From discipline-based scholarship to interdisciplinarity: Implications for faculty

Written By Siomonn Pulla
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The Doctor of Social Sciences (DSocSci) program at Royal Roads University, Victoria, British Columbia (BC), Canada, is now in its sixth year of operation. In the spring and fall of 2014 we graduated our first six doctoral students. The program is based on a scholar-practitioner model with an interdisciplinary academic framework. Most of our students are highly placed, full-time working professionals who are also pursuing full-time doctoral work and find it necessary to blend their professional activities with their doctoral research. The students bring an amazing variety of experiences and research foci to the program as, in many ways, their professional careers demand interdisciplinary epistemologies.

This chapter explores some of the complexities associated with the  transition from discipline-based scholarship and teaching to interdisciplinarity.  This research is based on our own reflections and informal conversations with colleagues who have shifted to the interdisciplinary mandate of the applied scholar model. We focus on career implications such as: research funding; research development;  the role of critical friends in program dissemination; colleague approval; colleague collaboration; and internal university acknowledgment. 

Pulla, S., & Schissel, B. (2016). The transition from discipline-based scholarship to interdisciplinarity: Implications for faculty. International Perspectives on Professional Practice Doctorates: Applying a Critical Friends Approach to Educational Doctorates and Beyond. V. Storey (Ed.). Palgrave McMillan.

Check out the chapter here. And the full volume here.

Siomonn Pulla

Dr. Siomonn Pulla is a seasoned scholar-practitioner specializing in collaborative research, Indigenous-Settler relations, and Indigenous rights, with a focus on fostering sustainable socio-economic development models and meaningful relationships. His extensive portfolio encompasses ethnohistorical and collaborative research projects pivotal to comprehensive land claims, resource development, and policy initiatives. Working coast to coast to coast in Canada, Dr. Pulla engages with First Nation, Métis, and Inuit communities, the corporate sector, and government agencies, delving into archival analysis, historical documentation, oral histories, museum collections and policy governance. Beyond his research, he shares his insights through teaching university courses on applied and qualitative research methodologies, and interdisciplinary theoretical paradigms, drawing from firsthand experiences to tackle pressing issues at the intersection of Indigenous rights, decolonization, and Indigenous-Settler relations. Siomonn’s work exemplifies his commitment to translating academic scholarship into tangible outcomes, driving positive change, and fostering understanding in society.

https://www.siomonnpulla.com
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