Humans First: Adolescent Education in the Age of AI Conference

Mike Burns is a real human being who has taught English and humanities at Marist School since 1999. His courses have ranged from English 8 through Advanced Placement Literature. He created and teaches American Experiment, a co-taught humanities course that explores American history, literature, music, film, art, food, and culture. He also co-founded the Marist Garden, a community and educational space that anchors the Environmental Studies: Sustainable Organic Agriculture course. 

A four-time recipient of funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Mike has explored the opportunities and obstacles of AI in education in recent years. He serves on Marist's Faculty AI Task Force and co-moderates its Student AI Task Force. In 2025, he was named to the National Humanities Center's Teacher Advisory Council and was one of 30 educators nationwide selected for the AI and Digital Literacy Institute at the University of Kansas. He is the author of “Shifting My Thinking about AI in the Classroom” for The Important Work and writes about AI and education on Substack. His motto these days is “Go humans!”
 

Rick Clark serves as vice provost for enrollment management at Georgia Institute of Technology. In this role, he oversees undergraduate admission, scholarships and financial aid, scholar programs, enrollment marketing and communications, the Bill Moore Student Success Center, and enrollment management administration. Together, these areas support students from initial interest through enrollment and success on campus.

Previously, Clark served as Georgia Tech’s inaugural executive director for strategic student access, where he led efforts to build partnerships with schools, systems, and community organizations to expand access, affordability, and opportunity. He is co-author of "The Truth About College Admission: A Family Guide to Getting In and Staying Together" and a companion workbook published by Johns Hopkins University Press, and creator of the Georgia Tech Admission Blog. A native of Atlanta, he earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a master’s degree from Georgia State University.

Presentation on AI and the Future of College Admission 

Resources from Presentation: 

• Tech-Neill-ogy: Focused on the intersection of technology and college counseling.  

• Study Explores AI-Written Admissions Essays (Inside Higher Ed): Research showing a rise in homogeneous language in essays since AI tools became widely available in 2022. Great framing for admissions and enrollment. 

• AI Is Routine for College Students, Despite Campus Limits (Gallup): A majority of US college students use AI weekly even where it's prohibited. This is useful for understanding “what's happening on campuses”. 

• AI is getting better at your job, but you have time to adjust (MIT/ZDNet): Solid framing for the future of the counselor’s role without being alarmist. 

• How an English Teacher Helps Students Find Their Voices in the Age of AI (Education Week): This resonates well with a counselor or teacher audience. 

• DreamCollege.ai: Named the College Admissions Counseling Tool of the Year at the 2026 at the WORLDWiDE EdTech Awards. We are piloting it with our G9 and G11 students and are really excited about how it supports the student-counselor relationship through AI. 

Samantha St. Lawrence Collins is an English educator, researcher, and speaker focused on reimagining humanities education in the age of artificial intelligence. She teaches at Lexington High School in Massachusetts and was a 2025 fellow of the AI & Digital Literacy Institute at the University of Kansas, as well as an associate member of The Generator, an interdisciplinary AI lab at Babson College.

Her work explores how educators can design learning experiences that center identity, reflection, and authentic human thinking in response to emerging technologies. In her AI-focused work, she collaborates with educators across disciplines and secondary and postsecondary contexts to align approaches to the rise of AI in humanities instruction. She is the author of “Prove to Me You Aren’t a Robot: Humanities as a CAPTCHA Test in the Age of AI” and has presented on student engagement and literacy instruction at the National Council of Teachers of English. She also co-authored “Recentering Rosenblatt to Address the Engagement Gap in State Standards” for the January 2026 edition of “English Journal”.

Presentation with Matt Hicks on Hidden Systems: Recentering Human Learning in the Age of AI 

Katie Conrad is a professor of English at the University of Kansas whose work focuses on technology, culture, and critical AI literacy. She is the author of "A Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights for Education" and co-author of works including "Teaching Critical AI Literacies," "Building Critical AI Literacy: An Approach to Generative AI," and "The Emergence of Critical AI Literacy."

She serves as an associate editor for the journal Critical AI (Duke University Press), sits on the advisory board for Harvard’s AI Pedagogy Project, and is a moderator for the technocritical education collective The Library of Babel Group. Conrad has spoken widely on AI literacy, ethics, and risk, and in 2024 advised the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education on the use of AI in education. She co-directed the AI and Digital Literacy initiative in partnership with the National Humanities Center and serves on the University of Kansas AI Privacy and Risk Council.

