Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Teaching Complexity as Transdisciplinarity

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Complex Adaptive Systems

Part of the book series: Understanding Complex Systems ((UCS))

Abstract

This paper describes how a course in complexity studies can teach the value of a broad education, and the benefits of synthesizing knowledge otherwise acquired in disciplinary silos. For students focused on one field or vocation, understanding complexity may provide the necessary perspective that links their field to other valuable methodologies. Teaching complexity allows both students and faculty to connect disciplinary expertise to a wider range of knowledge on how things work, giving them a more consilient approach to solving real-world problems. The proposed course demonstrates transdisciplinarity across disciplines to identify self-organizing networks and the emergence of bounded systems. Agent-based modeling is used to show students how basic algorithms can create complex orders, and how lower-level orders can give rise to higher levels of order that have new, unpredictable properties. Students are given a grounding in both thermodynamics and information processing to understand how any kind of self-organizing system may evolve according the same generative principles, be it an ecosystem, a stream of consciousness, an industry, or a genre of art. As students see the prevalence of self-organization and emergence across disciplines, they can share with faculty the sense that we are in a special moment where a new, more unified way of seeing things is taking shape. Both authors of this paper have taught several courses on complexity, including one that was taught jointly with faculty from six different disciplines at five different universities. The authors remark on what worked, what did not, and what could be improved, as well as providing a set of recommendations and resources for faculty who may be interested in teaching on this important subject.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 149.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 199.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Abbott, R.: Emergence explained: abstractions: getting epiphenomena to do real work. Complexity 12(1), 13–26 (2006)

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  2. Aminian, F., Suarez, E.D., Aminian, M., Walz, D.T.: The benefits of modeling economic data with neural networks. J. Comp. Econ. 28(1) (2006)

    Google Scholar 

  3. Astin, A.: How the Liberal arts college affects students. Daedalus 128(1), 77–100 (1999)

    Google Scholar 

  4. Bak, P., Chen, K., Creutz, M.: Self-organized criticality in the game of life. Nature 342(6251), 780–782 (1989)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Bammer, G., Bronitt, S., Brown, L., Bursztyn, M., Maury, M., Cram, L., Withers, G.: The relationship of integrative applied research and I2S to multidisciplinarity and transdisciplinarity. In: Disciplining Interdisciplinarity: Integration and Implementation Sciences for Researching Complex Real-World Problems, pp. 213–220. ANU Press (2013)

    Google Scholar 

  6. Bar-Yam, Y.: A mathematical theory of strong emergence using multiscale variety. Complexity 9(6) (2004)

    Article  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  7. Binder, F.: Interdisciplinary courses. Improv. Coll. Univ. Teach. 7(2), 45–47 (1959)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Brown, D.G., Page, S., Riolo, R., Zellner, M., Rand, W.: Path dependence and the validation of agent-based spatial models of land use. Int. J. Geogr. Inf. Sci. 19(2), 153–174 (2005)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Brown, D.G., Robinson, D.T., An, L., Nassauer, J.I., Zellner, M., Rand, W., Wang, Z.: Exurbia from the bottom-up: confronting empirical challenges to characterizing a complex system. Geoforum 39(2), 805–818 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Burchell, H.: On interdisciplinary education. High Sch. J. 55(2), 78–85 (1971)

    Google Scholar 

  11. Chaisson, E.: Cosmic Evolution: The Rise of Complexity in Nature. Harvard University Press, Cambridge (2001)

    Google Scholar 

  12. Chaisson, E.: Energy rate density II: probing further a new complexity Metric. Complexity 17, 44–63 (2011)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Christian, D.: Maps of Time: An Introduction to Big History. University of California Press, Berkeley (2004)

    Google Scholar 

  14. Collell, G., Fauquet, J.: Brain activity and cognition: a connection from thermodynamics and information theory. Front. Psychol. 6, 818 (2015)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Cortese, A.: The critical role of higher education in creating a sustainable future. High. Educ. 15–22 (2003)

