If you’re worried about the future of the humanities — or humanity in general — in this age of generative AI, go to a Queen’s graduation and you’ll walk away with renewed hope.
I’ve presided over 47 ceremonies now. That adds up to over 20,000 handshakes (plus a couple hundred hugs) and roughly 35 hours of speeches that have everything to do with purely human capacities and nothing to do with artificial intelligence.
I learn a lot about people, and life, while listening and watching from centre stage.
First, an observation from the handshake line: I had no idea how many people are double-jointed. My unscientific estimate is 15 per cent of Queen’s graduates who extend their hand out to me present with a double-jointed thumb. This is absolutely unrelated to the point of this piece, but I have always wanted to share it.
Now, back to humanity.
Aside from a brief few minutes I get at the podium, mostly, I listen. It’s fascinating to hear what the few who are privileged with a direct line to graduands choose to say. I tend to think that what these very successful people spend their time conveying in front of people on the threshold of a new life says a whole lot about who they are and what they think matters in life.
In all of the serious, funny, reflective speeches I’ve sat through from writers, lawyers, artists, scientists, politicians, and business folks alike, there were none that did not focus on values and principles for bettering the world around us.
Just this week alone, Smith Engineering Dean Kevin Deluzio emphasized the importance of engineering for humanity. Principal Patrick Deane said the most eminent faculty we have is imagination — to be able to imagine a better future for ourselves and society at large. Vice-Provost Fahim Quadir urged that we spend our lives making our communities equitable for all.
The first Honorary degree recipient, Monique Frize, explained the necessary skills heading into the workforce are “being able to think outside of the box and an ability to incorporate the social, political, and economic context into your work.” And the second, David A. Robertson said that “a good leader doesn’t ask what happened or watch what happens. A good leader makes things happen.”
And Chancellor Shelagh Rogers quoted Bad Bunny: “Dreamers, keep on dreaming and keep working hard to achieve your goals. There are many difficulties, but what matters is to stay focused and have perseverance.”
Further, she used Queen’s Professor Herbert Kalmus as an example of a dreamer. In 1915, Kalmus was told by our then trustees to focus on his day job as a mining lecturer, rather than his dream to improve motion picture. He didn’t listen to them, quit, and went on to invent Technicolour, displaying the power of lofty goals and determination
In an age obsessed with what machines can do, with our discussions leaning into how automation may be changing humanity as we know it, the messages at convocation remain stuck on what only humans can offer: empathy, imagination, and perseverance.
I hope that this gives you some optimism, as it does for me, that the humanities will persist in being the most important resource we have at Queen’s and that our alumni, carrying an understanding of history and attention to culture, will continue to be the most remarkable asset we offer to the world.
Yes, innovation is fundamental to the role of post-secondary education in society. However, I believe students will keep choosing to attend university (even when they have access to all the information in the world at their fingertips) to have fundamental experiences that build character, form belief systems and relationships, and ignite a passion that will lead to a lifetime of purposeful contributions.
At your service,
Niki
Tags
Abigail Conners, Convocation, Humanity
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