Presentation with Audry Watters on Beyond the Copy-Paste Classroom: A College Zine Workshop 

Resources from Zine Presentation 

Presentation with Sean Kamperman on Critical AI Literacy 

Pandora’s Bot

Anne-Elizabeth Courrier is a global education leader specializing in ethical innovation, artificial intelligence, and data governance. She serves as director of learning and ethical innovation and leads initiatives that integrate emerging technologies with responsible, human-centered practices.

Courrier was named TAG Innovator of the Year for Education in 2026 and was recognized as a Chevalier in the Ordre des Palmes Académiques in 2022.

Presentation on Experiential Learning on AI Governance 

This session is accompanied by an interactive serious game on AI governance and ethics in education. The exercise can be delivered independently for organizations, educational institutions, and other groups interested in exploring AI-related policy and decision-making challenges. For information about hosting or accessing the serious game, please contact Dr. Anne-Elisabeth Courrier at acourri@emory.edu. 

Matt Hicks is an English teacher with more than 20 years of experience across four institutions nationwide. He currently teaches literature and composition at St. Teresa’s Academy in Kansas City, Missouri, where his work centers on elevating marginalized and global voices, fostering cultural empathy, and developing students’ critical AI literacy.

His research on questioning strategies to strengthen student thinking and writing earned the Magis Leadership Award from Rockhurst University in 2020. Hicks has contributed to AI literacy initiatives through the University of Kansas and the National Humanities Center and serves on multiple advisory groups. His essay, "Understanding the Humanity in the Humanities," reflects on the tension between adopting AI tools and preserving authentic student learning. He is a member of the National Council of Teachers of English, the National Catholic Educational Association, and The Library of Babel Group.

Presentation with Samantha St. Lawrence Collins on Hidden Systems: Recentering Human Learning in the Age of AI 

Dr. Nic Hoffmann ’03 is a historian and educator based in Marietta, Georgia. He holds a doctorate in 19th-century American history with a specialization in Civil War medicine. At Marist School, he teaches social studies and podcasting, co-teaches interdisciplinary courses, and Advanced Placement Government. He also lectures in history at Georgia Gwinnett College. His work has appeared in Emerging Infectious Diseases, a journal published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as well as the Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences and the Georgia Historical Quarterly. He also writes the Substack, Hoffmann on History.

His podcasting work brings him here today. Hoffmann has been podcasting for nearly 15 years. His experience includes producing his own shows, teaching podcasting through a class and club at Marist, completing contract work, and co-hosting the literature podcast Required Reading with Michael Burns and Michael Carroll.
 

Sean Kamperman is an assistant professor of English at the University of Kansas specializing in professional and technical writing, disability studies, and digital rhetorics. His research explores how educators approach artificial intelligence, particularly in relation to accessibility and student learning.

His writing has appeared in "Thresholds in Education," "Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning," "Against the Current," and "Pedagogy." He co-directed the AI and Digital Literacy institute at the University of Kansas and promotes historically grounded approaches to AI literacy. Kamperman was recently named a Conger-Gabel Teaching Professor.

Presentation with Katie Conrad on Critical AI Literacy 

Marcus Luther is a high school English teacher in his second decade in the classroom and co-founder of "The Broken Copier," a newsletter and podcast that centers teacher voices in education. His writing and interviews have been featured in Edutopia and "The Cult of Pedagogy." Through his work, Luther shares strategies and reflections grounded in his experience as a full-time teacher and advocates for elevating practitioner perspectives in education conversations along with making sure to uplift the good stories already happening in classrooms and schools.

Presentation on Talking about AI with Students 

Resources from Presentation 

The Broken Copier 

Cassondra “Cassie” Owens Moore is a nationally recognized educator, instructional leader, and Ph.D. candidate in communication and information sciences at the University of Alabama, where she teaches "Fundamentals of Information Literacy in Society." She also serves as a school librarian at Seneca Middle School in South Carolina.

With more than 20 years of experience, Moore leads student-centered approaches to literacy, inquiry, and emerging technologies. Her work focuses on critical information literacy, intellectual freedom, and the ethical integration of artificial intelligence in education. She is an AI Edu Trailblazer Fellow and a member of the Leaders for Just Schools cohort (2023–2026). Her honors include South Carolina School Librarian of the Year (2026) and the National Education Association’s Travelers Award for Teaching Excellence (2025). She remains committed to advancing equitable, forward-thinking education.

Presentation on the AI Lens 

Kevin Mullally is principal of Marist School, an independent Catholic school in Atlanta serving students in grades seven through twelve. He has served at Marist since 2008 and became principal in 2018 after holding several academic and student leadership roles, including vice principal, academic dean, dean of faculty, and assistant dean of students. Earlier in his career, he taught English and coached Marist’s academic team.

