Location: Main campus location to be published here on January 5

Presenters: Devin Bae (Research Assistant, SIS | Foreign Policy & Global Security), Nicholas DeMayo (Director of Instructional Design, OGPS | Office of Digital Learning and Strategy), & Kwaku Nuamah (Senior Professorial Lecturer, SIS | Peace, Human Rights & Cultural Relations)

Session description: How can educators and students work together to ensure AI strengthens, rather than replaces, learning? In this panel, experienced and emerging users of AI share honest insights about what works, what doesn’t, and how to foster critical thinking, ethical awareness, and collaboration when bringing generative AI into the classroom.

Location: Main campus location to be published here on January 5

Presenters: Derrick Jefferson (Communication Librarian, University Library Faculty), Sarah Trembath (Senior Professorial Lecturer, CAS | Literature), Marnie Twigg (Senior Professorial Lecturer, CAS | Literature), & Jeremy Wade (Professorial Lecturer, CAS | Literature)

Session description: In this presentation, panelists will explain the ways in which AI technology reifies racial biases in both expected and unexpected ways. We will introduce the core concepts of Critical Information Literacy (CIL) as a potential “antidote” to conversations that sideline discussions of AI and race and recommend resources to help attendees learn more. Attendees will be invited to brainstorm strategies for reframing their current approaches to AI with a CIL approach in mind.

Location: Main campus location to be published here on January 5

Presenters: Marylin Rodriguez (Deputy Director of Training and Partnership Development, SPA | PERIL Institute) & Kristen Wall (Curriculum and Training Manager, SPA | PERIL Institute)

Session description: Campus polarization can increase student self-censorship and disengagement from contentious conversations. This interactive workshop, based on PERIL’s evidence-based guide “Building Resilient & Inclusive Communities of Knowledge”, equips participants with strategies to create spaces where students engage authentically across ideological differences. Participants will explore concrete tools for designing classroom activities, campus programming, and institutional frameworks that strengthen civic pluralism.

Location: Main campus location to be published here on January 5

Presenter: Ruth Zaplin (Senior Executive in Residence, SPA | Public Administration and Policy)

Session description: In higher education, blurred boundaries between academic and personal life have left many faculty facing unrelenting demands. Burnout and disengagement underscore the need for resilience as a professional imperative. This interactive session introduces nine evidence-based habits of mind to help faculty cultivate inner steadiness, renew purpose, and sustain well-being—essential capacities for thriving amid shifting academic demands.

Location: Main campus location to be published here on January 5

Presenter: Priya Doshi (Hurst Senior Professorial Lecturer, SOC | Public Communication)

Session description: This session will address some of the challenges international students or non-native English-speaking students may encounter at AU. We will examine how students cope with different classroom norms and expectations than they may have previously experienced, work with peers, and communication challenges. This session, which will feature student voices, will provide an overview of strategies for engagement and clearer expectations.

Location: Main campus location to be published here on January 5

Presenters:  Tabitha Kidwell (Senior Professorial Lecturer, CAS | World Languages and Cultures), Sarah Knowles (Senior Professorial Lecturer, CAS | World Languages and Cultures), & Polina Vinogradova (Hurst Senior Professorial Lecturer & TESOL Program Director, CAS | World Languages and Cultures)

Session description: In the age of AI, the human side of teaching matters more than ever. This interactive session explores three areas of practical, research-informed strategies: maximizing student participation, lowering affective barriers, and promoting learner autonomy. Presenters will share strategies from the TESOL field that can be adapted for any discipline to make learning more active, inclusive, and authentically human.

Location: Main campus location to be published here on January 5

Presenters: Clarissa Ihssen (Sciences Librarian, University Library Faculty) & Michele Lansigan (Hurst Senior Professorial Lecturer, CAS | Chemistry)

Session description: This session presents an instructional approach that begins with building students’ information literacy skills before introducing ChatGPT as both a classroom tool and a subject of critical analysis. While developed within a Complex Problems framework, the strategies are easily adaptable across disciplines, offering educators practical ways to foster ethical and responsible engagement with AI.

Location: Main campus location to be published here on January 5

Presenter: Trace Lasley (Senior Executive in Residence, SPA | Justice, Law & Criminology)

Session description: This session introduces a framework for designing unique, AI-resistant assignments that move beyond traditional papers and tests. Borrowing principles of professional performance appraisals, participants will learn how to customize student experiences and explore an interactive work plan to tailor assignment design around student preferences and learning styles, fostering deeper cognitive engagement.

