Theater of Invention
Close Caption The Theater of Invention: Live Performance in the Tech Industry - February 13, 2019

On the brink of public release, technologies often debut through theatrical performance. CHI fellow Li Cornfeld presents her research on how these spectacles, staged at tech conferences for industry audiences, shape the emergence of technology under capitalism. Combining critical frames from media studies and performance studies, this work investigates the relationship between promotional practice, cultural production, and technological advancement.

Thyrii Myint
Close Caption Thirii Myo Kyaw Myint Book Talk - October 2, 2019

Thirii Myo Kyaw Myint is the author of the lyric novel "The End of Peril, the End of Enmity, the End of Strife, A Haven", which Jenny Boully called “an amazingly beautiful changeling of a book,” and which won the 2019 Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature. She also wrote the family history project Zat Lun, which won the 2018 Graywolf Press Nonfiction Prize. Her work has appeared in Black Warrior Review, TriQuarterly, and Kenyon Review Online and has been translated into Burmese and Lithuanian. She is a visiting writer at Amherst College.

Nick Seaver headshot
Close Caption "Interpretability, or Learning to Listen to Algorithms" with Nick Seaver - April 25, 2019

Nick Seaver draws on ethnographic fieldwork with developers of algorithmic music recommenders in the US to theorize “interpretability,” describing how engineers interpret supposedly uninterpretable systems. Engineers are not uniquely able to “see” inside algorithmic black boxes but rather learn to listen to them, and their practices of trained subjective judgment are integral to the supposedly rational and quantitative operations of algorithmic systems.

Scientists on a ship sailing down the coast of Antarctica
Close Caption What's It Like to Film Scientists at Work in Antarctica? - April 18, 2018

Campus photographer and photojournalist Maria Stenzel presented a film chronicling the scientific life aboard the icebreaker Nathaniel B. Palmer on a voyage to the western Antarctic Peninsula. Classical violinist Michi Wiancko composed an original film score to accompany this impressionistic 10-minute film, which she played live.

Pandit Ashis Sengupta playing the tabla
Close Caption Emotion in Indian Classical Music - September 26, 2018

In India, music is an embodied practice. The human voice is its primary reference, and the creation of emotion its primary intention. What is a musical emotion? Three musicians from India, Pandit Shantanu Bhattacharyya (vocalist), Pandit Ashis Sengupta (tabla artist), and Ms. Durba Bhattacharyya (harmonium artist), will present the distinctive qualities of North Indian classical music and discuss the relationship between music and other cultural practices in India. How is musical emotion conveyed through the choice of a Raga (musical mode), a Bandish (lyrical composition), and a tala (rhythmic cycle) during a performance? What is the role of the audience in the emotional ambience that builds slowly and systematically through a performance? The musicians will discuss the language of Indian music and show the intricacies of musical thought in the interplay of rhythmic patterns and a controlled modulation of the texture and timbre of the human voice.

Boy holding seedling up to camera
Close Caption A Reckoning in Boston - September 8, 2021

A screening of the award-winning documentary "A Reckoning in Boston" and a discussion with director James Rutenbeck and producer Kafi Dixon.

The Center for Humanistic Inquiry hosts CHI Salons Wednesdays at 4:30 p.m. The purpose of the salon series is to bring the Amherst community together around humanities scholarship. We are currently accepting proposals for 2024-25. Salons can take the form of lectures, panel discussions, music performances, book talks, poetry readings, or hands-on workshops. The CHI will provide an honorarium for visiting speakers, administrative and staff support, and publicity.

If you have an idea for a CHI Salon, please use this form. Feel free to submit ideas at any stage of development, including ideas in progress. We are happy to work with you on developing your concept. Questions may be directed to us at chi@amherst.edu.

The CHI can provide a $250 honorarium for a visiting speaker.
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