The Future of Humanity and Society

Today we are challenged to explore and navigate the impacts of a rapidly changing world on the human condition and student experience. San José State University is committed to leading this conversation through the Future of Humanity and Society initiative.

The rapid convergence of technology, politics, and geopolitics brings both excitement and uncertainty, and provides an opportunity for intentional deliberation and sense-making for our community. To meet this moment, we reaffirm our commitment to teaching and learning about social change and civic engagement, ensuring our campus remains a space for open dialogue and free speech while valuing diverse opinions.  

The Future of Humanity and Society framework is an actionable initiative to shape collective learning as students confront new experiences, tensions, and differing perspectives. Through a series of events, we aim to blend our academic programs and the student experience with a compassionate, belonging-centered approach to equip our students and leaders for the challenges facing their lives, our democratic society, and our humanity.

Welcome to the 2025-2026 Future of Humanity & Society Faculty Ambassadors!

Andrea Bechert

Department of Film & Theatre, College of Humanities & the Arts

Riana Betzler

Department of Philosophy, College of Humanities & The Arts

Patrick Hutchinson

School of Information, College of Information, Data and Society

Yeonka Kim

School of Management, Lucas College & Graduate School of Business

Ellen Middaugh

Department of Child & Adolescent Development, Connie L. Lurie College of Education

Vishnu Pendyala

Department of Applied Data Science, College of Information, Data and Society

Iman Roohnavaz

Department of Philosophy, College of Humanities & The Arts

Navrati Saxena

Department of Computer Science, College of Science

Jihyun Shin

School of Social Work, College of Health and Human Sciences

Kezban Sokat

Department of Marketing & Business Analytics, Lucas College & Graduate School of Business

Pamela Wells

School of Management, Lucas College & Graduate School of Business

Signature Events

Past Events

Fall 2024

9/17/24

SJSU Votes Festival

9/17/24

Community Discussion for Refugees, Hosted by SJSU Campus Reading Program and Human Rights Institute

9/19/24

The Condition of Free Speech in America: A View from Silicon Valley

9/19/24

Politics and Progress in the South Bay Reception, SJSU Library Special Collections & Archives Exhibition

9/23/14

Spartan Speaker Series Presents: An Evening with Jordan Klepper

9/24/24

Digital Dialogues Book Club: Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro

9/28/24

Artificially Censored: The intersection of technology, censorship, and freedom of information

10/9/14

Dialogue Across Political Difference

10/10/14

Walking to A Good Country, Literature in the Age of Displacement, Hosted by SJSU Campus Reading Program

10/16/24

Sports, Activism, and the Legacy of the 1968 Olympic Victory Salute Panel

10/16/24

2nd Annual SJSU Archival Film Festival: Policics & Progress on Campus, SJSU Library SPecial Collections & Archives Exhibition

10/16/24

Workshop on Rethinking Facial Recognition

10/17/24

Data Feminism for AI: A Talk by Lauren Klein

10/24/24

State of Elections SEcurity: Protecting Democroacy in a Changing World

10/25/24

The Art of Visual Storytelling: Gene Leun Yang Receives the 2024 John Stinebeck Award, In Conversation with Mark Siegel, First Second Books

10/29/24

Digital Dialogues Book Club: The Circle by Dave Eggers

10/30/24

Don Edwards Fall Lecture, featuring Cindy Chavez

10/30/24

Digital Twins: Implications for Public Decision Making

11/13/24

Bridging Perspectives: Understanding the Isreal-Palestine Conflict

11/14/24

Uncodumented Americans: A Conversations with Karla Cornejo Villavicencio | Moderated by Journalist José Antonio Vargas

11/15/24

SJSU School of Music and Department of Film and Theatre present: CABARET

12/5/24

Center for Literary Arts Presents: Tommy Orange

Spring 2025

1/28/25

Community Connections Fair and 25th Anniversary Celebration of the Center for Community Learning & Leadership

1/29/25Digital Humanities Step 1: Identifying, Designing, or Imagining a Digital Project
2/18/25SJSU Art Galleries Tuesday Night Lecture: Paola de la Calle
2/25/25

Becoming high school student researchers in the Age of AI: Insights from a student-led study of improving reading with chatbots

2/26/25

The Chicano Movement in the Santa Clara Valley, 1960-1975: An Author Talk with Dr. Gregorio Mora-Torres

2/27/25Silicon Valley Leaders SYmposium: Chris Eidler, Greenlake Soulution, HP
3/5/25CHHS Helath TechQuity Conference 2025
3/6/25SJSU Adobe Digital Literacy Day 2025
3/13/25SIlicon Valley Leaders Symposium: Maria Pizarro, Pizarro Consulting
3/19/25The Epidemic of Loneliness: Faculty Research Panel, sopnsored by College of Social Sciences
3/19/25Careers in Tech for Non-Tech Majors
3/20/25Regional PIT (Public Interest Technology) Career Resource Fair
3/24/25AI For Good: Pan-Pacific Adobe Creative Jam
4/25/25Sparan Digital Literacy Summit
5/7/25AI Futures SYmposium: On The Role of Creativity, Ethics, Assessment and Innovation in Public Education
5/7/25QuickBites // AI in Creative Spaces
5/8/25Center for Literary Arts Presents: Ted Chiang
5/16/25A Conversation with the Authors of The AI Con, Dr. Emily M. Bender and Dr. Alex Hanna
5/27/25Agentic AI: Shaping the Future of Autonomy, Innovation, Innovation, and Society