June 2023

This Spring, we offered multiple events, introductory guidelines and blog posts related to using generative artificial intelligence tools such as ChatGPT in higher education. But the most common request we have gotten from Duke instructors is that they want to know what their colleagues are doing with AI tools in their classrooms.

Craig Hurwitz, an instructor in the Financial Technology Master of Engineering program, recently wrote about how he embraced ChatGPT in his Financial Technology course. We know Craig is not alone in his pioneering spirit at Duke. Please share your experiences using AI tools - including, but not limited to, ChatGPT - in your classroom. Did you incorporate them into an activity this past Spring, or are you planning to do so this Fall? If you used one this Spring, did it go well or was it a disaster? Does the advancing of AI have especially relevant implications for your field? Your colleagues want to know! We are all learning how to navigate this new, AI-infused world together.

With the adoption of the Climate Commitment, our historic institution is looking forward and aligning itself with futurists like Bryan Alexander, author of the new book Universities on Fire. 

Universities on Fire explores possible answers to the question: what does climate change mean for the future of higher education? Alexander recently joined Learning Innovation’s director Shawn Miller to discuss how some of the themes and findings in his book align with the ongoing efforts at Duke such as the Climate Commitment, emerging pedagogies (such as artificial intelligence), mental health and lifelong learning.

The Climate and Sustainability Teaching Fellows Program may be new, but for its three faculty co-leads, intersecting disparate topics with climate and sustainability is not. The three have spent their careers teaching Duke students these themes and their interdisciplinary connections.

While our team takes a break from writing blog posts this summer to focus on the transition to Canvas this Fall (learn more about that here, if this is your first time learning about it), take a look at some of our most popular blog posts. Some of them may have been written years ago, but their lessons remain relevant.