Long-awaited paper now out

The Integration of the Humanities and Artswith Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine inHigher Education: Branches from the Same Tree (read online, or order a hard copy).

The National Academy of Sciences commissioned this report on the value of STEMM integration in higher education. From a highlights document:

"This study examined an important trend in higher education: integration of the humanities and arts with sciences, engineering, and medicine at the undergraduate and graduate level—which proponents argue will better prepare students for work, life, and citizenship...This movement in higher education raises an important question: what impact do these curricular approaches have on students? 

To address this question, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine formed a 22-member committee to examine 'the evidence behind the assertion that educational programs that mutually integrate learning experiences in the humanities and arts with science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine (STEMM) lead to improved educational and career outcomes for undergraduate and graduate students.' The committee conducted an in-depth review and analysis of the state of knowledge on the impact of integrative approaches on students."

 The results are encouraging:

"Aggregate evidence indicates that some approaches that integrate the humanities and arts with STEMM are associated with positive learning outcomes. Among the outcomes reported are increased critical thinking abilities, higher-order thinking and deeper learning, content mastery, problem solving, teamwork and communication skills, improved visuospatial reasoning, and general engagement and enjoyment of learning. 

An important observation was that the kinds of outcomes associated with certain integrative approaches in higher education are the educational outcomes that many employers presently seek. Employer surveys consistently show that employers want well-rounded individuals with a holistic education who can take on complex problems and understand the needs, desires, and motivations of others. Importantly, these learning goals and competences are similarly valued by institutions of higher education. The committee considered multiple forms of evidence as it developed the following recommendations for institutions, faculty, administrators, scholars of higher education, and federal and private funders. The recommendations fall under four main areas:"

1. Support for Integrative Approaches
2. Evaluating Integrative Courses and Programs
3. Enhancing Inclusivity Through Integrative Courses and Programs
4. Removing the Barriers to Integrative Approaches 

The paper concludes that:

"Higher education should strive to offer all students—regardless of degree or area of concentration—an education that exposes them to diverse forms of human knowledge and inquiry and that impresses upon them the fact that all disciplines are 'branches of the same tree.' Such an education should empower students to understand the fundamental connections among the diverse branches of human inquiry—the arts, humanities, sciences, social sciences, mathematics, engineering, technology, and medicine."

First Poet in Residence at CCI

"The Cambridge Conservation Initiative (CCI) is a unique collaboration between the University of Cambridge and leading internationally-focused biodiversity conservation organisations clustered in and around Cambridge, UK.  

CCI seeks to transform the global understanding and conservation of biodiversity and the natural capital it represents and, through this, secure a sustainable future for all life on Earth. The CCI partners together combine and integrate research, education, policy and practice to create innovative solutions for society and to foster conservation learning and leadership."

Matt Howard from RSPB on sabbatical at CCI as our first Poet in Residence.

Matt works in Fundraising for the RSPB Eastern England team. He will be spending his month of sabbatical time at CCI as our first poet in residence, starting on Monday 14 August.

Part of Matt’s role with RSPB is to explore engagement with the arts and he is the lead on the RSPB / The Rialto Nature and Place poetry competition which now additionally partners with CCI and BirdLife.

Matt’s poetry has been published in leading international magazines and journals such as The Poetry Review, New Statesman and The Dark Horse. His debut pamphlet, The Organ Box, was published in 2014.

Throughout his sabbatical, Matt will be based in the Artist in Residence studio (floor 2M of the East Tower). He will break his time up into one week a month, and he will also be at CCI some Fridays over the next few months.

In addition to providing Matt with time to write and network at CCI, the residency has a number of ambitions, all with the aim to gain a deeper understanding of how creative writing can help provide public engagement opportunities and deliver conservation objectives. Matt will be working to:

• Host poetry events at CCI with leading poets
• Develop the Nature and Place competition to increase its fundraising potential
• Work with Modern Poetry in Translation magazine on an issue of international environmental poetry
• Facilitate opportunities for other early career poets to engage with CCI to produce new work for publication and performance.

Matt will also offer colleagues from CCI member organisations opportunities to engage with the residency. Opportunities include:

• One to ones with people interested in developing their own writing and reading
• Establish a workshop group for those interested in writing new poems
• Joining a mailing list to receive a fortnightly poem from the existing canon on a nature / conservation theme, with an explanatory note by him.

Matt is contactable on matt.howard@rspb.org.uk, please do get in touch if you are interested in getting involved. Information on the intranet can be found here.

"Dan Goods, JPL's science seer"

Dan Goods, "Out There" at JPL.

