Monday Memo, November 27, 2023

Dear A&S Colleagues,

This month marks the one-year anniversary of the release of ChatGPT. So it's a great time to take stock of how A&S faculty are incorporating AI into teaching and research. Many thanks to those who responded to my recent call for examples: it was inspiring to learn just how much our college is doing! At the risk of neglecting important work not yet reported to me, here are highlights of what I learned:

• Jennifer Sichel (Art) assigns seminar readings pushing students to think critically about AI in the context of a longer history of “technological reproducibility,” beginning with Walter Benjamin's early 20th-century writings through Hito Steyerl’s 2023 essay “Mean Images.” Sichel said, “Rather than simply telling students not to use (or to use) AI, my goal is to equip them to think more critically about it—to ask better, more critical questions about who AI benefits, whose labor it exploits, what resources it requires, and whether it can be used for liberatory projects.”
• Michael Perlin (Biology) will incorporate AI in BIO 542: Gene Structure and Function, in Spring 2024. Students will use AI to generate four short scientific “Wikis” about topics related to the course, which will be evaluated in peer-group critiques to identify inaccuracies or problems and how to modify the writing to be more original and valid.
• Bill Brantley (Communication) teaches COMM 464-51: How Artificial Intelligence Is Shaping the Future of Communication, exploring how mastering AI tools can aid communication students' careers. He said, “I aim to teach students how to ethically use generative AI tools to aid them with the data-intensive aspects of their careers while they concentrate on building their soft skills, which cannot be automated through AI.” The course covers AI’s impact on content creation and editing, data analysis, emerging roles such as AI ethicists, and the impact on marketing, advertising, and customer service.
• Karen Freberg (Communication) explores in her courses the benefits, challenges, and applications of using AI in strategic communication and social media. Strategic use of AI has also been a major focus of Freberg's work in directing the The Bird’s Nest, UofL's student-run advertising agency. The 2^nd edition of Freberg’s textbook on public relations (Jan. 2024) will provide case studies, best practices, and pedagogical resources and tips for how to use AI in PR classes.
• Mary Sheridan (Commonwealth Center for Humanities and Society) hosted a workshop in spring 2023 in which faculty from a variety of disciplines explained how they are using AI in their classrooms.
• Michael Losavio (Criminal Justice) has published and presented widely on AI, including two book chapters (2023), two articles (2021-23), and four articles forthcoming and under submission. He delivered presentations on AI in 2023 for Perm State University (Russian Federation), the University of Sunderland (United Kingdom), the Louisville Bar Association, and the University of Hong Kong. In his courses, Losavio asks students to consider the impact of AI on criminal justice and public safety. He also assigns students to run their abstract/paper proposal through ChatGPT and attach it to their papers as an appendix. He said, "Their papers are inevitably better than the ChatGPT version, though whether it is due to the excellence of the students, the mediocrity of ChatGPT or the spur of competing with the machine is an open research question; I feel it is the excellence of the students.”
• Rachel Morgan (English Ph.D. student) teaches a section of ENGL 303: Scientific and Technical Writing that considers how AI is being taken up in different industries and fields, ethical issues and concerns of AI use, and the implications that AI use has on professionals. Students investigate different AI tools and learn about working and writing in tandem with AI.
• Marie Pruitt (English Ph.D. student) published an opinion piece in the Louisville Cardinal student newspaper, "I’m a tech-savvy instructor at U of L. AI should not be used in the classroom."
• Andrea Gaughan (Geographic and Environmental Sciences) is teaching an introduction to remote sensing for both undergraduates and graduates (GEOG 355/555) that includes an activity built around the engagement of AI and natural language processing tools (e.g. ChatGPT) to facilitate research inquiry. The activity’s main aims were to 1) introduce the power of AI in researching a topic and 2) reinforce caution and good sense for digging deeper than the first return provided by a conversation AI tool.   
• Benne Holwerda (Physics and Astronomy) uses machine learning (a subfield of AI using algorithms trained on data to produce adaptable models to perform complex tasks) in a range of current research projects: on classification of stars in the latest James Webb Space Telescope data; on classification of galaxies; for identifying merging galaxies; and for predicting the spectrum of a galaxy based on its images. In teaching, the department’s computational physics track has several use cases for machine learning applications, including how to use the different algorithms and evaluate their effectiveness, e.g., PHYS 275-PHYS 375 and PHYS 475.
• John Kielkopf (Physics and Astronomy) is using AI in a sponsored research project that would identify patterns in measurable properties of low-Earth-orbit satellites. Kielkopf has also used ChatGPT4 and Bard to generate questions for quizzes that, with editing, have been useful in introductory physics and astronomy teaching, and he offers students the option to use AI in answering written questions, with the caution that public AI resources may invent citations.
• Rodger Payne (Political Science) taught a graduate seminar on Digital Global Politics that discussed AI in the context of deepfakes and other uses of the technology. He also addresses AI in his course on Global Politics Through Film. He reports that some students have experimented with visual AI as well as textual AI, “but I have started warning students in all my classes against the risk of committing academic dishonesty if they submit such work as their own.”
• Judith Danovitch (Psychological and Brain Sciences) is part of a collaboration led by Drs. Campbell Bego and Angela Thompson at the Speed school looking at engineering students’ trust in ChatGPT and whether an instructional intervention can modify their beliefs about the value of ChatGPT for engineering-related purposes. Further, she said, “My graduate student Lauren Girouard-Hallam and I have also engaged in extensive research and publishing on children’s interactions with AI-driven voice assistants.”
• Eric Vukmanic (Psychological and Brain Sciences) engages AI in two courses, PSYC331: Sensation & Perception and PSYC382: Cognitive Neuroscience, as follows: weekly homework about a key concept about which they may use AI; permission to use AI for capstone research projects focused on peer-reviewed analysis, as long as they were transparent about how it was used; a “Break the Bot Challenge,” where they could show us fatal flaws in generative AI when undertaking challenges such as “work” in neuroscience. He said, “I have tried to help them understand that AI often generates false or inconsistent sources and that they would be penalized for low-quality work where this was not addressed.”
•  James Beggan (Sociology), along with coauthor Joel D. Schmidt (Nursing), is writing an invited paper on the role of AI in affecting the way people consume sexually related material, tentatively titled, "When Pornography Perceives Us Back," which will consider the way in which AI could custom tailor material for consumers.
• Angela Orend (Sociology) is teaching a tutorial on using AI to generate an appropriate research question. Also, in SOC 303-01 students created a survey on AI use by UL students and received about 30 responses:  50% say they are using AI weekly, and 44% are using it to do homework. 

