Hosted by the Provost’s Office, the Program in Computing and the Information Technology Department, the Kenyon Summit on Liberal Arts x AI provides the College community with an opportunity to lead with clarity and purpose as artificial intelligence rapidly reshapes teaching, research and creative work.
Rather than treating AI as a threat, Kenyon will convene a campus dialogue that acknowledges concerns while focusing on the constructive opportunities AI presents. Leaning into Kenyon’s literary tradition and interdisciplinary strength, the summit will take a bold step in exploring how the liberal arts can engage AI with imagination, rigor and humanity.
A full schedule will be available soon.
This event is supported by a generous gift from John W. Adams P’93,’13, GP’21, former chair of the Kenyon Review Board of Trustees.
Why AI, Why Now?
Across higher education, the arrival of generative AI has created both excitement and unease. At Kenyon and in the liberal arts more broadly, many worry about the disruptive effects of AI: on academic integrity, on traditional skills and on the culture of teaching itself. Indeed, many workshops on AI in the liberal arts focus on combatting plagiarism or “AI-proofing” assignments. These anxieties are real, and they deserve acknowledgment; at the same time, we cannot allow fear to dominate the conversation.
The summit frames AI not as an existential threat but as a timely opportunity for the liberal arts to show their enduring value, preparing students to navigate technological change with clarity, imagination and humanity. During this three-day workshop, the Kenyon community will:
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Explore opportunities for AI to strengthen teaching, research and creative practice.
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Identify the capacities our students will need to thrive in an AI-shaped world.
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Ground our engagement with AI in Kenyon’s liberal-arts mission of cultivating critical inquiry, creativity, and ethical reflection.
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Create space for dialogue where multiple perspectives are heard, and where the Kenyon community can experiment, question and imagine together.
Each day of the summit will provide opportunities to hear from Kenyon faculty already experimenting with AI in their teaching and research, engage with national thought leaders who bring broader perspectives on the role of AI in higher education, and participate in hands-on workshops that allow faculty, staff and students to explore AI tools directly and reflect on their implications for the liberal arts.
Keynote Speakers
Graham Burnett
A national thought leader in AI and higher education, Burnett offers a clear-eyed look at AI’s capabilities and limits and what they mean for the study of the liberal arts.
Michelle Weise
Author of “Life Long Learning: Preparing for Jobs that Don’t Even Exist Yet,” Weise leads Long Life Learning Strategies, a consulting firm for organizations seeking to prepare working-age adults for a longer future of work.