学生分享| 迈向人文科学的未来

迈向人文科学的未来

A Step into the Future of the Humanities

文 | 昆山杜克大学2022级本科生Anisha Joshi

9月15-16日，周末的昆山杜克校园内洋溢着不息的热情。昆山杜克大学正在举办人文研究中心启动仪式，同时召开主题为“人文未来”的一系列人文科学专题讲座和研讨会，演讲嘉宾与昆山杜克的师生们充满激情地交流观点与看法，共同探讨人文科学的未来。

An indefatigable feeling of enthusiasm pervaded the atmosphere of Duke Kunshan University over the weekend of September 15–16,as faculty and students alike geared for two days full of seminars and discussions exploring the future of humanities. The campus experienced a flurry of activity and intellectual stimulation as ideas and perspectives were exchanged among guest speakers, the faculty and the students.

昆山杜克大一新生Nathan Cao正在提问

对大多数人来说，未来是一件令人恐惧的事。近来的状况预示着这个星球黯淡的明天。然而，当回望二十世纪下半叶，人们本可采取一些行动使如今的地球更健康。如James Miller教授所言，这正是当时的大学让我们失望的地方。当每个人都蒙上双眼，只想着身边的激烈竞争，我们忘记了一些几十年后会反噬我们的事情——地球健康。James Miller教授评论说：“对于有些事情，科学家无法说服大众，而诗人、牧师与故事的讲述者却可以承担起这份责任，这就是人文科学的意义。” James Miller教授指出，我们急切地需要在大学中去除固有的学科划分，培养未来的公民能够更加全面地了解这个世界，而不仅仅囿于自己的个人需求。

The future is something that is a matter of great trepidation for most of us. The current state of things bodes a bleak tomorrow for the planet. But when you think back to the second half of the twentieth century, things could have been done that would have given us a much healthier planet today. This, according to Professor James Miller, was exactly where the universities of the day failed us. As everybody donned their blinders to prepare for the rat race, we forgot something that would come back us to bite us in just a matter of decades—planetary health. “What scientists couldn’t convince people, poets, preachers and storytellers could, and this is where the humanities come in,” he said, emphasizing the rapidly growing need to “undiscipline” universities so that the citizens of the future will be people who keep the world in perspective, not just their personal needs.

昆山杜克大学人文学教授，人文研究中心联合主任James Miller及昆山杜克大学副教授Daniel Lim讨论全球伦理与人工智能

开幕式上所发表的大量演讲都强调了理解人工智能和地球健康的迫切性和重要性，以及怎样通过跨学科研究和兴趣来实现这一目标。Daniel Lim教授用自身的经历现身说法，讲述了自己作为一位“曾经对人文科学毫无兴趣”的学者，如何在思考人工智能时开始对人文科学萌发了强烈的兴趣。毕竟，现在的时代需要人们更全面地理解这个世界的运作方式，并且对某些特定领域给予特别的关注。

The opening saw a plethora of speeches that underscored the burgeoning need to understand AI and the need for planetary health, and how this can be achieved by interdisciplinary research and interests. As demonstrated by Professor Lim, an “anti-humanities” student who found his door to the humanities while considering artificial intelligence, this day and age calls for a broader view of how the world works and specialized focus in selected areas.

作为一个对中国历史与文化怀有持久兴趣的人，我很幸运能参加Jeffrey Wasserstrom教授的讲座。这场精彩的人文研究讲座聚焦于，同一事件如果用不同的方式进行讲述，会如何塑造我们对于该事件的看法，“义和团运动”就是其中一例。美国人的版本常常以攻陷北京为结束，而中国人对“义和团运动”的描述还包括了叛乱之后的外国军事入侵。英国报纸将该事件与其在印度的殖民统治相提并论，而中国的报纸则更多地强调了这一事件与鸦片战争、颐和园遭受毁坏的相似之处。这个讲座使我真正开始思考，媒体怎样影响了大众对他们生活中重要事件的认知。通常，我们听到或读到的事件描述已经受到了固有偏见的严重影响，常常导致该事件的某些方面被有意地过分夸大，或其他方面则被完全掩盖。

As somebody with an enduring interest in Chinese history and culture, I considered myself extremely lucky to be a part of Professor Jeffrey Wasserstrom’s seminar. The focus of the humanities research seminar was how the same event, retold in different ways in different ways can shape our perception of present events, as exemplified by the Boxer rebellion. The American version of the event often ended at the siege of Beijing, while the Chinese retelling included the military invasion after the rebellion. The UK retelling in their newspapers drew parallels with their colonization of India, while the Chinese newspapers often placed more emphasis on how the event was similar to the opium war and the destruction of the summer palace. The seminar really got me thinking about the media’s role in influencing the milieu’s perception of events that have huge impacts on their lives. Often, we are presented with a story heavily impacted by pre-existing biases which often lead to strategic exaggeration of some aspects of an event or complete erasure of others.