    Google Scholar 

  16. Damuth, J., Heisler, I.L.: Alternative formulations of multilevel selection. Biol. Philos. 3(4), 407–430 (1988)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Damuth, J.D.: Population ecology: common rules for animals and plants. Nature 395(6698), 115 (1998)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Danks, D.: Unifying the Mind: Cognitive Representations as Graphical Models. MIT Press, Cambridge (2014)

    Book  Google Scholar 

  19. De Greef, L., Post, G., Vink, C., Wenting, L.: Designing interdisciplinary education: a practical handbook for university teachers. Chapter 3: Unravelling Interdisciplinary Understanding, pp. 28–42. Amsterdam University Press, Amsterdam (2017)

    Google Scholar 

  20. De Landa, M.: A thousand years of nonlinear history. Swerve Editions (2000)

    Google Scholar 

  21. De Landa, M.: A new philosophy of society: assemblage theory and social complexity. Continuum (2006)

    Google Scholar 

  22. Demerath, L.: Epistemological culture theory: a micro account of the origin and maintenance of culture. Sociol. Theory 20(2), 208–226 (2002)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Demerath, L.: Explaining culture: the social pursuit of subjective order. Lexington, Lanham NJ (2012)

    Google Scholar 

  24. Demerath, L.: Knowledge-based affect: cognitive origins of “Good” and “Bad”. Soc. Psychol. Q. 136–147 (1993)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Eckley, R.: Liberal arts colleges: can they compete? Brook. Rev. 5(4), 31–37 (1987)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Edmonds, B., Moss, S.: From KISS to KIDS – an “anti-simplistic” modelling approach. In: P. Davidsson, B. Logan, B. Takadama, K. (eds.) Multi-agent and Multi-Agent-Based Simulation, Lecture Notes In Artificial Intelligence, pp. 130–144. Springer, Berlin (2005)

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  27. Epstein, J.M.: Why model?. J. Artif. Soc. Soc. Simul. 11(4) 12 (2008)

    Google Scholar 

  28. Geels, F.: Co-evolution of technology and society: the transition in water supply and personal hygiene in the Netherlands (1850–1930)—a case study in multi-level perspective. Technol. Soc. 27(3), 363–397 (2005)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Gersick, C.J.: Revolutionary change theories: a multilevel exploration of the punctuated equilibrium paradigm. Acad. Manag. Rev. 16(1), 10–36 (1991)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Goldt, S., Seifert, U.: Stochastic thermodynamics of learning. Phys. Rev. Lett. 118(1), 010601 (2017)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Goodwin, B.: Beyond the darwinian paradigm: understanding biological forms. In: Ruse, M., Travis, J. (eds.) Evolution: The First Four Billion Years, pp. 299–312. Harvard University Press, Cambridge (2009)

    Google Scholar 

  32. Granovetter, M.: The strength of weak ties. Am. J. Sociol. 78(6), 1360–1380 (1973)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  33. Harman, G.: Moral relativism defended. Ethical Theor. Anth. 35–43 (2013)

    Google Scholar 

  34. Hatt, K.: Considering complexity: toward a strategy for non-linear analysis. Can. J. Sociol. 34(2), 313–347 (2009)

    Google Scholar 

  35. Hill, W.: Interdisciplinary perspectives and the liberal arts. In: Chopp, R., Frost, S., Weiss, D.H. (eds.) Remaking College: Innovation and the Liberal Arts, pp. 85–95. Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore (2013)

    Google Scholar 

  36. Holland, J.H.: Complex adaptive systems. Daedalus 17–30 (1992)

    Google Scholar 

  37. Holland, J.H.: Complexity: a very short introduction. OUP Oxford (2014)

    Google Scholar 

  38. Jacobs, J., Frickel, S.: Interdisciplinarity: a critical assessment. Ann. Rev. Sociol. 35, 43–65 (2009)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  39. Johnson, N.F.: Two’s company, three is complexity: a simple guide to the science of all sciences. Oneworld Pubns Ltd (2007)

