Exploring the intensifying connection between a college education and workforce preparation, Utah Tech University’s Human-Tech Speaker Series will feature Sylvester Johnson, director of Virginia Tech University’s Center for Humanities, in its next installment.
Johnson will present “The Future of Talent and the Fourth Industrial Revolution: University Innovation and the Technological Society” at 4 p.m. on Nov. 6 in the Zion Room, located on the fifth floor of the Holland Centennial Commons on the Utah Tech campus. The event is open to the community and free to attend.
In his address, Johnson, who also oversees the Tech for Humanity initiative at Virginia Tech, will explain how universities should be career-focused and sensitive to the cost barriers students can potentially face. Johnson’s vision to infuse intellectual university life with insights from the humanities applies directly to Utah Tech’s polytechnic focus.
“Utah Tech’s polytechnic mission is grounded in a human-centered approach to problem-solving,” Stephen Lee, dean of the College of Humanities & Social Sciences at Utah Tech, said. “That vision is deeply influenced by Virginia Tech’s model of placing humanities at the center of tackling complex, rapidly changing problems. Dr. Johnson is a primary architect of that vision.”
Utah Tech’s College of Humanities & Social Sciences is the home of liberal arts at Utah Tech. Programs focus on preparing students for 21st-century jobs by developing skills that employers value, including oral and written communication, critical thinking and collaborative teamwork.
By hosting a lecture every semester as part of the Human–Tech Speaker Series, the college explores the relationship between technology and society that is at the center of UT’s mission as an open, inclusive, comprehensive, polytechnic university. As part of this model, Utah Tech offers active learning within all academic disciplines to ensure students graduate career ready. Students make, create and innovate in the classroom and online while gaining real-world active learning experiences through internships, clinical experiences, undergraduate research, industry partnerships and service learning.
For more information about the Human-Tech Speaker Series, visit humantech-ut.com. To learn more about Utah Tech’s College of Humanities & Social Sciences, visit colleges.utahtech.edu/humanities.