Greetings, Friends of Interdisciplinary Studies at UCF,

The Spring Semester is half over and I hope everyone’s classes are going well.

Many interesting events have provided additional learning opportunities for anyone

interested in Interdisciplinary Studies. Were you able to join us? In this issue you will

find some words about the visit of The Crossroads Project, announcements for an

afternoon with Bill Nye, and a free lunch with your Dean, Dr. Dooley. Also

included are notes on additional avenues for information and involvement in IDS and

some notes of IDS students’ success.

The Crossroads Project, an interdisciplinary performance project, was brought to UCF

as a result of a collaboration of IDS with many other units on campus. We were really

happy to be involved. On page 3 you can read the brief remarks I made prior to the

performance. The Crossroads Project performers also participated in workshops

designed for students and for faculty during the morning. You can read one report

from the student-workshop about sustainability here

http://sustainable.ucf.edu/node/86.

You may have noticed that you have been receiving more email form us than in

previous months. Each Monday we send out a short summary of “interesting events

this week.” Please open the email and read it. In addition to events organized or

sponsored by our Office, there are many innovative, intriguing, and also just really fun

events that we have pre-sorted from the seemingly endless number of possible events

to attend.

And while I have your attention, let me invite you to a very special event on Tuesday

March 29th: You are invited to meet and have lunch with your Dean, Dr. Elizabeth

A. Dooley. Dr. Dooley will be the featured speaker at the last event in our Spring IDS

Survival Guide series of events that have been meeting every Tuesday from 12:00-

1:20 in CB1-107. Please let us know if you are able to attend so we can order you

lunch and reserve your space to meet the Dean, talk with other students, and meet

advisors and others in a relaxed atmosphere.

IDS students are doing amazing things in the world. Read about Demi Simi in our

featured “Got Creativity” section. Some IDS students are starting to do amazing

things while they are still in College: For example, Annabelle Dunbar, an

Halfway through

Spring 2016!

WHAT’S INSIDE

Page 1:

From the Director

Page 2:

An Afternoon with

Bill Nye

Page 3:

Interdisciplinary

Studies in the Spotlight:

Crossroads Recap

Page 4:

Invitation to Have

Lunch with your Dean

Page 5:

Got Creativity?

A look at how

Interdisciplinary

Studies Shapes

Lives: Meet Demi

Simi

IDS Alumni Corner

Page 6:

IDS Survival Guide

News and Dates to

Remember

Bill Nye “The Science Guy” to speak at UCF

Members of the UCF community will have an opportunity to spend “An Afternoon with Bill Nye” on March 15.

Nye is an author, engineer, educator and actor, popularly known for his 1990s TV show Bill Nye the Science

Guy. He uses his scientific experience and knowledge to cultivate young creative minds with his sense of humor

into gaining a better understanding of the technologic and innovative world around us. Nye’s latest book,

Unstoppable: Harnessing Science to Change the World, will be the subject of discussion and on sale at the

event. Tickets are required and available at no cost thanks to event sponsors. This event will take place in the

Pegasus Ballroom of the UCF Student Union at 3:00 p.m., with doors opening at 2:00 p.m. For more

information visit www.ucfglobalperspectives.org.

The IDS Office will provide one free ticket each to the first 40 students who ask for them in person during

business hours at our office in CB1-302.

02.

Environmental Studies student enrolled in Peter Jacques’ PUP 3204 Sustainability class submitted an essay to

the Carnegie Ethics contest and won First Price in the Undergraduate category – which is a really great

accomplishment. She wrote on taking urgent action to combat climate change. The essay is posted on the

Carnegie site: http://goo.gl/GXTvmr. Congratulations to Annabelle and all of you who are creating your

future now by pursuing your degrees and career plans.