We can all take pride in knowing that our faculty and students are leading the way in making informed, strategic, and ethical uses of AI in their work, demonstrating the agility that is a trademark of a liberal arts education. 

Sincerely,

Julie Wrinn, Chief of Staff 

Next week the Department of Physics and Astronomy is hosting the 17th annual international workshop devoted to the physics of Tau Lepton, Dec. 4-8, Floyd Theater, Swain Student Activities Center. About 100 distinguished international physicists have been invited to speak. Recent results on Tau Lepton production and decays at Lepton and hadron colliders will be presented. The series of sessions will open Dec. 4, at 9 a.m., with the closing day's sessions on Dec. 8, 4-8 p.m. Details about the workshop and registration can be found here. See flyer below.

Frank Kelderman, Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Studies, Department of English, has an essay, "Black Elk Faces East: Beb Vuyk, Cultural Translation, and John G. Neihardt's Black Elk Speaks," that was just published in Journal of Transnational American Studies. It is about the 1964 Dutch-language translation of a classic work of Native American literature by the Dutch-Indonesian author Beb Vuyk. Read the essay here.  

An essay by Andrew Rabin, Professor and Vice Chair of English, "Archbishop Wulfstan: England’s Forgotten Lawmaker," has been published in History Today, a highly respected, widely circulated magazine that publishes scholarly writing on history for a general audience. Dr. Rabin's article focuses on Wulfstan II's interventions at a time of grave political crisis in England and demonstrates the value of scholarship in the Humanities, especially work on pre-modern matters. Read the article here. 

Associate Professors of Anthropology Ashley Smallwood and Thomas Jennings, along with colleague Randal Haas (University of Wyoming), recently published an article in Nature: Scientific Reports that confirms a 9,000-year-old female was buried with the tools she used to hunt large game in high-altitude Peru, challenging the notion that large-mammal hunting was the purview of males in early hunter-gatherer societies. This research was supported by a UofL EVPRI grant and an A&S Research and Creative Activity grant. Read more.

