Disciplines have been central to the organization of academic life since the dawn of the modern university. They serve as communities for organizing the interrogation of knowledge, each making claims to expertise in a distinct approach or subject matter.

Yet many disciplines now seem to be destabilizing. The complexity of the world never fit into neat boxes, and there is an increasing recognition that major problems require interdisciplinary collaboration to tackle. Disciplinary coherence is also being challenged by constantly shifting border claims in knowledge production.

At the same time—and of chief concern for this essay as well as for those who value scholarship—some disciplines have become highly ideological, creating echo chambers that stall progress. This in turn has diminished the image of universities in the eyes of the general public, posing a profound political threat. Some disciplines have become, one might say, undisciplined—freely pronouncing on matters outside their putative field of expertise, or expanding their claims of special knowledge to match political exigencies.

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