The explosion of AI presents a critical, and unique, moment of crisis for education, and society in general. When artificial intelligence is promoted as not only more efficient, but also better, than human intelligence, when we defer to machines to do our reading and writing, the purpose and function of literary studies is destroyed. How and why then, do we proceed? This course is founded on the principle that only reading and speaking and writing together in a community of learning can we regain and invigorate literary studies and humanistic studies in general. We will read and discuss texts that have at their center questions of crisis and ethics and notions of collectivity - these texts in particular give us much to think on, and with.
3-5 units · Letter (ABCD/NP)
The explosion of AI presents a critical, and unique, moment of crisis for education, and society in general. When artificial intelligence is promoted as not only more efficient, but also better, than human intelligence, when we defer to machines to do our reading and writing, the purpose and function of literary studies is destroyed. How and why then, do we proceed? This course is founded on the principle that only reading and speaking and writing together in a community of learning can we regain and invigorate literary studies and humanistic studies in general. We will read and discuss texts that have at their center questions of crisis and ethics and notions of collectivity - these texts in particular give us much to think on, and with.
Offered in Spring 2027 at Stanford University.