Alumni Spotlight

We were delighted to welcome Susan Mateja to the Golden Medallion Luncheon during Homecoming last month. With two degrees from Arts & Sciences (1976 BA Mathematics, 1979 MA Mathematics), Susan is retired from Humana, which sponsor the National Senior Games, where she competed on a mixed doubles tennis team with her husband, David. Nearly 12,000 men and women ages 50 and over competed July 7-18, 2023, as part of the largest multi-sport event in the world for seniors.

The couple originally met on a tennis court and recently celebrated 51 years of marriage. Both avid players, it was their longtime dream to compete together, but a series of health issues of David's, as well as games being cancelled due to the pandemic, resulted in many failed attempts. Finally, in 2023, they got their chance. In recognition of their perseverance, the Matejas were named Humana Game Changers— a national recognition of athletes who exemplify healthy aging and provide encouragement, motivation, and inspiration for all seniors to live healthy lifestyles.

Susan said, “The fact that we’re healthy means that we can give back to the world in a bigger way. We feel the generosity that Humana has given to the Game Changers and through hosting the National Senior Games, and so we want to be generous, too. Generosity leads to longevity.” Read more in Prevention.

Model United Nations

By Daniel Ngongo

As the curtains fell on the 44th Model United Nations Conference, my perspective as a delegate was filled with more than just the exhilaration of debate and the pride of representation. Behind the formal wear and the formalities, I saw an arena for growth beyond conventional education. The simulation was a microcosm of the real world where theoretical knowledge met practical diplomacy.

Participants from institutions like EKU, Manchester University and IUS tackled global crises including the Israeli-Palestinian dispute, the conflict in Ukraine and the rising political turmoil in Haiti. More than 60 student delegates dove into the nuances of policy and peacemaking, using structured debates to drive the council’s agenda. The emphasis was on the pressing refugee crisis, pushing for resourceful policy proposals. The endorsed resolutions carried the possibility of influencing real-world policy, with the potential to reach the floor of the UN’s General Assembly.

Praise was given to Tristin Black, Anna Kelly, Jack Boisseau, and Jeremy Faulhaber for their excellence in directing the conference’s debates. They chaired four of the five Security Councils. The event was a showcase of talent and scholarly excellence; Alex Reynolds, Will VonHandorf, Elijah Deters, myself, Colin McQuarrie, Kaylee Vitato, Miles Frailey, Camden Harris, Sarah Youngman, and Luka Johnson earned top honors across several categories for their diplomatic prowess and role-play integrity. Read more in the Louisville Cardinal. 

Daniel Ngongo is News Editor for the Louisville Cardinal, Research & Policy Director for the Student Government Association, President of Young Democrats of UofL, and Advocacy Chair for the United Nations Association UofL Chapter.

The annual Posters at the Capitol in Frankfort, Kentucky, provides an opportunity for undergraduate students to engage our state legislators and emphasize the important role played by research and scholarly activity in their educational experience. The abstract submission deadline is Thursday, Nov. 30, 2023, and the event will be held March 7, 2024. For more information and instructions on how to submit an abstract, visit the webpage or email Paul DeMarco, Office of Undergraduate Research and Creative Activity.

Nine University Honors Program students (above, with Academic Counselor  Katherine Rucker and Program Director Joy Hart), presented their scholarship at the 2023 National Collegiate Honors Council conference, November 8-11, in Chicago. UofL Honors students had an unprecedented 100% acceptance rate for conference submissions, and eight of these students are majoring and/or minoring in A&S. Congrats to these outstanding undergraduates and to the faculty and graduate students who mentored them! Also, congratulations to Romith Paily who placed second in the research poster competition.