JeffreyWasserstrom 教授提醒大家在分析不同的事件时保有客观心态的重要性，但是也应记住，全面地看问题不总是等于客观地看问题——有时，事情有对错之分，即使界限可能并不清晰。“你所听说的事件描述从来都不是完全正确无误的，”他说。这是因为很多国家会基于自己的价值体系对事件进行有利于己方的陈述。这不仅仅是一场关于历史事件的讲座，也是一次关乎怎样以全面的方式来看待历史事件的课程。我们太容易忘记所有人都带有自身的价值观，也太容易否认我们不愿相信的事情。

Professor Wasserstrom reminded us of the importance of keeping an objective mind while analyzing different events but also to remember that being balanced is not always the same as being objective- sometimes, there is a right and wrong even though it may not be that clear. “Nothing you hear is ever completely true,” he said, for often nations put their own spin on events based on their value systems. The seminar wasn’t simply a lecture on historical events as much as it was a lesson on how to view historical events in a balanced manner. It is often too easy to forget that all human lives have value, and it is often too easy to deny things we do not want to believe in.

昆山杜克大学学生参加人文专业与职业专题论坛

像大多数我这个年龄的同学们一样，我对于未来还充满迷茫，还没有明确的人生目标和职业规划。所以，我在人文专业与职业论坛上收获很大。我本人非常喜爱写作和创作艺术，在职业论坛上，我很高兴有机会与那些以写作和创作为生的人交谈。这样的交流让我异常兴奋，因为他们的生活正是我所梦寐以求的理想生活。我开始思考：为什么不能是我呢？也像这样，从事着自己一生都想要从事的工作，每天都乐此不疲？于是，我既激动又冷静地参加了下一个讲座，演讲嘉宾是中国著名作家阎连科，这太令人兴奋了！

Like most students my age, I am plagued by an uncertainty about what I want to do with my life and what career I want to pursue. And so, I wasted no time in attending the career information session. I am someone who finds joy in writing and making art, and the event was essentially heaven for me as I had the opportunity to talk to someone who makes a living through writing and someone who makes a living through making art. It is always lovely talking to people who are basically living what you’ve always considered a pipe dream for yourself. At the same time you are also brought to question why should you be the one who finds joy as you finally get to do what you’ve wanted to do all your life. And so, part excited and part sobered, I headed to the next session, which much to my excitement, was another writer!

虽然我目前还没读过他的书，但我非常投入地聆听了他的发言——你总能在阅历丰富的人的睿智语言中找到共鸣。“当现实远比虚构更为丰富和荒诞，我们怎么去写作？”阎连科说，“我们所生活的世界远比我们所能想象的更为魔幻。”这深深地引起了我的共鸣，因为在深入了解后，你会发现语言无法描述这个世界是多么地疯狂、复杂。他的这一表达完美地概括了我们所身处的世界的现状，并让人们更加意识到，人文科学在日益复杂化的世界中的重要性。

Although I haven’t read any of his books yet, I was quite excited as you can always find a thing or two to love in something someone who has lived through much has to say. “We have reached a point in time where writers have a hard time conjuring up a world in our minds because the world we live in is so surreal itself,” said Yan Lianke. “The world we live in is much wilder than anything any of us could ever imagine.” This truly struck a chord with me because if you truly dive deep, words will fail to describe how insanely complicated the world has become. The statement perfectly encapsulated the current state of the world we live in, and put into perspective the importance of the humanities in this increasingly convoluted world.

圆桌讨论：昆山杜克大学人文研究中心联合主任Carlos Rojas对话Jeffrey Wasserstrom教授、中国著名作家阎连科、Eileen Chow

为期两天的人文研究中心启动仪式暨研讨会非常精彩——我唯一担心的是无法参加所有的活动，但是我参加过的每一个讲座或论坛都达到甚至超过了我的预期。我期盼昆山杜克大学在人文艺术领域取得丰硕的学术成果，并期望在未来，我们能够运用跨学科知识来减轻人类过去对地球造成的灾难性影响。

The Humanities Research Center launch was quite the event—my only qualm is that I didn’t have the time to attend all the events. But each and every one that I did attend lived up to my expectations and beyond. I look forward to seeing DKU blossom into a beautiful college that thrives through academia in the humanities and art, and a future where we can use our interdisciplinary knowledge to perhaps mitigate the disastrous impact we’ve already had on the planet.

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与阎连科面对面：当现实远比虚构更为丰富和荒诞，我们怎么去写作？

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