IN-SIGHT is an undergraduate student think thank affiliated with the Center for the Humanities. IN-SIGHT’s mission is to work with businesses and community organizations to examine real-world problems and provide humanities-based solutions.
There is a myriad of daunting challenges faced by businesses and organizations in the 21st century, and perspectives grounded in areas such as history, politics, literature, gender studies, and religion can provide crucial vision in solving human problems. By applying the understanding of fields that speak to the common heartbeat of humanity, ideas for solving economic, political, environmental, and social problems can be achieved. Businesses and other organizations can better fulfill their missions by addressing such issues, as they are woven into the small and large operations and outcomes of these institutions. What seem to be financial, scientific, or technological problems may benefit from the humanities-based exploration of root causes that may be found in human perception, motivation, aspiration, and belief.
Over the course of two semesters, the IN-SIGHT Fellows work under the direction of the designated faculty member to provide humanities-based solutions to a real-world problem put forward by a specific sponsoring organization, institution, or business that has solicited input from IN-SIGHT. The sponsoring organization will work with the think tank to set the goal for the project and as needed during the course of their study. At the end of each academic year, IN-SIGHT will produce a white paper outlining solutions to the problem under the review and host a presentation of their findings, which will utilize digital tools, like ARC-GIS, and will be archived on the Center for Applied Humanities website for future accessibility.
The annual IN-SIGHT think tank is comprised of four junior or senior undergraduate students majoring in humanities disciplines, as well as a humanities faculty mentor who will guide their work. Students who are chosen for IN-SIGHT receive a Center for Applied Humanities Fellowship for that academic year, as well as 2 ExEL experiential learning units.
If your business or organization would like to be a sponsor for the IN-SIGHT program, or if you are a student interested in applying for an IN-SIGHT fellowship, please contact. Dr. Marlisa Santos (santosm@nova.edu).