Student Reflections on the Celebration of Humanities Education

We need to talk about Humanities education and celebrate the rich and exciting variety of perspectives and approaches within. On a sunny Wednesday morning on June 11th I found myself entering UCL’s Institute of Education to do just that, and here is what I found.

The day started bright and early with introductory speeches on the future of teaching and learning in the Humanities from Jakob Stougaard-Nielsen (Founding Director of the Centre), Stella Bruzzi (Executive Dean, UCL Arts & Humanities), and Kathleen Armour (UCL Vice Provost, Education & Student Experience). Their speeches addressed some of my own concerns about the place of AI in the Humanities and acknowledged the challenges of teaching new generations of thinkers to respect and be curious about new ideas and visions of the world. I really appreciated these foci.

The large crowd of curious participants soon dispersed into several rooms to attend morning sessions. A panel in the discussion room led by Anne Grydehøj discussed the future of teaching languages at UCL, while Antony Makrinos looked at the future of Classics through VR goggles in the Technology Room. I didn’t get to take part in these, unfortunately, but the idea of wandering through a virtual agora or forum via an ultra-modern set of VR goggles was equally intriguing and entertaining.  As a Slade MFA student, I was drawn to the showcase of Spineless Wonders, an amazing collection of artist books and small press publications presented by Sharon Morris and Liz Lawes. After a quick cup of tea, I decided to return to the Showcase room and participate in a Culture and Language Show and Tell, an interactive discussion presented by Elletra Carbone about using objects from UCL’s Special Collections to provide a tangible connection between abstract language and material culture. Sadly, the nature of having separate discussions taking place simultaneously meant I couldn’t see Alexander Samson and Paula Rodriguez discuss the adaptation of Spanish Golden Age theatre classics in the twenty-first century or participate in the workshop “Ethical Encounters in Community-based Research, Learning, and Assessment”, led by Jelena Calic and Eszter Tarsoly.

In the afternoon, Jeff Bowersox led an interactive, multiplayer, pedagogical game that allowed players to take part in a model of the political system of the Weimar Republic, the post-war German government from 1918-1933, prior to the rise of Nazi Germany. Walking past, the session appeared in full and enthusiastic swing, so I made my way to the Showcase Room and joined a workshop on Graphic Narratives led by Eleanor Chiari. I entered the room with confidence, but it turns out an art degree doesn’t necessarily mean one would find sequential narrative storytelling easy! Thanks to help from Dr Chiari, however, I soon started storyboarding. It was amazing to see everyone’s results, with little zines illustrating different subjects and experiences. As an artist, I am used to creative exercises, but it was great to work with people who might not normally choose this way of working. I found it challenging to commit to one subject to illustrate – producing only five images requires a simplicity which is often missing in the way I paint. I nevertheless enjoyed this opportunity to be specific for a change.

In the late afternoon, many people were engaged in panel discussions on EDI Practices and Wellbeing in the Humanities Classroom. I decided to visit “A Mini Augmented Reality Exhibition of the Chinese Export Watercolours,” presented by Zeyu Zhao and developed with Gao Jin. I was really impressed with the outcome of this small display. Seeing the levels of engagement provoked by interactive displays made me reconsider my reservations against AR in exhibiting.

While many people engaged in panel discussions were UCL professional services or teaching staff, I felt welcome and encouraged as a student to share my views and ideas. It was a fantastic opportunity to meet and talk to experts in the humanities and make connections between subjects I wouldn’t have made before.  It was the first time I had taken part in such an event, and I felt empowered to seek out more opportunities like this one, just to have a chance to listen to and exchange perspectives on a wider variety of subjects than those directly concerning fine art practice.

And it was great fun! I would highly recommend attending similar events in the future to anyone curious and open-minded.

Noemi Stysiak is a Polish painter and second-year student at the Painting MFA at UCL’s Slade School of Fine Art.