Solertia Humanities Speaker Series
Solertia Humanities Speaker Series
Solertia—one of the elements comprising the virtue of prudence—is the ability by which someone, "when confronted with a sudden event, can swiftly, but with open eyes and clear-sighted vision, decide for the good, avoiding pitfalls of injustice, cowardice, and intemperance" (Josef Pieper, The Four Cardinal Virtues).
The UCCS Humanities program is proud to offer the Solertia Humanities Speaker Series, which presents an annual talk by an internationally recognized leader in the humanities. In our rapidly changing and often fragmented world, a cultivated appreciation of our collective likeness, shared capacities and common aspirations compels us to understand and savor the rich depth of human diversity and experience. To the ancient Romans, the concept of humanitas included an education that instilled the virtues of character required to live a fulfilling life: wisdom, justice, courage, and temperance. Funding for Solertia is provided by a Humanities Program Fee, with additional assistance from the Heller Center for Arts & Humanities.
What Makes Us Human?: AI and the Power of Narrative in Beethoven's Piano Music
Tuesday, 24 February 2026, 7:00pm
Chapman Foundations Recital Hall
Ent Center for the Arts
5225 N. Nevada Ave., Colorado Springs, CO 80918
Storytelling is a meaningful part of what it means to be human. Unlike the probabilistic processes AI's LLMs use to create stories, human versions are born of embodied experience—lived upheavals that demand resolution. Nowhere is this more fully on display than through the tragedy and triumph of Beethoven's life and creativity. Mia will share and demonstrate this through his most iconic piano music.
Pianist Mia Chung teaches a celebrated chamber music performance seminar at Harvard University with the Grammy Award-winning Parker Quartet. She previously served as Professor of Musical Studies and Performance at the Curtis Institute of Music from 2012-2023. Chung’s CD and DVD recordings of works by Bach, Beethoven, Schumann, and Lee Hyla, among others, have earned high praise and awards. Chung received the Avery Fisher Career Grant, the highest national recognition for young concert artists, and was a first-prize winner at the Concert Artists Guild competition. She has since performed in major concert halls in the U.S., Canada, Central America, the Netherlands, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Singapore, and the former Soviet Union. Her first short monograph, Chinese Émigré Composers and Divergent Modernisms: Chen Yi and Zhou Long, was published in May 2024 by Cambridge University Press (Elements in Music Since 1945 Series). Recently, Mia has taken a great interest in the work of Christian study centers and has founded and led the Octet Collaborative at MIT. In 2026-27, she will serve as the Randall Distinguished Professor in Christian Culture at Providence College. Dr. Chung earned her AB, magna cum laude in music, from Harvard College, a Master of Music degree from Yale University, and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from the Juilliard School.
2025 Speaker: Kevin J. Anderson—Why Humanities Matter: Dune and Star Wars as a Gateway to Your Purpose
2024 Speaker: Alberto Manguel—Homer Today