This article from the LA Times archive profiles Dan Goods: Jet Propulsion Labs' (JPL) resident "Visual Strategist". Some quotes from Dan:

"I love the theme of seeing the unseen." 

"Everyone should have the opportunity to have a moment of awe about the universe. If I can create that, then I feel I've been successful."

"I've always had a good reaction [from scientists]. Sometimes their inner geek comes out: 'How did you do that?' These are huge problems these people are working on, really difficult and technical, and sometimes they forget about the big picture. So when I show them something, they're like, 'Yeah, that's why I'm doing this.' Now people come to me when they want something from a different perspective. They say, 'Oh, we should just go talk to Dan.'"

See more of Dan's work at his website:
http://www.directedplay.com/

And on his Vimeo channel:
https://vimeo.com/dangoods

Artist residencies in US National Parks

N a t i o n a l  P a r k  A r t s  F o u n d a t i o n

"A Non-Profit Foundation offering Artist in Residence Programs, Museum In-Loan Programs, and Workshops in conjunction with our National Parks."

There are a few field stations in, or adjacent to National Parks. This program might be an opportunity to connect a scientific researcher to an artist for a project.

WESTAF hosts art/science Blogathon

Barry's Blog, a service of the Western States Arts Federation, will be hosting a Blogathon this week on the art/science intersection. Barry's opening essay is incredibly informative and interesting

We are only beginning to explore and understand the relationships between art and science and the many levels on which those relationships operate... Indeed, I suspect that in the not too distant future, we won't describe the relationship between the arts and science as an intersection - two separate and diverse disciplines that occasionally cross at various points - but rather parallel lanes that share the same highway - working in tandem as the norm.

Panelists who will each be responding to 5 questions (1 per day) include:

• Rieko Yajima - American Association for the Advancement of Science
• Young Moo Kim - Scientist / Musician and Director of Drexel's ExCITe Center
• Julia Buntaine, editor in chief of "SciArt in America"
• Kamal Sinclair - Co-Director of Sundance's "New Frontier"
• Lucinda Pressely - the Innovation Collaborative
• Gregory Mack - American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Science and Technology Policy Fellow, National Science Foundation
• Bill O'Brien - Senior Advisor for Innovation to the Chairman, National Endowment for the Arts

The questions are:

1. 8-9-15: What forces are driving emerging energy at art / science intersections? What are people hoping to achieve here? What do you see as being possible to achieve?
2. 8-10-15: How we can scale up the intersections between the arts and sciences?
3. 8-11-15: Where are the two communities already merging and working together and where could they work together more effectively in the future? What are the next steps?
4. 8-12-15: What obstacles do these collaborations face and how can they be better supported? What kinds of research would help in soliciting that support?
5. 8-13-15: How might potential advances in the intersections of the arts and sciences benefit both fields and society in general, both short and long term?

On Day 3, Bill O'Brien talks about the recent ArtSciConverge workshop in Reno, NV.

Resources for art/science collaborations

Here's a helpful note from Tracey Bell, ecoorchestra.com via Fred Swanson:

======================

I wanted to share a few resources with you for your future explorations into this topic:

I'm not sure if you have connected with the folks that run the Cultural Programs of the National Academies of Science, but you should reach out to them for sure!

One example of national standards for art+science collaborations might be the evaluative criteria for the NEA's Artworks grant for cross-disciplinary art+science projects.

You could also check out the Americans For the Arts for everything from the economic impact of the arts to models for civic engagement in the arts. Subpages of potential interest to you:

• National Arts Administration and Policy Research Database
• Animating Democracy "As a program of Americans for the Arts, we bring national visibility to arts for change work, build knowledge about quality practice, and create useful resources. By demonstrating the public value of creative work that contributes to social change and fostering synergy across arts and other fields and sectors, we work to make the arts an integral and effective part of solutions to the challenges of communities and toward ensuring a healthy democracy."

With regard to other topics:

The Art and Social Justice movement looks at returning agency to traditionally oppressed or underrepresented groups and giving them the ability to tell their own story through performing arts, writing, or visual arts. Often projects have a connection to land, place, food, the environment. The Art and Social Practice movement , which is similar but not exactly the same, looks at socially engaged art making and often has an connection to the environment and place as an integral part of community life.  A great place to start looking for more information on these topics would be the Open Engagement Conference.  PSU also has an MFA program in Social Practice Art.

