Reimagining Teaching and Learning in the Age of AI

Angela V. Olinto is Provost of Columbia University and the Rutherfurd Professor of Astronomy and Professor of Physics. As Columbia’s chief academic officer, Provost Olinto advances the University’s academic distinction, intellectual vitality, and research mission. She works closely with the President, deans, and faculty to shape strategic priorities that support excellence in teaching, scholarship, and innovation across the University. Read More.

Columbia’s executive leadership will discuss a shared institutional vision for how AI should reshape pedagogy, curriculum design, and the intellectual development of students across disciplines. This conversation will position Columbia at the forefront of setting the ethical, humanistic, and educational values that should guide AI’s role for the next generation.

Participating Columbia University Deans:

• Shih-Fu Chang, Dean of The Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science and Morris A. and Alma Schapiro Professor of Engineering; and Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
• Amy Hungerford, Executive Vice President for Arts and Sciences and Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences; Ruth Fulton Benedict Professor of English and Comparative Literature
• Jelani Cobb, Dean of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and Henry R. Luce Professor of Journalism
• Katrina Armstrong, Chief Executive Officer of the Columbia University Irving Medical Center; Executive Vice President for Health and Biomedical Sciences for Columbia University; and the Harold and Margaret Hatch Professor of the University
• Costis Maglaras, Dean of Columbia Business School, and the David and Lyn Silfen Professor of Business  
   

Moderator: Garud Iyengar, Avanessians Director, Data Science Institute; and Professor of Industrial Engineering and Operations Research, Columbia Engineering

C. Edward Watson, Ph.D., Vice President for Digital Innovation with the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U)

Drawing from his new book, the second edition of Teaching with AI: A Practical Guide to a New Era of Human Learning (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2025), Dr. Watson will detail the challenges and opportunities that have emerged for higher education, especially in terms of pedagogical practice and student learning as a result of the emergence of generative AI.  The core focus of this keynote will be on concrete approaches and strategies higher education can adopt, both within the classroom and across larger curricular structures, to best prepare students for the life that awaits them after graduation.  It will also detail the pedagogical possibilities regarding how AI can have a positive impact on student learning. 

Presenter Bio

C. Edward Watson, Ph.D., is the Vice President for Digital Innovation at the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U). He is also the founding director of AAC&U’s Institute on AI, Pedagogy, and the Curriculum. Prior to joining AAC&U, Dr. Watson was the Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning at the University of Georgia (UGA). He continues to serve as a Fellow in the Louise McBee Institute of Higher Education at UGA and recently stepped down after more than a decade as the Executive Editor of the International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education.  His most recent publications are the second edition of Teaching with AI: A Practical Guide to a New Era of Human Learning (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2025), Leading Through Disruption: Higher Education Executives Assess AI’s Impacts on Teaching and Learning (AAC&U, 2025), and the Student Guide to AI (Elon University & AAC&U, 2025). Dr. Watson been quoted in the New York Times, Chronicle of Higher Education, Inside Higher Ed, Campus Technology, EdSurge, Newsweek, U.S. News, EdTech, Consumer Reports, UK Financial Times, and University Business Magazine and by the AP, CNN and NPR regarding current teaching and learning issues and trends in higher education.  Described as a digital learning pioneer, Dr. Watson was recognized by EdTech Magazine as one of the top 25 higher education influencers to follow in 2026.

Moderator & Fireside Chat: Amanda Irvin, Executive Director, Center for Teaching and Learning, Columbia University 

Before the Demo Expo opens, a series of lightning talks will spotlight standout work from across the community, offering a preview of the ideas attendees will encounter on the exhibitor floor. These presentations are designed to spark curiosity, surface innovative work, and help audiences make meaningful connections with the exhibitors. 

Location: Rotunda, Low Memorial Library

The Demo Expo will showcase faculty projects experimenting with how AI can deepen learning, reframe assessment, and reshape the student experience across disciplines. Rather than treating AI as a shortcut, these demonstrations explore its role as an asset in the learning process. Demos will be drawn from a range of active, AI-enabled courses and teaching initiatives recently launched across the University and its affiliate partners. 

