At the October faculty meeting, members discussed future plans for navigating their teaching methods in the age of artificial intelligence and the University’s response to the Department of Education’s “call to action.”
In his report, Provost Francis Doyle discussed potential options for instructors to incorporate AI in their courses in a productive manner. He encouraged faculty members to include AI policies in their syllabi.
Doyle also mentioned several resources currently available to faculty regarding AI, including the Generative AI in Teaching and Learning Phase Two Committee, which is headed by Michael Littman, associate provost for artificial intelligence and professor of computer science, and Ravit Reichman, associate professor of English.
Doyle said that he believes “this is a moment for the liberal arts to lead us,” and that the humanities and social sciences can bring the necessary skills and critical reasoning to navigate AI usage.
Several professors who teach in humanities departments expressed their disapproval of Doyle’s remarks.
Professor of History Seth Rockman said that he feels “profoundly uncomfortable” that his “job as a humanist is to clean up a mess that a bunch of other people who are hostile to the kind of liberal learning that I believe in have created.”
Director of Middle East Studies Elias Muhanna — who is also an associate professor of comparative literature and of history — said that while he wants to keep an open mind regarding AI, he would like to see examples of “humanists” finding inspiration from AI, as he has yet to find any. Muhanna also suggested there should be more asynchronous resources about AI for faculty.
In her report to the faculty, President Christina Paxson P’19 P’MD’20 discussed the Department of Education’s Aug. 3 “call to action,” which asked “every postsecondary institution” to post its commitments to “rigorous teaching, pathbreaking research and national service” on their websites.
“I know that views on this are mixed,” Paxson said. “Some people look at this with a lot of suspicion, others are looking at this as an opportunity to openly, honestly and publicly say what we stand for and do it in a very upfront, bold way.”
A faculty town hall meeting will be held on Nov. 6 to discuss the University’s response to the request. Paxson invited faculty to provide input in the meantime.
Seyla Fernandez is a senior staff writer covering faculty.
