STEM, Theatre Arts, and Interdisciplinary Integrative Learning

This book responds to challenging questions about curricular realignment, especially how a more porous approach to higher education reduces the impact of a “siloed” curriculum, lessens the tendency toward the fragmentation of knowledge, allows for the development of cross-disciplinary explorations, and promotes new approaches to knowledge and creativity through interdisciplinary integrative learning. This volume demonstrates how combining two seemingly disparate cultures helps undergraduate students develop creative mindsets needed for addressing challenging open-ended questions, complex social issues, and non-routine problem-solving. In doing so, this book aims to stimulate discussions about integrative interdisciplinary education between STEM and other fields of performance and performance technologies that have been either overlooked or underdeveloped. 

"Set in front of the Einstein statue facing the U.S. National Mall, the final line of Nancy Kindelan’s STEM, Theatre Arts, and Interdisciplinary Integrative Learning—Bridging the Cultures clearly and lucidly evokes Tony Kushner’s Angels in America. Such a connection is apt for this wide-ranging and masterful book which argues for the importance of a consideration of theatre and integrative learning in addressing the needs of twenty-first century students and the multiple crises in Higher Education. Building on and responding to her own 2012 Artistic Literacy and the 2018 National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine report, The Integration of the Humanities and Arts with Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in Higher Education: Branches from the Same Tree as well as countless interviews and discussions with colleagues across disciplines and institutions, and numerous other intertexts, Kindelan’s book frames itself perhaps as a national fantasiaon pedagogic themes, but is necessary and urgent reading not only for those people in theatre arts and STEM fields in a liberal arts context, but indeed for everyone with an interest and an investment in the future of STEM, Arts, and Humanities tertiary education worldwide."—Joshua Abrams, Deputy Director, The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts; Past President, Association for Theatre in Higher Education

"What do STEM and theater have in common? Evidently a lot. In her newest book, Professor Kindelan explores the benefits of connecting STEM with theater in higher ed curriculum and the advantages of inter/trans/multi-disciplinary learning. Consider theater production and engineering design. Both address societal problems, understand needs within a context, employ creative ideation, progress with iterative designs, and assess the outcome. We can benefit from learning the tools employed by other disciplines. There are challenges to interdisciplinary teaching and learning but the result is an enriched curriculum, a broadened perspective, and a deeper understanding.

Consider the work of a theater director and a design engineer. Both work to address societal problems through assessing needs in context, creative ideation, iterative design, and evaluation of the product or production. Should we learn from each other’s toolboxes? Absolutely. In her newest book, Professor Kindelan suggests that integrative interdisciplinary teaching and learning should not be a luxury but an imperative for higher education."—Sandra Shefelbine, Professor, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering and Department of Bioengineering, Northeastern University, USA

"Integrative interdisciplinary learning has been a goal of higher education but is complex to understand and challenging to implement. Kindelan offers a comprehensive and highly readable overview that will guide educators as they reflect on these issues and plan and assess reform efforts taking place on individual campuses. The book simultaneously offers important tools necessary to join one of the most important conversations going on in higher education today. It is a must read for college educators interested in integrating the arts and sciences for the benefit of student learning."—Nancy Budwig, Professor of Psychology, Clark University, USA

"Bridging the Cultures offers a call to action and practical roadmap for educators interested in forging connections between STEM and theater arts fields. Kindelan illustrates the vital metacognitive, motivational, and creative benefits of interdisciplinary integration. The book’s compelling first-hand narratives are icing on the cake, offering implementation examples and testaments to the many ways that disciplinary boundary crossing inspires and empowers both students and teachers."—Robert Martello, Professor of the History of Science and Technology, Olin College of Engineering; member of the Committee on Integrating Higher Education in the Arts, Humanities, Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, USA

"Kindelan makes an outstanding argument for the necessity of the arts, especially theatre, in higher education, supporting her argument with a vast array of evidence and case studies that argue for the undeniable need for integrated education. Graduates entering an increasingly complex world will need the ability to work collaboratively, be creative, curious, and empathetic. Current models of education are not preparing them for real world demands. Kindelan is not suggesting that funds be redistributed to the liberal arts, rather she calls for a radical revision of education from disciplinary silos to integrative curricula. In short, taking interdisciplinarity seriously. Cognitive Science recognizes that learning is multimodal, that the brain works though integrated networks, but our educational models remain in the past where processing what we see takes place only in the visual cortex. Understanding that vision involves attention, kinesthetics, perception, and memory (personal, social, and cultural) makes it clear that traditional current approaches to educating tomorrow’s scientists, artists, and leaders are woefully out of date and threaten our place as leaders in the global economy and innovative thinking. Kindelan’s book is necessary reading for anyone concerned about the state of education and the future of civilization."—John Lutterbie, Professor Emeritus, Theatre Arts and Art; International Network for Cognition, Theatre and Performance, Stony Brook University, USA

Nancy Kindelan is Professor Emerita of Theatre at Northeastern University, Boston, USA, where she taught numerous interdisciplinary courses, honors courses, performance classes, and script analysis and directed plays. Her books include Shadows of Realism: Dramaturgy and the Theories and Practices of Modernism (1996) and Artistic Literacy: Theatre Studies and a Contemporary Liberal Education, which received a Special Honorable Mention for the Outstanding Book Award from the Association for Theatre in Higher Education in 2013. She is the founding editor of the Palgrave Macmillan book series The Arts in Higher Education.