Connecticut College AI and the Liberal Arts Symposium: Full Schedule

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10:20am EDT

Beyond Summaries: Reclaiming Reading in an AI-mediated world

Saturday October 17, 2026 10:20am - 10:50am EDT

Global decline in reading motivation has coincided with educators assigning fewer whole books. Moreover, teaching reading has become challenging as AI offers automated-summaries, allowing students to skip deep reading. Drawing on research from the neuroscience of reading, this interactive session will address questions from both the instructors’ and students’ perspectives:What is the purpose of reading? If AI can summarize a text, what are the pedagogical implications for reading instruction?How is reading interconnected with writing and other multimodal ways of learning? What cognitive capacities are lost when reading becomes optional?What teaching practices in Liberal Arts colleges can be advantageous to make reading meaningful? Using concrete pedagogical approaches from Amherst, we will investigate how AI is reshaping students’ relationship with reading. These examples will help us together probe the ways that reading functions not an isolated skill but rather as a multimodal, social, and intellectually resilient experience.

Speakers

Jaya Kannan

Director of Technology for Curriculum and Research, Amherst College

Jaya Kannan is Director of Technology for Curriculum and Research at Amherst College, where she leads the Academic Technology Services unit. She holds a PhD in Computer Assisted Language Learning and her higher education background spans international teaching, faculty development... Read More →

Kristina Reardon

Amherst College

Saturday October 17, 2026 10:20am - 10:50am EDT
Shain Library Chu Room (First floor)

Teach the Room, Pedagogical Practice & The Human Element

Company Amherst College

10:50am EDT

Literature as Information Control: How Understanding Narrative Increases AI Literacy

Saturday October 17, 2026 10:50am - 11:20am EDT

Shain Library Chu Room (First floor)

Narrative is deeply embedded in everything from our personal habits to socioeconomic guidelines and the operation of digital systems. This presentation introduces how—by connecting the study of literature to daily interactions with these systems—we can increase the value students discover in their literature courses, and better communicate how they apply that value to their personal and professional goals. Through this process, systems like social media, algorithms, and AI become organic topics of discussion in context of story structure and narrative form. By articulating how the study of narrative unlocks the tools and techniques of systems designed to gain our attention and stir emotion, students learn to use those same tools and techniques to take greater agency in the control of information and their own meaning-making. Practical uses of AI will be explored that supplement and augment this process, without diminishing practice of critical skills.

Speakers

Ryan Crawford

Director of First Year Writing/Assistant Professor of Practice, University of New Haven

Ryan Crawford is Assistant Professor of Practice and Director of First-Year Writing in the Department of English at University of New Haven. His research, including the book Emotional Value in the Composition Classroom: Self, Agency, and Neuroplasticity, combines neuroscience, composition... Read More →

Saturday October 17, 2026 10:50am - 11:20am EDT
Shain Library Chu Room (First floor)

Teach the Room, Pedagogical Practice & The Human Element

Company University of New Haven

11:30am EDT

Publishing at the Speed of AI

Saturday October 17, 2026 11:30am - 12:00pm EDT

Shain Library Chu Room (First floor)

AI is compressing the timeline from idea to publication—but faster doesn't have to mean sloppier. In this 30-minute session, Second Draft Labs, a new publishing company, walks through their publishing process, showing how AI tools can accelerate drafting, editing, and production without sacrificing the judgment and craft that good publishing depends on. Attendees will leave with a clear picture of what a modern, AI-assisted publishing workflow actually looks like in practice, where human editorial decisions still matter most, and a roadmap for getting published.

Speakers

Patrick Dempsey

Adam Pryor

Saturday October 17, 2026 11:30am - 12:00pm EDT
Shain Library Chu Room (First floor)

Teach the Room, Interdisciplinary and Collaborative Innovations

Company Second Draft Labs

1:00pm EDT

Lightning Talks - Critical & Rhetorical Perspectives

Saturday October 17, 2026 1:00pm - 2:00pm EDT

Shain Library Chu Room (First floor)

This session includes the following four talks:
10 minutes for each presenter with 20 minutes of Q&A for the group.
1. Hegel, Mastery and Servitude, and the Pathologies of AI
Michael Reno | University of Mary Washington
2. Scaffolding Rhetorical Authority through Intentional Failure
Jeffrey L. Jackson | State University of New York Cortland
3. Tools of One's Own: Portable Prompting and the Iterative Craft of Professional Identity
Ben Harwood | Skidmore College
4. Adding Nuance to Student AI Refusal
Annabel Rothschild & Theresa Law | Bard College

Saturday October 17, 2026 1:00pm - 2:00pm EDT
Shain Library Chu Room (First floor)

