In the face of increasingly complex issues, the emergence of interdisciplinary subjects has attracted the attention of Chinese academia by promoting the development of academic research with different perspectives and methods.

However, some scholars believe interdisciplinary subjects blur the lines between different disciplines, which adversely affects their development.

Some scholars argue that disciplinary boundaries are set in accordance with different functions, noting that the development of disciplines should aim to tackle real issues rather than distinguishing areas of study.

Song Xinming, a professor from the Institute of Population Research at Peking University, said that some complicated issues need to be resolved from an interdisciplinary perspective, which promotes the development of interdisciplinary subjects.

As social and economic development enters a new stage, issues related to humanities, social sciences and natural sciences have become increasingly complicated and driven the emergence of interdisciplinary subjects.

Ma Wen, director of the Research Center for Clinical Neurolinguistics at Shandong University, claimed that the development of interdisciplinary subjects fosters creative ideas and social progress.

The relationship between interdisciplinary and traditional subjects is dialectical, according to Liu Zhonglin, a professor from the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Science and Technology of China in Hefei, Anhui Province. Liu said that interdisciplinary subjects exist as independent disciplines and traditional disciplines embrace interdisciplinary concepts.

Ma noted that the development of interdisciplinary subjects clarifies and deepens internal relations of different disciplines, further boosting the overall advancement of science. Interdisciplinary subjects have resolved numerous problems that no single discipline is able to address. It has also extended the research fields of traditional subjects, added Ma.

The development of traditional and interdisciplinary subjects complements each other. Firstly, the development of interdisciplinary subjects cannot depart from traditional disciplines. Secondly, traditional subjects should suit the tendency of science by moving towards comprehensiveness and interdisciplinary subjects in future development. Thirdly, narrow-minded perspectives must be abandoned and the development of interdisciplinary subjects must be treated with an open attitude while paying more attention to traditional subjects.

“The aim of boosting interdisciplinary subjects is to promote the fundamental revolution of traditional thoughts and operation models,” said Liu, adding that it is a long-term and complicated systematic project worthy of comprehensive planning and gradual implementation. This includes updating academic concepts, deepening theoretical research, establishing a normal management mechanism and enriching the connotation of interdisciplinary subjects, he said.

In addition, one of the main obstacles hindering the development of interdisciplinary subjects is that they lack a significant position in the current subject classification system. Liu said this partly explains low public awareness of such subjects, adding that it is necessary to balance traditional and interdisciplinary subjects to promote the in-depth, healthy advancement of interdisciplinary subjects.

The Chinese version appeared in Chinese Social Sciences Today, No. 724, April 10, 2015.

The Chinese link: http://www.cssn.cn/zx/201504/t20150410_1581388.shtml

　　Translated by Chen Meina

　　Revised by Tom Fearon