Liberal Arts Research & Creative Work Highlighted in Tour for University Leadership
On October 2, 2024, the College of Liberal Arts researchers hosted a special tour for President Rebecca Cunningham and incoming Dean GerShun Avilez. The tour highlighted the impressive range of liberal arts research within the college.
The tour began with a visit to the Center for Applied & Translational Sensory Science, where researchers discussed groundbreaking sensory science applications aimed at helping individuals with hearing and vision loss. The next stop featured faculty and labs in the Department of Psychology, showcasing innovative research on neurodevelopmental disorders.
The tour continued in the West Bank Arts Quarter. Faculty, staff, and students in Rarig Center demonstrated the intersection of art and technology with a presentation from the theatre design & technology faculty. Attendees also visited the Katherine E. Nash Gallery in Regis Center, where the exhibit "Art and Artifact: Murals from the Minneapolis Uprising" exhibit captured the artistic expressions born out of social unrest.
Another highlight on the tour included discussion on the Center for Canon Expansion and Change that was founded in the Department of Philosophy with the goal of effecting meaningful change in the way that philosophy is done, understood, organized, and taught.
Next, attendees went underground in Andersen Library's Archives: Tretter Collection and Caverns. The Jean-Nickolaus Tretter Collection in Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Studies is the largest archival repository of LGBTQ history in the Midwest.
The last stop on the tour highlighted the Ancient and Modern Genetics Laboratories in the Department of Anthropology. Researchers there are gathering genetic material in archaeological remains to reconstruct the histories and experiences of peoples who lived in the past. The labs preserve and call attention to experiences of populations that have been misrepresented.
The tour offered a comprehensive view of the liberal arts' role in addressing societal challenges and advancing interdisciplinary knowledge, and reflected the breadth of research and innovation happening across the College of Liberal Arts.