Lightning

1:10pm EDT

Scaffolding Rhetorical Authority through Intentional Failure

Saturday October 17, 2026 1:10pm - 1:20pm EDT

Shain Library Chu Room (First floor)

This lightning talk introduces Iterative Failure Tracing (IFT), a framework that reframes generative AI errors as catalysts for critical inquiry. While Large Language Models threaten to replace student effort, their propensity for noun-heavy syntax and factual hallucinations creates a productive validation burden (Sanz-Tejeda et al., 2026). By identifying these critical incidents, students transition from the success trap of passive acceptance to genuine rhetorical authority (Colby, 2025). My presentation demonstrates how prompting as writing functions as a rigorous rhetorical act. Drawing on sabbatical findings from 42 student artifacts, I illustrate the metacognitive shift that occurs when students perform linguistic repair on AI output (Graham, 2023). Finally, I will examine how to scaffold assignments that require students to locate and correct AI failures, ensuring the human writer remains the primary agent of meaning-making in the liberal arts tradition.

Speakers

Jeffrey L. Jackson

Instructor, SUNY Cortland

Jeffrey L. Jackson, PhD, is an Instructor of First-Year Composition at SUNY Cortland with over 20 years of experience teaching writing at the university level. He earned his doctorate in Mass Communication from Syracuse University, where his research focused on identity and moral... Read More →

Saturday October 17, 2026 1:10pm - 1:20pm EDT
Shain Library Chu Room (First floor)

Lightning, Pedagogical Practice & The Human Element

Company SUNY Cortland

1:20pm EDT

Tools of One's Own: Portable Prompting and the Iterative Craft of Professional Identity

Saturday October 17, 2026 1:20pm - 1:30pm EDT

Shain Library Chu Room (First floor)

Many students use AI passively, and AI literacy is often taught apart from disciplinary work, so students graduate owning neither their nascent professional identity, their digital presence, nor their AI workflows. Crafting Digital Identity answers that gap by teaching tools of one's own. Because its real content is the students themselves, the course is interdisciplinary by design. Students build a Creative Thought Journey, a story-driven digital narrative of their learning on Skidmore Domains, and design custom AI bots they can keep. The lesson is portability: once you learn to prompt, on BoodleBox or any platform, the skill travels with you. Professional identity develops the same way, through iteration and revision across text, audio, and video. Run as a platform pilot, the course treats AI as a liberal arts question of identity, authorship, and reflection, and shows how ownership turns AI from a force that flattens voice into one that amplifies it.

Speakers

Ben Harwood

Lead Instructional Technologist, Skidmore College

Ben Harwood works as an instructional designer in the Learning Experience Design and Digital Scholarship (LEDS) group in the Information Technology office. He partners with community members to analyze and support technology needs and offers instructional opportunities that promote... Read More →

Saturday October 17, 2026 1:20pm - 1:30pm EDT
Shain Library Chu Room (First floor)

Lightning, Pedagogical Practice & The Human Element

Company Skidmore College

1:30pm EDT

Adding Nuance to Student AI Refusal

Saturday October 17, 2026 1:30pm - 1:40pm EDT

Shain Library Chu Room (First floor)

Bard College students often have an unusually steadfast position of AI refusal, resulting, for example, in campus protests against a planned generative AI promotional event and reticence to engage in assignments that necessitate thinking with AI. We are both heartened and concerned by this stance. While students are finding their voices, their standpoint is based on a limited understanding of AI as a technology and sociotechnical phenomenon. Here, we describe our efforts to help students better understand how generative AI works so that they can communicate their position to various stakeholders, including post-graduate colleagues and managers. As students graduate into a working world which increasingly demands the use of generative AI systems, they will be confronted with pushback on their stance; our intention is not to dissuade them, but to help equip them with the critical AI understanding and literacy that they will need to explain and justify their position.

Speakers

Theresa Law

Annabel Rothschild

Assistant Prof, Computer Science, Bard College

Saturday October 17, 2026 1:30pm - 1:40pm EDT
Shain Library Chu Room (First floor)

Lightning, AI, the Liberal Arts, and the Future of Work

Company Bard College

2:15pm EDT

Plot Twist: Unexpected Findings from Student AI Use at Denison

Saturday October 17, 2026 2:15pm - 2:45pm EDT

Shain Library Chu Room (First floor)

At a time when headlines suggest AI use among students is rapidly accelerating, Denison University’s second How I GenAI survey revealed a more complicated (and surprising) story. This session explores unexpected findings about how students are actually engaging with generative AI, including shifts in usage patterns, student concerns, trust, academic integration, and evolving attitudes toward AI tools.Alongside survey insights, we’ll highlight initiatives from Denison’s AI Student Ambassador program, where students are helping shape campus conversations around AI literacy, responsible use, creativity, and career readiness. Through peer-led programming and collaborative experimentation, students are playing an active role in defining what thoughtful AI engagement can look like at a liberal arts institution.Participants will leave with practical ideas for gathering student input, designing student-centered AI initiatives, and creating spaces where students can critically and creatively engage with emerging technologies in meaningful and values-driven ways.

