The Interdisciplinary Course, October-November 2011

Download: The interdisciplinary course plan 2011 (last update October 5, 2011)

Nature and content of the course

The Interdisciplinary Course (ID course) is meant for first year PhD students, and is the first course new ZEF PhD students follow, right at the start of the first year. Apart from ZEF PhD students, the course is open to other PhD students, who usually follow it in their first year also. For ZEF students, the ID course is followed by course work in the respective departments. These departmental courses are open to other students as well.

Apart from a cognitive and skill-oriented process, a course is also a social process. This is particularly the case for the ID course as it brings together a group of people from across the world, 10-15 nationalities may easily be present, with very different scientific and cultural backgrounds. It is therefore appropriate that the subject matter of the first course is ‘interdisciplinary development research’, not only because that summarises the ZEF mandate, but also because such a diverse group is, as it were, a live laboratory of interdisciplinarity. Many of the issues that play a role in the conduct of interdisciplinary research projects and programmes will also play a role in the course process.

In four weeks of teaching and three weeks of joined term paper writing the course aims to introduce the participants to the phenomenon of interdisciplinary development research. The course gives an overview of the debates on interdisciplinarity, with a focus on natural resources management related research in developing countries, and presents a framework for thinking about interdisciplinarity. The course aims to facilitate ‘boundary crossing’, which is the defining characteristic of interdisciplinary research. The crossing of disciplinary boundaries is a complex process, involving theoretical, methodological and institutional boundaries, apart from cultural, political, geographical, research-policy and science-society boundaries. Discussions on ‘boundary concepts’, ‘boundary objects’ and ‘boundary settings’ offer a systematic way of thinking about connecting across disciplinary lines. Students will be encouraged to debate a number of these issues with experts in these fields.

Value as an example of a ´boundary concept´:

We are now loosing biodiversity and ecosystem goods and services faster than ever before in human history and one of the main reasons for biodiversity loss is its undervaluation and the fact that we leave the benefits it provides out of our accounts. But what is "value", and the value of what exactly needs to be taken into account? How much do we know and how much of what we know is relevant and needs to be accounted for? Whose values count and who decides? How do we value and how do we decide to value?
One-week, 30 hours, of the interdisciplinary course on the boundary concept VALUE introduces into basic concepts and opens the minds of the participants for different perspectives and critical views on mainstream and controversial positions. For example, on the question why markets fail for biodiversity and why, we should try make them work by commodification and valuation of its components? The course participants will be exposed to and analyze literature which brings them up to date with the current controversials of the debate. They will listen to prominent guest lecturers, experience critical decision making situations themselves, and get involved in a live debate.

Learning objectives

Knowledge related learning objectives

The knowledge related learning objectives of the course are of two kinds. The first kind is related to acquiring knowledge on the state of the art of the discussion on and approaches to interdisciplinary research relevant to the field that ZEF is working on. This involves learning about interdisciplinarity as a notion in general, and specifically about the different dimensions of interdisciplinary research on complex natural resource management problems. The context of this is ‘development’, that is, the main focus is on interdisciplinary development research.

The second kind of knowledge related learning objectives is related to analytical capacity. The course presents a specific framework for thinking about interdisciplinarity. Participants will learn to apply the framework, thus acquiring (the beginnings of) interdisciplinary analytical capacity.

Attitude related learning objectives

The course seeks to inculcate or strengthen in participants two attitudinal characteristics. The first is an open and inquisitive attitude towards other disciplines, fields of study and scientific cultures than the one in which the participant was educated or has worked. The second is a critical and reflective attitude towards the normative dimensions of science and of development. These two attitudional characteristics will help particpants to develop a well considered personal positioning in the field of interdisciplinary development research.

Course structure

The ID course is subdivided in a number of blocks each discussing one theme.

 

Block 1: Tropentag Conference in

 

Block 2: Development

 

Block 3: Interdisciplinarity

 

Block 4: Water management

 

Block 5: Food security

 

Block 6: Marginality

 

Block 7: Seminars on Termpaper Writing and Research Proposal Writing

 

The course is examined in the form of a writen exam at the end of the course and a joint term paper to be delivered two weeks after the course ends.

 

Course team 2011

Dr. Guenther Manske (course leader)Dr. Conrad Schetter (ZEFa)Dr. Franz Gatzweiler (ZEFb)Dr. Daniel Callo-Concha (ZEFc)

 

Lecturers

ZEF:         

Prof. Dr. Joachim von BraunPD Dr. Conrad SchetterDr. Manfred DenichDr. Tadesse GetawDr. Joe HillDr. Anna-Katharina HornidgeDr. Wolfram LaubeDr. Till StellmacherDr. Bernhard TischbeinDr. Daniel TsegaiPD Dr. Aram Ziai

 

Guest lecturers:   

Prof. Dr. Dirk,Messner, German Development Institute / Deutsches Institut für Entwicklungspolitik (DIE)

 

Prof. Dr. Carsten Burhop, University of Cologne, Faculty of Management, Economics and Social Sciences

 

Prof. Andries du Toit, Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS),  University of the Western Cape

 

Dr. Fabrice Renaud, United Nations University Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS), Bonn UN-Campus

 

Prof. Dr Jakob Rhyner, United Nations University Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS), Bonn UN-Campus

 

Dr. Detlef Virchow, Food Security Center, University of Hohenheim, Germany 

 

Dr. Peter Mollinga, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London (SOAS)

 

Susanne Ahrlinghaus, Consultant

 

Winfried Hamacher, Consultant

 

 

To top   |   Print page   |    E-Mail this article