Location: Main campus location to be published here on January 5

Presenters: Lara Schwartz (Senior Professorial Lecturer, SPA | Government) & Bridget Trogden (Dean of Undergraduate Education and Academic Student Services, Academic Affairs)

Session description: What does it mean to engage in democratic learning, content, and learning environments across disciplines? In this session, we will provide tips, ideas, and teaching tools – including delving into an entire open educational resource repository on this topic. We will discuss how issues such as disagreement and problem-solving work across disciplines and how civic skills are also career skills ready to infuse into nearly any course and discipline.

Location: Main campus location to be published here on January 5

Presenter: Susan Comfort (Adjunct Instructor, CAS | Health Studies)

Session description: This interactive training uses nature-based metaphors to reimagine faculty and staff wellness beyond individual self-care. Participants will explore how trees, forests, and mycorrhizal networks model interdependence and collective resilience, then apply these insights to building “team-care” culture at AU. As an arboretum campus, American University is uniquely positioned to learn from—and be like—trees.

Location: Main campus location to be published here on January 5

Presenters: Nick Buck (Professorial Lecturer and Director of Undergraduate Studies in Religion, CAS | Philosophy and Religion), Eric Doolittle (University Chaplain & Director, Kay Spiritual Life Center), & Perry Zurn (Provost Associate Professor, CAS | Philosophy and Religion)

Session description: It is widely known that AU has a historical connection to the Methodist Church. It is less known that AU’s current values resonate with the contemporary Methodist tradition. In this session, we explore those resonances and how they might strengthen our conversations around civic pluralism, social justice, and environmental ethics.

Location: Main campus location to be published here on January 5

Presenter: Jennifer Steele (Professor, School of Education)

Session description: This session considers new research on the job skills that will be ascendant across disciplines in the next decade. Drawing on evidence from their own classrooms and observations and from occupational projections, participants will reflect on what these changes mean for their classrooms, including ways in which postsecondary teaching should hold firm as well as adapt to the shifting landscape.

Location: Mary Graydon Student Center (MGSC) Tavern

Presenter: Provost Vicky Wilkins

The lunch plenary will feature a panel conversation focused on “R1 the AU Way” facilitated by Provost Vicky Wilkins.

Location: Hall of Science 101

From 2:00 – 3:30 p.m. AU’s University Photographer will be onsite (in Hall of Science 101) to take professional portrait photos that you can use for your AU profile page and other purposes. There is no cost, but you have to sign up for a 15-minute time slot at https://aumaincampusportraits.youcanbook.me. (This is an external form which will be available starting on December 15)

Location: Main campus location to be published here on January 5

Presenters: Alexis Glasgow (Academic Integrity Coordinator, Office of Academic Integrity) & Marisa Lucian (Learning Specialist, UEAS | Academic Support)

Session description: Why do students cross the line when using AI? The Office of Academic Integrity and the Eagle Learning Center have teamed up to examine the patterns behind AI-related misconduct and offer practical strategies for faculty to guide classroom discussions and expectations of AI usage. In addition, we will go over potential changes to assignments and resources to point students towards to reduce their reliance on AI.

Location: Main campus location to be published here on January 5

Presenters: John Heath (Adjunct Senior Professorial Lecturer, SIS | SIS Faculty), Liz Suhay (Associate Professor, SPA | Government), Sonja Walti (Senior Professorial Lecturer, SPA | Public Administration and Policy / Faculty Associate), & Kate Wilson (Hurst Senior Professorial Lecturer, CAS | Literature)

Session description: As we try to design fair and effective assessments in an era of ubiquitous AI-use, “old” practices like closed-books tests, oral examinations, and blue-books are having a comeback. This panel showcases examples of such practices while discussing their promises and limitations.

Location: Main campus location to be published here on January 5

Presenter: Ramona T. Sharpe (Adjunct Professorial Lecturer, Office of Graduate Professional Development)

Session description: Learn about Cultural Intelligence (CQ), including its four distinct dimensions. Each attendee will take a short quiz to discover what level of CQ they possess. Then, learn ways you can increase each dimension of CQ. This session will culminate by exploring how to apply CQ in your classroom to support an inclusive learning environment and a society of civic pluralism.

