For the past two years, the Institute for the Arts and Humanities at UNC-Chapel Hill has been looking at ways to integrate the creativity of the Triangle's growing digital technology sector with its universities. That kind of collaboration covers a lot of territory, which will be evident this week in a sometimes mind-bending event called the CHAT [or Collaborations: Humanities, Arts & Technology] Festival at UNC-CH.
Where else can you wander through a life-size video game, watch dancers perform with robots, find an underwater opera, and listen to Microsoft's president of entertainment and devices one night and the author of "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" on another?
Megan Granda, executive director of the institute, discussed the five-day fest in a recent interview.
How it started
"Several faculty had been working in new technology in research, which is an important issue in the classroom. We also noticed other research universities across the country were supporting work in digital arts and humanities. We started seeding several collaborative projects with our faculty, Duke and State, and some high-tech companies, particularly gaming companies. ... We learned that we are becoming a hub for the gaming industry. Gaming companies have lots of new, young entrepreneurs coming out of the arts and humanities: Narrative, storytelling, animation, 3-D representation are all important in developing games. The companies were very interested in working with the academic community."
How it's organized
There are four components:
Performances: There will be performers like STREB, a New York group that combines the rush of daredevil sports with dance and experimental technologies (robots and other gizmos). An electro-acoustic concert as part of this year's UNC Music Department's Festival on the Hill, and a DJ artist is also on the bill.
Talking: Keynote speakers and panel discussions each day.
Exhibitions: Showcasing some of the projects the institute has been supporting.
Workshops: The UNC-CH School of Education raised money to pay substitute teachers so that kindergarten through 12th grade instructors can attend and learn to bring new technology into the classroom.
What's the goal?
"This is such an unusual clustering of research, education and technology, we want it to make it apparent regionally and nationally. ... We want to be the first to do something like the [N.C.] Literary Festival [which is held every other year], or the MIT Media Lab with a permanent space."