And last but not least, here are some examples of social practice/science/art work that I found in my research that might be of interest to you as well:

• City as a Living Laboratory  Includes best practices framework for collaboration between artists and scientists. "Mary Miss / City as Living Laboratory (MM/CaLL) is an initiative spearheaded by artist Mary Miss to establish a platform for artists, working in collaboration with scientists, urban planners, policy makers, and the public, to make sustainability tangible through the arts. CaLL asks: by what means can we foster roles for artists and designers to shape and bring attention to the pressing environmental issues of our times?"
• Highwater Line Performance piece that engages communities in dialogue about rising water levels and climate change and includes a action guide and educational materials. (Sponsored by Eco ArtSpace) 

Science, Technology, and Art in International Relations (STAIR)

"The International Studies Association (ISA) has been the premier organization for connecting scholars and practitioners in fields of international studies since 1959. 

 ISA was founded in 1959 to promote research and education in international affairs. With well over six thousand members in North America and around the world, ISA is the most respected and widely known scholarly association in this field. ISA cooperates with 57 international studies organizations in over 30 countries, is a member of the International Social Science Council, and enjoys nongovernmental consultative status with the United Nations."

One program section of ISA is Science, Technology, and Art in International Relations (STAIR).

"This newly chartered section recognizes that science, technology, and art are at the core of global politics. They shape much of the everyday reality of international security, statecraft, development, design of critical global infrastructures, approaches to social justice, and the practices of global governance. Science, technology and art (i.e., in the form of creativity, the arts, architecture and design) permeate international affairs in the form of material elements and networks, technical instruments, systems of knowledge and scientific practices. Yet, they also challenge existing conceptual approaches and prompt us to step beyond IR canons to seek inter-disciplinary collaborations. Through this new section we generate the space for international Relations (IR) as a discipline and field to engage these matters through productive intellectual research conversations with existing subsections as well as other disciplines. Our intention is that this will facilitate theoretical understandings of how we go about creating, assessing, and deliberating scientific, technological and artistic design and their impact on the shifts of contemporary world order. To use a methodological metaphor, if science, technology and art are held constant in most IR models, STAIR aims to make them variable!"

NEH Common Good program

The National Endowment for the Humanities is up to some interesting things.

Here's a note from Eva Caldera, Assistant Chairman for Partnership and Strategic Initiatives (emphasis added):

Our new NEH initiative, The Common Good: Humanities in the Public Square, includes an invitation to the humanities community to examine opportunities for the humanities to contribute to the changing understanding of the relationships between humans and the natural environment. If you or any of your colleagues would like to learn more about the initiative or its grant programs or the work of the Endowment more generally, please feel free to be in touch.

A publication of interest

From Fred Swanson...

"Here's a little report and a reprint that may be of interest to some of your blog readers. I see that there's an environmental philosophy field program at the FS associated with SUNY-Syracuse, for example."

====================

Integrating Ecology and Environmental Ethics: Earth Stewardship in the Southern End of the Americas

Ricardo Rozzi, Juan J. Armesto, Julio R. Gutiérrez, Francisca Massardo, Gene E. Likens, Christopher B. Anderson, Alexandria Poole, Kelli P. Moses, Eugene Hargrove, Andres O. Mansilla, James H. Kennedy, Mary Willson, Kurt Jax, Clive G. Jones, J. Baird Callicott, and Mary T. K. Arroyo

Abstract: The South American temperate and sub-Antarctic forests cover the longest latitudinal range in the Southern Hemisphere and include the world’s southernmost forests. However, until now, this unique biome has been absent from global ecosystem research and monitoring networks. Moreover, the latitudinal range of between 40 degrees (°) south (S) and 60° S constitutes a conspicuous gap in the International Long-Term Ecological Research (ILTER) and other international networks.

We first identify 10 globally salient attributes of biological and cultural diversity in southwestern South America. We then present the nascent Chilean Long-Term Socio-Ecological Research (LTSER) network, which will incorporate a new biome into ILTER. Finally, we introduce the field environmental philosophy methodology, developed by the Chilean LTSER network to integrate ecological sciences and environmental ethics into graduate education and biocultural conservation.

This approach broadens the prevailing economic spectrum of social dimensions considered by LTSER programs and helps foster bioculturally diverse forms of Earth stewardship.

Other organizations working at the Art & Science intersection

From their website:

"From its beginnings, Leonardo/ISAST has served as THE virtual community for purposes of networking, resource-sharing, best practices, research and events in Art/Science/Technology...

...By enhancing communication between scientists, artists, and engineers, Leonardo supports experimental projects and interacts with established institutions of art and science to transform their research and educational practices."

Leonardo is the Journal of the ISAST, which focuses on artists working with science and technology-based media. It has been in publication for over 40 years.

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Rhode Island School of Design:

http://map.stemtosteam.org/

From the website:

"Since its founding in 1877, RISD has consistently upheld its mission to educate the public about the vital role of art and design in society. Today, the RISD community remains committed to the belief that the arts and design, in concert with fields like science and technology, will bring about the global innovation needed in the 21st century. 

