Chris Ellertson Vice President for Enrollment | Lake Forest College
Chris Ellertson Vice President for Enrollment | Lake Forest College
Lake Forest College has announced the recipients of the HUMAN Residency Fellowship, a new partnership with Ragdale, supported by the Mellon Foundation.
The HUMAN Residency jurors have selected the following artists:
- Serena Dokuaa: Poet and AI policy expert focusing on ancestry, Black womanhood, and sociotechnical analyses of AI.
- GoldGrrl: Dance and performance artist exploring intersections of technology and Black culture.
- Praba Pilar: Performance artist and scholar addressing techno-colonialism through artificial intelligence.
- Kate Reed: Sculpture artist and wearable technology designer specializing in building machines, modifying biology, augmenting the body, and growing technology.
- Özge Samanci: Media artist and graphic novelist known for internationally exhibited interactive installations.
- Carissa Véliz: Author advising companies and policymakers on AI ethics.
These fellows will explore the intersection of artificial intelligence with equity and social justice through their creative works.
The Fellowship is funded by the Lake Forest College HUMAN project, a $1.2 million grant from the Mellon Foundation. Led by Davis Schneiderman, Executive Director of the Krebs Center for the Humanities and Professor of English, HUMAN aims to examine artificial intelligence from a humanities perspective, equipping students with skills to ethically integrate AI into their careers.
“Exploring the implications of artificial intelligence through the humanities is essential to prepare for the future,” said Schneiderman. “We are so pleased to collaborate with Ragdale and to bring these artists into a conversation that has been ongoing at Lake Forest College. ”
Ragdale Artistic Director Regin Igloria expressed enthusiasm about welcoming six artists to Ragdale’s creative environment: “We received an incredible breadth of applications, and these six artists and thinkers stood out in their commitment to widening our understandings of the role of AI. We cannot wait to see the work they will create.”
The HUMAN Residency Fellowship aims to foster collaboration among artists from diverse disciplines as they explore intersections between humanities, AI, and social justice. The selected artists will spend two blocks of time at Ragdale; an initial six-day AI-themed residency in April 2025 followed by an individual 18-day fee-waived residency scheduled for either 2026 or 2027. The fellowship includes stipends totaling $4,000 for travel or other expenses.
Benefiting from interdisciplinary expertise at Lake Forest College, the broader HUMAN grant seeks to navigate technological advancements related to AI through a historical yet practical humanities lens attuned to ethical questions. At its core mission level ,HUMAN aims demonstrating that unchecked AI can replicate social inequity impacting marginalized populations disproportionately.
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