The recent appearance of generative artificial intelligence (AI) platforms on the consumer market has been seen by many as disruptive for education. Are new conceptions of epistemic agency that accompany new information technologies incompatible with educational aims? Geoff Cox describes three competing theories of epistemic agency which he refers to as Makers, Managers, and Inforgs. He contends that educators are correct in maintaining the first of these, which is rooted in the educational theories of Locke and Dewey, as their main educational purpose. Competing theories do not serve the goals of learners, even as they must prepare for life in a very different epistemic environment.

Bio: Geoff Cox is senior associate dean for administration and finance at Stanford Graduate School of Education, where he also serves as a lecturer and director of the joint MA/MBA program.  Prior to his current position, he was president of Alliant International University, and earlier in his career he served as vice provost for institutional planning at Stanford, and director of financial planning and budgets and assistant provost at the University of Chicago. He is a graduate of Knox College and has a PhD in philosophy from the University of Chicago. He is the author of Theorizing the Resilience of American Higher Education; How Colleges and Universities Adapt to Changing Social and Economic Conditions (Routledge, 2019).

A draft of Cox's article will be circulated to registrants in advance of the workshop.

All Education & the Humanities Workshops are sponsored by the Stanford Humanities Center, made possible by support from Claire and John Radway, the Mellon Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Humanities. This workshop is co-sponsored with Stanford Digital Education.

Plesae note that the location of this event has been changed to Levinthal Hall in the Stanford Humanities Center.