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Soc & Anthro
John Staeck (staeckjp@MARTIN.LUTHER.EDU)
Mon, 19 Feb 1996 13:48:34 -0600
Maybe we can rake some muck here. For the record, I teach in a combined
Soc/Anthro (and Social Work) department, though we offer and administer our
own degrees as disciplines (ie anthropology, sociology, and social work each
can be taken as BA's here).
Why not combine more disciplines, even eliminate many if not all
distinctions between departments so that students focus on individualized
learning? I think the question of whether to merge the disciplines is
really only one option, the tip of an iceberg. In light of
interdisciplinary research we could argue to merge history and anthropology,
english and anthropology, (indeed, anything and anthropology) and a number
of other discipline pairs. What I think is at the center of this is the
liberal arts tradition and a realization that there are many different ways
to approach the study of certain subjects. Thus, wouldn't it make sense to
go even further and eliminate boundaries between many disciplines, offering
some sort of combined degree, such as a BA in Liberal Arts (I know some
colleges do this). Of course, the administrations of larger institutions
might go nuts trying to figure out a new system to run this sort of
arrangement :)
cheers - john
John Staeck "My career is in the pits"
Anthropology Program
Luther College
Decorah, IA 52101
319-387-1284
staeckjp@martin.luther.edu
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