Interdisciplinary Studies in the Humanities

Abstract Contemporary academic research increasingly addresses problems that exceed the analytical capacity of a single discipline and therefore require diverse forms of disciplinary interaction. Although multidisciplinarity, interdisciplinarity, and transdisciplinarity have been widely examined, the quality and logic of knowledge integration within these frameworks remain in need of more precise conceptual clarification. This article focuses on three relatively underexplored yet fundamental concepts—hybridization, amalgamation, and interdisciplinary rituals—and aims to develop an analytical framework for a deeper understanding of disciplinary integration processes. The study adopts a qualitative approach based on conceptual analysis and a systematic review of relevant theoretical literature, with key works selected purposively for their conceptual relevance to disciplinary interaction models. The findings indicate that hybridization represents an in-between and often unstable mode of interaction among disciplines, enabling dialogue and cognitive exchange without full integration. In contrast, amalgamation refers to deeper and more stable forms of knowledge integration that result in the emergence of new wholes with novel properties. Furthermore, interdisciplinary rituals, understood as recurring practices in collaborative research contexts, play a significant role in stabilizing shared language and fostering collective research identity. The analysis demonstrates that the analytical application of hybridization and amalgamation is largely confined to the frameworks of multidisciplinarity, interdisciplinarity, and transdisciplinarity. A clear distinction between these concepts contributes to the theoretical refinement and qualitative evaluation of integrative research practices.

Abstract The primary function of the humanities and social sciences is to understand and address societal issues and problems, a task that is increasingly complex and specialized through interdisciplinary studies and fields. Even when disciplinary expertise fails to comprehend and resolve these problems, interdisciplinary approaches assume this role with enhanced capabilities, employing multidimensional and multilevel methodologies and epistemologies. The premise of this paper is that, in contemporary Iran, there are no acceptable theories or theorists in the field of interdisciplinary studies that meet international standards. This paper aims to explore the reasons behind the lack of prominent and internationally recognized theories and theorists in Iran today, particularly within the interdisciplinary domains of the humanities and social sciences. The factors contributing to this issue are manifold and exist at various levels; this article seeks to understand some of the main and general causes. The central question is: What are the challenges and obstacles to interdisciplinary theorizing in the field of humanities and social sciences in Iran? The article identifies and discusses six general challenges and barriers to Iranian theorizing in these fields, particularly in interdisciplinary studies: populism, politicisation, binary opposition, Westoxification, Pseudo-traditionalization, and bewilderment. This research simultaneously employs both phenomenological and foundational research methods.

Abstract The movement from intra-disciplinary toward inter-disciplinary approaches by focusing on real-world problems is a growing trend in higher education. Thus, next generation universities will move toward inter-disciplinary discourses. In the meantime, systematic studies of futures or futures studies have also been considered by academics in various fields. In this qualitative meta-synthesis, an attempt is made to investigate the status of future-oriented studies in various disciplines in order to map the distribution these studies. Through a rigorous selection process, 737 articles were chosen and categorized into 19 main categories and 350 secondary categories which were correspondingly classified under more detailed sub-categories. The results indicate that geographical planning, security, and corporate foresight have had the highest application of futures studies. By contrast, sports, women’s studies and futures of professions had the lowest number of articles.  This paper highlights the conspicuous gaps in future-oriented interdisciplinary researches along with their strength and weaknesses.

Abstract The interdisciplinary approach is a post-development approach. It introduces the idea-norm of responsibility as the teleost of education and research. Without this inter-teleos, all the modern values would be in risk of corruption. But the responsibility itself has limitations. The phenomenological hermeneutics repairs and rectifies these limitations. By amending the inadequacy of responsibility in the interdisciplinary approach, we will be able not to act violently, doing less crimination, exploitation and harming the environment. For us, as people involving in the development process and democratization, to be responsible and to do interdisciplinary is a demanding and troublesome task of all disciplinary contributions. Only by an aggregation of knowledge and morality we can do Interdisciplinarity. Interdisciplinarity begins with promotion and flourishing the self, and flourishing the self needs rationality and criticism. In this research I argue that we need a phenomenological approach toward Interdisciplinarity, so the critiques and condemnations heretofore raised against the positive approach toward it diminish and the interdisciplinary collusion not occurs again.

Abstract Apart from the fact that the conceptualization and application of interdisciplinary fields are still in midway, most studies in this field have focused on f the university and paid attention to the necessity of establishing an interdisciplinarity at the university. However, academic experience has shown that a student at the university who has not learned interdisciplinary skills before (in a pre-academic period or school), is weak in the understanding and use of interdisciplinarity at the university. From this viewpoint, regardless of the concept of "discipline," which remains a specialized activity in the university, the term "interdisciplinarity" expresses a set of future-oriented skills that have to be from the first stage of human development in the Education Portfolios. This paper is a theoretical and analytical attempt to extend interdisciplinarity in pre-academic literature. In this paper, first the feasibility and necessity of pre-academic interdisciplinarity are studied, and second, some practical solutions are offered to achieve this goal in order to form a collage of the future of the school. This collage is a future image of the schools where the interdisciplinary human achieves skills such as adaptability, teamwork, creativity, critical thinking, and problem solving for living in a complex environment.

