IMPACT – Winter 2018

Editorial Statement

Dear Readers,

How do our students learn what it means to be a human being, with all the attendant responsibilities and joys? How do we learn to teach in a truly interdisciplinary manner? These are some of the questions that preoccupy this issue’s contributors.

One contributor argues that Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein teaches students why the humanities as a discipline is important and what it teaches us about the human condition. A practicing psychologist describes how one innovative interdisciplinary program helps children and adolescents confront anxiety. And while this contributor does not discuss university students, her experience has implications for the increasing number of undergraduates who report feeling anxious and stressed about their world and their lives.

In this issue we also happen to publish two collaboratively written essays. Faculty from Vermont write about how interdisciplinary team teaching enabled them to ask students to ponder “the big questions” about themselves and their world. Faculty co-writers from New Hampshire reflect on the possibilities and challenges of creating cross-college courses. Interestingly, our contributors from New Hampshire came to our attention via the 22nd Annual Dickens Symposium. “Interdisciplinary Dickens” was co-sponsored this past summer by the Center for Interdisciplinary Teaching & Learning and the Dickens Society.

Finally, in their trenchant examination of the words of others, our reviewers reflect on the various ways we understand and constitute ourselves — as Americans, as readers, and as teachers and scholars.

Best,

Megan

Megan Sullivan, Editor