Post Humanities and Public Life Conference reception is on Oct. 6
Submitted by Daniel Goldsmith and Sean Elliott, co-organizers of the Humanities and Public Life Conference.
After a 2-year Covid-induced hiatus, the Humanities and Public Life Conference was back in force this year from September 19-23. Our theme was Crisis, Conflict, and Resolution, and over the span of the strike-shortened week, over 2,000 students attended 20 different presentations.
Our presenters explored how humanities education can help to understand important and timely topics, such as the war in Ukraine, the ethics of listening to atrocity survivors, the frightening rise of white supremacist terrorism, the impact of climate change on mental health and much more.
This year, we also had a record number of professionals come to share their insights on how the questions and skills they learned in humanities courses fit into their work. Amongst others, a yoga teacher showed us how she uses the critical thinking skills she learned at Dawson to inspire her students, a multimillion-dollar real-estate developer explored how ethics informs and inspires his business decisions, and a psychologist shared how essential it is to understand the worldview underpinning the emerging phenomena of climate-anxiety. Our presenters helped students understand how what they are learning in their humanities courses factors into real-world situations.
Overall, we were reminded once again of the impact that humanities can have in helping us navigate a complex and often bewildering world. The skills students learn through critical thinking, worldviews, and ethics courses help to understand what’s at stake in conflicts, and the origins of crises, and open the imagination to seeing different possibilities of resolutions.
We would also like to express our thanks to the Dawson administration, FAMA, the theatre department, David Bannout, and Sarah de Guzman. Without your help, we would not have been able to offer our students such an enriching week!
Finally, we would like to invite the community to attend a reception for the conference (originally scheduled for Sept. 23) this Thursday, Oct. 6 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. in the CoLab. Refreshments will be served!
Thanks, and see you next year!
Daniel Goldsmith and Sean Elliott.