Stay tuned at the end of the semester for more announcements - I am very excited to soon be able to introduce

you to two new full time faculty who will join IDS in August. We actually need your help in determining

who will be the best suited from among the final list of candidates. We will have candidates for lecturer in

Environmental Studies and lecturer in Interdisciplinary Studies on campus in the next few weeks and you are

invited to several opportunities to hear from and learn more about these excellent teachers. These are the

people who will teach you – and we really would like to know your feedback and impressions about the

candidates – so keep an eye out for the email announcements.

I wish everyone a fun spring break and look forward to seeing you at our events later in March or April.

Sincerely,

Dr. Schippert’s Remarks at the Performance of The Crossroads Project: Rising Tide at UCF 2-22-2016

The Office of Interdisciplinary Studies each year helps approximately 1600 students design and pursue

interdisciplinary bachelor degrees in order to help students prepare for careers or graduate school goals in an

increasingly complex world. Cooperation across units and disciplines – that is what IDS seeks to model and

help facilitate for our students and we are happy to support interdisciplinary cooperation across campus in

creating innovative learning opportunities.

The serious problems in our current world cannot be solved from within one discipline, but we need the

cooperation, collaboration, and synthesis of different disciplinary approaches. Researchers have known this

for a while and we increasingly find research drawing on multiple areas of expertise, working in teams, or

combining approaches to reach more complex conclusions.

As we will witness in the Crossroads Project’s performance, we need more than science, more than music,

more than art, in order to communicate the serious problem of climate change--we need these disciplines to

talk to each other, to pick up themes and translate them into a different language, form of expression,

different media. To create something new, something we did not know we could create or understand before

we tried. The result may allow us to hear, feel, see and understand the situation differently, in greater

complexity, with greater accuracy.

When students learn to ask questions from multiple perspectives, when researchers practice intellectual

humility in knowing that they will be smarter together with others, when university administrators know that

the arts and humanities are as essential to academic competence and responsible citizenship as science-

technology-engineering-and-math, when innovation is seriously embraced and risks are taken that include

creative and intellectual risks, then we may have a better chance to find some solutions to the many problems

we face and that we have collectively created.

So no matter if you or I

have a history of playing

well with others, we

better learn how to do it.

And quickly. The

Crossroads Project

performance tonight is

giving us a great example

of what that can sound

and look like. Thank you

for being here to share

this experience. Please

enjoy the Crossroads

Project Performance of

Rising Tide.

Meet Demi Simi, Writer and Summa cum Laude Graduate. Interdisciplinary Studies: Humanities, Behavioral & Social Sciences, minor in Human Communication

I am a writer who loves covering topics not mentioned in the mainstream media

outlets. I have a passion for exposing hidden knowledge, as well as doing research,

reading, studying and applying theories to real world phenomena, writing non-

fiction, publishing, and public speaking. Today we live in a world where many

individuals are reading less and relying more on the television, which has become

an extreme problem. I feel as if the mainstream media and several publishing

companies have indoctrinated many into believing what is not necessarily true. I

find the media very manipulative in convincing us to believe what they want us to

believe – withholding the real facts and preventing us from knowing the real truth.

With that in mind, I’ve co-authored and presented papers, at the National Communication Association Conference

and have been published in academic journals including the “Journal of Asian and African Studies” and “Africa

Review.” My interests include the intersection of cultures, and how one adapts to another.

It was an honor to receive the Top Paper Award for my article, War Rape Survivors of the Second Congo War: A

Perspective from Symbolic Convergence Theory (SCT), a paper that examined how Congolese women exposed to

the harsh realities of a war culture have been able to cope with the realities they’ve faced and “navigate” in today’s

society. I’ve also written and presented papers on Positive race relations through Cuban music: A perspective from

the Relational-Cultural Theory (RCT) and “Glocalization” of Subway in India: How a US giant has adapted in the

Asian subcontinent. The term glocalization refers to the premise that a universal concept must change to fit and

function in a local culture. It is the concept that a product or service is more likely to succeed when it is adapted to

fit within the culture of a local market.

