Starting my AI and higher education seminar

Greetings from early September, when fall classes have begun.  Today I’d like to share information about one of my seminars as part of my long-running practice of being open about my teaching.

It’s in Georgetown University’s Learning, Design, and Technology graduate program. I’m team teaching it with LDT’s founding director, professor Eddie Maloney, who first designed and led the class last year, along with some great guest presenters.  The subject is the impact of AI on higher education.

Every week students dive into one topic, from pedagogy to criticism, changes in politics and economics to using LLMs to craft simulations.  During the semester students lead discussions and also teach the class about a particular AI technology.  Each student will also tackle Georgetown’s Applied Artificial Intelligence Microcredential.

Midjourney-created image of AI impacting a university.

Almost all of the readings are online.  We have two books scheduled: B. Mairéad Pratschke, Generative AI and Education and De Kai, Raising AI: An Essential Guide to Parenting Our Future.

Here’s the syllabus:

Introduction to AI in Higher Education: Overview of AI, its history, and current applications in academia

Signing up for tech sessions (45 min max) (pair up) and discussion leading spots

Delving deeper into LLMs Guest speakers: Molly Chehak and Ella Csarno. Readings:

1. AI Tools in Society & Cognitive Offloading
2. MIT study, Your Brain on ChatGPT. (overview, since the study is 120 pages)
3. Allie K. Miller, Practical Guide to Prompting ChatGPT 5 Differently

Macro Impacts: Economics, Culture, Politics

A broad look at AI’s societal effects—on labor, governance, and policy—with a focus on emerging regulatory frameworks and debates about automation and democracy.

Readings:

• Raluca Csernatoni, “Can Democracy Survive the Disruptive Power of AI?”
• Mauro Cazzaniga, Florence Jaumotte, et al, “Gen-AI: Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Work”
• EU AI Act

Optional: Daron Acemoglu, “The Simple Macroeconomics of AI”

Institutional Responses

This week, we will also examine how colleges and universities are responding structurally to the rise of AI, from policy and pedagogy to strategic planning and public communication.

Reading:

• The new Inside Higher Education student survey (click through to data!)

How Colleges and Universities Are Grappling with AI

We consider AI’s influence on teaching and learning through institutional case studies and applied practices, with guest insights on faculty development and student experience.

Guest speaker: Eddie Watson on the AAC&U Institute on AI, Pedagogy, and the Curriculum.

Reading: 

• Lee Rainie and C. Edward Watson, Leading Through Disruption:  Higher Education Executives Assess AI’s Impacts on Teaching and Learning
• Elon University, Student Guide to Artificial Intelligence.

Pedagogy, Conversations, and Anthropomorphism

Through simulations and classroom case studies, we examine the pedagogical potential and ethical complications of human-AI interaction, academic integrity, and AI as a “conversational partner.”

Readings:

• B. Mairéad Pratschke, Generative AI and Education, chapters 1-4
• Bryan Alexander, “Generative AI as simulation runner”

AI and Ethics/Humanities

This session explores ethical and philosophical questions around AI development and deployment, drawing on work in the humanities, global ethics, and human-centered design.

Guest speaker: De Kai

Readings: selections from Raising AI: An Essential Guide to Parenting Our Future (TBD)

Critiques of AI

We engage critical perspectives on AI, focusing on algorithmic bias, epistemology, and the political economy of data, while challenging dominant narratives of inevitability and neutrality.

Readings:

• Bender, Gebru et all, “On the Dangers of Stochastic Parrots: Can Language Models Be Too Big? ”
• Kirschenbaum and Raley, “AI May Ruin the University as We Know It”
• Helen Beetham, “Artificial intelligence is the opposite of education”

Human-AI Learning

This week considers how humans and AI collaborate for learning, and what this partnership means for workforce development, education, and a sense of lifelong fulfillment.

Guest Speaker: Dewey Murdick

Readings: TBD

Agentic Possibilities

A close look at emerging AI systems and agents, with attention to autonomy, instructional design, and how educational tools are integrating generative AI features.

Reading

• Pratschke, Generative AI and Education, chapters 5-6

Future Possibilities

We explore visions for the future of AI in higher education, including utopian and dystopian framings, and ask how ethical leadership and equity might shape what comes next.

Readings:

• Maya Georgieva and John Stuart, “Ethics Is the Edge: The Future of AI in Higher Education”
• Big claims for AI: Vinod Khosla, “AI: Dystopia or Utopia?”

One week with topic reserved for emerging issues

Topic, materials, and exercises to be determined by instructors and students.

Student final presentations

I’m very excited to be teaching it.