The Humanities in the AI Future

Symposium, April 4–5, 2024

This symposium will convene four diverse talks on the affordances of humanistic scholarship with and about artificial intelligence and machine learning. Drawing on work ranging from literature and women’s and gender studies to history of science and science and technology studies, our speakers will model a series of humanistic approaches to understanding and using these culturally seismic technologies.

Programming will kick off on Thursday afternoon, April 4, with an informal session on teaching with and on AI in humanities courses, to which all members of the campus community are welcome, and flow into a single stream of talks on Friday, April 5. We will also host a lunch session on Friday for graduate students and postdocs to be able to confer directly with invited scholars on developing humanistic projects and methods with artificial intelligence.

Additional funding for the symposium provided by Arts & Sciences; Department of Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies; Digital Transformations (part of Here and Next, Office of the Provost); and Transdisciplinary Institute in Applied Data Sciences (TRIADS).

Registrations appreciated; please submit the form below.

The Humanities in the AI Future

Pedogogy Lightning Round

4 pm, Thursday, April 4, 2024, Duncker Hall, Hurst Lounge (Room 201) — REGISTER BELOW

Symposium

9 am–4:30 pm, Friday, April 5, 2024, Busch Hall, Room 18 — REGISTER BELOW

Graduate Student/Postdoc Lunch

12:30–1:30 pm, Friday, April 5, Danforth University Center, Room 240 —

SEPARATE REGISTRATION

Program

4 pm, Thursday, April 4, 2024

Duncker Hall, Hurst Lounge (Room 201)

Pedagogy lightning round 

This session will convene humanities instructors — both visiting and from WashU — on teaching with and about artificial intelligence tools and methods in the humanities. Those participating in the conversation will give informal, five-minute lightning talks intended to share ideas and resources with other instructors on the exciting possibilities of AI in humanities syllabi, beyond the policies prohibiting its use in writing assignments. 

Participants:

  • Ranjodh Singh Dhaliwal, Notre Dame
  • Rita Raley, University of California - Santa Barbara
  • Colin Burnett, Film and Media Studies, Washington University
  • Claudia Carroll, TRIADS, Washington University
  • Eric Fournier and Katherine Tilghman, Center for Teaching and Learning, Washington University
  • Allan Hazlett, Philosophy, Washington University
  • Uluğ Kuzuoğlu, History, Washington University

Reception to follow in Hurst Lounge

Friday, April 5, 2024

LOCATION CHANGE: Busch Hall, Room 18

Symposium

Morning session    
9 am Coffee + pastries
9:30 am Opening remarks
9:45–10:45 am “Transformations and Textual Imag-inations”
Ranjodh Singh Dhaliwal, the Ruth and Paul Idzik Collegiate Assistant Professor of Digital Scholarship and English, University of Notre Dame
11 am–12 pm “New from Template: ‘Creativity in the Age of AI’”
Rita Raley, Professor, Department of English, University of California, Santa Barbara
12:30–1:30 pm Graduate student and postdoc lunch with speakers (separate RSVP)
Afternoon session  
1:30 pm–2:30 pm “Machine Desires: Generative AI, Digital Extractivism, and Feminist Politics of Care”
Mitali Thakor, Assistant Professor of Science in Society, Wesleyan University
2:45–3:45 pm “Silicon Valley and Storytelling in Building AI for Citizenship Surveillance”
Melissa Villa-Nicholas, Associate Professor, Graduate School of Library and Information Studies, University of Rhode Island
4 pm Summative remarks


 

Registration

Registrations appreciated. Please fill out and submit the form below.