The Fundamental and Existential Work Atla Will Do Tomorrow, Too

An internet meme is circulating that reflects both the approaching season in the Northern Hemisphere and the current zeitgeist:

Someone asked me if I had plans for the fall. It took me a moment to realize they meant “autumn,” not the collapse of civilization.

I saw that meme while on vacation when I had more time to read and think about the future of theological education, religion in the humanities in colleges and universities, and the role Atla plays in both. Articles such Asheesh Kapur Siddique’s “Does Humanities Research Still Matter?” and Nicholas Kristof’s “Americans Are Losing Their Religious Faith were some of what I read that made the meme resonate. I also reviewed notes from recent meetings and conferences that intersected with Atla’s mission to support, sustain, and especially inspire theological librarianship. No, this should not have been beach reading. Yes, it didn’t help my mood when hurricane Idalia required a mandatory evacuation of the beach peninsula upon which the rental house was perched.

Nevertheless, I am an optimist by nature and/or nurture. For example, when I watched Fareed Zakaria’s interview with Eric Schmidt, a former CEO of Google, about Artificial Intelligence, I should have been even more moody and alarmed about the future when he predicted that in five years the computer will be able to “recursively self-improve,” that is, “start to get better on its own.” But I wasn’t.

The reason I wasn’t more alarmed is because Atla inspires me about the future, and Schmidt reminded me of that. He focused on the need for setting the “objective function”— the parameters and rules for the task given to a computer. The recent blockbuster movie Oppenheimer, timely for the current AI debate, reminds us of the limits nations voluntarily set to avoid mutually assured destruction, which required the father of the atomic bomb to stand up to hubris and power. Limits and constraints are necessary for all behavior and throughout society, whether it is driving a car or researching a topic.

Hence, I thought of Atla, the association of librarians and producer of research databases to study religion and theology. Librarians help prevent students from setting the wrong objective function — which has real consequences when studying religion or giving a computer a task to do. Information literacy teaches how to evaluate. Library acquisitions and curation help determine for readers the value of works to use in their research by recognizing the limits based on the standards in the production of knowledge. Just as an oncologist makes a diagnosis using curated databases for cancer research and likely not the most popular articles trending on the internet, theological librarians are trained to provide the tools for studying such things as the religious causes of discrimination and violence or spiritually supportive approaches for hospital chaplains helping those suffering grief and loss.

To be sure tracking the future is even harder than tracking a hurricane. But I believe the most impactful and productive days for theological education and the humanistic study of religion lie ahead. I will be writing more about why I believe that is true and how Atla can lead from the front.

Our mission is fundamental, existential, and depends on you. So, finally, I encourage you to read Pat Graham’s tribute to Kathryn and William Henderson. The Hendersons believed in Atla’s future, too. They lived it through their service and support. Whatever we might read to the contrary — and hopefully not while on vacation — they inspire us to believe in what we do today and to help Atla plan for tomorrow.