Jed Buchwald received the Koyré medal for career achievement in the history of science on March 18, 2024.
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Meet the Humanities Faculty
Assistant Professor of Black Studies and English
Dana Murphy
My commitment to creative works which emphasize care within critical and liberative contexts has only deepened during my time at Caltech. I hope my research and my courses help students navigate an increasingly uncertain world."
I bring to the classroom complex questions concerning inequality and justice that I've often yet to figure out myself. I invite students to think along with me and, through this collaboration, I equip them with tools to confront the most pressing concerns of our time."
Caltech is a wonderful place to pursue original research; it lets your interests determine the work you do. There is both a tremendous amount of freedom and an extremely high level of expectation, and these two combine to create a terrific intellectual environment that helps scholars generate their best work."
The humanities have the practical function of giving students something they wouldn't otherwise have. The humanities classroom is a space where they can take a step back from their scientific work and learn to think about the world in a different way."
Rea A. and Lela G. Axline Professor of Business Economics and History, Emeritus
Philip T. Hoffman
Caltech is the one place where you really can do interdisciplinary work, whether you are a professor or a student. You never stop learning—or advancing the frontiers of knowledge."
Professor of English; Dean of Undergraduate Students
Jennifer Jahner
We live in unprecedented times, but I hope that students leave my classes with the recognition that the questions we ask about inquiry, ethics, environment, and art are not new ones. Attention to the past can make us more creative stewards of the present."
I ask my students to listen to their own assumptions about themselves and the world as they study a broad range of materials that may seem temporally or culturally remote from us."
When students start learning philosophy, they often feel like the scenarios that philosophers discuss are outlandish and not worth taking seriously. An analysis of science fiction allows students to put these concerns aside and ultimately realize that philosophy is relevant to their lives and to other fields of academic inquiry."