Poster presentations:

• Avalon McAffrey, University Honors Scholar, Individualized major (Nonprofit Leadership) with minors in Communication and Music, presented “Sustainability around the World.”
• Tobias McDaniels, University Honors Scholar, Psychology major with minor in English Literature, presented “Shifting Identity in Gothic Literature,” based on research that began in a course taught by Dr. Karen Hadley.
• Romith Paily, University Honors Program, Public Health major with minors in Biology, Healthcare Management, and Philosophy, presented work from Dr. Alex Carll’s lab, mentored by Dr. Alex Carll and Anand Ramalingam, entitled “Mentholated 4^th- Generation E-cigarette Aerosols Induce Ventricular Arrhythmias and Early Repolarization Effects in Mice.”(2^nd Place in Poster Competition)
• Veena Pendyala, University Honors Scholar, Neuroscience major with Spanish minor, was mentored by Dr. Jeffrey Petruska at the Kentucky Spinal Cord Injury Research Center and presented “The Sensory Potential of Synaptopodin: An Analysis of Synaptopodin within the Dorsal Root Ganglion.”

Student Interdisciplinary Research Oral Presentations:

• Eden Baize, University Honors Scholar, History major with minors in Spanish and Latin American and Latino Studies, presented “Birth Control and the Sixties: The Dialogue Surrounding the First Oral Contraceptive,” based on work from a historical methods course taught by Dr. Tracy K’Meyer.
• Nim Singh, University Honors Scholar, Neuroscience major with Philosophy minor, presented “The Magic in Mushrooms: Psilocybin and Neuropsychiatric Disorders,” based on research for a neuroscience course taught by Dr. Paul DeMarco.
• Abigail Stanger, University Honors Scholar, History major with minors in German and Humanities, presented “Moral Panic in the Sixties: The Rise and Rapid Declination of LSD in American Society,” based on work from a historical methods course taught by Dr. Tracy K’Meyer.

Roundtable Discussion:

• Alicia Howe, University Honors Scholar, Sociology and Individualized majors with minor in LGBTQ Studies, Avalon McAffrey, University Honors Scholar, Individualized major (Nonprofit Leadership) with minors in Communication and Music, and Nim Singh, University Honors Scholar, Neuroscience major with Philosophy minor, were mentored by Luke Buckman and presented “A New Frontier of Student-Led Honors Programming” on behalf of Honors Student Council. 

Many thanks to Katherine Rucker, Academic Counselor, Sr., in the University Honors Program, for supporting these students in their conference participation and presentations.

Deadline extended to November 29! The College of Arts & Sciences is offering awards of up to $1,500 to teams of Mentors ($1,000 if graduate students) and Undergraduate researchers ($500) to engage in research or creative activities. Undergraduates must be A & S students who have been on campus at UofL for no more than four semesters (not including summer). Mentors may be graduate students, staff with terminal degrees in the field of study or faculty. The deadline for Spring/Summer 2024 funding is November 15.  For more information visit: https://louisville.edu/artsandsciences/academics/research-grant and see flyer below.

In Memoriam

We mourn the passing, at age 94 on October 28, 2023, of Robert Talmadge Maupin Sr., a pioneer in integrating UofL’s graduate physics program. Valedictorian of his class at Central High School in Louisville, Mr. Maupin went on to graduate with honors from UofL’s Municipal College in 1950 with a B.S. in physics and a minor in botany. He became the first African American to graduate with a master’s degree in physics from UofL in 1952.

In 1953 Mr. Maupin went on to work for the Department of the Army in Washington, D.C., at the Harry Diamond Labs and Bureau of Standards as a civilian scientist. He served for two years as an associate professor of physics at the University of the District of Columbia.  

Mr. Maupin was a dedicated member of the Sligo Seventh-day Adventist Church in Takoma Park, Maryland, where he was able to integrate the congregation and served as a pathfinder leader and a deacon. He was also an avid musician and played the trombone with both college orchestras and local marching bands in Washington D.C.

He was married to Delores (Henderson) Maupin for 47 years until her passing in 2005. They had one son, Robert Maupin Jr. In 2007, Mr. Maupin Sr. moved back to Louisville and joined the Magazine Street Seventh-Day Adventist Church in Louisville, Kentucky. Throughout his life, Mr. Maupin was an avid photographer, cyclist, and loved to spend time in nature and to photograph wildflowers. He produced a wildflower photography book, Uncle Bob’s Flower Garden.

Mr. Maupin is survived by his son, Dr. Robert (Troylynn) Maupin Jr. of New Orleans, Louisiana; two granddaughters, three sisters, and one brother. He was preceded in death by his parents and two brothers. Read more. 

