This in-person roundtable will take place at NEMLA 2027 (March 6-9) at Salve Regina University in Newport, RI. 

Abstract:

Most instructors in the humanities believe that writing is integral to the learning process. It is through writing that students learn to develop their intuitions, illuminate counterintuitive ideas, and construct persuasive and well-researched original arguments. This process is under threat as generative AI becomes ubiquitous among college students, leading universities and teachers to treat student writing as an object of suspicion. As Marit MacArthur writes in Critical AI, the concomitant devaluation and misunderstanding of writing instruction in the age of AI “profoundly threaten student learning and the development of future writing experts.” 

This seminar seeks to brainstorm positive approaches to teaching writing in an AI-saturated academic environment. While a transition to in-class writing and blue-book exams may preserve some of the learning that takes place in composition, we believe that take-home written assignments are also essential to the development of independent and in-depth critical thinking skills. We invite new approaches to the teaching and assessment of writing that center these skills, while taking account of the new challenges posed by AI.

We especially welcome submissions that address any of the following questions:

• What composition-related skills are students most at risk of losing, and how might teachers address this risk in their classroom, assignments, and assessment?
• What conventions of the academic essay might need to change? What might new forms of take-home writing, assessment, or instruction look like?
• How do we account for the proliferation of AI tools through both word-processing software and university-level partnerships?
• How might new approaches to the classroom, extracurricular spaces, and collaborative assignments bolster the kind of thinking that is threatened by AI?

Contributors will be asked to circulate 1000-1500 word position papers prior to the conference.

If interested, please apply through the NEMLA link: https://cfplist.com/nemla/Home/S/22402