Perspective-taking and Interdisciplinarity

Thomas A. Murray

When I was an undergraduate, I was required to take a computer programming course. It was required for anyone majoring in math, even if you had no intention to go into computer science. It was like a general education course for math majors. I had no interest in it, no plans to become a computer programmer, and was confused about why it was required. In the class, we learned the computer programming language C++ and I was convinced I would never again use that knowledge. I was right: I have never used C++ in the 25 years that have elapsed since that course. But I am so glad I took computer programming because, as it turns out, it doesn’t matter that I’ve never used C++. What I gained in the course that remains relevant, applicable, and transferrable was not a computer programming language, but that I was able to develop an understanding of how a computer programmer thinks, approaches problems, and develops solutions. I learned to take the perspective of a computer programmer.

In that computer science course, I was given problems to solve that necessitated learning how to communicate with a machine in order to get that machine to do what I needed it to do. I learned that computer programming languages have a vocabulary, syntax, grammar, and punctuation like any other language. I was able to integrate what I already knew about language and how language is constructed to solve problems like a computer programmer. When, 25 years later, I am able to create complex, nested formulas in Microsoft Excel or when I write programs for statistical software rather than being limited to out-of-the-box functionality, it is not because I learned C++; it is because I developed an ability to engage in perspective-taking. I am able to think like a computer programmer.

In this section, Perspective-taking and Interdisciplinarity, you will be introduced to the idea of perspective-taking from four broadly defined academic perspectives and to the idea of interdisciplinarity and multiple perspective-taking, ideas that are foundational to your entire UA Gen Ed experience. You will read about the perspective-taking of the Artist, the Humanist, the Natural Scientist, and the Social Scientist, learn about the applicability of those perspectives, and how they can relate to one another.

Questions to consider as you read through Part 4:

• What are some similarities in ways of thinking, knowing, or doing that might exist between two or more of these four disciplines?
• What makes each of the four disciplinary perspectives unique?
• What are some ways that each perspective might be relevant to your major(s), minor(s), career, or personal life?
• In what ways might the four perspectives inform each other in interdisciplinary ways?
• Which disciplinary and interdisciplinary perspectives are you most excited to learn about in Gen Ed?