Faculty Futures Lab Initiative for Inclusive Leadership

Much like everything else related to AI, AI art has evolved rapidly over the last 18 months. More sophisticated and substantial applications of generative AI have emerged in a variety of art contexts, including a new film by today’s guest. Ava Aviva Avnisan talks with D.J. and Pam about gender, autobiography, and history in her new film Specters of Home — Prologue, which was created in large part using generative AI tools.

SHOW NOTES

“An A.I.-Generated Picture Won an Art Prize. Artists Aren’t Happy.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/02/technology/ai-artificial-intelligence-artists.html

To see some of the film discussed in this episode, follow this link to the artist’s website:
https://avivaavnisan.com/specters-of-home

Bios
Ava Aviva Avnisan (she/they) is a multidisciplinary artist whose work is situated at the intersection of image, text and code. Using emerging technology against the grain, she subverts dominant narratives through embodied encounters with language. Ava is an Assistant Professor at San Diego State University with a joint appointment in the School of Art and Design and the School of Journalism and Media Studies. 
https://avivaavnisan.com/bio

Dr. D.J. Hopkins (he/him) is a professor at San Diego State University where he serves as the Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning. His publications have focused on Shakespeare in performance and theatre in urban contexts. His current research includes immersive theatre and virtual reality.
https://ttf.sdsu.edu/faculty/theatre_faculty_profiles/d.j-hopkins

Dr. Pamela Lach (she/her) is the Digital Humanities Librarian at San Diego State University and Director of the SDSU Library’s Digital Humanities Center, a values-oriented space designed to blur and disrupt disciplinary boundaries. She is co-director of SDSU’s Digital Humanities Initiative. https://dh.sdsu.edu/

In this episode, we’re talking with our colleague from another part of California, Dr. Zach Justus. Zach is giving us a sense of what's just over the horizon for #HigherEd and the impacts of generative AI.

BIOS
Dr. D.J. Hopkins (he/him) is a professor at San Diego State University. His publications have focused on Shakespeare in performance and theatre in urban contexts. His current research includes immersive theatre and virtual reality.
https://ttf.sdsu.edu/faculty/theatre_faculty_profiles/d.j-hopkins

Dr. Zach Justus is the Director of Faculty Development and a Professor of Communication Arts and Sciences at California State University, Chico. His work can be found in Argumentation and Advocacy and Communication Teacher as well as other outlets. Zach was fascinated by the intersection of teaching/learning and Generative Artificial Intelligence right away. He has collaborated to produce several webinars, an ongoing blog series, and a series of conference presentations. 

Dr. Pamela Lach (she/her) is the Digital Humanities Librarian at San Diego State University and Director of the SDSU Library’s Digital Humanities Center, a values-oriented space designed to blur and disrupt disciplinary boundaries. She is co-director of SDSU’s Digital Humanities Initiative.

FFL 4.2 AI Ethics: Embrace or Opt Out…?
The latest episode of Faculty Futures Lab considers the ethical dimensions of generative AI, recorded on the first anniversary of ChatGPT's public launch. Host D.J. Hopkins and co-host Pam Lach talk with guest Lorenzo Nericcio about the complexities and challenges posed by AI technologies in #HigherEd. The conversation touches on the labor, environmental, and personal impacts of AI, underscoring the need for ethical considerations in its adoption and use.

BIOS
Dr. D.J. Hopkins (he/him) is a professor at San Diego State University. His publications focus on Shakespeare in performance and theatre in urban contexts. His current research includes immersive theatre and Virtual Reality. He is the Director of SDSU’s Center for Teaching and Learning.

Dr. Pamela Lach (she/her) is the Digital Humanities Librarian at San Diego State University and Director of the SDSU Library’s Digital Humanities Center, a values-oriented space designed to blur and disrupt disciplinary boundaries. She is co-director of SDSU’s Digital Humanities Initiative.

Lorenzo Nericcio is a San Diego-based philosophy and humanities instructor specializing in applying the humanities' toolkit to questions regarding science, technology, and society. His research focuses on applied normative ethics, specifically emerging technology ethics and environmental ethics. He also works as a consultant for Compass Ethics.

Special thanks to Patrick Flanigan, the SDSU Digital Humanities Center Programs & Operations Specialist. Thanks for making us sound great!

LINKS
Faculty Futures Lab Season 4, episode 1, “AI in the Classroom,” with guest E.J. Sobo. https://soundcloud.com/facultyfutureslab

Sobo, Elisa. “Could ChatGPT Prompt a New Golden Age in Higher Education?” Teaching and Learning Anthropology 6.1 (2023).
https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5p3048f2

Stein, Jordan Alexander. “Instead of Policing Students, We Need to Abolish Cheating.” Chronicle of Higher Education. 7 Sept. 2023.
https://www-chronicle-com.libproxy.sdsu.edu/article/instead-of-policing-students-we-need-to-abolish-cheating

Dzieza, Josh. “AI Is a Lot of Work.” 20 June 2023.
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/ai-artificial-intelligence-humans-technology-business-factory.html

Note: A first draft of the description of the episode was generated by GPT-4. It had a spelling error and a grammatical error, which have been corrected.

