We talk a lot, in higher education, about the massive changes we are currently undergoing.  But what does it mean for us when we say that enrollments are shifting, that knowledge production is being radically altered, that the classrooms we teach in are quite different from the ones we were learners in?  CPHS faculty member Shankar Munusamy will be leading us in a four-part conversation on the book The Great Upheaval: Higher Education’s Past, Present, and Uncertain Future. We’ll meet to discuss on Thursdays ,March 2, 9, 23, and 30, from 3:30–4:30 p.m. in Howard Hall, Room 210.  Please register so we can plan to see you and get you a copy of the book.

Of course, one of the upheavals we’ve been talking most about, lately, comes from the disruptive technologies related to Artificial Intelligence. A good group of faculty and staff are working to develop some April and May opportunities—workshops on AI in the classroom and in assessment practices, as well as conversations about more existential aspects of the technology and what it’s proliferation means for our students and ourselves. On the way to those workshops, there are some terrific opportunities to engage.  

Drake’s Comparison Project is hosting Luther College Professor of Religion Gereon Kopf, who will be presenting a talk titled “Trans-humanism, AI, and Memory: Zen Buddhist Ruminations on Digital Immortalities.” You needn’t register; the event is free and open to the public, Thursday, Feb. 23, 7–8:30 p.m., Cowles Library Reading Room.  The next week, at The Varsity Cinema, Drake faculty member Chris Porter (associate professor of mathematics and director of our Artificial Intelligence program) will be presenting a pre-film talk “The Role of Artificial Intelligence in Our Lives,” just prior to a viewing of After Yang.  You can purchase tickets for this event on the cinema’s website, the talk and film will be Feb. 28, starting at 6:30 p.m.  It is exciting to share that this talk part of a series supported by an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation grant for “Science on Screen,” which was awarded as a result of work done by Cowles library faculty member Dan Chibnall, and community member Bed Godar. The program, according to Dan, pairs science and sci-fi films with notable local experts—and I’m excited that later this spring Professor Jerrid Kruse (SOE) will present a talk prior to a screening of the classic movie Wall-E.

Drake faculty members Chris Porter and Martin Roth (Philosophy) have been collaborating to bring two exciting panel discussions on AI to campus. Save the dates now for March 7, 4–5:30 p.m. and April 20, 4–5:30.  These will be held in Sussman Theater; the first will examine the impact of AI large language models; the second will consider text to image generation.

Finally, if you’ve read this far, you deserve some music. I was listening to Sleigh Bells the other day, heard Riot Rhythm and had the impulse to check out the video—it’s an oldie—and it has fears of AI woven through it.  We might all have differing views on the impact of AI on our lives and careers—but tell me, who doesn’t love mid-2000s noise pop?

— Renée Cramer, Deputy Provost

Deputy Provost 2:10 (two articles with a read time of 10 minutes) is a communication series by Deputy Provost Renée Cramer sharing important scholarship, teaching, and development opportunities.