Upon Request: A Statement of Study

“A clear defensible statement of goals explaining why such goals can be best met through interdisciplinary means.”

The greatest value I hold to my education is illicit in questioning. At the discursive depth of my scholarship, I credit my understanding to the retorts I make to the prompts of my professors. As the countdown toward graduation begins I will pivot from my position at Appalachian State University to the plot of my profession, and the most nerve I have to my next move is the fact that I will move away from the environment of questioning. Therefore, my goal in declaring Interdisciplinary Studies as my major is to develop the equipment I need to not only articulate the questions that arise out of instinct, but also illuminate the questions hidden in front of me (in newspapers, journals, conversations, etc…).

The interdisciplinary studies major is a mindful way to relieve the tension felt between two, three, four, or a hundred distinct sources of knowledge. Regarding my specific tension, my readings on foreign affairs, declassified CIA analyses on the use of torture, the regiment, treatment, and general regard for the vineyard and its wine, and the extreme measures a man uses when the cogs of history are hardest to stop are as distinct as they are numerous. The specific tension embedded in reading about Osama Bin Laden while relating to a passage about biodynamic viticulture instigated my declaration of major in this program.

On the fuller side of my thesis, I realize the tension that held my mind in contesting dissatisfaction came from a collection of narratives—some in which were recognized with a traditional academic integrity (political science), and others were not (relationships with refugees). In this regard, the interdisciplinary program allows for a larger and deeper analysis to take place between traditional and non-traditional forms of knowledge and thus instigate an interesting relationship with and responsibility for the environment at large. It stems from a personal dissatisfaction with the strength of a lens or the range of motion allowed of a scope, and indeed any package that claims viticulture and terrorism requires flexibility.

As case studies, oenology and international security operate within unique modes of culture, technology, history, economics, and goals. Both realms of research began in respect to the raw capacity of each to sustain itself, all the while maintain and true the efforts made by predecessors. By every account, the security of both vineyards and political relationships require a myriad of adaptations to be sustainable. Sustainability works to ensure the viability of all life forces amidst parasites and improvised explosive devices. Charting the patterns and unique instances of societies in reorganization became a kind of obsession.

The core curriculum required of the major as well as the curriculum I charted for myself placed me in an environment that allowed me both to indulge the curiosity of my superiors and to indulge my own. Within this attractive framework, I received coalmines of resources, wells of passion, and barns of advice. The orientation, direction, and degree of self-discipline of which this program generally entailed and my research specifically demanded equipped me with the means to further self-enrichment when I no longer enjoy a classroom setting.