About the Session
When we consider generative AI (GenAI) in higher education, we often think of Large Language Models, or AI engines that engage and create through text. What about image-based GenAI? This session explores how visual communication, aided increasingly by GenAI tools like Adobe Firefly, helps students engage more deeply in the classroom, build essential skills for careers, and develop the necessary literacies for citizenship in an ever-evolving digital world.
Below, discover the takeaways and resources provided by three esteemed educators, who offered insights from their unique disciplinary perspectives on visual communication in the AI age. They offer practical ways to equip students to become critical, ethical, agile users of emerging technologies.
Speakers and their Leave-behinds
Allison Christians
Bio: Professor Christians is the H. Heward Stikeman Chair in the Law of Taxation at the McGill University Faculty of Law where she teaches and writes on national, comparative, and international tax law and policy. She focuses especially on the relationship between taxation and economic development, the role of government and non-government institutions and actors in the creation of tax policy norms, and the intersection of taxation and human rights. She has written numerous scholarly articles, essays, and book chapters, as well as essays, columns, and articles in professional journals and has been named one of the “Global Tax 50” most influential individuals in international taxation. Recent research focuses on evolving international norms of tax cooperation and competition; the relationship between tax and sustainable development; the impact of technology on tax policy, and evolving conceptions of rights in taxation. Professor Christians also engages on topics of tax law and policy via her website and on twitter @profchristians.
Sheneese Thompson
Bio: Dr. Thompson is an Associate Professor in the Department of Afro-American Studies at Howard University. She earned a B.A. in Afro-American Studies from Howard University, an M.A. in African American Studies from Boston University, and a Ph.D. in African American and African Studies from The Ohio State University. Her research areas of interest include Black popular culture, African American literature, comparative diaspora studies, Afro-Atlantic religion, and most notably Lucumí’s cultural impact in the United States. Her pedagogical specialties include, cultural relevance, curriculum development, student engagement, educational technology, and best practices for online learning. Her forthcoming book Oshun, Lemonade & Intertextuality: Afro-Atlantic Religion in Black Popular Culture, will be available in Summer 2025.
George Garrastegui, Jr.
Bio: George Garrastegui, Jr. is an educator, designer, and advocate committed to empowering emerging creatives by sharing industry skills, struggles, and insights. He hosts the award-winning podcast Works in Process, where he interviews diverse professionals to explore the realities of the creative field and the importance of shifting to how creatives work over what they produce. As a working professional with over 20 years of experience, George has collaborated with brands like Esquire, Ford, and Popular Mechanics. As a full-time faculty member of Communication Design at City Tech, CUNY, George teaches design research and strategic problem-solving. He actively supports diversity and inclusion through his affiliations, workshops, and speaking engagements with AIGA, UCDA, One Club for Creativity, and 100 Roses from Concrete. Whether through teaching, podcasting, or public speaking, George is committed to fostering creative growth, access, and opportunity for emerging designers.
SEssion Recap: discussion Topics Explored
- From the vantage point of your disciplinary home, please describe your approach or philosophy to visual communication and AI. What role do you see visual communication and AI playing in your field and, as a result, your pedagogy?
- How has this approach or philosophy played out in particular assignments or classroom activities? What particular strategies have you developed to empower learners through images, graphics, and/or creative thinking?
- What do you see as the main barriers to working with AI in your classrooms to achieve the goals you described? How might we overcome these barriers and/or move others along who may be wary of image-based technology in the classroom?
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Credits:
Created with an image by Анатолий Сав - "Vibrant brushstrokes of various colors are artfully spread across a dark green chalkboard in a creative classroom setting. Generative AI"