    Google Scholar 

  40. Johnson, S.: Emergence: The Connected Lives of Ants, Brains, Cities, p. 19. Scribner, New York (2001). ISBN 3411040742

    Google Scholar 

  41. Kahneman, D.: Thinking, Fast and Slow. Macmillan (2011)

    Google Scholar 

  42. Katz, P.M.: Interdisciplinary Undergraduate Education: CIC Project on the Future of Independent Higher Education. Innovations in Teaching and Learning. Research Brief 2 (2015)

    Google Scholar 

  43. Kauffman, S.: At home in the universe: the search for the laws of self-organization and complexity. Oxford university press, Oxford (1996)

    Google Scholar 

  44. Kaufman, B.: In: Emmett, R.B. (ed.) The Elgar Companion to the Chicago School of Economics, p. 133 (2010)

    Google Scholar 

  45. Koch, C.: Consciousness: Confessions of a Romantic Reductionist. MIT Press, Cambridge (Massachusetts) (2012)

    Book  Google Scholar 

  46. Latour, B.: We Have Never Been Modern. Harvard university press (2012)

    Google Scholar 

  47. Lenartowicz, M., Weinbaum, D., Braathen, P.: Social systems: complex adaptive loci of cognition. Emerg.: Complex. Organ. 18(2) (2016)

    Google Scholar 

  48. Lewis, J.D., Weigart, A.J.: The structures and meanings of social time. Soc. Forces 60(2), 432–462 (1981)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  49. Lind, M.: Why the liberal arts still matter. Wilson Q. (1976), 30(4), 52–58 (2006)

    Google Scholar 

  50. Luhmann, N.: Social Systems. Stanford University Press, Stanford (1996)

    Google Scholar 

  51. McCool, S., Freimund, W., Breen, C., Gorricho, J., Kohl, J., Biggs, H.: Benefiting from complexity thinking. In: Worboys, G., Lockwood, M., Kothari, A., Feary, S., Pulsford, I. (Eds.), Protected Area Governance and Management pp. 291–326. ANU Press (2015)

    Google Scholar 

  52. Miller, J.H., Page, S.E.: The standing ovation problem. Complexity 9(5), 8–16 (2004)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  53. Moore, T., Roberts, R.: Statistics at liberal arts colleges. Am. Stat. 43(2), 80–85 (1989)

    Google Scholar 

  54. Nicolescu, B.: Methodology of transdisciplinarity. World Futur. J. New Parad. Res. 70(3–4) Transdisciplinarity (2014)

    Google Scholar 

  55. Nicolis, G., Prigogine, I.: Exploring complexity: an introduction. Freeman, New York (1989)

    Google Scholar 

  56. Nowacek, R.: A discourse-based theory of interdisciplinary connections. J. Gen. Educ. 54(3), 171–195 (2005)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  57. Nowotny, H.: The increase of complexity and its reduction emergent interfaces between the natural sciences, humanities and social sciences. Theory, Cult. Soc. 22(5), 15–31 (2005)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  58. Page, S.: The Difference: How the Power of Diversity Creates Better Groups, Firms, Schools, and Societies (New Edition). Princeton University Press, Princeton, Oxford (2007)

