Host partner
Greetings from Vanderbilt University
Welcome to Times Higher Education’s inaugural summit on liberal arts and innovation in the digital age, hosted in partnership with Vanderbilt University. Vanderbilt is proud to provide a forum for dialogue on this vital subject.
Of the factors shaping the evolving landscape of higher education, few are more prominent than the ascent of digital technology as the dominant force shaping our lives. Integrating liberal arts with artificial intelligence and big data is not a distant possibility, but a present reality. This integration will create possibilities for teaching, scholarship and innovation. And the advent of AI raises many serious questions—sooner than many of us expected—that the liberal arts are uniquely positioned to help answer.
In our summit, we’ll discuss the opportunities and the questions. We’ll examine how the liberal arts can serve as a model for combining creativity, empirical reasoning and the nascent power of AI. We’ll look at the role of the liberal arts in setting ethical guardrails to ensure that AI is used responsibly. We’ll consider the necessity of the liberal arts in training tomorrow’s leaders and explore how we can move beyond the no-longer-useful divide between arts and sciences. And we will discuss the value of a liberal arts mindset in developing solutions for our communities.
Vanderbilt is committed to leading discovery and the creation of knowledge amid the seismic shifts of our time. This summit is an opportunity for higher education leaders from around the world to imagine a new future for the liberal arts—one where we harness the new digital tools at our disposal, transcend traditional boundaries between disciplines and increase the impact of our work. Thank you for joining us for these important conversations.
Daniel Diermeier
Chancellor
Vanderbilt University
180+
degrees
13,700
students
155,000
alumni
About Vanderbilt University
Vanderbilt University, located in the vibrant city of Nashville, Tennessee, is a premier institution of higher learning that is known for its distinctive combination of academic rigour and innovative spirit. With a history that spans more than 150 years, Vanderbilt has grown beyond its regional roots to become a global powerhouse, delivering an education that prepares students to lead with confidence in an interconnected world.
Central to Vanderbilt's identity is its commitment to an immersive educational experience that transcends traditional boundaries. The university prides itself on fostering a diverse community of scholars who engage in deep intellectual exploration and hands-on learning. Students are encouraged to pursue their passions, challenge conventional wisdom and collaborate across disciplines, embodying the spirit of discovery that drives progress.
The student experience at Vanderbilt is marked by a deeply rooted sense of community and belonging. The university champions principles such as continual growth, self-direction, collaboration and belonging. Students are encouraged to carve their own paths, supported by robust financial aid programmes like Opportunity Vanderbilt, which ensures access to education for students from all socio-economic backgrounds.
Vanderbilt's commitment to free expression and civil discourse serves as the foundation for a transformative education. As a hub of intellectual diversity, it maintains a vibrant space dedicated to the vigorous exchange of ideas, equipping students to engage constructively with the complex issues of our time.
As it looks to the future, Vanderbilt is driven by the ambition to lead in addressing the challenges of a rapidly changing, technology-driven world. Its global outlook, deep community engagement and pioneering spirit position Vanderbilt not only as a distinguished institution of the southern US, but as a great university of the 21st century, ever true to its motto: "dare to grow".