INTERDISCIPLINARY INITIATIVES
RESEARCH NETWORKS Through a $656,000 Title VI grant from the U.S. Department of Education, the National Foreign Language Center created a researchbased professional development program for world language teachers to bridge the gap between bestpractices research and the real-world needs and conditions of teachers.
ONGOING INITIATIVES Supported by a $1.2 million grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Maryland Institute of Technology in the Humanities is leading the second phase of Documenting the Now, a project to develop tools, course offerings and community-based workshops that support the ethical collection, use and preservation of social media and web archives. John Horty, professor of philosophy, is partnering with computer scientists to develop legal, regulatory and moral standards for the next generation of artificial intelligence (AI), like autonomous cars and even AI systems used in medicine and finance.
>> LOOKING FORWARD: Cecile Richards, former president of Planned Parenthood and cofounder of the women’s activist organization Supermajority, will share her thoughts on civic innovation as part of the 2019-20 Arts and Humanities Dean’s Lecture Series. “ Intentionally Digital, Intentionally Black,” the inaugural African American History, Culture, and Digital Humanities (AADHUM) Initiative conference, brought scholars, teachers, professionals, activists and community members together to challenge and expand digital humanities and black studies. >> LOOKING FORWARD: Supported by a $2 million grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, phase two of AADHUM will establish a long-term home for black digital studies at UMD through capacity-building and strategic partnerships.
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