- Tanner Humanities Center - The University of Utah

October 15, 2020

Fall 2020 Tanner Talk: Ruha Benjamin

Is code colorblind? Can artificial intelligence predict prejudice and prevent discrimination? How can technology companies protect human rights and promote equality?

To launch the Tanner Humanities Center's 2020-2021 series on "Technology and the Humanities," Ruha Benjamin joined Tanner Humanities Center Director Erika George for a Tanner Talk on the intersections of race, justice and technology.

November 12, 2020

Creativity & Wellness Town Hall with Kate Coles

Chaired by Professor Katharine Coles of the English Department, this Town Hall addressed how the arts help us transform difficult or traumatic experiences by providing measured spaces in which we can encounter, cultivate, deepen, and create meaning.

Panelists included: Tanesha Nicole Tyler (performance poet and activist), Kim Martinez (visual artist and activist), Dominica Greene (dancer), Nalini Nadkarni (tree biologist), Phillip Bimstein (composer and mindfulness teacher)

February 18, 2021

A Conversation with Martha S. Jones

“Black Americans and the Borders of Belonging”

Professor Martha S. Jones is the Society of Black Alumni Presidential Professor, and Professor of History at the SNF Agora Institute at The Johns Hopkins University. She is a legal and cultural historian whose work examines how black Americans have shaped the story of American democracy.

Professor Jones is the author of Vanguard: How Black Women Broke Barriers, Won the Vote, and Insisted on Equality for All (2020), selected as one of Time's 100 must-read books for 2020. Professor Jones is also author of All Bound Up Together: The Woman Question in African American Public Culture 1830-1900 (2007) and a coeditor of Toward an Intellectual History of Black Women (University of North Carolina Press (2015), together with many articles and essay.

March 4, 2021

Spring 2021 Tanner Talk: Safiya Noble

Dr. Safiya Umoja Noble is an Associate Professor at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in the Department of Information Studies where she serves as the Co-Founder and Co-Director of the UCLA Center for Critical Internet Inquiry (C2i2). She also holds appointments in African American Studies and Gender Studies. She is a Research Associate at the Oxford Internet Institute at the University of Oxford and has been appointed as a Commissioner on the Oxford Commission on AI & Good Governance (OxCAIGG).

April 8, 2021

#FreeTheHair: Black Beauty, Equity, Art & Expression

The Tanner Humanities Center and UMFA was thrilled to host Professor Wendy Greene in a virtual conversation with Director Erika George.

The topic discussed is at the nexus of equity and creative expression—the cultural significance of creating a respectful and open world for natural hair (the CROWN Act) and the artistry of African hair styles.

This event was presented in conjunction with Black Refractions: Highlights from The Studio Museum in Harlem.

Feb. - April 2021

Work in Progress Presentations

We were very lucky to host four incredible fellows during the 2020-21 academic year. Check out their Work in Progress presentations to learn more about their exciting new research.

Natalia Washington, Virgil D. Aldrich Faculty Research Fellow

Taylor Johnson, Graduate Research Fellow

Andrew Franta, Virgil D. Aldrich Faculty Research Fellow

Hannah Jung, Mormon Studies Fellow

Lectures and Conversations

Teacher Workshops

National Theatre Live

Carousel

Technology & AI Virtual Book Club - I , Robot

With Andrew Shephard

English faculty members Andrew Shephard and Jeremy Rosen who will run a bi-semester virtual book club on artificial intelligence, starting with I, Robot by Isaac Isamov and discussion led by Prof. Shephard.

When: October 29, 2020
Time: 7:00pm MDT
Location: Virtual

CLICK HERE FOR DETAILS AND REGISTRATION

Technology & AI Virtual Book Club - I , Robot

With Andrew Shephard

English faculty members Andrew Shephard and Jeremy Rosen who will run a bi-semester virtual book club on artificial intelligence, starting with I, Robot by Isaac Isamov and discussion led by Prof. Shephard.

When: October 29, 2020
Time: 7:00pm MDT
Location: Virtual

CLICK HERE FOR DETAILS AND REGISTRATION

Technology & AI Virtual Book Club - I , Robot

With Andrew Shephard

English faculty members Andrew Shephard and Jeremy Rosen who will run a bi-semester virtual book club on artificial intelligence, starting with I, Robot by Isaac Isamov and discussion led by Prof. Shephard.

When: October 29, 2020
Time: 7:00pm MDT
Location: Virtual

CLICK HERE FOR DETAILS AND REGISTRATION

RESEARCH

Fellowships

Work-in-Progress Presentations

Tanner Topics

Mission

The Tanner Humanities Center advances humanities exploration and engagement through academic research, educational enrichment, and public outreach. The activities reflect a vision of the humanities as not only relevant, stimulating, and cutting-edge, but also essential for developing critical thinking, tolerance, and respect on campus and in the community.

MORE ABOUT US

HUMANITIES IN THE MILITARY: A CONVERSATION WITH STACY BARE

A friend of the Tanner Humanities Center, Stacy Bare is a local writer, entrepreneur, well-being advocate, and veteran of the United States Army. He received a Bronze Star for his service in Iraq from 2006-07. Working at the intersection of outdoor recreation and health Bare co-founded the Great Outdoors Lab in 2014 and launched Adventure Not War in 2015. http://www.adventurenotwar.com/contact His work with veterans has earned him a National Geographic Adventurer of the Year Award.
CATCHING UP WITH FORMER FELLOW AND "SIGNATURE WOUNDS" AUTHOR, DAVID KIERAN

Professor David Kieran, author of, "Signature Wounds: The Cultural Politics of Mental Health During the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars," served as one of the Center's visiting fellows in 2015-2016.
SUPPORT THE TANNER HUMANITIES CENTER 2020

We at Tanner Humanities aim to learn to solve complex problems with creativity, make sense of cultural trends and changes, build our capacity for empathy and hope, cultivate connections to one another and our global community, and practice effective communication.