After a long hiatus, I am resuming this blog. The reasons for leaving off had to do with a combination of factors – other priorities and technical issues related to falling behind on updating the WordPress.org software.

Updating a really out of date installation (2-point-something to 4.3.1) proved to be less daunting than some sites suggested – including advice to upgrade to an intermediate version before another upgrade to the current one. What I found was that by following the steps for manually updating outlined on the WordPress Codex site, the whole process took around an hour.

Earlier this year I did a brief experiment with reviving the blog on donosborn.WordPress.com, an account established some years ago but never previously used. Despite the convenience of using that service, however, I found I preferred to manage the blog on my own site.

This blog will continue on the same areas (see “Categories” on the right), with an additional focus on policy and planning. Also, the agriculture category does cover food as well (although I may not change the category name).

Finally, with this blog live and again browsable and searchable, I was curious to see who else was using the term “multidisciplinary perspectives” and how. I don’t recall having done this before choosing the name for this blog – it just seemed appropriate, even if a bit generic. It turns out that quite a number of scholars from diverse fields have used this term in titles of articles and books, since at least the early 1980s but much more frequently in the last 5-10 years, certainly reflecting the growing importance of interdisciplinary collaboration. A list (alphabetical by title) of some of those titles follows to give an idea of the range and evident popularity of use:

• Altering Consciousness: Multidisciplinary Perspectives, Etzel Cardeña and Michael Winkelman, eds. (Praeger, 2011)
• China’s Domestic Private Firms: Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Management and Performance, Anne S. Tsui, et al, eds. (M.E. Sharpe, 2006)
• Climate Change and Displacement: Multidisciplinary Perspectives, Jane McAdam, ed. (Hart Publishing, 2010)
• Cognitive Fatigue: Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Current Research and Future Applications, Phillip L. Ackerman, ed. (APA, 2011)
• Gender Relations in Cameroon: Multidisciplinary Perspectives, Emmanuel Yenshu Vubo (African Books Collective, 2012)
• Handbook of Father Involvement: Multidisciplinary Perspectives, Catherine S. Tamis-LeMonda and Natasha Cabrera, eds. (Taylor & Francis, 2002)
• Identity and Migration in Europe: Multidisciplinary Perspectives, MariaCaterina La Barbera, ed. (Springer, 2014)
• Language and Communication in Old Age: Multidisciplinary Perspectives, Heidi Ehernberger Hamilton (Routledge, 1999)
• Leadership: Multidisciplinary Perspectives, Barbara Kellerman, ed. (Pearson, 1983)
• Medicine and Health in Africa: Multidisciplinary Perspectives, Paula Viterbo and Kalala Ngalamulume, eds. (Lit Verlag, 2010)
• Multidisciplinary Perspectives in Cryptology and Information Security, Sattar B. Sadkhan Al Maliky and Nidaa A. Abbas, eds. (IGI Global, 2014)
• Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Education, Hasan Arslan, et al, eds. (Cambridge Scholars, 2014)
• Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Family Violence, Renate C.A. Klein, ed. (Routledge, 1998)
• Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Literacy Research, 2nd edition, Richard Beach and Judith Green, eds. (Hampton, 2005; originally published in 1992)
• Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Overcoming the African Predicament, Anthony O. Agwuele, et al, eds. (Mediateam IT, 2011)
• Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Peace and Conflict: A View From Europe, Francisco Ferrándiz and Antonius C.G.M. Robben (Bilbao University of Deutso, 2007)
• Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Population and Conflict, Nazli Choucri, (Syracuse University Press, 1984)
• Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Telecommunications, Wireless Systems, and Mobile Computing, Wen-Chen Hu (IGI Global, 2013)
• Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Urban Resilience, Lorenzo Chelleri and Marta Olazabal, eds. (BC3/Basque Centre for Climate Change, 2012)
• Political and Civic Engagement: Multidisciplinary Perspectives, Martyn Barrett and Bruna Zani, eds. (Routledge, 2014)
• Readings in Environmental Ethics: Multidisciplinary Perspectives, Dinesh C. Srinastava, ed. (Rawat Publications, 2005)
• Reflective Practice: International and Multidisciplinary Perspectives (academic journal begun in 2000)
• Seeking Real Truths: Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Machiavelli, Patricial Vilches and Gerald Seaman, eds. (Brill, 2007)
• The Faces of Terrorism: Multidisciplinary Perspectives, David Canter, ed. (Wiley, 2010)
• Uncertainty and Risk: Multidisciplinary Perspectives, Gabriele Bammer and Michael Smithson, eds. (Earthscan/Routledge, 2008)
• Violence in the Home: Multidisciplinary Perspectives, Karel Kurst-Swanger and Jacqueline L. Petcosky (OUP, 2003)
• Web Search: Multidisciplinary Perspectives, Amanda Spink and Michael Zimmer, eds. (Springer, 2008)