As we come to the close of another year in our College of Liberal Arts, I want to take a moment to reflect on the remarkable progress our college has made related to reorganization.

Although clearly not an easy or quick process, this year in many ways has brought us closer as a community, emphasizing the importance of collaboration and learning about our various areas of expertise across the college. As we begin the engaged portion of our college strategic planning process in the spring, the perspectives of our faculty, staff, and students will be the primary driver of our college's goals and priorities. 

Our commitment to shared governance remains at the heart of our decision-making process and I hope to continue fostering an environment where more voices are heard. 

Our commitment to shared governance remains at the heart of our decision-making process, and I hope to continue fostering an environment where more voices are heard.

I am eager to collect insights from a broader range of faculty, staff, and students beyond our traditional faculty meetings, staff meetings, and emails. By participating in these discussions with a range of groups and utilizing new platforms, we can promote a more nuanced and richer exchange.

Discussion was especially important this semester, and will continue into the coming years, as we grapple with the implications of artificial intelligence (AI) in academia. While some view AI as a revolutionary tool for education, many others have expressed concern over its impact on the learning experience.

While we consider our approach to AI integration, we will acknowledge that while these technologies offer efficiency, they should never replace the critical, human-centered inquiry that defines the liberal arts. Faculty and students have shared their fear that reliance on AI will compromise the integrity of higher education by discouraging critical engagement and diminishing the value of traditional rigorous scholarship. I am sympathetic with this concern and look forward to working together to galvanize our already considerable strengths in these areas.

Furthermore, the rapid integration of AI into academic frameworks has ignited debates regarding its implications for the humanities and the future of learning itself. The commodification of learning raises ethical questions about the degree to which educational institutions prioritize profitability over learning experiences.

Critics, and I count myself as one, write that such partnerships often result in a superficial approach to education, threatening to reduce the university’s mission to credentialism. Although I believe we need to be proactive in our approach to integrated AI into our curriculum, I have recently completed an article on the subject of this double bind — the awareness that our courses ought to foster engaged critical thinking and civic engagement, and the pressure to rebrand liberal arts courses as remedies for achievement gaps in marketable skills.

The discourse around the role of AI in education will continue to be incredibly important for our college to consider as we navigate the direction we will take. But as always, we’re up for the challenge, and I look forward to the continued discussion. 

 
— Kelly Norris Martin, Ph.D., Dean of the RIT College of Liberal Arts 

Nineteen state-of-the-art labs will advance research in cognitive science, artificial intelligence, advanced manufacturing, and more in RIT’s new Research Building that officially opened its doors recently.

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RIT and Gallaudet University are partnering on a $4.5 million National Science Foundation grant focused on developing AI that can be used by everyone. Some members of the project include, from top, Angelique Armstrong, project coordinator at RIT; Charmaine Mendonsa project coordinator at Gallaudet; Esa Rantanen, RIT associate professor; Cecilia Alm, RIT professor; Christian Vogler, Gallaudet professor; Raja Kushalnagar, Gallaudet professor; Jamison Heard, RIT assistant professor.

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What's law school really like? What kind of impact can you have once you're equipped with a J.D.? What are the ethical implications of data reliability disruptions and AI in today's legal and governmental affairs? RIT Alumni Kathi Wescott ('91), Deputy General Counsel and Senior Director of Legal Affairs at The Pew Charitable Trusts and Board of Directors Member at the Council on Criminal Justice offered straight talk and inspiring perspectives earlier this semester at the College of Liberal Arts.

Studying animals can be otterly, err utterly adorable. The ManyOtters project, led by professor Caroline DeLong, connects researchers from across the nation to study the cognitive abilities of otters. This scientific (and cute) collaboration expands the pool of research participants beyond Seneca Park Zoom and enables more precise conclusions for comparative analysis. 

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RIT’s Cultural Heritage Imaging lab, run by experts from two thriving programs at RIT—imaging science and museum studies, using funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities, developed a relatively low-cost system that makes cultural heritage imaging methods more accessible. The team officially launched Multispectral Imaging System for Historic Artifacts (MISHA) in 2024 with the release of the system and its open-source software. Since then, MISHA has visited institutions across the globe, like the United States Library of Congress, the Museum of Modern Art, University of São Paulo, and Bibliothèque nationale de France.

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Typewriters made an impression on Professor Schlomb’s Information Revolution students! The class responded to T.S. Mullaney’s “Typing Is Dead,” 2021 by experimenting with several mechanical and electric typewriters.

Models that typed the Latin alphabet were compared to rarer Hebrew and Cyrillic machines. The Cary, Shani Avni, Amelia Fontanel, James Grieshaber, Corinna Schlombs, and a student from the class lent their typewriters for experimentation.

An internship in L.A. curating exhibits of skateboard art and mingling with pro skaters. A social change study abroad experience in Copenhagen learning about immigration, unhoused populations, and policies that affect them. Discussing artificial neuronetworks, AI policy, and Bletchley Park code breaking while studying in London.

At the Humanities, Computing, and Design (HCD) Co-Op Symposium earlier this semester, students shared highlights from their recent summer experiential learning and offered advice for other students who are lining up plans.

During Brick City Weekend, the College of Liberal Arts hosted students and their families—including COLA Student Advisory Board Member Susannah Johnson (Applied Modern Language and Culture Representative)—for a mix and mingle breakfast. Others joined in to attend the Men's Hockey game, and many campus visitors enjoyed the Build-a-Tiger event presented by COLA and organized by Event Manager Kerri Johnson. 

Associate Professor, Department of Political Science

Best thing that happened to you yesterday: I walked my two youngest kids and our dog, The Mighty Quinn, to their school on a beautiful snowy morning.

What or who inspires you? My wife and kids. Especially since COVID, we are an incredibly close-knit unit, all recognizing that each of us is going through some similar and also some unique struggles. Seeing them fight and thrive inspires me to do the same.

A goal or dream you are working towards: I’m slowly but surely writing my first book, which just got a big boost with the publication of an article based on some parts of it I was a bit unsure were sound or smart. I guess they are?

Three experiences or destinations on your bucket list: Month-long European vacation with the family; sit courtside at an NBA finals game; live for some extended period of time in a country not dominated by stupidity, greed, and malice.

On your perfect day off, you’re most likely to be found: Playing some pick-up basketball and / or doing something in nature, then heading to Record Archive for some used vinyl, and ending the day by cooking a good meal - maybe homemade sourdough pizza or some salmon cooked on the offset smoker.

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Contemporary Liberal Arts for a Complex Digital Age. 

Credits: Content and photos used in this newsletter were sourced from a variety of talented people on the RIT team, including Felícia Swartzenberg, Carlos Ortiz, Traci Wescott, and Amelia J Hugill-Fontanel.

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