New academic department draws from faculty expertise across campus

In the course “Art and Mathematics,” for example, students will explore how mathematicians use art to create proofs and how artists use math as a basis for concept and imagery. “Astrobiology: Life Among the Stars” will focus on the origin, evolution and distribution of life in the universe and crosses physics, astronomy, chemistry and biology. A colloquium, “American Conservatism,” will examine the many dimensions of American conservatism as expressed in theory and practice and will involve eleven instructors from the art, biology, computer science, English, history, philosophy departments. More than 40 courses this year are designated as interdisciplinary and represent nearly every academic discipline offered at Andover.

“Good integrative learning demands students to interrogate what they are learning as well as how and why they are learning it,” says Fox. “Such interrogation lies at the heart of a liberatory approach to education and fosters the skills and dispositions of discernment that students need to become thoughtful and engaged citizens of the world.” 

Fundamental to each course is research that suggests integrative learning helps students to, among other things, identify bias, appreciate ambiguity, understand ethical considerations, recognize the validity of another’s point of view and spark creative problem solving—all traits of the engaged global citizen. 

Fox acknowledges the paradox presented by centralizing interdisciplinary studies and hopes that by formalizing intellectual connections and creating new ones, students and faculty will benefit from an enriched experience.

“Among my own goals for the department, though, is that within the next several years, we embed interdisciplinary approaches across all levels of the curriculum to such an extent that it is self-sustaining,” he says. “In some ways, the more successful the department is the less necessary its existence will be.”