{"681632":{"#nid":"681632","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Georgia Tech Event Explores Role of the Humanities in a Technology-Focused World","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EA few years ago, Carnegie Mellon University began offering courses on a single subject taught by an interdisciplinary roster of faculty members.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDuring one such \u201cGrand Challenges\u201d course on climate change, taught by an engineer, a rhetorician, and a politician, students concluded that it wasn\u2019t the science that was interesting, said Richard Scheines, dean of CMU\u2019s College of Humanities and Social Sciences.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThey could see that the action was really on the humanities and social science side,\u201d he said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EScheines spoke at \u201cThe Future of the Humanities at Georgia Tech: A Workshop,\u201d an event organized by liberal arts school chairs at Georgia Tech and held on April 4 at the Technology Square Research Building. The event explored ways leading universities, including Georgia Tech, are reshaping the humanities for our technological age.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EGeorgia Tech faculty presented some of their groundbreaking research. Meanwhile, scholars from CMU, MIT, the University of Texas-Austin, the University of Kansas, and Virginia Tech, alongside representatives from funders such as the American Council of Learned Societies and Schmidt Sciences, discussed ways to empower humanities and social science research.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe consensus? In an age of unparalleled anxiety about the accelerating march of technology \u2014 particularly artificial intelligence \u2014 finding ways to foster interdisciplinary collaboration intentionally is crucial. So, too, is the need to clearly articulate the inherent value of the humanities and social sciences and to help employers identify candidates with the right kinds of skills.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cStudents are told not to pursue a degree in English because it doesn\u0027t lead directly to a career. The humanities don\u0027t teach job readiness, they say. And that\u0027s fine. People are allowed to be wrong,\u201d said Allegra Smith, an assistant professor in the School of Literature, Media, and Communication.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EA key consideration in enhancing humanities and social sciences research and employment outcomes, panelists said, is ensuring buy-in from across campus for interdisciplinary research that recognizes the unique value humanities and social sciences scholars and graduates can bring.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EFor instance, MIT recently created a new humanities center after years of trying. Agustin Rayo Fierro, dean of MIT\u2019s School of Humanities, Arts, and Sciences, said the participation of MIT\u2019s engineering dean was crucial.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cForging a coalition with the other sides of the Institute really allowed us to do things at a scale that we could not have otherwise,\u201d he said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EThe center is hardly insular: staff intentionally reached out to faculty from across campus looking for potential connections. The result? An avalanche of 47 applications seeking $6.7 million in support against $2 million in available funding.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EAt CMU, Scheines\u2019 college is using seed grants to help faculty in STEM fields pair up with humanities and social sciences scholars who are \u201clooking for interesting problems to apply them to.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EPaul Quigley, director of the Center for Humanities at Virginia Tech, agreed that making humanities central to campus collaboration is key.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cOne of the things I think you can do is to make the humanities center... well known on campus as the place to come for people who are seeking collaborators,\u201d he said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EJames Shulman, vice president and chief operating officer of the American Council of Learned Societies, said he sees another avenue for success: finding ways to make universities increasingly relevant to the communities where they are located.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cUniversities embedded in their communities, and working with their communities, people are going to care, and employers are going to care,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd I that\u2019s where our clearest path to being valued again is.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EUltimately, helping faculty in the sciences and engineering, prospective students, and their parents understand the value of the humanities and social sciences is key, Smith said.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0022Most of it comes down to something that the humanities do best: changing narratives,\u201d Smith said.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u0022The Future of the Humanities at Georgia Tech: A Workshop\u201d explored ways leading universities, including Georgia Tech, are reshaping the humanities for our technological age.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"\u0022The Future of the Humanities at Georgia Tech: A Workshop\u201d explored ways leading universities, including Georgia Tech, are reshaping the humanities for our technological age."}],"uid":"34600","created_gmt":"2025-04-07 18:40:25","changed_gmt":"2025-04-07 20:46:40","author":"mpearson34","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","location":"Atlanta, GA","dateline":{"date":"2025-04-07T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2025-04-07T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"676782":{"id":"676782","type":"image","title":"humanities-event-image-rs2.jpg","body":"\u003Cp\u003ESpeakers from Georgia Tech and other leading universities spoke on the role of the humanities in an increasingly technology-focused world.\u003C\/p\u003E","created":"1744058736","gmt_created":"2025-04-07 20:45:36","changed":"1744058736","gmt_changed":"2025-04-07 20:45:36","alt":"Audience members listen to a presentation in an auditoriium.","file":{"fid":"260620","name":"humanities-event-image-rs2.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/2025\/04\/07\/humanities-event-image-rs2.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/2025\/04\/07\/humanities-event-image-rs2.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":359864,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/2025\/04\/07\/humanities-event-image-rs2.jpg?itok=4-BYhm_L"}}},"media_ids":["676782"],"groups":[{"id":"1281","name":"Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:michael.pearson@iac.gatech.edu\u0022\u003EMichael Pearson\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr\u003EIvan Allen College of Liberal Arts\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["michael.pearson@iac.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}