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This PowerPoint
lecture introduces

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three main strategies
or techniques

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you can use to
create common ground,

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and addresses the possible
challenges and barriers

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you may face along the way.

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Now, I don't expect
any of you to be

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able to practice creating
common ground just yet.

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But the point here
is to make clear

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that when you do come across
conflicting disciplinary

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boundaries in your
research, the only way

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to find common
ground between them

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is to have a structured game
plan, complete with strategies

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and techniques.

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In other words,
creating common ground

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does not happen by accident.

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You have to critically
and systematically--

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and the key word here
is systematically--

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apply techniques
and strategies when

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trying to create common ground
between conflicting insights.

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And you'll also notice that
these techniques are rooted

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in the elements of disciplines--
theories, concepts, and terms,

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and phenomenon that we
covered in the last module.

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So the first
technique we have is

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called theory-based expansion.

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Now, this technique is
used to change or modify

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a theory so that it can
address all of the actions that

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cause something to happen, or
causation factors pertaining

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to a problem.

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So this technique includes
adding a factor or factors

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from any of the sources of
alternative perspectives,

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including different fields
within the same discipline,

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different disciplines,
or schools of thought

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that cut across disciplines.

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So let's look at different
theories of race, for instance.

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And the video from module two,
Race the Power of an Illusion,

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explored this, explored these
questions-- what is race

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and how is race made?

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So of course, different scholars
from different disciplines

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or areas of study have tried
to answer this question.

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What is race?

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How is race made?

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And they have different
theories regarding this.

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So when you apply this technique
of theory-based expansion,

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the first step is to place
the most important theories,

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in this case related
to how race is made,

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to place them side by side.

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So anthropologists believe that
race is not real biologically.

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Next to anthropologists,
biologists and geneticists

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are still debating the
biological basis of race.

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And now we add sociologists,
who have argued that race

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is a social construction.

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It's a creation by society
and a political category.

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And so when you place each of
these theories side by side,

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patterns start to emerge.

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We end up with theories
that take into account

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biological factors as well as
social and political factors

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that contribute to
the creation of race.

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And so, again, if
we use the technique

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of theory-based expansion,
what we'll do is say, OK.

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One theory of race is that
it is not real biologically,

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that there's no
genetic basis for race.

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But we'll expand that
to say that, wait.

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Just because race isn't
real biologically,

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that doesn't mean
that it doesn't exist.

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It certainly operates in
society in a very real way.

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Race still determines life
chances, opportunities,

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and wealth.

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And so you see that by expanding
the theory of race and biology

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and anthropology, we come
up with a more comprehensive

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understanding of race by
expanding a theory of race that

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argues, yes, it's not
biological or genetic,

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but it's still very
real in society.

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It still operates in society
with very real consequences.

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And this is a key
technique because conflicts

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between theory-based insights
are the most common situation

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that an IDS student
is likely to face.

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So the next technique is a
technique of redefinition.

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This technique involves
modifying or redefining

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concepts and assumptions used
by the relevant disciplines

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to bring out a common meaning.

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So as I mentioned
in the last module

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on disciplinary
elements, each discipline

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has developed its own vocabulary
and terminology to describe

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phenomena it studies.

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So what I'm saying
is that they're

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talking about the same
thing, the same phenomena,

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just using different terms and
really a different language

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to talk about it.

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And your goal, if you wish
to create common ground,

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is to redefine the
term or concept

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in a way that can become clear
to all related disciplines

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involved.

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Race as a concept or
term is a prime example.

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Because even in our
everyday conversations,

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we don't know what we
mean when we say race,

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or racism for that matter.

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And of course,
different disciplines

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define race differently.

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Some define it as culture.

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Some define it as
genetic differences

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between populations.

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And many define it as
a social construction.

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So if you're interested
in the topic of race

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and you want to
create common ground

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among these different
disciplines,

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redefine the term "race"
so that it makes sense

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to, say, biologists and
historians or sociologists

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alike.

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Now, this technique
is also important

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because it's the one
that most, if not all,

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students who are new to the
interdisciplinary research

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process will use,
whether this comes

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in the form of creating
an entirely new term

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or developing a new meaning
for an old term or concept.

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And lastly, but
certainly not least,

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there are more
advanced techniques

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for creating common ground--

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is the technique
of extension, which

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addresses conflict between
disciplinary concepts

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or assumptions by extending
the meaning of an idea

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beyond the domain
of one discipline

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into the domain of
another discipline.

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So I think the
best way to explain

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this is to provide
examples of how to apply

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this particular technique.

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So one way to
apply the technique

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is to extend an idea over
time to create common ground.

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For instance, a biologist
may do research and argue

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that race has no genetic basis.

