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Interview Insights: Discussions with Jonathon Catlin, A Graduate Student

In the spring term, our blog series will feature interviews with graduate students from their respective departments at Princeton University. These students may be current graduate students or alumni who completed their undergraduate studies at Princeton.

Interview Insights: Discussing with Jonathon Catlin, a recent Graduate Student
Interview Insights: Discussing with Jonathon Catlin, a recent Graduate Student

Interview Insights: Discussions with Jonathon Catlin, A Graduate Student

Princeton History Graduate Student Discusses Transitioning from Interdisciplinary Background to Single-Discipline Focus

Jonathon Catlin, a second-year Ph.D. student in the Department of History at Princeton University, is currently immersed in a project that he never anticipated would consume eight years of his academic career. His research focuses on intellectual responses to the Holocaust, a topic that he finds both challenging and rewarding.

Before joining Princeton, Catlin earned his B.A. from the University of Chicago and his M.A. in philosophy from KU Leuven in Belgium. His interdisciplinary research background provided him with broad perspectives and critical thinking skills, but he found that transitioning to a single-discipline focus in graduate school offered unique benefits.

Focusing on a single discipline, especially in a field like History, enables deeper, more specialized knowledge and methodological rigor that may be harder to achieve in interdisciplinary settings. This focused expertise is often required for contributing original and detailed scholarship in a traditional academic discipline.

At the same time, an interdisciplinary background can be valuable in addressing complex problems or novel research questions. It provides the ability to integrate diverse methodologies and fields, which can be a valuable asset in academia.

Transitioning to a focused discipline might offer benefits such as clearer academic identity and alignment with the expectations of disciplinary faculty and scholarly communities. This alignment can facilitate mentoring, networking, and career opportunities in that discipline.

Catlin's transition to a single-discipline focus was facilitated by his adviser at Princeton, Anson Rabinbach. He chose Princeton due to its faculty and the small, interdisciplinary nature of the graduate program.

Despite being in a discipline like history, which is often considered elitist due to its focus on published sources and elite intellectual figures, Catlin finds that being in a discipline improves his work and makes it more accessible to a wider audience. Intellectual history, in particular, aims to make abstruse philosophy presentable and accessible.

One of the main challenges in intellectual history is that most of the figures worked on are dead white men. However, Catlin notes that many of these figures were interested in social questions beyond just the intellectual sphere. He also finds that being at Princeton has allowed him to take courses in other disciplines and at other universities, without encountering any red tape.

Catlin's dissertation is on the concept of catastrophe in modern European thought. He regrets not doing enough serious language work in undergrad, particularly in German, but he is grateful for the opportunities he has had at Princeton to pursue his research interests.

In conclusion, while an interdisciplinary background can provide valuable skills and perspectives, transitioning to a single-discipline focus in graduate school can offer benefits such as deeper expertise, clearer academic identity, and better alignment with the expectations of disciplinary faculty and scholarly communities. This transition can balance the broad analytical and integrative skills gained interdisciplinarily with depth in one area, potentially strengthening one’s research, teaching, and professional credentials in academia.

[1] Interdisciplinary vs. Single-Discipline Scholarship: Pros and Cons [2] The Benefits of an Interdisciplinary Education [3] The Case for Interdisciplinary Education [4] Interdisciplinary Research: A New Approach to Complex Problems

The senior thesis in Catlin's graduate education at Princeton University is a testament to the benefits of transitioning from an interdisciplinary background to a single-discipline focus, as it allows for a deeper, more specialized knowledge in education-and-self-development. His previous interdisciplinary studies provided him with broad perspectives, but the focused expertise he gained in history enabled him to contribute original and detailed scholarship in academia.

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