IHUM: Alumni Colloquium

IHUM: Introduction to the Humanities Program

Stanford University

Alumni Colloquium

September 15th-16th, 2011

To celebrate the community of more than 200 fellows who have completed the IHUM Post-doctoral Fellowship program, our alumni are cordially invited to a reunion celebration and colloquium, September 15 –16, 2011 at Stanford. The program will highlight “Teaching Humanities for the 21st Century” and will promote conversation based on our common experiences that contributes to the national discussion of the future of humanities in higher education and society.

Thursday, September 15, 2011

IHUM POST-DOCTORAL FELLOWSHIP ALUMNI REUNION CELEBRATION
Reception at 5:30 PM

Welcome by
Harry J. Elam Jr.
Freeman-Thornton Vice Provost for Undergraduate Education
Olive H. Palmer Professor in Humanities
Director of IHUM 1997 – 2002

Friday, September 16, 2011

IHUM POST-DOCTORAL FELLOWSHIP ALUMNI REUNION COLLOQUIUM
“CONTINUING THE CONVERSATION: TEACHING HUMANITIES FOR THE 21ST CENTURY”

8:30 AM TO 6 PM
Mackenzie Room, 300 Huang Engineering Center, 475 Via Ortega, Stanford, CA

Campus Map

Continuing the Conversation: Teaching the Humanities for the 21st Century
Open to the public

Continental Breakfast will be available beginning at 8:30 am.Lunch will be served from noon to 1 pm

9 am to noon
Politics of Pedagogy: Public perceptions and support for humanities education: Magdalena Barrera (2005-08) and Andrew Jenks (2002-03)

Teaching in a Core Curriculum: the lessons of IHUM: Jennifer Barker (2005-08)
It’s All about Learning: An update on IHUM: Mariatte Denman (1997 – 2000) Ellen Woods (2005 – 2011)

1:30 pm to 4 pm

Eric Cline, Mark Graham and Alice Petty

How we write? Collaborative scholarship and the IHUM experience: Eric Cline (1997-98) and Mark Graham (2001-03), interviewed by Alice Petty (2006-09)

Interdisciplinarity in concept and practice: Andrew Mitchell (2004-07), Victoria Szabo (1999 – 2006), Kristi Wilson (1999-03) and Tomas Crowder-Taraborrelli (2005-08)

Many alumni fellows have demonstrated a continuing commitment to the spirit of interdisciplinary scholarship and teaching embodied in the IHUM curriculum. This session explores philosophical reflections on interdisciplinarity, the experiences of teaching an interdisciplinary humanities and arts agenda in a traditional research university, and the challenges to tradition created by a university wholly organized around an interdisciplinary educational philosophy. The conversation raises questions about the adaptability of institutions in response to new approaches to scholarship and teaching.

Andrew Mitchell (IHUM 2004 – 2007) approaches the topic of interdisciplinarity in terms of the spatial metaphors we use to talk about it. In reflecting on the notion of the ‘space between’ disciplines, he interrogates the hidden pre-suppositions in language. Is this a neutral space? How do we gain entry? What does this mean for humanities scholarship and teaching? How might interdisciplinary work challenge the organization of higher education institutions?

V. Szabo, A. Mitchell and K.Wilson

As a member of the department of art, art history and visual studies at Duke, as well as an affiliate of several other departments and programs, Victoria Szabo (IHUM 1999 – 2006) inhabits an institutional ‘space’ where digital humanities and new media intersect with art, history, cultural studies, literature, and computer science. She shares her experiences in devising new courses, curricula, projects, interdisciplinary “labs,” and a master’s degree program, all of which benefit from the administrative flexibility of being housed in non-discipline-based structures.

Kristi Wilson (1999-03) and Tomas Crowder-Taraborrelli (2005-08) bring to this conversation their experiences at Soka University where a distinctive interdisciplinary educational philosophy underlies the fundamental mission of the institution. How do faculty trained in established disciplines respond to this commitment to a student-centric, progressive approach in an environment that encourages student activism and full participation in shaping the curriculum? Kristi and Tomas discuss the tensions inherent in this unique place.

4 – 6 pm Reception
Closing Remarks: Russell A. Berman, Walter A. Haas Professor in the Humanities, Director of IHUM 2005 – present

With Jennifer Barker

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