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But an IDS student using
both biology and history

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and their disciplinary
insights may

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research how the idea of race
has changed over the last 200

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years.

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So you see how you can
extend the concept of race

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as it is studied
in, say, biology

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or even anthropology by looking
at how it developed over time.

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And so now you've
created common ground

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between biology and history,
but potentially also sociology.

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Another way to
apply this technique

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is to extend an idea
across individuals.

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Now, what I mean by this
is extending an idea

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across the boundaries of race,
class, gender, or sexuality.

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Essentially asking, does
this idea or concept,

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does it apply to all
peoples or is there

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differences depending
on race, gender, class,

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or sexual orientation?

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So I want you to use the
assigned reading here

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as an example.

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So Lauren Lanmin's
Cultural Competence

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in Helping Professions
is a good example.

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Now, Lauren was one of
my students in IDS 495

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this past spring.

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Her areas of study were
marriage and family therapy

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and psychology.

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So at first, Lauren struggled
to find some common ground

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between these two disciplines.

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But when she started to
explore the way that marriage

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and family therapists and
psychologists approached

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helping their clients,
traditional ways of helping

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their clients, she asked one
really important question.

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And that question was, do any of
these models, to help clients,

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do they take into
account differences

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in race, ethnicity, or
even immigration status?

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And she found that
the answer was yes.

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And there was this concept
called cultural competency.

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And it was an idea that asked--

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helping professionals,
therapists and counselors,

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to be aware and to respect a
client's cultural background.

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So you see that just by
asking that question,

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Lauren was able to extend this
model of cultural competency

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to other disciplines as well.

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So she was able to create
common ground between marriage

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and family therapy,
psychology, and even sociology

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and education.

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She even talked about
designing curriculum

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at the university level to
enhance cultural competency.

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Thus, this technique
of extension

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is a great way to
create common ground--

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again, by, one, extending an
idea or assumption over time;

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and two, extending an
idea across individuals.

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Let me end by outlining
two potential challenges

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and barriers that IDS students
will face when attempting

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to create common ground.

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So keep in mind that
each challenge or barrier

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is about the nature or
extent of the conflict

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between disciplinary insights.

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So not every
conflict is the same.

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So the first
potential barrier is

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that there's no apparent
conflict among the insights.

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And you're looking for conflict
in order to resolve it.

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But what happens
when, at first glance,

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you don't see a conflict?

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But at the same time,
what they have in common

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isn't clear because
each discipline

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uses different
concepts and terms

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to describe a similar idea.

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So again, for example, one
scholar uses the term "race."

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Another scholar uses
the term "ethnicity,"

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but both are really talking
about the same thing.

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So here, you might use the
technique of redefinition

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to redefine one of those terms.

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So again, you use
this when there

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doesn't seem to be a conflict.

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But at the same
time, there doesn't

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seem to be agreement because
you're not sure if they're

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talking about the same thing.

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So this is how you can
bring them together,

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by using the technique
of redefinition.

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And the second
potential challenge

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is that the conflicting insights
are different but not opposing.

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Or in other words, the
different disciplinary insights

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just reflect alternatives
or different approaches.

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And so in this case,
you'd use the technique

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of theory-based expansion.

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So different disciplinary
scholars who study race

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argue that there
are different causes

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or different explanations
for why race is created.

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And they're not necessarily
opposing explanations

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for how race is constructed,
just alternatives.

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So some might say, well,
hey, race is created

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or race is constructed
by policies,

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like the census report.

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While other scholars
might say, no, no, no.

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Race is created through
everyday practices,

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such as television shows.

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And so you see, they're
not arguing necessarily

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against each other.

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They're just arguing for
alternative perspectives.

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So this is where you have to
expand a particular theory

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in order to bring these
different views together

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to create that common ground.

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Now, the reason I'm bringing up
these barriers and challenges

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is because it's
worth pointing out

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that before you even start
to create common ground,

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you have to determine the
type of challenge you face

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and then select one of
the techniques I discussed

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above that may be
useful for that purpose.

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So in conclusion, it's important
to know and familiarize

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yourself with these three
main strategies and techniques

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because they're proven ways
to create common ground.

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It's also important because,
for those of you who

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are struggling to develop
a tolerance for ambiguity,

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it encourages you to move from
a sort of "black white" way

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of thinking, this
either/or thinking,

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to a more "both and"
type of thinking

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that accepts the gray areas,
that accepts and tolerates

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ambiguity.

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And most importantly, this is
the fun part of the IDS process

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because creativity,
playfulness, and risk taking,

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these are more important
and useful to creating

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common ground than logic and
traditional ways of thinking.

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