Hackathon for the Humanities | Invisible Cities: 24hr Design Challenge Winners
Announcing the Winners of the Hackathon for the Humanities
Invisible Cities: 24hr Design Challenge
The pandemic has put pressure on the form of the city – exposing racial and class inequities that have exacerbated the uneven effects of the virus – while at the same time offering unique opportunities to break with the past and imagine our world anew. Arundhati Roy writes that pandemics can serve as portals between one world and the next – gateways into imagining and conceptualizing new models of communal living. Fredric Jameson, in a review of Margaret Atwood, suggests a similar notion: “[T]he post-catastrophe situation in reality constitutes the preparation for the emergence of Utopia itself.”
To explore these possibilities, ICLS invited undergraduate students from across universities to participate in a virtual “Hackathon for the Humanities” from Friday, May 7 through Saturday, May 8, 2021. Participants had 24 hours to explore a theme related to the urban landscape of the contemporary city and to devise a speculative alternative model for an imagined future city. Teams were tasked with composing a page in a book for 2049 and imagining a city of their choice through a keyword, such as HOUSING or FOOD.
Special thanks to Faculty Facilitators Lan Li and Anthony Acciavatti, and Alumni Facilitator Malvika Jolly (GS’20)!
Winners
First Place (by universal acclaim):
Moe Thinzar Khine – Sophomore at Columbia University (Philosophy, Psychology Major)
for the most expansive use of keywords
“Cities – The Space We Take and the Space We Own”
Access “Cities – The Space We Take and the Space We Own” Here
In a tie for second place, two groups:
Group 2: Arnav Sankaranthi – rising junior at Rice University (Biosciences: Cell Biology and Genetics Major; Medical Humanities Minor)
Claudia Szaflarski – senior at Columbia University (in Comparative Literature and Society Major)
for the most convincing quasi-biometric, utopian-dystopian vision
“Artifact from the Future City: 2071 SkyRise Brochure”
and
Group 6: Charles Bonkowsky – rising junior at Columbia University (Political Science, Creative Writing Major)
Meghana Nadella – rising senior at Rice University (Health Sciences, Visual and Dramatic Arts Double Major; Medical Humanities Minor)
for best engagement with text and image
“Our City”
Honorable mentions
Group 1: Shushu Crevoshay – rising junior at Columbia University (Urban Studies and Political Science)
Vaani Vedula – rising sophomore at UT Austin (Architecture and Architectural Engineering)
“Sagil City”
Group 3: Abinav Sankaranthi – rising junior at Rice University (Biosciences)
Kawen Kuang – Purchase College at SUNY (Graphic Design and Painting)
“The Big Apple: A Happy Green City”
Group 5: Melissa Efrus – Purchase College at SUNY
Renee Weaver – Purchase College at SUNY
“Nature Nourishes the City”
“Hackathon for the Humanities” is co-sponsored by the Center for Science and Society, Temple Hoyne Buell Center for the Study of American Architecture, Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures, Columbia Global Centers, Society of Fellows and Heyman Center for the Humanities, Department of English and Comparative Literature, Department of Medical Humanities and Ethics
This event was a part of our “Medical Humanities and Pandemic Urbanisms” series celebrating the launch of our new Medical Humanities major. Learn more about the major here.
