Events
4th MIT Global Humanities Initiative Conference on “STEMAH = The University of the Future” on November 20/21 (KST)
School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences
November 20-21, 2025
8:00 AM
INVITATION: Join us for the 4th MIT Global Humanities Initiative Conference on “STEMAH = The University of the Future” on November 20/21 (KST)
https://comparativeglobalhumanities.mit.edu/4th-annual-conference-2025/
Join the MIT Global Humanities Initiative (GHI) and Korea University to imagine what STEMAH could be and do and help build the basis for the new STEMAH pillar to add to GHI’s nine big-challenge research-and-action platforms!
Once upon a time the study of the natural, human, and social worlds we inhabit belonged to a unified pursuit of knowledge. The modern birthing of sciences and social sciences from the studia humaniora catalyzed the development of sophisticated and highly specialized disciplinary toolboxes that are vital to the functioning of our complex societies and institutions. Yet, in the face of daunting ecological, political, economic, social and biological global challenges we need to continue our bold disciplinary innovation, while also advancing it by recovering the cross-pollination across all knowledge fields. Together we need to prototype knowledge-to-action systems for social transformation that help us build the University of the Future—a space to produce STEMAH research and curricula oriented towards a compass of human flourishing and planetary stewardship, echoing stemma, our “family tree” of human knowledge.
Check out our Visual Abstract attached to get a sense of our scope, goals, and resonance with your interests.
The conference will be held over two days, in hybrid fashion, to allow more colleagues, students, and collaborators from around the world to join on zoom. Day 1 sessions are all open to the public; Day 2 sessions are reserved for members of the MIT Global Humanities Initiative.
Please register for the conference at this link:
Day1: https://korea-ac-kr.zoom.us/meeting/register/FyJYZEM4TEqI0A-nyFTqhA
Day2: https://korea-ac-kr.zoom.us/meeting/register/RTfKiwEcRY2lWEZh56f7Tw
When: November 20-22, 2025
Where: Korea University, Seoul (Hybrid)
Co-hosts: MIT Global Humanities Initiative/ Korea University Institute for Global Humanities Research and Collaboration/ Korea University Humanities Utmost Sharing System (HUSS)/ Korea University Institute for Sinographic Literatures and Philology
Program:
Day 1
08:30-09:30 Opening Ceremony
08:30-09:00
Opening Remarks
ㆍHyokkey Song (Head of Institute for Global Humanities Research and Collaboration, Korea University)
ㆍWiebke Denecke (Faculty Lead of the MIT Global Humanities Initiative)
ㆍByeongho Jung (Head of Humanities Utmost Sharing System, Korea University)
Welcoming Remarks
ㆍAgustin Rayo (Dean of School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences; Co-Chair of the MIT Human Insight Collaborative, MIT)
ㆍSeongtaek Yoon (Executive Vice President for Research, Korea University)
09:00-10:00
Keynote Speeches
ㆍFritz Breithaupt (Professor, Department of Francophone, Italian, and Germanic Studies, University of Pennsylvania, University of Pennsylvania)
“How to Tell Better Stories: Combining Science and Humanities Research”
ㆍDevdutt Pattanaik (Mythologist, writer, columnist, illustrator)
“Can Stem or AH Reduce Jealousy in the World?”
10:00-10:15 STEMAH: Convening and Converging our Disciplines for Human
Flourishing and Planetary Stewardship
ㆍWiebke Denecke (S. C. Fang Professor of Chinese Language and Culture; Professor of East Asian Literatures and Philosophies in the Literature Section, MIT)
10:15-11:15 LIGHTNING TALKS: Session 1
Digital Minds and Human Hearts: AI, Media, and Emotional Intelligence
ㆍPattie Maes (Germeshausen Professor of Media Arts and Sciences, MIT Media Lab) (virtual)
“Will AI Make Us Smarter or Just More Dependent?”