In addition to writing, I work in the hospitality management industry and interact regularly with people from a wide

variety of cultures. This has given me insight into many of the topics I’ve researched and written about. IDS has

shaped my perspective in understanding and working with people from around the world, and the ability to

consider and offer interdisciplinary-oriented solutions to the challenges they face.

This is the fourth in a series of short articles featuring Interdisciplinary Studies students and graduates and the way they have

created their own path within the program. The three degree tracks and wide variety of course selections allow students to

pursue multiple interests.

/

There are as many different stories from our Interdisciplinary Studies graduates to

share as there are different combinations of programs offered---the number is almost

infinite. We are proud of our Interdisciplinary Studies graduates and are delighted to

share their diverse stories and career paths. Many continue on in graduate school, while

others are in professional positions and contribute to their field with a new

Interdisciplinary perspective. We share their stories here and at our website at

is.ucf.edu. Share your story with us by e-mail us at is@ucf.edu. We look forward to

hearing from you!

GRADUATION INFORMATION: It is THAT time of year again! Once Spring Break ends, it seems that graduation is just

around the corner! IDS Graduates, will you let the Office of Interdisciplinary Studies know what your post-graduation plans

are? Drop us an e-mail to share your plans, whether they are employment, graduate school, or professional school plans---we’d

love to hear about what’s next for you and to stay in touch to cheer you on in your future endeavors.

Students graduating with a Bachelor’s degree in IDS will graduate on Saturday, May 7 at 2:30 pm in UCF’s

CFE Arena. Be sure to order your cap & gown: Check your Knights e-mail for details.

Demi Simi: IDS Graduate

IDS SURVIVAL GUIDE

DATES TO REMEMBER: March/April/May 2016 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1 2 3 4 5 Spring 6 Spring 7 Spring 8 Spring 9 Spring 10 Spring 11 Spring 12

Break Break Break Break Break Break Break

13 Registration for Summer, Fall

2016 14

IDS Survival: Undergrad Research

CL-107 Noon

15

16 17 18 19

Bill Nye: 3 pm Student Union: Pegasus Ballroom

20 21 IDS Survival: Alumni Success

Stories 22

Grade Forgiveness

Deadline 23

24 25 26

CL-107 Noon

27 28 Lunch with Your

Dean 29 IDS lecture

series: Bringing soccer to Orlando

Phil Rawlins 30

31 April 1 2

CL-107 Noon

3 4 5 Founder’s Day Convocation

10 am Pegasus

Ballroom 6

7 8 9

10 11

12 13 14

15

16

17 18 19 20 21

22

23

24 25 Last day of

Classes 26 Study Day 27 Final Exams

28 Final

Exams 29 Final Exams

30

May 1 Final Exams 2 Final Exams 3 Final Exams 4 On-campus housing

closes 5

6 2:30 pm IDS Graduation

7

Join the Interdisciplinary

Studies Student Association

(ISSA) at its next upcoming

meeting. Check the website for

more information.

CONTACT US:

College of Undergraduate Studies

Office of Interdisciplinary Studies

Classroom Building 1, Suite 302

12601 Aquarius Agora Drive

P.O. Box 161998

Orlando, FL 32816-1998

Phone: (407) 823-0144

www.is.ucf.edu

“Like” us on

Facebook at

Interdisciplinary Studies @UCF to keep up with the current news

and events.

If you are a current student majoring in IDS, you might already know about the Survival Guide to IDS. It meets

weekly on Tuesdays from 12-1:20 in CL1-107, and has focused on particular aspects of advising, career and grad

school planning, resources, unique to our degree program. If you haven’t attended one of the meetings this semester,

you still have a few more opportunities. On March 15 we will feature Undergraduate Research and how you can get

involved. On March 22 we will hear from Alumni and others who talk about their IDS success stories. And for our

last meeting – and celebration - on March 29 we have lunch with the Dean – so join us for one or all of these sessions.