Our Year 2023-2024

In February, Sergei Guriev, provost and professor of economics at the Sciences Po, Paris gave the 2024 Silas Peirce Lecture, “Fighting Misinformation on Social Media.”

In March, Aru Pandey (CAS’24) and his team took third prize in the Innovate@BU Climate Innovation Challenge. Their project, WasteWiz, aims to make inefficient recycling a thing of the past through its Spectroscopy-Enhanced Waste Classification System.

The Boston University Center for the Humanities piloted its first annual Digital Creators Award in the Humanities to celebrate undergraduate projects that creatively bridge the humanities and emerging digital technologies.

Managing Director of the BU Center for the Humanities (BUCH) Kurt Cavender and BUCH Student Staff Member Roni Lakin (CAS’25) attended Humanities Advocacy Day in Washington, D.C.

On March 19, we celebrated CAS Charter Day in the Think Tank with pizza, pie, cake, caricatures, and more! The Office of Student Programs & Leadership, Diversity & Inclusion, The Experiential Learning Connector, Core Curriculum, Development & Alumni Relations, Communications, and the Dean’s Office came together to commemorate 151 years of CAS. 

In April, the American & New England Studies Program received an anonymous $1 million gift, part of which will create a new Public Humanities Fund for PhD students to support research projects, award grants, and fund research-related activities beyond campus, and the Department of the History of Art & Architecture received a surprise gift from a beloved professor to support graduate student studies. 

Associate Professor of Sociology Heather Schoenfeld and Meghann Lucy (GRS ’24), a doctoral student in sociology, participated in Social Science Advocacy Day in Washington, D.C.

Boston University Center for the Humanities organized “Mathematics With a Human Face,” an interdisciplinary conference co-hosted by BU’s Center for the Philosophy & History of Science, bringing together eminent mathematicians and computer scientists with philosophers, historians, and art historians for a one-day discussion of the importance of the human element in mathematics.

TEDxBU 2024 brought around 100 faculty, students, and alumni together around the theme “Coming Alive.” The event was produced by Elizabeth Kostina (CAS’24) and James Eddy, Howard Thurman Center associate director, and featured talks on wide-ranging topics by numerous CAS students.

In May, CAS named the inaugural cohort of Arts & Sciences Term Distinguished Professors: Deborah Carr, Professor of Sociology and Director of the Center of Innovation in Social Science, Lucy Hutyra, Professor of Earth & Environment and Director of the Biogeosciences Program, Cheryl Knott, Professor and Associate Chair of Anthropology, Andrei Ruckenstein, Professor of Physics, and Pamela Templer, Professor and Chair of Biology and Director of the Graduate Program in Urban Biogeoscience and Environmental Health. This distinguished professorship was created by the College of Arts & Sciences to recognize Arts & Sciences faculty members of international renown in any field, who have demonstrated a sustained record of excellence in research, teaching, and service. The title is held for duration of their time at BU. 

An interdisciplinary conference entitled “Space Travel with Earth Wisdom” brought together researchers at the intersection of ecology, botany, biology, bioinformatics, data-science, and space science to look at how humans can approach space travel ethically and sustainably and how we can use the wisdom of this planet to bring life to Mars.

CAS recognized faculty, students, and staff for their outstanding work through numerous awards and prizes. GRS alumnus and best-selling author David Grann gave BU’s 2024 commencement speech. He also received an honorary doctorate. 

In June, the Center for Innovation in Social Science launched a Social Science Summer Writing Internship Program in partnership with the Writing Program’s Writing in the Disciplines, funded by the Psalm #103 foundation.