Yale University Library has received a $3 million award from The Goizueta Foundation to inaugurate a comprehensive initiative in science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM) education at Yale by launching a Digital Humanities Laboratory to be located in Sterling Memorial Library (SML). Indicative of the interdisciplinary vision inspired by STEAM, the laboratory will provide expertise, equipment, and facilities for faculty and students across a wide range of subjects. A portion of the award will also establish an endowment fund to support STEAM education at Yale.
STEAM embodies the idea of amplifying the strengths of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) by combining them with the creativity, visual acuity, and aesthetics drawn from the arts. The Goizueta Foundation’s significant contribution to the STEAM educational enterprise will build on a strong tradition of innovation in teaching and learning across disciplines at Yale and will greatly advance the integration of science, technology, and the humanities in education and research.
Yale University Librarian Susan Gibbons remarked, “The establishment of the Digital Humanities Laboratory provides a locus for the burgeoning interdisciplinary initiatives across Yale which explore teaching, learning, and research at the intersections of STEAM. We are very grateful to The Goizueta Foundation for providing Yale with the opportunity to develop robust support and services for faculty and students.”
The Digital Humanities Laboratory will catalyze existing STEAM-based projects at Yale and support the exploration of new ideas that connect established disciplines and audiences with Yale’s world-class cultural heritage collections. The term “digital humanities” encompasses a variety of emerging practices that transcend the boundary between STEM and the arts and humanities, including the computational analysis of cultural data and the democratization of teaching and research through global networks. Technologists, scientists, and humanities scholars on the Yale faculty who are already pioneers in STEAM education, as well as those who are newcomers to the field, will be able to use the laboratory to create new and compelling ways for scholars to engage with the sciences, arts, and digital technology in the twenty-first century.
“We believe that STEAM is a critical component of twenty-first-century learning, and The Goizueta Foundation is pleased to join with Yale University in this strategic initiative. It will provide a unique opportunity to join the university’s historic strengths in teaching and learning in the humanities with my father’s vision for innovation and creativity in education and public life,” commented Olga Goizueta Rawls, Chair and Chief Executive Officer of The Goizueta Foundation.
About The Goizueta Foundation
The Goizueta Foundation was established in 1992 by the late Roberto Goizueta, former Chief Executive Officer of the Coca-Cola Company. The mission of the Atlanta-based foundation is to empower individuals by partnering with innovative non-profit organizations to produce lasting change in the areas of education and family services.
Mr. Goizueta graduated from Yale College in 1953 with a degree in engineering, and The Goizueta Foundation has been a generous donor to Yale, especially in the areas of biomedical and chemical engineering. Most recently, the foundation has supported the Advanced Leadership Program in the School of Engineering and Applied Science, and the Science, Technology, and Research Scholars (STARS) Program in Yale College, designed to support historically underrepresented students in the sciences, engineering, and mathematics.
For more information, please contact amanda.patrick@yale.edu, Director of Communications, Yale University Library
via Yale University Library News: The Goizueta Foundation to support the creation of a Digital Humanities Laboratory at the Yale University Library Archives.