Carnegie Mellon Dietrich College of Humanities & Social Sciences

09/10/2026

Join us on September 17 for a Constitution Day Symposium exploring "Humanities, Law and an Inflection Point for Our Constitution."

Featuring a keynote by constitutional scholar Sanford Levinson and three thought-provoking conversations on the Constitution’s humanistic origins, textual interpretation, and literary and cultural influence, the symposium brings together scholars in law and the humanities to consider how we understand — and continue to reinterpret — this foundational document.

The day will also include a special opportunity to view the U.S. Bill of Rights, one of only five known surviving copies of the first official printing issued in 1792, along with a closing performance exploring the Constitution through theatre, poetry, and music.

Learn more about register: https://www.cmu.edu/dietrich/humanities-center/center-events/constitution-day-conference.html

Registration is now open for Carnegie Mellon University’s Constitution Day Symposium.

On September 17, the Carnegie Mellon University Dietrich College Humanities Center and the Law & Humanities Institute will present Humanities, Law, and an Inflection Point for Our Constitution, a Constitution Day symposium and part of CMU’s America250 programming.
The symposium will bring together leading scholars in law and the humanities to re-enliven the original connections among the Constitution, law, and the humanities, and examine the enduring significance of the U.S. Constitution.

Join us for this timely conversation about the Constitution and American democracy.
📅 Thursday, September 17, 2026
📍 Carnegie Mellon University
Register now: https://lnkd.in/gUtSqaBx

09/09/2026

A timely look back at this groundbreaking study from Brad Mahon, a professor of psychology, that looks at developing new ways to understand how routine hits on the field impact the brain.

09/08/2026

For nearly five decades, Dietrich College cognitive psychologist Brian MacWhinney has built TalkBank into the world’s largest open-access integrated repository for spoken-language data — generating more than 14,000 scientific publications along the way.

From understanding how children learn language to advancing research on dementia, autism, stuttering and second-language learning, TalkBank is helping researchers around the world ask new questions about how we communicate — and what language can reveal about the human mind and brain.

Discover how MacWhinney’s work continues to shape the future of language science ⬇

09/02/2026

From tracking feral hogs in the Great Smoky Mountains to helping Steelers fans understand data science, Jason Bittel has built a career around making complex ideas impossible to ignore.

As Dietrich College’s associate director of research communications, Bittel brings his storyteller’s touch to the social sciences — translating cutting-edge research into stories that connect with people beyond the university.

Learn more about Bittel and how he helps make complex science make sense. ⬇

08/31/2026

What does “We the People” mean today? On Constitution Day, September 17, Carnegie Mellon University will convene scholars in law and the humanities to explore that question — and many others — in “Humanities, Law, and an Inflection Point for Our Constitution.”

The symposium features a keynote by constitutional scholar Sanford Levinson, interdisciplinary panel conversations, a rare look at the Posner Center’s copy of the Bill of Rights, and a special closing performance incorporating theatre, poetry and music.

Together, these conversations ask us to look beyond the Constitution as a legal document and consider its history, language, literature, philosophy and cultural meaning.

The event also launches CMU’s America250 programming.
📅 September 17 | 9 a.m.–6:45 p.m.
📍 Carnegie Mellon University

Learn more at the link in comments ⬇

08/28/2026

08/26/2026

Kevin Zollman has been named the new head of Carnegie Mellon Department of Philosophy, effective Sept. 1.

Zollman, the Herbert A. Simon Professor of Philosophy and Social and Decision Sciences, succeeds Peter Spirtes, who has led the department for the past five years.

With research spanning game theory, agent-based modeling and the philosophy of science, Zollman is committed to making philosophy accessible by connecting it to other disciplines and real-world problems.

Learn more about Zollman and the Department of Philosophy ⬇

08/25/2026

For America’s 250th birthday, the story of the nation and how it's told, matters.

“Think of economists or archivists, librarians — many disciplines study the past. Historians tend to be more conservative in our methods,” said Chris Phillips, head of the Department of History. “We care so much about the quality and reliability of evidence, and so it’s not always obvious how to continue the standards we have for evidence with new technologies. That said, look at the National Archives Digital Preservation Program, something like efforts by some of the nonprofits like the Wayback Machine and Internet Archive. These are going to become critical moving forward because everything's online or it's locked in your cell phone. And so I think one of the things that we have to do as historians is constantly balance how we preserve our standards for evidence and argumentation with how we access evidence.”

Read more about Carnegie Mellon University's ties to important moments and movements in American history ⬇️

08/20/2026

Shine bright, ! ✨

08/18/2026

As we look ahead to the fall semester, we’re excited to welcome not only new undergraduate and graduate students, but also new faculty! This academic year, Carnegie Mellon University’s Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences is adding 25 new faculty members to the roster.
Meet our incoming faculty ⬇️