Written by
Nicolle McMurray
The intersection of art and technology
At the Gregory Allicar Museum of Art, art and technology continually intersect. The spring 2019 exhibition, Off Kilter, On Point: Art of the 1960s from the Permanent Collection, encapsulated ways in which technology and art are interrelated by featuring a decade where that idea came into focus.
The Sound of Technology
While recorded sound was the ‘first big thing’ as far as technology’s impact on music, everything from the synthesizer to the computer and composition software has had an impact on how music is composed, created, and shared. Modern technologies in the classroom and in the performance halls at the University Center for the Arts allow music students and music patrons to experience state-of-the-art music performances.
How We Do Data in the City of Kansas City
Eric Roche (B.A. ’11) has a C-level job at a city that many people have never heard of: Chief Data Officer. Roche’s job is to uncover data that is valuable in decision making, and empower the city’s staff and leadership to make quick, data-informed decisions resulting in employees that are more efficient at their jobs and residents get better services delivered.
Healthcare, social media, and a web of moral issues
The Internet has changed the landscape in which we, as humans, relate, and ethicists need to keep pace. With increases in anxiety and depression, the creation of echo chambers of information, and access to tele-medicine for rural communities, bioethicists like Dr. Moti Gorin are now looking at how online technologies affect human health and well-being.
Technology provides new ways to teach languages and cultures
In an increasingly connected global society, fluency in a second language is an important skill in both the job market and for the cognitive benefits reaped by the language learner. Through technology and increased access to authentic language materials such as manuscripts, music, film, and video, students have greater opportunities to access many learning styles and engage with a language and culture more creatively and deeply.
Recognizing and reporting signs of terrorism can help prevent attacks
Technology has played a large role in the growth of terrorism through recruitment of terrorists worldwide or through cyberattacks on critical infrastructure. Jordan Clark (’11) trains people to recognize warning signs of possible terrorist or criminal acts on social media and in other settings through the Community Awareness Program at the CELL in Denver, Colo.
Building Maps of the Past with New Technologies
Robert Ower (’18) uses the research skills from history classes to build maps and create ‘mappable data’ for high tech industries. Ower’s path from work to college to a meaningful career reflects the maps that he makes with ArcGIS. Layers of skills, research, patience, effort and luck are the mappable data. His emerging career is a world of his own creation.