The Choices and Challenges project at Virginia Tech was established in 1985 as part of the Humanities, Science and Technology concentration and represents a unique, ongoing effort to encourage the humanistic components of science and technology to be identified and addressed — and to engage public audiences as key participants in this process.

Scientific and technological advances have brought about enormous changes in society and in our personal lives. The array of applications achieved from these advances include benefits in the form of medical treatments that can prolong life, fruits and vegetables that are available throughout the year, and new technologies that help factories function more efficiently. These very same advances, however, have also created a number of complex questions with serious ethical, social, religious, legal, and public policy components. We are routinely called upon — as individuals, family members, and citizens — to make decisions that affect us and others, directly or indirectly. For example, we may have to decide whether we wish to undergo invasive or costly medical interventions. New types of genetically engineered foods require us to determine if they are acceptable for our dinner table. Increasingly, we are being asked to choose between furthering the industrial development of a region or preserving that same region's natural environment.

Though such issues may have their origin in the scientific or technical advances themselves, the means to understand and address them derive from the approaches and insights of the humanities disciplines: Through historical studies, there is the opportunity to trace factors that have led to present day policies and practices. Philosophical and literary analyses can reveal the tacit beliefs and hidden assumptions that often underlie personal or institutional action. And examination of ethical systems, legal theories, cultural standards, and theological thought can assist in evaluating the acceptability of proposed individual and public actions.

Each forum is tailored to the specific needs of the subject under consideration, including educational sessions at the beginning of the program to provide necessary background information to participants. In the early afternoon, a panel of individuals representing expertise in a variety of professions discuss, with each other and with the participants, the various issues raised. The final sessions provide participants with the opportunity to further explore specific issues of interest by choosing among a number of discussion groups. The forums are open to the public free of charge.

Our typical audience includes scientists, clinicians, lawyers, theologians, educators, businesspersons, students, the press, and the general public. We are gratified that the Choices and Challenges project has received two national awards for its work. And in November 1999, the project received a special award for programming in science and the humanities from the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities and Public Policy — the state council of NEH.

The forums have had an enthusiastic response. At each of them hundreds of people have gathered and the interactions have been lively and productive. Professional groups now grant continuing education credits to their members who attend; news coverage received during and after the forums has helped foster consideration of the issues throughout a wide geographical area; and community groups have used the forums as the central elements of their own programming efforts. The forums have also supported and enhanced scholarly activities in the humanities and sciences. New lines of research have been initiated, projects aided, and publications produced as a result of the forum programs.We also reach a national audience through our partnership with the PBS Adult Learning Service. We prepare edited versions of the panel session and provide them to PBS for its use in public service, community and educational programming.

By bringing the researcher together with the practitioner, the scientist into dialogue with the humanist, the citizen into conversation with the legislator, the Choices and Challenges forums serve as a unique living laboratory for identifying, exploring, and addressing some of the most crucial and demanding human issues confronting modern society.