Joe Moran, author of Interdisciplinarity, introduces the importance of discipline through his writing. He examines interdisciplinary approaches by engaging with different disciplines. His portrayal of disciplines often focused on categories of knowledge– delving into history to compare systems for different disciplines. In the in class reading discussing the concept of discipline, it showed how discipline can establish power, by encompassing knowledge that others do not have.
When I think of the word discipline I think of harsh straight lines and teachers that hold rulers. I think of a dog being taught how to sit by his owner, or a family that follows a regular weekly chore chart. Sometimes when I think of discipline I even think of perfection, or at least the progression towards perfection. The word discipline is defined by Merriam Webster as control gained by enforcing obedience or order. The word itself is broad, it can exist in both large and small scales. As humans we can have many disciplines, or should I say many interdisciplinarities. It gives us the freedom to work harder on one discipline than others, and they can exist in a lot of different aspects in our lives. For example, my discipline in college is Communication and English, but I also have other disciplines that are more abstract. I am a daughter, a student, a sister, and I am also an opera singer.
My mother has always encouraged me when it comes to music and the arts. She was always the leads in musicals growing up, and she was always talking about Broadway. I followed in her footsteps, becoming the leads in my high schools’ musicals, taking classical voice lessons, participating in voice competitions and recitals, and dreaming about how amazing it would be to one day be on Broadway. I will not lie to you, opera is not exactly what an average person would listen to on the radio on their way home from work, nor is it popular among people my age. It is often more obscure, therefore not a lot of people know much about it.
The in class reading about discipline may suggest that my discipline of opera places me above those who do not study it. This is because I have the required knowledge to inform people about opera. Yes- I have studied how to pronounce certain vowels to get the best sound, memorized certain songs in different languages, and focused on increasing my range, but I am definitely not an expert. I have learned all of these things, yet I do not necessarily feel powerful like the context of the word ‘discipline’ proposes.