Harvey J. Graff. Undisciplining Knowledge: Interdisciplinarity in the Twentieth Century.

In Undisciplining Knowledge: Interdisciplinarity in the Twentieth Century, Harvey J. Graff explores the history of a concept that many academics, administrators, and the public at large are familiar with but do not necessarily fully understand. In doing so, he weaves together the histories of academic disciplines, institutions, and ideas in a thorough and comprehensive manner. Beginning with an exploration of the rhetoric and reality of interdisciplinary work in the present, Graff identifies a disconnect between the lofty rhetorical praise academic institutions heap on the abstract concept of interdisciplinary work and the actual institutional commitments they make to seeing the work through. While institutional language surrounding interdisciplinary approaches to learning promises aspirational solutions to complex problems on the one hand, and applies a great deal of business and public relations terminology on the other, universities are not as serious when it comes to committing actual financial or other institutional resources to interdisciplinary academics or programs. This is largely because interdisciplinary work is an improvisation, and institutions tend to shy away from such behavior due to the inherent risk factor involved. The result is largely a history of unfulfilled promise, although Graff does point out that interdisciplinarity has shaped and continues to shape institutional academics in profound and significant ways.