The Long View

When most campus denizens have headed south for spring break, I have perversely traveled north, to do some consulting work for a research-intensive flagship state university. I am engaged in faculty professional development with professors in a health science field in order to help them with professional scholarly writing (e.g. articles, grant applications).

Although science and health science are outside of my disciplinary expertise, I have been curious about science and applied sciences for all of my professional life. It is fascinating to observe how faculty in other disciplines conduct their research, and particularly interesting to observe the institutional cultures and practices in other fields.

I am especially struck by the formal demands in the sciences for clearly defined proposals before they can even begin to engage in the research. My own scholarly work (medical humanities research or site-based research into teaching and learning) has required little more than generous curiosity and meandering exploration into the byways of a corner of the knowledge landscape.

Research models and statistical analysis of quantitative science research are far from the qualitative or cultural analysis of the humanities, so I’m looking forward to learning from them as much as I am able to help them with their own writing goals.