[citation needed] Guided by the principle that interdisciplinarity "is a defining characteristic of contemporary art practice"[1] and "a necessary prerequisite for those artists who will shape the future of creative practice",[2] the artists who work in the Interdisciplinary Arts department investigate new terrain.
Interdisciplinary Arts was formulated in Chicago in 1976, by Suzanne Cohan-Lange, Jean Unsworth, and Rebecca Ruben.
It promotes the understanding of hand papermaking and the book arts as artistic media with applications in cultural discourse, community building, and collaborative practice.
[citation needed] In the 916 S. Wabash building are housed the departmental offices, faculty offices, conference room, lecture hall, two smart classrooms, large computer lab, three installation labs and the media equipment center.
The Center for Book and Paper Arts occupies the entire second floor of the historic Ludington Building at 1104 South Wabash and includes a papermaking studio, a letterpress facility, a bookbindery, a gallery, a smart classroom, a multi-purpose space for performance and lectures, a computer laboratory, a critique room, studio space for artists, a resource room, and offices for the staff.