Speakers

Heath Hase

Associate Vice President of Digital Innovation, Denison University

Heath Hase’s distinguished career in academic technologies and IT leadership has spanned key roles at esteemed institutions such as Southeast Missouri State University, the University of North Carolina, William Jewell College, and Denison University. Recognized by Apple as a Distinguished... Read More →

Lori Robbins

Head of AI Strategy, Denison University

Lori Robbins is Denison University's Head of AI Strategy, where she leads campus-wide initiatives focused on AI literacy and professional development. With a background in international education and educational technology, she creates programs that help students, faculty, and staff... Read More →

Saturday October 17, 2026 2:15pm - 2:45pm EDT
Shain Library Chu Room (First floor)

Teach the Room, Pedagogical Practice & The Human Element

Company Denison University

2:45pm EDT

Understanding and Leveraging Student Ambivalence to AI

Saturday October 17, 2026 2:45pm - 3:15pm EDT

Shain Library Chu Room (First floor)

In this presentation, I'll review the recent data on student attitudes towards AI, which show consistent negative trends in students optimism that AI will make their lives better and their belief that AI itself is ultimately a positive force in the world. I'll then discuss the challenges and opportunities that these trends present for liberal arts faculty and institutions. I'll argue that, within a curriculum that prioritizes critical thinking and open discussion, students' growing antipathy towards AI can be a strength, because it makes them more resilient the totalizing narratives around AI promoted by technology companies and the media, and it makes them more likely to scrutinize their own AI use.

Speakers

George Cusack

Director of Academic AI Initiatives, Carleton College

Saturday October 17, 2026 2:45pm - 3:15pm EDT
Shain Library Chu Room (First floor)

Teach the Room, Pedagogical Practice & The Human Element

Company Carleton College

3:30pm EDT

What If We Trusted Them? Student-Led AI Research as Liberal Arts Pedagogy — Lessons from the LAB

Saturday October 17, 2026 3:30pm - 4:00pm EDT

Shain Library Chu Room (First floor)

What if we trusted them? As institutions scramble to regulate AI, students are positioned as potential cheaters rather than intellectual partners. But Gen Z sentiment toward AI has shifted—many students arrive determined to protect learning, effort, and authentic thinking. This presentation shares what happened when we took that seriously. Over three semesters, we transformed our Language Center into The LAB—a student-led research hub where multilingual students investigate AI's impact on language and meaning-making. Students led every stage: interviewing and hiring peer researchers, organizing our Active Language Forum, shaping research agendas. The results exceeded expectations. LAB students presented research rivaling graduate work. In my Literature and Media Transformation course—which emerged from LAB conversations—students wrote media autobiographies of stunning honesty. When we opened new LAB applications, we received unprecedented, and ambitious proposals revealing how hungry this generation is for these conversations. This presentation offers a replicable model for institutions willing to trust students as co-creators of knowledge. When we give students agency, they lead.

Speakers

Stephanie Kufner

Professor of German |Academic Director Bard LC, Bard College

Saturday October 17, 2026 3:30pm - 4:00pm EDT
Shain Library Chu Room (First floor)

Teach the Room, Pedagogical Practice & The Human Element

Company Bard College

4:00pm EDT

ChatGBC: An All-Campus, Secure, Affordable(?) OpenWebUI/OpenRouter-Based AI Hub

Saturday October 17, 2026 4:00pm - 4:30pm EDT

Shain Library Chu Room (First floor)

In a world where students are increasingly expected to graduate with AI experience, providing equitable, affordable and safe access to AI models is becoming a tricky problem for colleges and universities. This session will cover the creation of ChatGBC, Gettysburg College's OpenWebUI/OpenRouter based AI hub. ChatGBC gives all campus members access to multiple AI models plus a built in RAG knowledge base, maintains control of the data submitted to AI models and is reasonably affordable and supportable for a small liberal arts college. We'll cover initial setup, beta testing, scaling for the entire campus, initial faculty and student feedback and data on costs and support requirements.

Speakers

Eric Remy

Gettysburg College

Saturday October 17, 2026 4:00pm - 4:30pm EDT
Shain Library Chu Room (First floor)

Teach the Room, Pedagogical Practice & The Human Element

Company Gettysburg College

10:20am EDT

10:50am EDT

11:30am EDT

1:00pm EDT

1:10pm EDT

1:20pm EDT

1:30pm EDT

2:15pm EDT

2:45pm EDT

3:30pm EDT

4:00pm EDT

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