ㆍAnaïs Sieber (Ph.D. Student, Institute for Philosophy, University of Bonn)
“It Takes Time: On Intelligence and Computation”
ㆍMikael Jakobsson (Research Scientist, MIT Game Lab)
“Games as Gifts of Culture”
ㆍRichard Eberhardt (Program Manager, MIT Game Lab)
“Understanding the World through Games and Play”
*Open Discussion
11:15-11:30
Coffee Break
11:30-12:30 Session 2
From Language to Mind: Cognition, Perception, and Human Flourishing
ㆍMonojit Choudhury (Professor of Natural Language Processing, Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence) (virtual)
“AI and Culture – the Many Interactions”
ㆍEugene Chung (Associate Professor, Department of Linguistics, Korea University)
“Language, Empathy, and Flourishing in the Age of AI"
ㆍNancy Tsai (Postdoctoral Research Scholar, McGovern Institute for Brain Research, MIT)
“Stress and the Brain: Language and Perception”
ㆍSanghoun Song (Associate Professor, Department of Linguistics, Korea University) (virtual)
“The Stochastic Parrot Speaks Only English”
ㆍJonas Mago (Ph.D. Candidate, Integrative Program in Neuroscience, McGill University)
“Neuroscience of Human Flourishing”
ㆍJustus Wachs (Ph.D. Candidate, Integrative Program in Neuroscience, McGill University)
“Contemplative Learning for Human Flourishing”
*Open Discussion
12:30-14:00
Lunch
14:00-15:00 Session 3
Dialogues across the Humanities and the Sciences
ㆍShankar Raman (Professor, Literature Section, MIT) (virtual)
“Hamlet’s Dilemma”
ㆍMoritz Epple (Ph.D. Candidate, Center for Science and Thought, University of Bonn)
“Expanding Views on the Scientific Method”
ㆍChan Lee (Professor, Department of Philosophy, Korea University)
“Can the University Be Free from Money? Knowledge, Capital, and the Public Good”
ㆍRafal K. Stepien (Research Associate, Austrian Academy of Sciences) (virtual)
“Karma and the Ecology of Care”
ㆍCathy Wang (Assistant Professor, School of Foreign Languages and Cultures, Chongqing University)
“Cultivating a STEMAH Ecosystem: Buddhist Texts as Seeds & Disciplines as Landscapes”
ㆍAndreas Ohlemacher (Church Executive; Advisor for Ecumenical Theology, the German National Committee of the Lutheran World Federation)
“Interconfessional Consultations: Human Resources, Artificial Intelligence, and The Transcendent”
*Open Discussion
15:00-15:20
Coffee Break
15:20-16:20 Session 4
Life, Ecology, and Healing: Human and Planetary Wellbeing
15:20-16:20
ㆍMichael Stanley-Baker (Assistant Professor of History and Medical Humanities, Nanyang Technological University)
“Polyglot Asian Medicine: A Proof of Concept Website for Data Integration between Traditional and Modern Health Systems”
ㆍThomas Ryan (Assistant Professor, Department of Korean History, Korea University)
“The Cheju Uprising (4.3) as World Memory: Violence, Nature, and the Archive”
ㆍOr Porath (Assistant Professor, Department of East Asian Studies, Tel Aviv University) (virtual)
“Faith in Ruin: Buddhist Responses to Ecological Crisis”
ㆍHelen Shin (Associate Professor, College of Media & Communication, Korea University)
“Critical Unintelligence: Reframing Knowledge, Creativity, and Agency in the Age of Machine Learning”
ㆍSolmi Chung (Assistant Professor, Department of Sinographic Literatures, Korea University)
“Imagining the Beggar Ghost: Ritual, Calamity, and Poverty in Cultural Memory”
ㆍJohann Noh (Research Professor, Institute for Global Humanities Research and Collaboration, Korea University)
“Landscape of Mind: The Old Future of Environmental Understanding”
*Open Discussion
16:20-17:30 Roundtable: WHERE is the University of the Future?
16:20-17:30
ㆍMODERATOR: Wiebke Denecke (S. C. Fang Professor of Chinese Language and Culture; Professor of East Asian Literatures and Philosophies in the Literature Section, MIT)
ㆍYoungwoo Kwon (Professor, Department of Philosophy, Korea University)
ㆍHikyoung Lee (Dean of the College of Liberal Arts; Professor, Department of English Language and Literature, Korea University)
ㆍDevdutt Pattanaik (Mythologist, writer, columnist, illustrator)
ㆍHelen Shin (Associate Professor, College of Media & Communication, Korea University)
ㆍSangkee Song (Vice President for International Affairs; Professor, Department of Spanish Language & Literature, Korea University)
17:30-19:00
Dinner (by invitation only)
Day 2
(by invitation only)
08:30-10:00 Pillar & Project Reports
08:30-10:00
Pillar & Project Reports (pillar coordinators and project leaders only)
10:00-10:20
Coffee Break
10:20-15:30 Strategy and Planning Meetings (by invitation only)
10:20-10:30
Introduction to the KU Institute for Global Humanities Research and Collaboration
10:30-11:20
Tools for Human Flourishing (Contemplative Practices, Neuroscience & AI) and Traditional Medicines strategy meeting
11:20-12:10
Governance Pillar and Diplomacy projects planning meeting
12:10-12:40
Coffee & Snack Break
12:40-13:30
Public Literacies Hub Brainstorming
13:30-14:00
STEMAH Pillar Brainstorming (FOR ALL GHI MEMBERS & CONFERENCE GUESTS)
14:00-14:50
Atlas of Human Literatures strategy meeting (with World Poetries of the Neighborhood project)
14:50-15:40
Philology 2.0 2026 planning meeting (with LMU colleagues in Munich)
15:40-16:30 Concluding Plenary Session (in person only)
Day 3
Surprise Field Trip in the Seoul Area with a Cultural Heritage Tour Guide!