Abstract
Interdisciplinary learning does not just happen. One of the great challenges facing interdisciplinary programs is figuring out how to gain collective clarity around program identity (values, principles, and purpose) and make connections between mission-based curricular and co-curricular activities that support interdisciplinary learning for students. The EdD in Interdisciplinary Leadership Program at Creighton University has worked to develop a strategy for strengthening the role of interdisciplinarity both within and beyond the EdD program by establishing a local chapter of the Interdisciplinary Honor Society founded by the Association of Interdisciplinary Studies, Alpha Iota Sigma. This article focuses on the first steps of creating the chapter, as we document the process of making connections between the EdD program and the honor society, including a discussion of the findings from a quality improvement survey completed by some of the first honor society members on how the inaugural year of our membership in the organization helped support their interdisciplinary learning. The objective of this article is to aid interdisciplinary educators in enhancing the life-long interdisciplinary endeavor of their students and alumni by reviewing the scholarship on program identity and co-curricular offerings and by demonstrating the value of specific practices (such as joining the AIS Honor Society as we at Creighton did) that explicitly engage students in interdisciplinary learning outside the classroom.