Last Friday, the Tech community gathered at The Historic Academy of Medicine Theater to observe the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Art’s annual “Humanizing STEM” event in the theater’s open auditorium. The event marked Ivan Allen College’s second “Humanizing STEM,” event with the goal of highlighting the importance of integrating liberal arts into science and technology.
The event marked the beginning of what the Interim Dean, Richard Utz, described as a “Year of Liberal Arts” at Tech. In TEDx-styled fashion, the event featured an array of high-profile guests spanning from nationally recognized speakers to leaders of Ivan Allen College’s various departments. Included among this group are Paula Tkac, Executive Vice President and Director of Research at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, James Grossman, Executive Director, of the American Historical Association and Laura Taylor, Chair and Professor at the School of Economics. In his opening remarks, Dean Utz emphasized the mission behind the event.
“Instead of a world shaped solely by technology, we envision one molded by the enduring humanistic and social values at the core of our college,” Utz said. “We call this progress with purpose. And that purpose is to serve humanity.”
The dean’s vision set the tone for the following presentations to ensue during the six-hour -long event. Here, speakers aimed to reframe the typical narrative that often prioritizes technological advancement over social progress.
Split into two sections, morning and afternoon, the event progressed in a TEDx-style format. The presentations provided niche insights into each individual’s disciplines and contributions toward a more humane or ethical approach to technology. Ranging from the ethics of artificial intelligence to the societal impacts of digital privacy laws, featured guests were seen to be picked from a myriad of different fields within the humanities.
Following the presentations, department heads from Ivan Allen College would further facilitate discussions with audience members. Resulting dialogues would work to further connect a speaker’s topic to real-world applications on campus.
Between sessions, an intermission was observed for audiences and guests. Here, attendees could engage directly with speakers and others alike to explore topics in a smaller, more personable setting.
Participants appreciated the personalized approach. Victor Wang, a first-year ECON, shared his intrigue regarding the event.
“It’s one thing to hear about the importance of ethical considerations in tech, but it’s another to discuss and challenge these ideas among peers and experts,” he stated. “I just recently found out about the event, but I’m happy I did,” Wang said.
This event is just the beginning of a year-long initiative to recognize and integrate liberal arts at Tech. Dean Utz also outlined Ivan Allen College’s calendar, which is filled with various activities designed to deepen liberal arts into the lives of students and faculty on campus.
“Humanizing STEM is only the launch event,” Dean Utz said. “Thus, the event ushers in an entire Year of the Liberal Arts, during which various speakers, workshops, readings, and performances will offer evidence of the humanizing power of the Ivan Allen College on our campus.”
In the future, Dean Utz hopes to expand upon Ivan Allen College’s “Humanizing STEM” event.
“Next year, I hope we can turn the topic into a national conference with multiple sections and speakers from around the country and the world,” he concluded. “Making GT one of the top universities at which this central topic is being discussed and from which innovative examples of the integration of the humanities, social sciences, and STEM disciplines will hail.”
As the Ivan Allen College continues to make strides on campus in bridging the divide between the two disciplines. Department heads and leaders work to encourage students to get more involved with their mission.
“We deepen STEM students’ understanding of complex equations by asking them to perform them on stage; we probe the myriad roles of the human voice in music, marketing, culture, medicine, and technology; and we’re finding ways to mesh human creativity and technology, as when we recently staged the world’s first collaborative AI dance performance,” Utz said.
Here, Ivan Allen College works not only to redefine how STEM and the liberal arts coalesce but also to create more compassionate and socially conscious engineers and scientists on Tech’s campus.
The full “Humanizing STEM” event will be posted on YouTube and featured on the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts webpage.