Traits and Skills of an Interdisciplinarian

There are various traits and skills held by interdisciplinarians. A person's quality that sets them apart from someone else would be their trait. The task carried out due to a person's knowledge would be their skill. I am going to mention two traits and two skills that I possess.

Traits


Love of learning- "Interdisciplinarians often find themselves in new situations, they must know how to learn. They need to know what information to ask for and how to acquire a working knowledge" (Repko, 2005, p. 23). Considering I am thirty-eight, a mother of four, a full time employee, and a full time student, I think I possess this trait. I am constantly learning from my children, at my job, and from my classes. I feel edified by learning.


Willingness to work with others- "Interdisciplinarity is often a collaborative process. One person, no matter how thoroughly trained, will never have a complete understanding of any given problem or issue (Repko, 2005, p. 24). I work in the compliance department of a credit union. During my time in this department, I have been involved with a data conversion and two mergers. Various teams worked together to ensure a smooth transition.


Skills


Ability to communicate competently- "The ability to comprehend and translate terminology that is discipline-specific. Each discipline has not only its own set of skills and knowledge but also its own language that it uses to describe its concepts, assumptions, and theories (Repko, 2005, p. 26). I am currently working on a project with our Information Technology (IT) department. I speak front-office language while the IT department speaks back-office language. We are finding that we are saying the same thing, but using different terminology. Since I have worked closely with IT over the years, I am finding it easier to communicate with them.


Ability to recognize the limits of what is knowledge- "Students and teachers involved in interdisciplinary investigations quickly discover that they do not know and cannot know everything about a topic" (Repko, 2005, p. 27). I definitely do not know everything about technology uses; however, I created this blog, so I am learning more about this topic.

Repko, A. (2005). Interdisciplinary practice a student guide to

research and writing. Boston: Pearson Custom Publishing

DISCLAIMER: This blog is an assignment for an Interdisciplinary Studies course at National University. It is not a real blog.