Project Humanities event encourages hacking for the social good

“Hacking” is a word often associated with criminals who use their computers to try to gain access to a secret government website. But, that’s not the entirety of hacking.

“Hacking” actually means “to create,” usually in the context of computer programming. A hacker, then, is someone who enjoys the challenges of working with programming systems to create something new and innovative. This has given birth to the Hackathon, an event that brings together all sorts of community members. Participants include creative thinkers, artists, programmers, designers and anyone interested in integrating software, apps, games and other technologies into everyday life for our collective social good.

Arizona State University’s award-winning Project Humanities has partnered with EqualityTV to create and host Hacks 4 Humanity, a two-day, 36-hour event. This event will combine technological developments with the humanities.

Hacks 4 Humanity begins at 7 a.m., Sept. 20, and runs until 5 p.m., Sept. 21, at the Sun Devil Fitness Complex, 400 E. Apache Blvd., on ASU’s Tempe campus.

The event is a part of the fall kickoff for Humanity 101, Project Humanities’ 2014 initiative based on the following principles: forgiveness, kindness, integrity, self-reflection, compassion, respect and empathy. As such, participants of Hacks 4 Humanity will cluster to create their own apps or other technologies that support the social good. Each app will in some way reflect one or more of the seven principles.

Community members, both with or without development experience, are invited to attend. Participants will then form small teams that include developers, designers and visionaries. At the end of the two days, groups will be able to present their newly-created mobile app.

For more information about Hacks 4 Humanity, visit www.hacks4humanity.com. For more information about Project Humanities, visit humanities.asu.edu, call (480) 727-7030 or email projecthumanities@asu.edu.