Fostering Interdisciplinary Thinking Through an International Development Case Study

Despite widespread acknowledgment of the importance of interdisciplinary pedagogy, disciplinary teaching remains the norm on most campuses, primarily due to cost and institutional constraints. Bridging the gap between literature on interdisciplinary teaching and active-learning techniques, this article describes an innovative and less costly approach through the linkage of case-study active-learning techniques with interdisciplinary principles at a small liberal arts college. We apply this student-centered approach to teaching international development, a field that critically needs integration across several social sciences. A practical way for political scientists to encourage under-graduate-level interdisciplinary thinking is to develop a case study that asks students to utilize practical problem-solving skills and policy analysis. We analyze the implementation and assessment of such a case study, discuss its successes and shortcomings and provide suggestions for expanded implementation. We also discuss the broad applicability of this approach to topics that require integration across disciplines in a variety of institutional settings.