Discussion of the impact of generative AI on higher education, with a focus on ChatGPT and writing. With Dr. E.J. Sobo, author of “Could ChatGPT Prompt a New Golden Age in Higher Education?” Hosts: Dr. D.J. Hopkins and Dr. Pam Lach

The Faculty Futures Lab podcast is a faculty-led effort to consider the challenges facing institutions of higher education in complex and uncertain times. All guests speak from their own expertise and experience. Produced by the San Diego State University Center for Teaching and Learning. Learn more at ctl.sdsu.edu.

BIOS
Dr. Elisa J. Sobo, a professor at San Diego State University, is the Director for Undergraduate Research in the College of Arts and Letters and a Faculty Fellow in the division of Instructional Technology Services. A Medical Anthropologist, EJ’s research has focused on non-biomedical or alternative approaches to health, including through vaccination selectivity. She is currently investigating yogic sound bath therapy. https://anthropology.sdsu.edu/people/sobo

Dr. D.J. Hopkins (he/him) is a professor at San Diego State University. His publications focus on Shakespeare in performance and theatre in urban contexts. His current research includes immersive theatre and Virtual Reality. He is the Director of SDSU’s Center for Teaching and Learning. https://ttf.sdsu.edu/faculty/theatre_faculty_profiles/d.j-hopkins

Dr. Pamela Lach (she/her) is the Digital Humanities Librarian at San Diego State University and Director of the Library’s Digital Humanities Center (https://library.sdsu.edu/dh), a values-oriented space designed to blur and disrupt disciplinary boundaries. She is co-director of SDSU’s Digital Humanities Initiative (https://dh.sdsu.edu/). https://library2.sdsu.edu/people/pamella-lach

Special thanks to Patrick Flanigan, the SDSU Digital Humanities Center Programs & Operations Specialist. Thanks for making us sound great!

CITATIONS and LINKS
Stein, Jordan Alexander. “Instead of Policing Students, We Need to Abolish Cheating.” Chronicle of Higher Education. 7 Sept. 2023. https://www-chronicle-com.libproxy.sdsu.edu/article/instead-of-policing-students-we-need-to-abolish-cheating?cid=gen_sign_in

Sobo, E.J. “Could ChatGPT Prompt a New Golden Age in Higher Education?” Teaching and Learning Anthropology Journal 6.1 (2023). https://escholarship.org/uc/item/5p3048f2

“Suspicion, Cheating, and Bans: A.I. Hits America’s Schools.” The Daily (podcast). 28 June 2023. https://www.nytimes.com/column/the-daily

Faculty Futures Lab returns for a new academic year. Listen to the trailer for Season 4, Episode 1. Featuring Dr. E.J. Sobo, with hosts Dr. D.J. Hopkins and Dr. Pamela Lach. Produced by the San Diego State University Center for Teaching and Learning. Learn more at ctl.sdsu.edu.

This episode is about WRITING: Why we write, and the social justice work that can be done with and in writing. With Dr. Patrick Anderson (UC San Diego) and Dr. Patricia Ybarra (Brown University).

ACT I: Writing to Survive (15 minutes)
—Finding ourselves in writing, writing as a tool for BIPOC and queer activism and advocacy.

ACT II: Coming Together (17 minutes)
—Collaborative writing, the future of the academic conference, and the radical idea of modeling care for each other…

BIOS
Dr. Patrick Anderson is Professor of Communication and Ethnic Studies at the University of California, San Diego. His research has explored the politics of hunger striking (and other forms of self-starvation), the experience of illness within contemporary medical institutions, and the strange history of empathy. He is currently writing a book on police violence, based on his four years serving on San Diego’s Commission on Police Practices, and a book on queer suicide.
Website: patrick.ucsd.edu

Dr. Patricia Ybarra (she/her) is Professor in the Department of Theatre Arts and Performance Studies at Brown University. Ybarra’s most recent book is Latinx Theater in the Times of Neoliberalism. She is currently working on a digital humanities project on Reza Abdoh’s Father Was a Peculiar Man and a monograph on Abdoh and the development of queer theory. 
Website: https://vivo.brown.edu/display/pybarra

Dr. D.J. Hopkins (he/him) is a professor at San Diego State University. His publications focus on Shakespeare in performance and theatre in urban contexts. His current research includes immersive theatre and virtual reality.
Website: https://ttf.sdsu.edu/faculty/theatre_faculty_profiles/d.j-hopkins

Here’s the citation for the article discussed in this episode:
Patrick Anderson and Patricia Ybarra. “Is this Ballroom a Bathhouse?: The Promise and Peril of Coming Together.” Theatre Journal 74.4 (December 2022).

This is not a practical how-to-write kinda episode. If you’re interested in writing productivity, visit the website for the National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity. I read the NCFDD’s Monday Motivator every week. I’m no longer on Twitter — find me on Mastodon…? D.J.H.