Workshop 1: Disciplines & Agendas
18th & 19th November 2004
This workshop examined how non-academic considerations influence the intellectual trajectories of different disciplines and the personal agendas of those working within them. In order to explore the different dynamics at stake, participants were asked to compare experience across a selection of social science disciplines: anthropology, sociology, educational research and politics. Specifically the workshop aimed to:
- Take stock of recent trends within each discipline, for example, examining how specialisms have evolved, or which areas are attracting increasing and decreasing attention.
- Review and compare explanations of past and future trends, for example, considering the role of changing policy priorities, the influence of major national and international funding programmes, institutional structures, pressure from related disciplines and 'fractal' divisions within disciplines.
- Reflect on the development of individual research agendas in this context, considering how ideas evolve through successive projects and how personal priorities and intellectual aspirations shift as a result.
Resources
Disciplines Workshop Agenda (102 k)
Disciplines discussion paper (78 k)
Research Note on 2001 RAE Results (60 k)
When Good Theories Go Bad (Related paper by Richard Wilk)
Disciplines and their Dynamics, presentation by Chris Harty, University of Lancaster
(150 k)
Finalisation, presentation by Chris Caswill, James Martin Institute, Said Business School, University of Oxford (94 k)
Disciplines workshop report (90 k)