nelson, M. P., Goralnik, L., & Swanson, F. J. (2021). Integration of the arts and humanities with environmental science in the LTER network. In R. B. Waide & S. E. Kingsland (Eds.), The Challenges of Long Term Ecological Research: A Historical Analysis (pp. 315–334). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-66933-1_11

Parker, J. N., & Corte, U. (2017). Placing collaborative circles in strategic action fields: Explaining differences between highly creative groups. Sociological Theory, 35(4), 261–287. https://doi.org/10.1177/0735275117740400

Rogers, H. S., Halpern, M. K., Hannah, D., & de Ridder-Vignone, K. (2021). The routledge handbook for art, science & technology studies. Routledge.