Hello and welcome to our final blog posting of the semester. After reading your ideas and seeing what you all have classified yourselves as during the exercise “A Brand Called You” I can definitely see the way that all of you have used your knowledge of interdisciplinarity. You have all creatively grasped the concepts using your own unique areas of expertise and style.
Now that we have discussed how to use our interdisciplinarity as an asset in our resumes and interviews as well as this exercise let’s talk more about what else we have learned. As our final topic we will explore the advantages of an interdisciplinary degree. As you all have explained in your brands, some of the greatest things have many attributes and serve many purposes. This is also true of you as interdisciplinary students. Interdisciplinarity is one of the best attributes to have especially in today’s modern and ever changing society. Nothing that we do can be cone using only one discipline. For example; even a doctor who has spent the last 9 years in medical school needs to know communication skills in order to be a good and effective doctor to his patients and their families. Doctors are all also required to learn psychology so that they can learn to deal with patients and their emotions. Many factors tie in to becoming a good doctor other than a medical background. When I worked at a restaurant I found that I needed business skills along with hospitality and communication to keep things running smoothly. I never thought that I would need all three of these to do something that I found simple. Interdisciplinarity trult is everywhere.
After learning all that you know about interdisciplinary studies through your Cornerstone class and after analyzing it from a creative perspective last week please think about and answer the following questions. Remember, this is also your last chance to ask any more questions through this blog, although you have all of our emails if you find any more!
Questions:
· Thinkabout your past experiences or jobs that you have held. Were they interdisciplinary? How many skills did you use? What are some ways that you incorporated many disciplines into your task.
· What are some advantages to having an interdisciplinary degree as opposed to only studying one discipline?
· Do you think that this degree requires critical thinking? Do you think that explaining this degree also requires critical thinking?
· Finally, tell how you feel about your Interdisciplinary Studies degree compared to how you may have felt in the beginning.
Thank you so much for your cooperation this semester! We have enjoyed working with you and wish you all the best! Please feel free to contact any one of us with any further questions. Have a great semester.
1.) In all of my past jobs I have had to utilize knowledge and skills acquired from others to solve problems. The leadership, computer, writing, and communication skills I have today have all been developed through each of the jobs I have held. A good example is at my current job at the UCF library. I am constantly using the computer to check in/out books, looks up student fines, and locate books. I am constantly talking with students and other work and sometimes I need to be able to make decisions on my own when my supervisors are unavailable.
ReplyDelete2.)I think it makes you a much more valuable employee as a whole. You are able to draw from the various fields you have studied in solving problems. Some problems may require a two or three prong approach and I think this is where an interdisciplinary student can really shine.
3.)I think any component of this degree whether it is the degree itself or explaining it requires good critical thinking skills. This is especially true for explaining the degree. It is very difficult to explain what it is in a way where everyone can easily understand but I think using your interdisciplinary skills are the best way to explain what it truly is. Use what you have learned and the skills you have acquired.
4.)I used to be nervous about my degree and telling people about it; however, now I have the utmost confidence about it guiding me towards a successful career.
I felt the same way about this major beging nervous and not knowing what / how people would accept my degree. Explaining my degree to my mom over three times and she is still lost lol. But eventually I will get her to understand why I picked this!
DeleteYou have a lot of extra things that you can list on your resume based on all of the ancillary experiences that you have had in relation to your job. Great insight and best of luck in your endeavors.
Delete1.I think some of them were. I use thinking, logic, organization, communication. Being able to mulit-task I believe was a big thing that I was did in every job.
ReplyDelete2.I am able to go to a job interview and the person can tell that I will have more than just one skill under my belt. Which to me I will able to do multiple things.
3. I do believe it requires critical thinking. I believe it does. It's a lot of thinking and making sure things get done.
4. I felt stressed before and was going to change it back to journalism. But I believe I'm going to stick it out especially after talking to my advisor and knowing my marketing minor will take over my commerce part of my study. So I'm so freaking happy.
thats wonderful that you are sticking with Marketing! good luck!
DeleteThat's awesome Whitney. Its safe to say that this degree will most certainly challenge you and prepare you for the "real world" more than most degrees. I'm really glad that you decided to stay with it. I have no doubt you will be very happy with your degree in the end.
DeleteMost of (if not all)of my past jobs have involved interdiciplinary thoughts and skills. When I first started the path on "Interdiciplinary Studies" I didn't take much thought of it, probably because I didn't fully understand it. Now that I've have been involved and have a better grasp of what IDS really is I have realized that no matter what I do as a profession it will involve IDS and anyone who thinks their job doesn't include IDS is only fooling themselves. It will enhance and benefit me and anyone in our/their careers in the future...
ReplyDeleteI agree that when i started this degree I didn't understand it either. But in the end I am glad I chose it. We are a step above those with a single degree. I think we will go further in the world than those without it. Good luck Shane!
DeleteI love how you said "anyone who thinks their job doesn't include IDS is only fooling themselves." lol.. I agree and I didn't think about my jobs dealing with IDS before this major and this class. So I'm excited to see how things will work out in the future. Good luck with everything
DeleteI have not held a paying position where Interdisciplinary was utilized. However I do have voluntary jobs where I used Interdisciplinary skills. Such as working with co workers, being organized, using my public relations and advertising skills. Through my interdisciplinary degree in communication and film I have used these unique skills to create campaigns to promote the organization I represented. The degree has given me a boost in the work industry because it is unique to what I want to do. Critical thinking is used in my volunteer jobs but I would say that my degree has prepared me to critically think. I still feel the same about my degree. I feel that it will help to advance my career in the advertising for film and production business. Because I have such a wide variety of knowledge I can be useful to a team. I have knowledge of many different fields that can be used in many different areas of study, due to my degree. It will benefit me in the end.
ReplyDeleteI agree that all of the ideas that you have about your IDS degree are spot-on. Best of luck to you on your endeavors in the future. There are so many things you can list from your experiences. Stay the course!
Delete1) I believe my degree will be very useful because it can help me establish new creative ways to treat patients.
ReplyDelete2)the IDS degree is very similar to life in te military; we are usually jacks of all trades and we must do the best with what we have and this particular curse of classes will aid me well in preparation for my career.
3)I still want to pursue my current courses because it will ultimately lead to the being able to do the job I love in the civilian world.
Thats very cool James. What branch of the military were you in? What was your specific job in the military?
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