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Project Humanities’ 7th annual Hacks for Humanity goes virtual

Posted 9/9/20

Project Humanities’ annual Hacks for Humanity: Hacking for the Social Good draws participants from different professions, ages, communities, and backgrounds for a weekend of creating solutions …

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Humankind

Project Humanities’ 7th annual Hacks for Humanity goes virtual

Posted

Project Humanities’ annual Hacks for Humanity: Hacking for the Social Good draws participants from different professions, ages, communities, and backgrounds for a weekend of creating solutions to big social challenges.

Because of COVID-19 uncertainties, this annual event will be virtual this year, still engaging Project Humanities’ supporters in talking, listening and connecting. The event takes place on Friday evening, Saturday, and Sunday afternoon: Oct. 9-11.

Too often, those not in the technology world see hacking as a coding-only activity. This event challenges that thinking and welcomes coders, non-coders, designers, experienced and budding entrepreneurs, business folks, engineers, artists, humanists, futurists and everyone in between.

Here is an opportunity for cross-generational interactions, networking and community-building, according to a press release.

Like other life hacks, this event is about building something to make something better.

What makes this hacking event unique is the wide audience welcomed and the fact that teams are not preassembled or challenges prescribed. Additionally, all team products must embody in concept and application three of these seven principles in Project Humanities’ Humanity 101 Movement — empathy, compassion, respect, integrity, forgiveness, kindness and self-reflection.

Team tracks this year respond to what’s happening in the world now regarding COVID-19 and this current crisis in racial justice. The tracks are: Ageing, Safety and Justice.

Since the mid-March pivot from in-person events to virtual, Project Humanities has continued to deliver new programming via its summer Podcast Club community conversation that have included such topics as Black parenting and corporal punishment, death and dying, menstrual equity, youth mental health and academic pressures, and police departments discarding rape kits.

These virtual facilitated conversations have engaged attendees, facilitators and panelists from across the country and the globe to join.

Rachel Sondgeroth, Project Humanities Program Coordinator, who manages events technology, comments on the new virtual delivery format: “Our shift to virtual programming has challenged us to find ways to keep events engaging from afar. We’re grateful for this opportunity to expand the methods of our programming and we’re excited to see what fresh, new ideas come from it.”

This year’s virtual Hacks for Humanity means that participants, mentors, and volunteers can join from around the globe.

“Hacks for Humanity 2017 was my first hackathon ever,” said event participant Mohit Doshi, an ASU computer science major.

“I was a freshman and my experience with Hacks for Humanity led me to pursue many more hackathons and compete in events across the state and country. I formed a team with four other people who I had never met before. All of us were from different backgrounds. Each person contributed something to the project that was unique to their background. There were programmers, a Language major, a business major. I liked how everyone’s contributions culminated to create something that was not only a new idea but also implementable.”

This free event is open to everyone from high school juniors and seniors to retirees. Participants can expect to work on teams, innovate ambitious projects, play games, create websites and canvas business models, hear about entrepreneurial myths and misconceptions and bias in technologies, win $10,000 in cash prizes, and most of all, have fun for a good cause.

Registration required of all participants: https://www.hacksforhumanity.io.

For complete Fall Events Calendar details, go to: https://projecthumanities.asu.edu/events, or leave voicemail at 480-727-7030.

Project Humanities is an award-winning university initiative at Arizona State University that leads local and national critical conversations around some of society’s most pressing challenges politically, socially, and historically; all within the context of addressing this question: “Are we losing our humanity?”

Project Humanities focus on Humanity 101 allows programming that promotes these seven non-faith-based values: compassion, integrity, respect, forgiveness, empathy, kindness and self-reflection.