New Cornell Program Fuses Technology, Humanities

A new program at Cornell University will aim to inject humanities into the fast-changing tech world and give students, "a context and ethical framework that will equip them to shape society for the better," university President Martha E. Pollack said in a press release.

The Milstein Program in Technology and Humanity, a collaboration between Cornell Tech and the College of Arts and Sciences, launches after a $20 million gift from the Milstein family. Students will select majors offered by the College of Arts and Sciences but will also have access to specialized courses in computer science at Cornell Tech's graduate campus. They will also spend summers together in New York City, "immersed in the innovation economy, with access to speakers, mentors, and summer internship opportunities."

"We're all seeing today the incredible challenges of producing digital technology that reflects humanistic values," Daniel Huttenlocher, dean of Cornell Tech, told The Wall Street Journal. "The goal is to start to train students who are thinking about these issues when designing technologies."

Twenty-five students will be picked for the fall 2018 semester, and Cornell will have a total of 100 in the program at a time.

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