Editor's Corner: Insights from the Arts

• Author: Tonia Hap Murphy
• Date: 01 June 2012
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-1722.2012.01103.x
• Published date: 01 June 2012

Editor’s Corner: Insights from the

Arts

There is much talk in academia of interdisciplinarity. Experts urge integra-

tion of the business fields or of business and nonbusiness disciplines, both in

research and in the classroom.1In the first article in this issue of the Journal

of Legal Studies Education (JLSE), Professors Sandra Miller and Larry DiMatteo

suggest using resources from the humanities and social sciences in a legal

studies course to engage students, broaden their perspectives, enhance un-

derstanding of policy underlying the law, and develop critical thinking skills.

Miller and DiMatteo recommend specific resources, including novels and

films such as The Help,2and methods for integrating them into an existing

course.

1See, e.g., Anne Colby et al., Rethinking Undergraduate Business Education: Lib-

eral Learning for the Profession 6 (2011) (“[S]tudents must come to see how

and why the perspectives of the arts and sciences disciplines open up and provide

insight into matters of concern to them.”); AACSB Int’l, Eligibility Procedures

and Accreditation Standards for Business Accreditation 22 (2012), available at

http://www.aacsb.edu/accreditation/standards-busn-jan2012.pdf (“Many of the major issues

that are the subject of faculty inquiry and subsequent intellectual contributions require

cross-disciplinary approaches and perspectives.”); John Allison, The Role of Legal Scholarship

in the Business School,10J. Legal Stud. Educ. 131 (1992) (describing how legal research

complements other business school research and noting that law scholars draw from other

disciplines, including economics, behavioral sciences, and history); Arthur A. Boni et al.,

Innovation in an Academic Setting: Designing and Leading a Business Through Market-Focused, Inter-

disciplinary Teams,8Acad. Mgmt. Learning & Educ. 407, 410 (2009) (“[D]iversity of per-

spective brings with it the opportunity for unique combinations of knowledge that could

not have occurred separately.”); William P. Cordeiro & Dennis Muraoka, An Approach to In-

terdisciplinary Curriculum for a School of Business and Economics,10Rev. Bus. Res. 115 (2010);

Sandra J. Smith Ducoffe et al., Interdisciplinary, Team-Taught, Undergraduate Business Courses:

The Impact of Integration,30J. Mgmt. Educ. 276 (2006); Neil H. Buchanan, Why Interdisci-

plinary Legal Scholarship Is Good for the Law, the Academy, and Society at Large,Verdict, Jan. 19,

2012, http://verdict.justia.com/2012/01/19/why-interdisciplinary-legal-scholarship-is-good-for

-the-law-the-academy-and-society-at-large.

2Kathryn Stockett, The Help (2009); The Help (Touchstone Pictures & DreamWorks, 2011).

C2012 The Author

Journal of Legal Studies Education C2012 Academy of Legal Studies in Business

v