As principal, Mullally leads Marist’s approach to the thoughtful and responsible integration of artificial intelligence into the formative education of middle and high school students. His work includes guiding how the school prepares faculty and students to approach emerging technologies with curiosity, discernment, and a strong grounding in Marist’s mission and values. Mullally holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Georgia and a master’s degree from St. John’s College in Annapolis. He also completed additional coursework in school supervision and administration at Johns Hopkins University.
 

John Slattery is the Executive Director of the Carl G. Grefenstette Center for Ethics in Science, Technology, and Law at Duquesne University. An ethicist, theologian, and historian of science, he holds a B.S. in computer science from Georgetown University, a master’s in theology from Saint Paul School of Theology, and an interdisciplinary PhD from the University of Notre Dame in systematic theology and the history and philosophy of science. His written work includes the award-winning book Faith and Science at Notre Dame (2019), an award-winning book on the history of the evolution controversy in the Catholic Church. He is the editor of T&T Clark Handbook of Christian Theology and the Modern Sciences (2020), and a producer of many short films, including "Humans and Race: Exploring the Intersections of Science and Racism." Slattery currently advises a wide range of AI organizations, and serves on the AI Research Group at the Vatican Dicastery on Culture and Education, through which he a co-author for the 2024 volume Encountering Artificial Intelligence as well as upcoming volumes on education (forthcoming, 2026) and labor (est. 2027). You can find his most recent writings online at Commonweal Magazine and America Magazine.

Alexandra Thackston holds a bachelor’s degree in family and child sciences and a master’s degree in higher education administration. After 10 years working in college admission, she moved “to the other side of the desk” to counsel Marist School students as they prepare for and apply to college. Alexandra is passionate about helping students from all backgrounds find a path to college. She advocates for need-based aid and greater access to higher education in Georgia. She also helped draft Bill 556, which allocated $325 million to the Dreams Scholarship for students in need. Her commitment to young people inspired her involvement with the Humans First Conference. She contributed ideas that kept students at the center of conversations about higher education.

Scott Tuffiash has been following AI and LLMs since 2015 through teaching Journalism, advising student media, and teaching AP Language and Comp at a public high school in Western Pennsylvania.  Since 2023, he has been teaching an AI and Ethics course that he created and continues to refine to keep pace with AI’s rapid evolution. He frequently collaborates with Duquesne University, University of Pittsburgh, and Point Park University professors and staff, and he grounds his work in continual conversations across for-profit, non-profit, and government entities working with generative AI services and tools.  He has been a speaker on technological opportunities and subsequent obstacles for HS ELA and Journalism students at Western PA, regional, and national workshops and conferences since 2017.

Resources from Presentation 

Substack

Marc Watkins directs the AI Institute for Teachers and serves as assistant director of academic innovation at the University of Mississippi, where he is also a lecturer in writing and rhetoric. His work examines the impact of generative AI on student learning and faculty practice.

He has led faculty training initiatives and institutional AI programs and advocates for a balanced approach to AI integration that supports both adoption and thoughtful restraint. His work has been featured in "The Washington Post", and he writes regularly on his Substack, "Rhetorica." Watkins has presented at institutions including Stanford, Brigham Young University, and the Southeastern Conference. His writing has appeared in numerous literary journals and has been reprinted in the Pushcart Prize. He is co-author of the recently published “Norton Guide to AI-Aware Teaching.”

Resources from Presentation on Teaching Discernment 

Rhetorica

Audrey Watters is an independent scholar whose work focuses on the history and politics of education technology. After beginning doctoral studies in comparative literature, she left academia to pursue independent research and writing.

She has written for "The Baffler," "The Atlantic," "Vice," "Hybrid Pedagogy," "Inside Higher Ed," and "School Library Journal," and is best known for her work on her website Hack Education. She is also the author of the "Second Breakfast" newsletter.

Watters is the author of several books, including "The Monsters of Education Technology," "The Revenge of the Monsters of Education Technology," "The Curse of the Monsters of Education Technology," "The Monsters of Education Technology 4," and "Claim Your Domain." Her most recent book, "Teaching Machines" (MIT Press), examines the prehistory of "personalized learning."

A frequent keynote speaker, she has presented on education technology worldwide. She was a recipient of the Spencer Education Journalism Fellowship at Columbia University for the 2017–2018 academic year.

Presentation with Katie Conrad 

Resources 

Second Breakfast