Abstract Analogy and metaphor are among figures of speech and play an important role in explaining the complexity. Even though metaphors often are considered among figures of speech but in recent modern years have been used in Scientific discoveries. So we could consider metaphors as a key instrument for removing ambiguity of complex Phenomena. Complexity is a fundamental  Criterion in interdisciplinary studies. So metaphors are very efficient in resolving complexity of interdisciplinary problems. We found six metaphors, as follows, with specific functions in interdisciplinary process: Crossing boundaries, Bridge building, Restructuring, Mapping, Archipelago, and Bilingualism. The four main applications of these metaphors are: 1) Explaining the general meaning of interdisciplinarity; 2) Defining the quality of interaction of disciplines; 3) Determining how to set up a dialogue between disciplines; And 4) Supporting to extract interdisciplinary issues and problems and Research program. With this four applicants we could claim that metaphors are useful instruments throughout the interdisciplinary process.

Abstract Among the various and different categories provided for the political thoughts in Islam and Iran, the emphasis is usually on political jurisdiction, political philosophy, political theology and Siyāsatnāma (Book of Government); but the most Iranian area of thinking in Islamic Iran must be sought in poetry. Because the Iranian sphere of thought is poetry. Most jurists, philosophers, theologians and mystics of Persia, when wanted to freely express their heart, have relied on poetry. However, unfortunately, due to the extreme specialization of academic courses and lack of interdisciplinary studies, political literature is not considered as an important subject in intellectuals thinking and academic considerations. This paper invited thinkers to systematically focus on this interdisciplinary course and seeking typology of poetry based on its political function. Political literature (including poem and the rhythmic prose) has been divided to the heroic and patriotic literature, critical literature, reformist literature, praising literature, resistance literature and social and political satire; Ferdowsi, Hafez, Saadi Shirazi, Unsuri Balkhi, Saif Farghani, Nasir Khusraw, Ubayd Zakani are the representatives of these literary types that have been studied in this paper.

Abstract Improving applied science is one of the main goals in higher education policy, Todays. In the meantime, practicalization of theoretical sciences is difficult and complicated because dividing science into practical and theoretical, puts these two groups of sciences in front of each other. Although, Sciences like physics and chemistry have been divided into applied and theoretical since a long time, dividing philosophy into theoretical and applied philosophy has not been considered seriously. The term “Applied Philosophy” has been used by some philosophers recently and there are some centers working under this name, but teaching applied philosophy is not a powerful stream in higher education. In this paper by showing the difference between applied philosophy and what is traditionally called practical wisdom, I’m going to argue that Interdisciplinarity is one of the best ways of developing applied philosophy and introducing some fields it.

Abstract This paper constitutes of two main sections: the first section examines academic disciplines in the world theoretically. This section deals with issues such as what are academic disciplines, how they emerged and evolved, what functions they have had, and finally, what problems and crisis they have in terms of their functions. The second section of the paper deals with the state of academic disciplines in Iran. To examine Iranian academic disciplines I have studied social and historical context of emergence and development of academic disciplines in Iran. I have also compared similarities and differences of academic disciplines functions in Iran and the west.  Finally, I tried to explain Iranian academic disciplines encounter which challenges and difficulties today. This paper examines academic disciplines from sociological and cultural studies approach. It is mainly a theoretical and conceptual analysis of the state of discipline in the academic system. Cultural studies, as Moran (Moran 2001) explains, is a kind of approach rather than a specific discipline. From this point of view, each discipline has its own interdisciplinary field and cultural studies. In addition, cultural studies approach explains and explores social and political context disciplines.

Abstract Interdisciplinary as a new approach to the problems of science and knowledge, has a wide range, but there is no consensus on its epistemological range and ontological domain. Among the different and various problems, there is a general agreement on “City” as a field of study as an interdisciplinary phenomenon. At least, three important disciplines, geography, architecture and social sciences, have engaged in analyzing this phenomenon by using each other’s methods, indicators, and objects. The extensive scientific branches of city have attracted the attentions of phenomenologists, engineers, economists, politicians, researchers of cultural studies, environment, and media. In this paper, the interdisciplinary aspect of city is reviewed by focusing on its connection with space, media, politics, economic and culture.

