Advancing Faculty Learning Through Interdisciplinary Collaboration,
Elizabeth G. Creamer, Lisa R. Lattuca Eds., New Directions for Teaching and Learning: Jossey-Bass, 2005.
Reviewed by Manuel Joćo Costa, University of Minho - Portugal

This volume of the New Directions for Teaching and Learning series focuses on the role of faculty learning in the development of interdisciplinary collaborations. It argues that the processes through which collaborations evolve merit explicit attention and systematic documentation. Spotlighting collaborative processes instead of interdisciplinary products reveals the importance of the social and the cultural contexts of interdisciplinary collaborations. This volume will be very useful to all who are or will be involved in interdisciplinary collaborations, specifically those in research or education. The suggestions and case studies included will be of interest to administrators, members of tenure or promotion committees and educational developers.

The volume presents perspectives and provides suggestions that are worth considering in the promotion of a culture of collaboration across disciplines. The editor's notes included in page 1 set out the history, structure and guidelines of the work. The case for considering the social and cultural aspects of collaborations is made from start, as the key questions are identified (chapter 1). The convenience of approaching the topic under a socio-cultural perspective is subsequently contextualized in the literature (chapter 2). The three case studies that follow (chapters 3,4,5) allow one to picture interdisciplinary collaborations in process in different contexts: a university-community partnership, a research team and a graduate research program. The cases are analysed as connections between the processes of developing collaborations are discussed as processes of faculty learning (chapter 6) and the volume concludes with suggestions for changes in professional and ethical practices that would reward collaborations, towards an interdisciplinary culture in higher education (chapter 7).

The volume is succinct and clearly written. The three case studies do a very good job in illustrating how collaborations develop, as they provide clear images on collaborative process. The point is made that likelihood of developing successful interdisciplinary collaborations increases if attention is devoted to a longitudinal analysis of faculty learning. Although no empirical or quantitative evidence is provided, the way this conclusion has been anchored on theoretical reasoning is convincing. Recommendations for promoting learner-centred collaborations are part of the conclusions of the volume, set out in chapter 7. The three different types of context that they address were a good choice, since they diversify the issues addressed.

The seven chapters may be read independently, although reading them in tandem will probably allow the development of deeper insights. Some important points are addressed in more than one occasion: 1. the idiosyncratic character of interdisciplinary collaborations and how disregarding the underlying contexts and processes hampers the advancement of our understanding on how they work; 2. the disciplinary culture that prevails in higher education as an impediment for the development of interdisciplinary collaboration efforts; 3. the need for better documentation of individual contributions in collaborative efforts; 4. the difficulties inherent to rewarding collaborative work and collective interpretations, the deficit in accounting and valuing interdisciplinary work and how it backlashes on faculty careers; 5. the role of different perspectives in interdisciplinary endeavors and how they can be valuable in some occasions and harmful in others; 6. the collaboration process and how disciplinary trained collaborators and disciplinary organized institutions  influence and are influenced by it; 7. faculty's perceptions on collaborations and on their original disciplines and how they change as interdisciplinary collaborations progress.

Readers who are interested in visualizing the stages of the development of collaborations, can find quite useful the very general model set out in the case described in chapter 3. For those who approach this work in quest for clear guidelines or best strategies to put interdisciplinary collaborations to work, which roles to assign to faculty, decisions that foster or sustain interdisciplinary collaborative efforts, it may be slightly disappointing. However, the lack of documentation is probably to be blamed for that. Indeed, more studies are needed to identify guidelines among the always idiosyncratic interdisciplinary collaborations.

The volume's main tenet, that understanding the process of doing interdisciplinary work is as important as its product, is a challenging one. The volume is a valuable document and sets new grounds where future evidence can grow. The new frontiers that it opens are well worth exploring.