STEM to STEAM is a RISD-led initiative to add Art and Design to the national agenda of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) education and research in America. STEM + Art = STEAM. The goal is to foster the true innovation that comes with combining the mind of a scientist or technologist with that of an artist or designer."

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From their website:

The National Science Foundation Computer, Information Systems and Engineering directorate Intelligent Systems division (CISE IIS) sponsored three workshops in 2010 and 2011 bringing together artists, scientists and engineers from across the United States to address needs of the burgeoning community of researchers and practitioners that bridge Computer Science, Engineering and Creativity. 

These workshops were the genesis of two working groups. The first group is studying the research community in order to create a digital archive and resource for researchers, makers, and educators, called the "Virtual eXchange to Support Networks of Creativity and Innovation amongst Science, Engineering, Arts and Design (XSEAD)." 

The SEAD website is the outcome of a second group who has formed a national network of individuals, and is developing innovative methods for connecting and supporting this community across academia, non-profit organizations, industry, and funders, called "Network for Science, Engineering, Arts and Design (SEAD)."

SEAD published an excellent and intensive report on the subject in 2012, including input from dozens of worldwide advisors.

Among other stated goals of the paper, "The network facilitates experimentation with new methods, materials, and modes of creative inquiry and understanding in order to spawn groundbreaking discoveries and inventions.":

• Steps to an Ecology of Networked Knowledge and Innovation Enabling new forms of collaboration among sciences, engineering, arts, and design

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NEH Lecture on The Intersection of the Humanities and the Sciences.

"Watch the live stream of the 43rd Jefferson Lecture featuring Walter Isaacson.

Isaacson, acclaimed author, president and CEO of the Aspen Institute, an educational and policy studies organization, and biographer of Steve Jobs, Albert Einstein and Benjamin Franklin, spoke on The Intersection of the Humanities and the Sciences on May 12th at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts."

Isaacson on Einstein:

"Einstein's leap [that time is relative and light speed is constant] was a triumph not of pure science, or deduction, or induction. It was a triumph of imagination. It came from questioning the accepted wisdom and challenging authority...

So when we emphasize the need to teach our kids science and math, we should not neglect to encourage them also to be imaginative, to be creative, to have an intuitive feel for beauty and to question received wisdom...

And that's the role of the humanities."

Science-themed art exhibits at NSF and AAAS

Download brochure.

"The National Science Foundation's Art of Science (AoS) Project was conceived and implemented in 1989 by a cross-directorate committee of NSF staff. Its purpose is to bring to NSF original works of art that visually explore the connections between artistic and scientific expression.  

Art of Science exhibits are displayed in designated public space and are scheduled to rotate quarterly. The AoS committee endeavors to showcase work across the scientific and engineering disciplines from different artists/scientists using a variety of mediums.

For additional information on the Art of Science Project please contact a current member of the AoS committee via email at AoS@nsf.gov."

From February 29 - June 30, 2013, the Long-Term Ecological Reflections program staged an art exhibit at the National Science Foundation.

More information:

• Evolving Landscapes Through Artists’ Eyes.
• Long-Term Ecological Reflections Art Exhibit at NSF 

Thanks to Fred Swanson for the exhibit documentation.

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http://www.washingtonsculptors.org/

"With nearly 400 members and no space to call home, the Washington Sculptors Group has nevertheless regularly managed to find wide exposure for its artists, many of whom are among the region’s finest and deserve to be seen. The group’s recent venues have ranged from such ad hoc spaces as office lobbies and parks to more traditional galleries including Artisphere, the Mansion at Strathmore and the BlackRock Center for the Arts.

The group’s latest exhibition, “Gedankenexperiment,” is a good fit for the American Association for the Advancement of Science, which for several years now has devoted a chunk of its lobby — along with a small dedicated gallery space — to science-themed art of both the 2-D and 3-D variety."

"Thought experiments consider the effects of a hypothesis or theory that cannot easily be tested in the physical world...

Inspired by scientific and mathematical theories, hypotheses, and principles from Archimedes, the I Ching, geology, geometry, architecture, and more, the artists featured in GEDANKENEXPERIMENT have conducted their own thought experiments, resulting in the sculptural expressions—incorporating wood, metals, paper, computer parts, and limestone—featured in this show."

More information:

• Art review: ‘Gedankenexperiment’ at American Association for the Advancement of Science
• GEDANKENEXPERIMENT Exhibit Opening Reception; June 20, 2014

Thanks to George Nolte for the link.