Lecture: Dr. Amanda Potts (Cardiff University): 'Making a patchwork quilt or Frankenstein's monster? Interdisciplinarity and collaboration in CADS'

Time: 18:15 - 19:30

Place: WU, Building D2, Entrance D, 2nd floor, D2.2.228

Abstract: Interdisciplinarity is all the rage; in conference calls, grant applications, and job interviews, scholars are increasingly asked to detail the ways in which their work crosses disciplinary boundaries. This seems to support a tacit belief that interdisciplinary work is incontrovertibly ‘better’. But is this always the case? Collaboration is an art form, and crossing disciplines can mean losing language and focus, as well as generating misunderstandings around disciplinary cultural ‘norms’. While collaborating with teams, individual scholars may feel that their individual voices are muffled or their areas of interest are not adequately (or fairly) represented. When work is complete, it can be difficult to place for grants, journals, and conferences. CADS is, in itself, an interdisciplinary field and finds itself in many intersections with other disciplines. This gives us a unique vantage point from which to consider the potential strengths and pitfalls of interdisciplinary collaboration. In this talk, I will discuss the ways that I and others have integrated interdisciplinary voices into CAD scholarship, including: guidance on sampling; interpretation of results; and triangulation of findings using alternative frameworks. Examples will be presented from my latest work, which has been in collaboration with social media content creators and with jurists. I will talk about the strengths and limitations (as I see them) of taking interdisciplinary approaches to these data and the lessons that I am still learning about working in a team without losing one’s hard-fought disciplinary identity.