Projects

Our reaction to the rapid rise of AI has been a mix of fear, awe, excitement, and anxiety, and Humanities Washington has asked four experts to go beyond the hype to have a casual conversation about humanity in the age of artificial intelligence. Co-created with Sarah Faulkner.

Explore the humanities (and your own mind) with this innotative seven week challenge designed as a moon-themed board game. Philosophy, history, and even a playlist for aliens. Co-created with David Haldeman.

A wave of new technologies could allow us to become smarter, calmer, happier—even more ethical. Gene editing, pharmaceuticals, and computer tissue implants could provide our brains with an upgrade. But is this the right direction for humanity?

A philosophy podcast based on the premise that we can do philosophy about any topic, big or small. 30 episodes on everything from ethics of gossip, to belief in ghosts, to technological utopianism. Co-created with Whitney Johnson. Funded by the Melvin Rader Grant from the UW Dept. of Philosophy.

Winner of the Schwartz Prize for Outstanding Humanities Program, Cabin Fever Questions launched in the earliest days of the COVID-19 pandemic, before Washington state was officiallly shut down. Big questions and insightful resources to help us reflect and connect.

Think & Drink event series in Seattle, Spokane, Tacoma, and Yakima, including: One Click Away: Hate and the Internet; Traditional Culture, Modern Tech; Is the Internet Making Us Miserable?; A Special Event with Nicholas Carr: What Our Smartphones are Doing to Our Minds

Designed $500k+ emergency pandemic relief grants for humanities and cultural organizations in Washington. Applicants received funding decision within 10 days of submission.

If journalism holds a mirror to society, the digital age is a funhouse—a disorienting series of fractured, distorted, and sometimes false reflections. Live event series in cities across Washington, including Jevin West, Kate Starbird, Joshua Johnson, and Doris Kearns Goodwin. Topics included: The Speed of Deceit: The New Era of Online Lies and Misinformation; Breaking News: The State of American Journalism; Red Feed, Blue Feed: What Our Echo Chambers Are Doing to Democracy.

Megan Torgerson’s podcast that aims to “cultivate curiosity and conversation across geographic, class & cultural divides” in rural PNW.

Seeking to bring diverse communities together to learn more about how groups shape place and build communities, Yesenia Navarrete Hunter’s series of events created cultural dialogue among the diverse communities in the Yakima Valley, inviting neighbors of all backgrounds to attend and participate. Event topics include “Quinceañera Dreamscapes and Desires,” “Songs over Sagebrush: Place-making and Poetry on the Yakama Reservation,” and “Que Cora La Voz: Spanish Radio in the Yakima Valley.”

Led by Taiko Aoki-Marcial and Cristina Sánchez-Martín, this project curated and shared “multilingual stories meaningful to the multilingual community members.” Taiko and Cristina allso developed culturally sustaining pedagogical practices and resources for adult (English) language and literacy education.

Kenji Linane-Booey’s podcast in which interviews a leader from the Inland Northwest, over one of their favorite meals—that he cooks for them.

Monica Cortés Viharo’s curriculum on modern issues of democraca for K12 teachers with accompanying slide deck presentations, activities, and a teaching guide in accordance with Washington State OSPI standards for Social Studies for teachers’ use, free of charge.

Avery Dame-Griff’s “independent community digital history project documenting pre-2010 LGBTQ digital spaces online.”