    Google Scholar 

  59. Pinker, S.: The Better Angels of Our Nature: The Decline of Violence in History and its Causes. Penguin uk (2011)

    Google Scholar 

  60. Reber, R., Schwarz, N., Winkielman, P.: Processing fluency and aesthetic pleasure: is beauty in the perceiver’s processing experience? Pers. Soc. Psychol. Rev. 8(4), 364–382 (2004)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  61. Resnicow, K., Page, S.E.: Embracing chaos and complexity: a quantum change for public health. Am. J. Public Health 98(8), 1382–1389 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  62. Reybold, L.Earle, Halx, Mark D.: Coming to terms with the meaning of interdisciplinarity: faculty rewards and the authority of the discipline. J. Gen. Educ. 61(4), 323–351 (2012)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  63. Rutting, L., Post, G., De Roo, M., Blad, S., De Greef, L.: An Introduction to Interdisciplinary Research: Theory and Practice, Menken, S., Keestra M. (Eds.) Chapter 6: Interdisciplinary integration, pp. 41–49, Amsterdam University Press, Amsterdam (2016)

    Google Scholar 

  64. Sawyer, R.K.: Social emergence: Societies as complex systems. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (2005)

    Google Scholar 

  65. Seifert, T., Goodman, K., Lindsay, N., Jorgensen, J., Wolniak, G., Pascarella, E., Blaich, C.: The effects of liberal arts experiences on liberal arts outcomes. Res. High. Educ. 49(2), 107–125 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  66. Simon, Herbert: The Sciences of the Artificial, 3rd edn. MIT Press Cambridge, MA (1996). ISBN 0-262-69191-4

    Google Scholar 

  67. Simondon, G.: The Genesis of the Individual. In: Zone: Incorporations 6, Crary, J., Kwinter, S. (eds.) Zone, New York (1992) ISBN: 0942299299

    Google Scholar 

  68. Suarez, E.D., Castañón-Puga, M.: Distributed agency. Int. J. Agent Technol. Syst. 5(1), 32–52 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  69. Swora, T., Morrison, J.: Interdisciplinarity and higher education. J. Gen. Educ. 26(1), 45–52 (1974)

    Google Scholar 

  70. Tarde, G.: The Laws of imitation. Holt, H. (1903)

    Google Scholar 

  71. Tononi, G.: Consciousness as integrated information: a provisional manifesto. Biol. Bull. 215(3), 216–242 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  72. Waldrop, M.M.: Complexity: The Emerging Science at the Edge of Order and Chaos. Touchstone (1992)

    Google Scholar 

  73. Waldrop, M.M.: Complexity: The Emerging Science at the Edge of Order and Chaos, Simon and Schuster (1993)

    Google Scholar 

  74. Wegner, P.: Interaction as a basis for empirical computer science. [CSUR]. ACM Comput. Surv. 27(1), 45–48 (1995)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  75. Wilson, Edward O.: Consilience: the unity of knowledge. Vintage Books/Random House Inc, New York (1999)

    Google Scholar 

  76. Wilson, D.S., Wilson, E.O.: Rethinking the theoretical foundation of sociobiology. Q. Rev. Biol. 82(4), 327–348 (2007)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  77. Wilson, D.S., Van Vugt, M., O’Gorman, R.: Multilevel selection theory and major evolutionary transitions: implications for psychological science. Curr. Dir. Psychol. Sci. 17(1), 6–9 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, Centenary College of Louisiana, Shreveport, LA, USA

    Loren Demerath

  2. Department of Finance and Decision Sciences, School of Business, Trinity University, San Antonio, TX, USA

    E. Dante Suarez

Authors
  1. Loren Demerath
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. E. Dante Suarez
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to E. Dante Suarez .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Complex Systems Institute, Department of Software and Information Systems, College of Computing and Informatics, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC, USA

    Ted Carmichael

  2. Department of Engineering Management and Systems Engineering, College of Engineering and Technology, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA, USA

    Andrew J. Collins

  3. Complex Systems Institute, Department of Software and Information Systems, College of Computing and Informatics, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC, USA

    Mirsad Hadžikadić

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Demerath, L., Suarez, E. (2019). Teaching Complexity as Transdisciplinarity. In: Carmichael, T., Collins, A., Hadžikadić, M. (eds) Complex Adaptive Systems. Understanding Complex Systems. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-20309-2_11

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-20309-2_11

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-20307-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-20309-2

  • eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation