From MSU News Service
Exploring the possibilities and challenges of large-scale research in the age of artificial intelligence and machine learning will be the focus of a conference co-hosted by Montana State University on March 27th–28th in Bozeman.
“The Future of Research in the Age of AI” is the first of three symposia being held by the American Historical Association in 2025. William Thomas, dean of MSU’s College of Letters and Science and vice president of AHA’s research division, said the conference will showcase large-scale research by eminent scholars and provide an opportunity for participants to learn how to successfully conduct research with new technologies and techniques.
The conference is free and open to anyone with an interest in large-scale research. Registration is required.
“Large-scale research is on a scale that no single scholar on their own can accomplish,” said Thomas, a professor of history. “In my field, large-scale research is becoming increasingly prevalent because historical data, such as emails and legal records and other social and cultural records like social media posts, are themselves massive. We’re not organized yet as scholars to work with this scale of material, and we need to be.”
John Paxton, director of MSU’s Gianforte School of Computing, said the conference will help researchers develop the skills they need to leverage technology more effectively.
“As the volume of humanities-related data continues to rapidly increase, humanities scholars need an understanding of artificial intelligence, as well as the ability to utilize high-performance computers in order to conduct research,” Paxton said.
At MSU, the Research Cyberinfrastructure Core Facility provides centralized support, systems and services for researchers who have high-performance computing needs.
Conference presenters include some of the nation’s leading historians in research, Thomas said. They are:
– Thavolia Glymph, Peabody Family Distinguished Service Professor at Duke University and former president of the American Historical Association
– Lauren Tilton, E. Claiborne Robins Professor of Liberal Arts and Digital Humanities at the University of Richmond
– Matthew Connelly, professor of history at Columbia University
– Katrina Jagodinsky, associate professor of history at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln
– Walter Hawthorne, professor of African and digital history, and Dean Rehberg, director of Matrix, both at Michigan State University
– Loren Moulds, assistant professor at the University of Virginia Law Library
MSU faculty will serve as panelists or moderators at the conference, including professor Clemente Izurieta, assistant professor Ann Marie Reinhold and Distinguished Professor John Sheppard of the Gianforte School of Computing; Cat Dale, associate professor in the School of Film and Photography; Michelle Miley, director of the Writing Center and associate dean of the College of Letters and Science; Cascade Tuholske, assistant professor in the Department of Earth Sciences; and Kristen Intemann, director of the Center for Science, Technology, Ethics and Society. Thomas and Sarah Weicksel, incoming executive director of the American Historical Association, will open and participate in sessions throughout the conference.
In addition to the College of Letters and Science, the symposium is co-sponsored by MSU’s Norm Asbjornson College of Engineering, College of Arts and Architecture, Gianforte School of Computing, Buffalo Nations Food Systems Initiative, Center for Faculty Excellence, Museum of the Rockies and the MSU Library.
More information and a full schedule of events is available at HERE. •
