Page 5 - Inroads Dec 1, 2016

December 1, 2016 Features Page 5

Dr. Robert Dupont

Without the help and cooperation of UNO faculty, our program could not hope to succeed. IDS Faculty Associates
provide that support, though most IDS students don’t know they exist or who they are. This series introduces a
different Faculty Associate each month. They are a diverse group who contribute a treasure trove of knowledge and
experience to the university and the IDS program.

If anyone knows and appreciates the history of Interdisciplinary Studies at the
University of New Orleans, it’s Dr. Robert Dupont, Chair of the Department of His-
tory and Philosophy.
Dupont’s career as an historian began, in his words, “somewhat accidentally.”
The New Orleans native earned his bachelor’s degree in history from Loyola Uni-
versity, which “had a good program” that served as a “good prep for foreign service,”
Dupont’s interest at the time. He went on to earn master’s degrees in history and
public administration from UNO and his Ph.D. in history from LSU.
For many years during the 1990s and 2000s, Dupont worked in administration
at UNO as the Dean of Metropolitan College (phased out after Hurricane Katrina)
and Vice Chancellor for Budget and Planning. As Dean, he oversaw the IDS pre-
cursor, General Studies. He’s seen many changes in the degree program over the
Robert Dupont, Ph.D. years-including its name-but he’s also seen some of the most fundamental and

important things remain the same.
The BGS/IDS program always has been quite strong, according to Dupont. Inherent in that strength is “the
extraordinary level of service and care [IDS] gives to students,” especially students who don’t have “very, very
specific career goals or paths of education.” Dupont recalls reading an IDS capstone paper, entitled “Fifteen Years
A Student.” In it, the student described “fifteen years of struggle and being so grateful to find Interdisciplinary
Studies.” That story “epitomized the service provided by BGS/IDS, which seems to be concentrated in the ethic
of the department and its personnel,” Dupont says. “The central goal has remained intact, and it is absolutely
cruicial.”
So what has changed? The IDS program, according to Dupont, has “taken on the trappings of a regular
degree program. The people who run it are more attuned to the literature and what their colleagues are doing.
The program has beome more professional.” By “trappings” he means IDS-specific courses, including 3001 (In-
troduction to IDS), 3096 (IDS Internship) and 4091 (IDS Capstone). But he belieives it is equally important that
IDS students continue to take courses offered in departments outside of IDS.
“I don’t think you’d want a separate IDS curriculum,” says Dupont. “That would defeat the purpose.”
Faculty Associates, Dupont explains, play crucial roles in maintaining connections between IDS and other
departments. They also provide a jury, for accreditation purposes, that attests to the effectiveness of the IDS
program.
A true historian, Dr. Dupont places a high value on the IDS capstone which “enables students to pause and
reflect on what they’ve done.” We might add that it offers IDS students an opportunity to reflect on the dedication
and hard work of professors like Dr. Robert Dupont and the value they add to IDS degrees.