In June, the Center for Public Engagement with Science (PEWS) participated in UC Futures, a program run by UC’s Central Admissions Team to help rising high school seniors from rural communities learn about the University of Cincinnati. High schoolers spend two days meeting UC faculty and staff, touring the campus, participating in activities, and exploring the city.
PEWS partnered with the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S) to develop activities that would showcase the breadth of opportunities and disciplines at A&S. We centered the activities around a central question: What does it mean to be human? The idea was to show how various disciplines might approach this broad question, and for students to reflect on which kind of approach might best suit their skills and interests.
One activity, led by philosophers Melissa Jacquart and Noa Dahan, took a humanities approach to the question. The students played a game to sort various abilities from most to least uniquely human, before assigning them to robots responsible for specific jobs. They were then tasked at deciding how their newly designed robot reacts to a novel situation and discuss the consequences.
The other activity, led by Max Cormendy and Kate Nicole Hoffman, took a more scientific approach to the question. Here, students investigated the difference between human chromosomes and those of chimpanzees, using these observations to have a broader discussion about genetics and how genes create diversity in the world around us.
At the end, students received a takeaway sheet describing how other UC disciplines might approach the guiding question.
PEWS wishes these rising seniors luck as they decide their next steps – and we hope to see them soon at UC!