Undergraduate Spotlight

Junior Ralph Gonzalez, above, is a Marine Corps veteran majoring in communication.

Ralph Gonzalez of Miami, FL, is a junior communication major who served in the United States Marine Corps from 2017 to 2021, attaining the rank of sergeant. When he left the Marine Corps, he was an artillery section chief responsible for 12 marines and over $2-million worth of equipment.

Gonzalez chose the University of Louisville for what he called its “sense of community,” adding he felt comfortable in the city and at the university. He is a big fan of Cardinals athletics. Gonzalez said he appreciates the many people at UofL who have helped him on and off campus, citing the many great professors from the English Department. His goal is to become an English teacher. Read more. 

Kudos

Andreas Elpidorou, Professor of Philosophy and Director of Liberal Studies, was quoted in a recent University of California-San Diego publication, "Put down the phone and be bored, it’s good for you." In Elpidorou's paper entitled, "The Bright Side of Boredom," he said, “Boredom helps to restore the perception that one’s activities are meaningful or significant.” Read more.

Congratulations to Rachel Hopp, Associate Professor, Term, in Biology, for being named a Top 4 Faculty Favorite of 2022-23. Last academic year, the Delphi Center for Teaching and Learning solicited nominations from students for the UofL faculty member they would like to recognize for making a significant impact on their learning and intellectual development. To see the comments made about all of the nominees, please go to http://louisville.edu/delphi/awards/facultyfavorites.

Kristi Maxwell, Associate Professor of English, has three poems in the recent issue of Fou Magazine: https://www.foumagazine.net/#. Fou is known in creative writing circles for its literary selections and clever design.

Kaila Story was consulted by WBKO for its report, “Black women are often incriminated victims of crime cases.” The piece was prompted by a new foundation to help raise awareness about gun violence and violence against women, the Ayanna Morgan Foundation, created by the parents of a Western Kentucky University student who was shot and killed last summer. Among Prof. Story's many quotes in the piece is: “There is a long-standing history of the criminalization of black bodies . . . We read various messages off of people’s bodies according to race, presumed sexuality, gender, gender identity . . . all those things weigh into whether a person outside of another values that person and sees the humanity in another person.” Prof. Story is Associate Professor in the Departments of Pan-African Studies and Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. Read more. 

All About Awards

Nominations for A&S Awards are being accepted through December 6, 2023, at this link. This year we have 30 award categories: 20 for faculty (including 1 for Part-time Lecturers and 2 others inclusive of PTLs), 9 for staff, and 1 for Graduate Teaching Assistants. Each winner receives $400 and recognition at the A&S Celebration of Excellence on April 23, 2024. The 12 Distinguished Faculty Awards have categories and guidelines that aligned precisely with the university-wide presidential awards, so that A&S winners in those categories can become our College’s nominees for, and are fully qualified for, presidential awards. Now is the time to think back over the past year and recollect those colleagues who have positively impacted you, your area, our students, and our mission.

Nominations are invited for the 22nd annual Mary K. Bonsteel Tachau Gender Equity Award, which honors the memory of Dr. Mary K. Tachau, a women’s rights activist and nationally recognized constitutional historian who became the first female chair of the History Department. The award will be presented to a member of the UofL community whose work has directly furthered gender equity. The prestigious award will be announced by the UofL Women’s Center and the UofL Commission on the Status of Women at the Women’s Center virtual Empowerment Program on March 21, 2024. The nomination deadline is January 19 by 5:00 p.m. Contact Tami Harbolt at tlharb01@louisville.edu for further details and a nomination form. 

Human Resources

Please give a warm welcome to the following new A&S staff:

• Alexis Audigier, Data Specialist I, Psychological & Brain Sciences
• Kirsten Justice, Academic Coordinator, Honors
• Theresia Pettit, Unit Specialist II, Psychological & Brain Sciences
• Jayson Stancil, Data Specialist I, Psychological & Brain Sciences
• Kelley Wise, Financial Coordinator, Dean’s office

Reminder: Your Personal Health Profile and an additional 280 points must be completed by Thursday, November 30 to earn the $40 Get Healthy Now incentive deducted from your monthly health insurance premium. What does that math look like? $40 x 12 = $480 that you can save on health insurance premiums in 2024! A full list of point opportunities is in the Get Health Now Incentive Guide.