Location: Main campus location to be published here on January 5

Presenter: Eric Doolittle (University Chaplain & Director | Kay Spiritual Life Center)

Session description: Our sustained commitment to the vocation of education is often tied to a deeper sense of values and beliefs. Borrowing from the writings of Parker Palmer and 20 years of mindfulness as a tool for vocational exploration, in this session, University Chaplain Rev. Eric Doolittle creates a space and time to reflect on why we do what we do.

Location: Main campus location to be published here on January 5

Presenters: Raychelle Burks (Provost Associate Professor, CAS | Chemistry, TRAC Co-PI for the SRI Selection Process)

Session description: The finalists of SRI RICE will provide a brief overview of their proposed project followed by a discussion with the selection committee. The proposed projects will be added here once they have been announced.

Location: Main campus location to be published here on January 5

Presenters: Katie Hut (Business and Economics Librarian, University Library Faculty), Caron Martinez (Senior Director, Kogod Center for Professionalism & Communications, and Adjunct Instructor, KSB | Management), Liz Romig (Interim Assistant Vice Provost, AU Career Center and AU Abroad), & Alison Thomas (Assistant Dean for Academic Integrity & Hurst Senior Professorial Lecturer, CAS | Literature)

Session description: Employers are saying they want to hire graduates with AI skills, which can put some pressure on students and faculty. This moderated panel will offer insights from surveys of potential employers and will discuss how “AI skills” need to be combined with critical thinking, communication, and collaboration for true career readiness. The moderator will focus questions on implications for curriculum and classrooms.

Location: Main campus location to be published here on January 5

Presenter: Aref Zahed (Professorial Lecturer, CAS | Computer Science)

Session description: Meet Iris, an advanced AI humanoid that elevates learning through multilingual understanding, clear visual explanations, and personalized feedback. She generates her own code to create charts, runs programs, writes documents, and remembers users. Iris perceives her environment, interprets what she sees, supports meetings with real-time insights and transcripts, controls A/V systems remotely, and even monitors spaces as a safety assistant.

Location: Main campus location to be published here on January 5

Presenter: Marina Lopes (Adjunct Professorial Lecturer, SOC | Journalism)

Session description: This session explores how to use AI as a creative engine to design immersive, interactive activities that teach what can’t be replicated online: collaboration, critical thinking, and social skills. Participants will explore real examples of AI-generated role-plays, debates, and relay races, that get students to close their laptops, raise their eyes, and restore the energy of in-person learning to the classroom.

Location: Main campus location to be published here on January 5

Presenters: Bryan Arva (Professorial Lecturer, Justice, Law & Criminology, SPA | Justice, Law & Criminology) & Trace Lasley (Senior Executive in Residence, SPA | Justice, Law & Criminology)

Session description: This session leverages the design of an international residency course in Homeland Security to share replicable strategies for globalizing any syllabus. Participants will explore principles of project-based experiential learning and leave with a unique deliverable design template that can be applied to non-traditional courses in any academic program, enhancing student job-relevant skills.

Location: Main campus location to be published here on January 5

Presenter: Golnar Abedin (Senior Professorial Lecturer, School of Education)

Session description: Discover how trauma-informed and universally designed teaching practices can foster belonging for all learners—including neurodivergent students—while also supporting faculty wellbeing. This interactive session invites participants to experience simple, restorative strategies that promote safety, trust, and flexibility in the classroom. We will reimagine teaching as a practice of care that sustains both educators and students.

Location: Main campus location to be published here on January 5

Presenters: Marjan Alaghmand (Senior Professorial Lecturer, CAS | Chemistry), Meg Bentley (Director of STEM Partnerships and Innovation, CAS | Biology), Babak Kasmaei (Professorial Lecturer, CAS | Physics), & Chelsey Brown (Program Manager, ISSTI & DCSGC, CAS | Biology)

Session description: This session highlights how the Summer Undergraduate and Graduate Experience in Research (SUGER) program at American University supports the professional development of our undergraduate and graduate students who are doing STEM-related research during the summer. Presenters will share how SUGER creates opportunities for students and faculty from diverse backgrounds to work together on supporting research in our society and beyond.

Location: Main campus location to be published here on January 5

Presenters: Sarah Iverson (Assistant Professor, CAS | Sociology), Megan Litke (Director of Sustainability, Environmental Science), Garima Sharma (Assistant Professor, Management), & Christopher Tudge (Professor, CAS | Biology)

Session description: University campuses operate as micro versions of cities with parallel opportunities for community-based projects. In this session, hear from faculty in various disciplines who have used the campus as a tool for research and learning and engage in brainstorming sessions around campus features or operations that you could pull into your classroom.