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Conference on Teaching and Learning

Circle with pencil icon inside with text "CoTL 2026"

16th Annual South Alabama Conference on Teaching and Learning

Monday, May 11 | 6pm - 8pm (CST)

Dinner and performance by the South Alabama Indian Music Ensemble

Tuesday, May 12 - Wednesday, May 13

Two day conference on Teaching and Learning.

May 11 - 13, 2026

Humans, Humanity, and the Humanities: Shaping Our Teaching and Learning Environments

A quick search of articles related to Gen AI in The Chronicle for Higher Education reveals a variety of reactions, solutions, and big questions about the future of higher education and our current students. Top hits from the article list include: "AI is Making the College Experience Lonelier" (September 22, 2025), "Can Generative AI Promote Student Success?" (September 26, 2025), and the tough question: "Can the Humanities Survive AI?" (January 23, 2025). The expansive use of AI is changing both how and what we teach. Is AI really the new calculator? Will it really boost our intelligence (Mollick, 2024)? As we wait for history to answer these questions, we, as humans, continue to be key in shaping our teaching and learning environments.

This year’s theme, Humans, Humanity, and the Humanities: Shaping Our Teaching and Learning Environments, invites participants to focus on the unique role of human thought, creativity, and moral reasoning, as AI changes the higher education landscape. We envision presentations that explore how we are maintaining the integral social learning environment in the age of AI and centralizing the importance of critical thinking, self-reflection, and the ethical application (and implications) of AI usage.

Through a variety of presentation formats, CoTL is a space to share your scholarly work in an inviting, supportive, yet peer-reviewed conference tailored to the needs of instructors along the Gulf Coast. Through a partnership between several area colleges and universities, this conference reaches a diverse audience, all of whom are engaged in a variety of ways of supporting students. 

Keynote Speaker

Kevin YeeKevin Yee, Ph.D.
Special Assistant to the Provost for Artificial Intelligence
Director, Faculty Center for Teaching & Learning
University of Central Florida

Kevin has worked in educational development since 2004, serving as director of various teaching centers since 2012. He joined UCF’s Faculty Center in 2022. He has also previously held 9-month faculty positions at Duke University, Pomona College, and the University of Iowa.

He earned his Ph.D. in German Literature from UC Irvine in 1997, and has taught a wide assortment of German language and culture courses, as well as many courses in general humanities, film, and cultural studies, with a particular emphasis on popular culture. Recent examples include Cultural Analysis Through the Hunger Games, Interpreting Marvel’s Avengers, Critical Analysis of the Harry Potter Movies, Princess Fairy Tales, and Deconstructing Walt Disney World.

In the classroom, Kevin believes the science of learning provides a crucial foundation for instructors, influencing everything from course design and assessment structure, to classroom management and lesson planning. He is an avid believer in interactive teaching, and has curated a popular list of interactive techniques since 1992. More recently, he’s been writing books for faculty related to AI fluency and how to use generative AI (such as ChatGPT) in the college classroom, as well as ways faculty can use AI in their day job. A third book in that series aims to show faculty small changes they can make to convince students not to take AI shortcuts. He has been an invited speaker on these and other topics in pedagogy both domestically and internationally. In early 2025, he added the role of AI coordinator for the entire university, helping to track, connect, and publicize “AI for All” efforts across all UCF stakeholders (faculty, staff, students).

Presentation Types

Interactive Workshops | Panels | Research Talks | Roundtables

Points of Contact

Dr. S. Raj Chaudhury, Innovation in Learning Center, schaudhury@southalabama.edu
Dr. Lisa LaCross, Innovation in Learning Center, lacross@southalabama.edu

Conference Partners

logos for CoTL partner schools (USA, Bishop State, Spring Hill College, University of Mobile, Mississippi Gulf Coast, US Sports Academy, Coastal Alabama, and Columbia Southern)