Public administration teaching and interdisciplinarity: considering the consequences

Abstract

Public Administration is a highly diverse and evolving field of scientific inquiry. The study domain is characterised further by often-competing paradigmatic perspectives and seemingly endless teaching modalities. There seems to be an increasing realisation that answers to complex societal challenges cannot be solved within the knowledge frameworks of individual disciplines. As a result, interdisciplinary teaching emerged to expose students to approaches, theories and methodologies from various disciplines of the social and natural sciences, in search of potential answers to these challenges. In spite of the qualities and potential contributions of interdisciplinarity, there may be less positive consequences for teaching efforts. This article intends to reflect on the potential consequences, both positive and negative, that interdisciplinary studies have on the teaching of Public Administration. The article will review the possible advantages or contributions of interdisciplinarity to the teaching of Public Administration, and reflect on the possibly less-desired consequences of interdisciplinary collaboration on curriculum design and teaching methods.