Li Kang Selected to Attend Self-Knowledge for Humans and Artificial Systems Summer Institute

By Brian Laubscher
May 26, 2026

Li Kang, assistant professor of philosophy at Washington and Lee University, is among a select group of faculty and scholars chosen to attend the Self-Knowledge for Humans and Artificial Systems Summer Institute funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH).

The two-week interdisciplinary institute, held June 14-26 at the University of California, Berkeley, aims to explore the problem of self-knowledge from its classical roots in philosophy and contemplative traditions to contemporary discussions of metacognitive artificial intelligence.

Kang will receive a $2,200 stipend from the NEH intended to help cover travel, meals and lodging expenses for the two weeks spent in residence. She is one of 19 participants selected from numerous applications to participate in the programming led by Alva Noë, chair of the Philosophy Department at UC Berkeley, Christian Coseru, professor of philosophy at the College of Charleston, and Evan Thompson, professor of philosophy at the University of British Columbia (Canada).

Kang has been a member of the W&L faculty since 2019. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy from Wuhan University (China), a Master of Philosophy from the University of St. Andrews (U.K.) and a Ph.D. in philosophy from Syracuse University.

The NEH was created in 1965 as an independent federal agency to support research and learning in history, literature, philosophy and other areas of the humanities by funding selected, peer-reviewed proposals from around the nation.

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