Arts & Sciences Unveils Two Centers, Initiative
SPOKANE, Wash. – With a renewed focus on providing students with the powerful skills of hands-on research and humanities-based thinking, Gonzaga’s College of Arts and Sciences recently unveiled two new centers and an initiative.
Together, the Center for Undergraduate Research and Creative Inquiry, the Center for Public Humanities, and the Digital Humanities Initiative create opportunities for students and faculty to work together to investigate and address meaningful problems in our local and global communities,” said Elisabeth Mermann-Jozwiak, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.“They do so by encouraging best practices in research and by reaching out to the public as the College promotes humanities-based thinking.”
Katey Roden will serve as Gonzaga’s Visiting Scholar in Digital Humanities and will lead the Digital Humanities Initiative
The Digital Humanities Initiative, led by Katey Roden, Gonzaga’s Visiting Scholar in Digital Humanities, aims to leverage technology to increase knowledge and scholarship in the humanities among faculty and students. Its mission, rooted in Ignatian teaching, seeks to help students transition more from passive receivers of information to agents of change through reflection and action in a diverse public forum.
“It’s the intersection of humanities inquiry and digital technologies,” said Roden, an English scholar. “The humanities has always been interested in the ways in which individuals conceive of the self and interact with each other and the world around them. Digital humanities directly engages these essential questions.”
Gonzaga English Professor Brian Cooney is director of the new Center for Public Humanities. (Gonzaga photo)
The Center for Public Humanities, directed by English Professor Brian Cooney, will focus on veterans this year and in coming years – even as new themes are added. Upcoming events the center plans this academic year include public lectures by William D. Adams, chair of the National Endowment of the Humanities, and American novelist Tim O’Brien.
Adams will discuss his experiences as a Vietnam War veteran at 7:30 p.m., Nov. 14 in the Cataldo Hall Globe Room. O’Brien, best known for his powerful books inspired by his experiences in the Vietnam War, including “The Things They Carried” (1990), a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, will read from his work at 7:30 p.m., Feb. 6 in the Hemmingson Center Ballroom as part of the popular Gonzaga University Visiting Writers Series.
Professor Jeff Watson directs the Center for Undergraduate Research and Creative Inquiry. (GU photo)
The Center for Undergraduate Research and Creative Inquiry, directed by Jeff Watson, associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry, will promote and expand undergraduate research and creative inquiry opportunities. In addition, the center will assist departments with designing and incorporating research into curricula, provide a clearinghouse to fund research, and build awareness of the transformative educational experiences that occur through student-faculty research collaborations.