Launching in the academic year 2025–2026, HUMANISTA is a newly established CEEPUS network coordinated by the Faculty of Technical Sciences in Čačak, University of Kragujevac, Serbia. Spearheaded by Ivana Krsmanović and Lena Tica, this initiative is the culmination of years of strategic effort to forge a broader—yet profoundly relevant—research and teaching community across Central and Eastern Europe.
Bringing together 15 universities from 12 countries, HUMANISTA confronts the long-standing asymmetry between STEM and the Humanities. It envisions a future in which technical education is not merely about proficiency in algorithms or circuitry but is equally informed by ethics, communication, cultural fluency, and social insight. This network seeks to rehumanize STEM by embedding within it the core humanistic disciplines—linguistics, psychology, pedagogy, philosophy—creating a new kind of graduate: one who is scientifically rigorous, ethically attuned, and socially literate.
Our Purpose
In an era dominated by rapid technological advancement and AI disruption, HUMANISTA reasserts the critical role of so-called “soft skills”—communication, cultural literacy, ethical reasoning, empathy—as essential, not ornamental. We believe that innovation must serve humanity, not merely efficiency.
What We Do
- Promote digital literacy and e-teaching competence across disciplines.
- Facilitate interdisciplinary student and staff mobility across partner universities.
- Launch collaborative research projects at the intersection of technology and society.
- Develop and share joint teaching materials and pedagogical innovations.
- Organize summer schools, such as the upcoming HUM-STEM Summer School (June 2026), focused on digital and psychological resilience.
- Offer teaching and training formats that blend online, in-person, and hybrid models.
Humanista Goals
Core Focus Areas include ethical and sustainable technology design; human-centered STEM education; the integration of communication, language, and intercultural competencies within technical contexts; the application of psychology and pedagogy in digital learning environments; and the critical role of the humanities in shaping innovation, leadership, and the evolving landscape of artificial intelligence.
