1. Read the extracts on the handout!
Areas of Knowledge
Read the extracts on the handout!

2. Pupils studying the IB study six subjects (as opposed to the traditional three or four A-levels), and these must include maths, English, a language, science, a humanities subject and an arts subject. This is prescriptive and badly-suited to the British university system, where students specialise. To give an example (from personal experience), someone wanting to study a Classics degree at a British university would usually want to take Latin, Greek and a modern language in the sixth-form – under the IB, this is not possible. And the nature of the programme makes it more expensive to teach, leading to higher fees in independent schools and greatly increased budgetary pressures in state schools.
The IB offers breadth, but A-levels offer depth – which is more important, and better for the student. We should be proud of a system that encourages sixth-formers to study the subjects they enjoy and intend to make use of in life, rather than forcing them to continue with things they may hate. How many of Britain’s scientists would have gained anything from studying George Eliot until the age of 18 – and how many artists would have wanted to take chemistry? Although in recent years A-levels have become discredited, regulators are now undoing that damage. Harder exams and the A-star grade are restoring confidence in the qualification, and this is good news. The programme is the best on offer by far. -

3. Choosing a major used to be a relatively simple proposition
Choosing a major used to be a relatively simple proposition. In the 12th century, the University of Paris had four faculties– law, medicine, arts and theology… Today, however, the trend is not further disintegration of the disciplines into smaller pockets, but rather the reintegration of disciplines into larger areas of knowledge. Neuroeconomics, for example, is not a new discipline, but a unifying one of two social sciences. The people who will make the largest impact in these fields are not the ones who are trapped within one area, but those who can see the connections between multiple paradigms…
First, let me be clear: some level of specialization is good. I am reminded of the adage, “When you are one in a million in China, there are a thousand people just like you.” But choosing a single class in every department is not a thoughtful plan. A well-defined foundation is a necessary first step.
The danger of specialization, then, is going too far. There is a necessary opportunity cost made when choosing classes or reading a book. The more specialized one becomes in an area, the less time there is to develop connections with other disciplines. Without those other connections, however, it is difficult to channel ideas to others with slightly different specialties. Overlap is necessary for even basic communication– just place a theoretical math major and an art history major into the same room and have them talk about their work. Does one understand the other clearly? Probably not.
In the final analysis, balance is key. There is a risk of being both too general and too specialized. Neither result is desirable. Thankfully, Stanford is a particularly strong school to get an interdisciplinary education. As students, our responsibility is to realize these nascent connections. That adaptability will be particularly beneficial in a world that seems to change by the second.
Receiving the broadest undergraduate education possible is the best way to make an impact on the world. Consider it the liberal arts of the 21st century: engineering, sciences, social sciences and humanities working together in one grand web of knowledge, each informing the others.
From

6. Culture

8. The relationships between subjects
multi-disciplinary: separate disciplines working together
trans-disciplinary: differences between disciplines dissolved
cross-disciplinary: one discipline interpreted in terms of another
inter-disciplinary: blanket term covering all the others

9. Evolutionary Psychology Cognitive science Haematology Economic history
Biological anthropology
Theology
Neuro-economics
History and Philosophy of Science
Applied mathematics and theoretical physics
Biochemistry
Bioinformatics
Egyptology
For each of the ‘subjects’ on the left, describe using one of the following terms:
Trans-disciplinary
Cross-disciplinary
Multi-disciplinary
Specialisation
Inter-disciplinary
What is required to study to gain knowledge in these areas?

10. “If someone claims that both the division of the knowledge into disciplines and the division of the world into countries on a map are artificial, what does this mean? What is the nature of the boundaries between areas of knowledge, in your view?” Nov 2006/ May 2007

11. Metaphor 1 : Knowledge as a map
What makes a good map?
What characteristics or features should a good map have?
Why are there different maps? - List the reasons for different kinds of maps
How useful is this metaphor?
In what ways are disciplines like different maps?
In what ways do they differ?

12. Hierarchy of disciplines
Rank school subjects!
What is your ranking criteria?
How is this helpful?

13. Metaphor 2: Disciplines as cultures
tradition
values
History
Practice
Concepts
Language

14. C P Snow – ‘The Two Cultures’
There appears to be an antagonism between science and the arts.
This is a major hindrance to the application of knowledge to major global problems.

15. Different cultures: history and chemistry?
What are the conditions for what counts as true in history and chemistry?
What does it mean for something to be ‘known’ in history and chemistry?
What kind of certainty or accuracy is acceptable in each?

16. For each Area of knowledge, a knowledge framework

17. Conceive of your own metaphor to describe the different disciplines or areas of knowledge.
Explain the pertinent similarities.