I originally picked up this book on the theory that I’d like to be a professor, so it couldn’t hurt to start thinking like one now. It turned out to be even more useful than that, though! The author interviewed peer reviewers from multiple disciplines: literature, philosophy, history, anthropology, political science and economics. She used these interviews to analyze differences in how they evaluated interdisciplinary projects, but also looked at the common understandings of “excellence,” “fairness” and other concepts that arose during the peer review process.
I found the book a particularly useful complement to our seminars. I’ve learned a lot about the perspectives of people from different disciplines as I’ve heard them comment on projects, but now I can articulate the differences between them. I’ll also definitely be referencing this as I apply to grants and fellowships, since I plan to be doing interdisciplinary work for a long time!
If you want to take a look, I’m leaving this one on my desk; just leave me a note if you borrow it.
