Conference
Symposium Humanities: What does AI mean for our education?
- Date
- Thursday 29 January 2026
- Time
- Serie
- Lecturer workshops FGW
- Address
-
P.J. Veth
Nonnensteeg 1-3
2311 VJ Leiden
Shaping the future of education together in the age of AI
Developments in AI are advancing at a rapid pace. This calls for a response from the Humanities. How should we position ourselves as educators in relation to AI and chatbots in teaching? What do we want our students to understand about AI? How do our academic values align — or clash — with the rise of AI? And what stance should we, as scholars in the Humanities, take in the broader debate on AI in education?
The day opens with a thought-provoking keynote by Bas Haring, followed by roundtable discussions and a lunch featuring poster presentations. Central themes include the importance of academic skills in a society increasingly shaped by AI, the impact of AI on teaching and assessment - including the question of how our teaching (didactics) will take shape and which formative ways of assessment are involved - and the development of guiding principles. These topics run throughout the programme and form the basis of the interactive opening session. We approach them from both the perspective of educators and that of students and we explicitly welcome all perspectives and experiences. In the closing discussion, we will build on the insights gained throughout the day and deepen the conversation together. We warmly invite everyone to contribute to the dialogue on the role of AI in our educational landscape.
Programme
10:00 – 10:15 Interactive opening
10:15 – 11:00 Keynote Bas Haring
- Having your thesis supervised by AI?
In his keynote, Bas Haring takes you through an experiment he conducted together with a student: after the first two weeks of supervision by Bas, AI took over the thesis guidance. How did this unusual collaboration unfold, what insights did it provide, and what conclusions did supervisor and student draw? Discover where AI can support – or even partly take over – the role of the supervisor, and where the human perspective remains irreplaceable.
11:00 – 12:00 Roundtable discussions
- LUCA
Facilitated by Julian Kraats
Do you want to experiment with a safe AI tool specifically designed for education? Join this hands-on round table session so we can shape your ideas right away and try them out! - Futures Thinking: how does an AI future look and feel?
Facilitated by Tanja de Bie
With some immersive workformats and a scenario of a potential future we will discuss how living in 2035 as a teacher looks and feels like. What should we prepare for? What do we want to avoid? How can we become resilient? Join this forward looking conversation. - What is the impact of AI on assessment?
Facilitated by Angus Mol
This discussion will focus on AI and assessment. Should we stop using certain forms of assessment or shift back towards manual, pen-and-paper exams? Could formative assessment play a larger role? What changes are needed? Or does our entire education system need an overhaul? - Students’ perspective on AI in education
Facilitated by students Alec Hebinck and Dimitri Kardol
In this roundtable session, the focus is on the diverse perspectives and experiences of students. Do they want to use AI? Are they concerned about the use of AI? Following a brief presentation of the students’ viewpoints, a discussion will take place based on provocative statements about what students want, what they expect from our university, but also what is expected of students in the labour market.
12:00 – 13:00 Lunch with poster presentations: Humanities lecturers share AI pilots in education
13:00 – 14:00 Plenary discussion with refreshments afterwards
Registration
Register here