YU Launches Online Nexus Initiative to ‘Help Shape the Future of Moral Discourse’

Hours after the formal investiture of President Ari Berman as Yeshiva University’s fifth president, an initiative was launched on the Yeshiva University website to put YU at the forefront of contemporary discussions and innovative ideas. The new initiative, named Nexus, has the stated goal of “leverag[ing] the Yeshiva University community’s vast interdisciplinary resources to stimulate conversations on some of the most important issues facing the world at large.”

It appears that the creation of Nexus is one of the first steps towards preparing YU for “The World of Tomorrow”, the theme of the investiture ceremony. Several speakers, including President Berman himself, addressed evolving industries and marketplaces with revamped and integrated programming at the investiture.

The plan for the initiative is to address a new topic each month relating directly to one of “four themes of central significance to human society - Education, Marketplace, Leadership, and the Values of tomorrow.”

The first topic on the recently launched page is “The Future of Artificial Intelligence” and was prepared by Andrew Boyarsky, a Clinical Associate Professor and the Academic Director of the Master’s Program in Enterprise Risk Management at the Katz School of Professional Studies.

The topic’s theme page includes an introduction detailing the prevalence and emergence of A.I. in the world today, as well as a series of tiered, curated sources meant to introduce the topic while also providing resources for further exploration. The curated sources come from resources such as newspaper articles, the Talmud, YU Torah, and Ted Talks.

On October 22nd, Nexus is set to host a conference at which the four main perspectives of the initiative—Education, Leadership, the Marketplace, and Values—in the “World of Tomorrow” will be addressed. The program will open with Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks in conversation with Rabbi Ari Lamm.