导演说明，2023年春季

亲爱的同事们,

作为卡恩研究所的长期支持者, I was pleased to step into the position as interim Director after Alex Keller moved into her role as interim Dean of the College at short notice. 对我来说, the Kahn is one of the 的地方s on campus where our aspirations for the liberal arts are most fully met, 能亲自回来真好, with project fellows in the same room at the same time. Given the hostility toward education 和 expertise that we see in the political realm these days, the ways in which Kahn projects foster intellectual community across disciplines represent important commitments not only to the liberal arts but also to academic solidarity.
 

否则, 在人员配置方面, we are happy to welcome Lauren Anderson as our new Publicity/Communications & 项目经理, who has already begun to revamp our visual imaging 和 communications (their tweet about Elisa Loncon’s visit had 29,500的点击率!). They encourage you to follow the Kahn on your preferred social channel(s)—LinkedIn, 脸谱网, Instagram, or 推特.

There are exciting projects to report on 和 look forward to. 健康 和 Medicine, Culture 和 Society: Crossroads in a Liberal Arts Education, organized by Suzanne Gottschang (Anthropology), 凯瑟琳·皮尔斯(艺术), 整个上学期都是这样, developing on work that Suzanne 和 Kathleen 和 a cohort of Smith 和 Five College faculty had begun in three prior short-term Kahns. The Kahn will host further discussions about the relations between science 和 the humanities in workshops later this semester. 我们一年的项目， Common Grounds: Toward (Re)Thinking Global Indigeneity, organized by Christen Mucher (American Studies), 和 Javier Puente (Latin American 和 Latino/a Studies), kicked the semester off with a spectacular presentation by Dr. Elisa london Antileo, 马普切澳门葡京博彩软件和活动家, 和 former president of the Chilean Constitutional Convention, who gave a first-h和 account of the work of the convention, 和 offered a richly intersectional account of indigenous struggles as they engage with capitalism, 支持和反对民主的力量, 女权主义和父权制.
 

There are two short-term projects coming up this semester. 什么是学术自由? 基本辩论和反思 2月27日和3月6日, organized by Justin Cammy (Jewish Studies) 和 the Committee on Academic Freedom (Shannon Audley, 尼古拉斯·豪, Mehammed麦克), will consider a topic that seems ever more important (see Hamline University’s recent crisis, 和, 好吧, 佛罗里达…). 在连接, invited guests Michael Bérubé 和 Jennifer Ruth will give a public lecture on March 6 on their book, It’s Not Free Speech: Race, Democracy, 和 the Future of Academic Freedom 下午4:30.m. 2011年12月. The seminar will also be joined by our UMass colleague, Daniel Gordon, author of 什么是学术自由? 一个世纪的争论，1915年至今.

介绍植物学人文学科, 莉莉·卡罗内(植物园), 科林·霍格(人类学), 是组织 Vegetal Forms: Knowing Time 和 Place through Plants Friday-Saturday, 4月7 - 8日, where fellows will consider what we might learn about time 和 的地方 by paying close attention to plant form, 和 stage a conversation about the role of noticing 和 description in the sciences 和 humanities. There will be a public event on April 7 featuring presentations by the 澳门葡京博彩软件 艺术博物馆’s visiting artist, Abdessamad El Montassir, whose work unearths buried histories of North Africa, 经常观察植物, 的地方, 和创伤, 和 Elaine Gan (Science 和 Society at Wesleyan), a scholar-artist engaged with relations among species, 机器, 和景观.

Continuing in the rich intellectual terrain at the intersection of the sciences, 社会科学与人文科学, 这学期的 尼尔森教授，安东尼·瑞恩·"托尼"·哈奇, begins his series of lectures on February 28 at 5 p.m. in the Klingenstein Browsing Room with “Intersectionality. 合作生产. 翻译. Three Keywords for Cultural Studies of 健康.” I know Tony is looking forward to opportunities to meeting faculty members to discuss the issues he is bringing to the table, 和 as head of the Science in Society Program at Wesleyan, 学科之间的关系. A call will also come out soon for nominations for a Neilson professor for fall of 2024; let me know if you are considering a nomination 和 have questions about the process.

明年, 我们一年的项目, 由洛丽塔·罗斯共同组织, 妇女与性别研究, 和安德里亚·斯通, 英语, is (Re)Visioning Human Rights, Democracy 和 the Liberal Arts. 在美国, 人权 education lags behind many other countries, 和 given struggles between authoritarianism 和民主 playing out globally 和 within the US, this project is a timely 和 exciting opportunity to think through the possible relations between liberal arts education, 人权, 和民主. The group will also consider the possibilities for establishing 人权 programming at Smith. 学生研究员申请截止 2月21日星期二, so if you know students for whom you think this is the right opportunity, 请指引他们到 卡恩研究所网站.

I’d love to hear from faculty members with ideas for short-term projects for next year, 和 short 和 long-term projects for 2024-25 和 thereafter. 这只是一种可能性, does anyone want to get a group of faculty together to think about the potential ramifications of AI (which seem to run from the utopian to the dystopian)?

Finally, keep an eye out for a Kahn Porch Party when the weather gets warmer. It’s the Kahn’s 25th anniversary—cause to celebrate!

真诚地,

弗雷泽病房