A boxed lunch will be provided during the Demo Expo; lunch is first come, first served. 

This panel will feature faculty whose work has been supported through the Office of the Provost’s Teaching and Learning Grants. Representing disciplines and campuses across Columbia, panelists will discuss how they have integrated AI into their courses, what they have learned through experimentation, and how their approaches are evolving.

• Lee Abraham, Senior Lecturer in Spanish, Department of Latin American and Iberian Cultures, and Interim Director of Undergraduate Studies, Columbia University
• Beri Yang, Undergraduate Student, Department of Economics, Columbia College, and student pedagogical partner
• Benjamin Breyer, Senior Lecturer, First Year Writing, Barnard College
• Wing Fu, Assistant Professor of Rehabilitation and Regenerative Medicine (Physical Therapy), Columbia University Irving Medical Center
   

Moderator: Marty Samuels, Director, Faculty Programs and Services, Center for Teaching and Learning

As AI reshapes work across every sector, universities must prepare students not only to use AI tools, but to thrive in jobs transformed by them. This session explores the skills and mindsets students need—such as critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, and AI literacy—to remain adaptable, ethical, and effective in an AI-driven workplace.

• Celia Zolynski, Co-Director, AI Observatory, Paris 1 Panthéon Sorbonne
• Aymeric Dieuleveut, Professor, Center for Applied Mathematics, École Polytechnique, Paris
• Hod Lipson, James and Sally Scapa Professor of Innovation in the Department of Mechanical Engineering; Co-Director, Maker Space Facility; and Chair, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Columbia Engineering
• Daniel Guetta, Professor of Professional Practice in the Faculty of Business, Decision, Risk, and Operations Division, Columbia Business School
• David Romoff, Lecturer in Discipline, Enterprise Risk Management, School of Professional Studies, Columbia University
   

Moderator: Emmanuel Kattan, Director, Columbia Alliance Program

In this candid conversation, students will reflect on their lived experiences with AI in their courses. They will share how they navigate varied course policies, when AI helps (or hinders) their learning, and what they wish faculty and administrators understood about student perspectives. The session invites open listening and dialogue, offering participants a clearer picture of how students are learning in an AI-enabled campus.

• Stephany Andrade, Graduate student, Sociology and Education program, Teachers College
• Ann Chengying Li, Undergraduate student, Department of Computer Science, Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science
• Tonydin Ramos, Undergraduate student, Department of Psychology, School of General Studies
• Jeanne Roger-Encoignard, Undergraduate student, Alliance Program
• Pranati Sadhu, Graduate student, Department of Quantitative Methods in the Social Sciences, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
   

Moderator: Amanda Irvin, Executive Director, Center for Teaching and Learning

This two-part debate brings students and faculty into dialogue about the evolving role of higher education in the AI era. Students will lead an Oxford-style debate exploring whether universities risk obsolescence as autonomous systems expand. The closing session will feature faculty in response to the students’ arguments, reflecting on how universities can adapt and lead.

A primary challenge to uncover in this two-part program isn’t the disappearance of universities, but their need for reinvention: integrating AI into learning practices while maintaining the social, ethical, and developmental roles that machines cannot (and may never) fill.

Students from the Columbia Debate Society will lead the debate:

• Edgar Cheng, Undergraduate student, Financial Economics, Columbia College (‘28)
• Mukudzeiishe Madzivire, Undergraduate student, Political Science and Government, Minor in Human Rights, Columbia College (‘27)
• Albert Shore, Undergraduate student, Economics, Political Science, Columbia College (‘28)
• Emma Listgarten, Undergraduate student, Political Science and Environmental Science, Barnard College (‘27)
   

Faculty Facilitator:

• Matthew Connelly, Professor History and Vice-Dean for AI Initiatives, Arts & Sciences, Columbia University