AIS FACT SHEET
The Association for Integrative Studies is an international professional association for interdisciplinary teachers, scholars, and researchers. The use of "integrative" in its name emphasizes the key feature of interdisciplinary activity, namely the integration of narrow disciplinary perspectives into a larger, more encompassing perspective. AIS serves as an organized professional voice and source of information on integrative approaches to the discovery, transmission, and application of knowledge.
ESTABLISHED: The Association for Integrative Studies was founded in 1979.
MEMBERSHIP: The AIS membership database includes more than 1,500 members, past and present, predominantly representing colleges and universities throughout the East, Midwest, South, and West in the United States. The Association’s global sweep is well represented by memberships in Australia, Canada, The Netherlands, and The United Kingdom, as well as other nations.
CONFERENCES: AIS holds an annual fall conference, hosted by one of its member institutions. The conferences attract teachers, administrators, graduate students, and independent scholars with a keen interest in developing research and instruction in interdisciplinary studies. Sessions cover a wide range of topics, and attendees have the opportunity to network and share viewpoints in an atmosphere of mutual respect, interest and encouragement, In 2008, the 30th anniversary conference was hosted by the University of Illinois at Springfield. In 2009, the AIS conference will be hosted by the University of Alabama and New College, October 8-11, in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Future conferences will be hosted by San Diego State University (2010); Grand Valley State University (in Grand Rapids, Michigan, 2011); and Virginia Tech (Blacksburg, Virginia, 2012).
PUBLICATIONS: AIS publishes the refereed annual journal Issues in Integrative Studies, and the quarterly AIS Newsletter. It has published the Interdisciplinary Undergraduate Programs: A Directory (2nd ed., 1996), and the online Master’s Program Directory and Doctoral Program Directory (AIS website). In recent years, AIS has sponsored the publication of the textbook, Interdisciplinary Research: Process and Theory, by Allen Repko, (2008), and The Politics of Interdisciplinary Studies: Essays on Transformations in American Undergraduate Programs, Tanya Augsburg and Stuart Henry, eds., (2009).
AFFILIATIONS: AIS is affiliated with the Association of American Colleges & Universities and the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and has held joint conferences with the American Association for Higher Education (AAHE), the Association for General and Liberal Studies (AGLS), and the Society for Values in Higher Education (SVHE). In 1990, AIS worked cooperatively with the Society for Values in Higher Education on the Interdisciplinary Studies Task Force of the AAC's Study-in-Depth Project. In 2009, AIS is an Academic Partner for the AAC&U’S Network for Academic Renewal Conference October 22-24, 2009, in Atlanta, Georgia.
STRUCTURE: AIS is a 501(c)(3) corporation, incorporated as a non-profit educational association in the state of Ohio.
CONTACTS:
The Executive Director of The Association for Integrative Studies
is:
Western College Program
Miami University, Oxford, OH 45056
Office: (513) 529-2213. Fax: (513) 529-5849
E-mail: Newellwh@muohio.edu
The AIS Office Manager is:
The Association for Integrative Studies
Western College Program
Miami University, Oxford, OH 45056
Office: (513) 529-2659. Fax: (513) 529-5849
E-mail: coxpa@muohio.edu
The AIS Conference Liaison is: Associate Professor of German and Interdisciplinary Studies
Department of Classical and Modern Languages, Literatures, and Cultures
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences
Wayne State University
Detroit, Michigan 48202
Office: (313) 577-6566
E-mail: roslyn.schindler@wayne.edu