Abstract Interdisciplinarity as a subject in science studies is regarding to the way that different sciences and their results are combined to reach a comprehensive understanding of scientific subjects. Interdisciplinarity is a solution to cross the hard boundaries of sciences and make them closer and relative to each others. Disciplinarity has been the result of division among the sciences, and Interdisciplinarity is the way to solve the limitation of this division. 
Study of Culture as multi dimensional phenomena in human life required an interdisciplinary perspective. Anthropology as a science of human and culture formed in the historical situations that its founders and subjects came from other disciplines. 
In this paper I try to discuss from interdisciplinary perspective on the historical and theoretical framework of anthropology. As a result it is stated that interdisciplinary frameworks of anthropology originated from its beginnings and have continued till today. Finally these aspects characterize the study of culture as interdisciplinary field; anthropology among the social science can do this job in its best level.

Abstract It is an important question “what does a translator do when he or she translates?” From one aspect, it seems that there is a direct relationship between translation and being interdisciplinary. In this paper it would be argued that translation is an interdisciplinary action. Translators, when translating, do more than one task and engage in more than one discipline. So, it can be said that translation as an interdisciplinary enterprise refers to a historical context, in which we can regard it as the first historical knowledge which began with interdisciplinary approaches. One reason for this phenomenon is that translation has no specific subject; rather the translators when begin translating a work need to concentrate on a special theme; accordingly, translation as an action in every field is doing as an interdisciplinary. 
  

Abstract While shedding light on the evolution of the multidisciplinary approach to orientalist studies in the 19^th and early 20^th centuries, this paper elaborates on the interdisciplinary approach to post-colonial studies in the second half of the 20^th Century with a historical and analytical perspective. The paper is also intended to explain the transitional phase from multicultural studies to intercultural studies as well as the new methodological developments from a multidisciplinary approach to an interdisciplinary one as well as to examine the outcomes of these developments in the orientalist analyses of western academicians and the interactions between different disciplines in post-colonial studies. In response to the question as to “why has the orientalism been basically based on a multidisciplinary approach while the post-colonial studies have tended to rely on an interdisciplinary one”, this paper will make a review of the introvert factors caused by the assimilatory and multifaceted nature of scientific orientalism as well as the extrovert factors caused by the influence of colonial powers on the western orientalists in studying the economic, social, cultural, political, historical and literary aspects of the oriental societies. Furthermore, the paper aims at providing an explanatory method for identifying the causes of an effort for an intercultural approach towards post-colonial studies by taking into consideration and emphasizing on field research through establishing an epistemological and methodological linkage between aesthetics, etymology, anthropology, sociology, geography and political science as well as interdisciplinary cooperation among indigenous orientalists.

Abstract As a term either in education or in research, Interdisciplinarity throughout the world is known as a new way of knowing. However, the why-ness of its appearance and development is surely worth of exploration. Right now, one can find many explanations, mostly unsatisfying; and therefore, it is needed to use a pathological and phenomenological approach to go the core reason of its existence. As this study shows, “responsibility” could be assumed as the right core reason here. Paying attention to the changes in the interaction between individuals and society, it is just Interdisciplinarity which can make them responsible before the other. In this definition, Interdisciplinarity means to approach the borders of knowledge to find satisfying answers to the questions which could not be answered in a unique, isolated discipline. However, this is a planar blade: the interdisciplinaer might use it as an accuse to veil his/her weakness in his/her academic discipline, while, on the other hand, Interdisciplinarity could be seen as a normative ethics whose goal is to educate people to responsibly find answer to their questions in the area of interdisciplinary knowledge.

Abstract According to organizational development in interdisciplinary education in the last three decades, in addition to the expansion of interdisciplinarity in scientific and intellectual activities, now it might be said that interdisciplinarity has acquired a high status in academic structures. Reviewing literature shows that there are different types of interdisciplinary experiments; among them some are familiar to scholars, while others are somehow non-familiar. However, it does not mean that these non-familiars are useless or inappropriate. Considering that each kind of interdisciplinarity has its own approach that leads to knowing and understanding special subjects in the multifaceted interdisciplinarities, the present study attempts to explain the most important types of interdisciplinarity, and their special implications.

Abstract  Many political scientists believe that political studies are not merely possible on the basis of a single discipline, Therefore, intra-disciplinary (using a collection of specialties in political sciences like comparative politics, political theory, international relations and so on) as well as interdisciplinary studies (not only political scences, but other fields such as economics, law, international relations…) are also needed. For this reason, universities of different countries like Canada have tried to prepare their students to understand complexities of the globalization age and get suitable jobs by promoting interdisciplinary approach. This paper aims to understand definition of interdisciplinary approach in Canada universities and the methods of its implantation by emphasis on political sciences. The main question is how interdisciplinary approach has been implemented in the Canadian universities by emphasis on political sciences.