Conn to host AI and the Liberal Arts Symposium

Educators, scholars and technologists from across the country will gather at Connecticut College Oct. 17–19 for the inaugural AI and the Liberal Arts Symposium, a national forum examining how generative artificial intelligence is changing the landscape of liberal arts education.

Organized through the College’s AI@Conn initiative, the symposium brings together more than 80 presenters from institutions including Conn, Amherst, Colby, Trinity, Barnard, UMass Amherst and more. Through panels, workshops and lightning talks, the event will explore AI’s influence on pedagogy, ethics, equity, academic research and the student experience.

“AI raises important questions for educators—not just about what these tools can do, but how they fit into the values of a liberal arts education,” said Jessica McCullough, director of research support and curricular technology at Connecticut College. “This symposium is about exploring those questions together.”

The symposium is sponsored by AQL Labs and BoodleBox, two companies that support research and collaboration on responsible and innovative uses of AI in education and beyond.

Lance Eaton, senior associate director of artificial intelligence in teaching and learning at Northeastern University, will give the keynote address, “The Sleep of the Liberal Arts Produces AI.” Eaton is widely recognized for his work at the intersection of digital pedagogy, open education and AI ethics.

Other presentations include:

• “Critical Inquiry in an Age of Instant Answers”
• “Does This AI Make the Grade? Co-Creating AI Scorecards with Students”
• “The Lifecycle of AI for a College Student”
• “Reckoning with AI in the Liberal Arts: Evidence, Ethics and Limits”
• “AI as a Cultural Adaptation: Bucknell as a Case Study for AI in Liberal Arts Colleges”
• “How Helpful (and Ethical) Is It for Student Journalists to Use AI?”

For more information or to register, visit ailiberalarts.digital.conncoll.edu.

About AI@Conn

Launched in 2024, AI@Conn supports the ethical integration of generative AI tools in teaching, learning and operations.The initiative was made possible by a generous bequest to the Diane Y. Williams ’59 Instructional Technology Fund from Ad Astra and Rosemary Park Society member Harold F. Wiley. Susan Purrington, the inaugural Harold F. Wiley Generative AI Teaching and Learning Fellow, leads the initiative’s work in partnership with faculty and staff to explore the implications and opportunities of AI across the liberal arts.