http://edc13.education.ed.ac.uk/anabeld/2013/03/13/asian-eels-and-beautiful-women/ part of the MSc in E-learning at the University of Edinburgh Fri, 05 Apr 2013 15:48:30 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.1 http://edc13.education.ed.ac.uk/anabeld/2013/03/13/asian-eels-and-beautiful-women/#comment-1533 Anabel Drought Sat, 16 Mar 2013 13:42:56 +0000 http://edc13.education.ed.ac.uk/anabeld/?p=320#comment-1533 I think the two disciplines he mentions - social science and "pure" science have a distinctly clear boundary based upon their focus. However I think most other disciplines will have a blurred boundary and this is represented in University courses - I studied environmental science in my first year at University and this was 20 years ago. So the idea of separation is perhaps outdated, but Pickering lead me onto think of the vastness of impact between one another stretched from local to national to international to Global with a a variety of time spans included. The vastness of the interrelationships blew me away - I had to stop thinking about it as I lost myself in time and space! I think the two disciplines he mentions – social science and “pure” science have a distinctly clear boundary based upon their focus. However I think most other disciplines will have a blurred boundary and this is represented in University courses – I studied environmental science in my first year at University and this was 20 years ago. So the idea of separation is perhaps outdated, but Pickering lead me onto think of the vastness of impact between one another stretched from local to national to international to Global with a a variety of time spans included. The vastness of the interrelationships blew me away – I had to stop thinking about it as I lost myself in time and space!

]]> http://edc13.education.ed.ac.uk/anabeld/2013/03/13/asian-eels-and-beautiful-women/#comment-1483 sbayne Sat, 16 Mar 2013 10:40:11 +0000 http://edc13.education.ed.ac.uk/anabeld/?p=320#comment-1483 I think your emphasis on Pickering's starting point - the 'beautiful disciplinary dualism' of the natural sciences and the humanities and social sciences - is a really good place to start your summary. Do you think he's right, in his suggestion that 'split' between the disciplines partly works to help us maintain a clear boundary between the 'material' and the 'social'? I think your example of the flower in the pavement, brief though it is, does a really nice job of blurring that boundary! I think your emphasis on Pickering’s starting point – the ‘beautiful disciplinary dualism’ of the natural sciences and the humanities and social sciences – is a really good place to start your summary. Do you think he’s right, in his suggestion that ‘split’ between the disciplines partly works to help us maintain a clear boundary between the ‘material’ and the ‘social’? I think your example of the flower in the pavement, brief though it is, does a really nice job of blurring that boundary!

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