Seeing academic disciplines as brands

By Iain Woodhouse. I used to think that being in an academic discipline was like standing in the corner of a room. When you are in it you know you are and so does everyone else. But once you start to drift… it’s not so clear whether you are in or out. These days, in many areas of academic study, the important discussions are happening in the middle of the room, not the corners.
As a physicist who has worked in departments of physics, engineering, water resources and geography, I guess I’ve moved towards the middle of the room (at least the one I occupy). And as a consequence, I’m starting to notice that disciplines are more like brands than they are corners of the room.
I meet disciplinary devotees who like to display it on their (metaphorical) T-shirt, or as a badge, and some even have it tattooed on their chest, lest they forget, or worse, lest someone question their loyalty to the cause. The discomfort of straying from the security of the corner of the room makes these ‘brands’ all the more important. Now we can debate for hours what an academic discipline is, and how it may or may not be just like a ‘brand’, but that might be too tedious. Instead, let me simply list some properties of both. Read More...