A&S Events

The Hite Art Institute + Design’s final Coffee and Art Tour of 2023 will take place on  Thursday, Nov. 30. The coffee bar opens at 11:30 a.m., and the tour begins at 11:45 a.m. Stop by Schneider Galleries for a coffee break and hear from students participating in this semester’s BFA Thesis Exhibition, an annual event that showcases the final projects of students graduating with a BFA. This semester’s participants include Emily Davis, Hevin Ramsey, and Kristen De Voogd. This event is free, but RSVPs are requested. Email Jessica Oberdick. For more information, visit the webpage.

Join us for the Yearlings Club Annual Community Holiday Reception: see flyer below. RSVP Clest Lanier, cvlani01@louisville.edu, or, (502)852-3042.

Next week the Department of Physics and Astronomy is hosting the 17th annual international workshop devoted to the physics of Tau Lepton, Dec. 4-8, Floyd Theater, Swain Student Activities Center. About 100 distinguished international physicists have been invited to speak. Recent results on Tau Lepton production and decays at Lepton and hadron colliders will be presented. The series of sessions will open Dec. 4, at 9 a.m., with the closing day's sessions on Dec. 8, 4-8 p.m. Details about the workshop and registration can be found here.

All are invited to an event celebrating the publication date of Goners, a new book of poems by Associate Professor of English Kristi Maxwell (see cover below). The poems of Goners are lipograms—writing that excludes one or more letters—that Maxwell has named “extinctions.” The letters missing from the poems are the letters in the names of endangered animals. As she describes, “The poem ‘Cheetah,’ for instance, uses 21 of 26 letters, all but a, c, e, h, and t, so no articles, no cats, no being, no are or were or was, no choice, etc. (no etc.).” In the context of the corrosive effects of imperialism and industrialization, Goners questions the common practice of elegizing and employs an alternative mode. The animals in the titles are absent from the poems—they’re gone. Instead, in a haunting gesture, the poems foreground the role anthropocentrism plays in the sixth extinction underway. Tuesday, Dec. 5, CAMP Social Club (Rear Alley Entrance, 1031 S 6th St, Louisville, KY 40203), BYOB.

• 6 p.m. Doors open 
• 6:30-8 p.m. Show & Tell: Bring a beloved object that’s on its last legs (which is to say, an object that’s a goner) and tell everyone a story about it to preserve its memory. Please aim to keep the story to five minutes to allow time for everyone who wants to share.  
• 8-8:30 p.m. Reading from Goners 
• 8:30 p.m. Book-signing (books available for purchase on site or ahead of time: https://www.greenlindenpress.com/books/goners) 
• 10 p.m. Doors close  

UofL Events

There will be a "Gold Mass" for scientists and those interested in science/faith today, Nov. 27, 6 p.m., at Holy Family Church, 3938 Poplar Level Rd., Louisville, Kentucky 40213, celebrated by Archbishop Shelton Fabre. A panel discussion on the topic of science/faith will follow. All UofL faculty, staff and students in science or who are interested, are invited. One need not be Catholic to attend. The co-sponsors of this event are UofL Chaplain John Baptist Huang and the Catholic Campus Ministry. For more information, contact Fr. John Baptist Huong, chaplain, 852-6598, or the Archdiocese of Louisville, 502-585-3291, or email Gerard Williger.

Registration in now open for the spring 2024 Teaching Onboarding cohort at the Delphi Center.  Newer to teaching at UofL? Kickstart the spring semester by connecting with a series of resources, tools and strategies aligned with the cadence of the academic semester. By enrolling in this semester-long online cohort course, you’ll have the opportunity to engage with peers while earning a certificate. Register now and attend our hybrid Kick-Off Event on Dec. 1, 2023 from 10:30-11:30 a.m. Learn more at uofl.me/teaching-onboarding

Register now for any of the three remaining grant writing workshops taking place on February 2, March 1, and May 14, 2024, 12 noon - 1:30 pm, from the Office of Community Engagement, Office of the Provost, and Office of Institutional Equity for faculty, staff, and graduate students. Workshops will introduce the basics of grant writing from the lenses of community engagement, present the foundation for developing a letter of inquiry and a full proposal, provide approaches to engage funders, and provide insights into the review process. Register at this link.