A new, cross-disciplinary course is launching in Spring 2026 that will take a multi-disciplinary approach to inquiring about the role of AI in our contemporary world.
The course — CDS 222: All Ecologies — does not presuppose any prior knowledge of AI and any specific disciplinary background, but the content will be appealing to students of any level. The workload will be commensurate with a 200-level course.
“AI is changing nearly every aspect of our lives — it affects how everyday actions are surveilled, the media we see, what kinds of jobs will exist, how resources are distributed and even our sense of what it means to be a human being,” said Joseph Lemelin, assistant professor in the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) Department of Philosophy and the course’s primary instructor. “This timely and exciting new course offers a big-picture, holistic approach to raising urgent questions about AI and its role in our lives.”
While Lemelin is the primary instructor, each week will showcase a different professor from across the university whose work deals directly with AI. The course aims to introduce students to multiple pathways for studying AI at Stony Brook.
The course design was funded by a seed grant from SBU’s AI Innovation Institute (AI3) and will combine both humanities and social science inquiry and hands-on coding. Mondays and Wednesdays will be lectures covering core concepts and researchers’ expertise, and Friday recitations will be hands-on coding sessions.
Guest lecturers include: Aruna Balasubramanian (College of Engineering and Applied Sciences – computer science), Katherine Johnston (CAS – English and writing and rhetoric), Matthew Salzano (School of Communication and Journalism – communication), Susannah Glickman (CAS – history), Stephanie Dinkins (CAS – art), Gregory Zelinsky (CAS – psychology), Owen Rambow (CAS – linguistics), Brooke Belisle (CAS – art), Susan Brennan (CAS – psychology) and Margaret Schedel (CAS – music).
“If you’re finding yourself intrigued and/or bewildered by AI — whether you aren’t sure what that term really refers to, or you don’t understand how it actually works technically, or you can’t keep up with the daily headlines of its impacts on society and culture — then CDS 222 is the class for you,” said Salzano. “That’s because ‘AI Ecologies’ works like a hub for the various approaches to studying AI at SBU: the core of the course provides you with the technical and philosophical background to ground yourself in the AI conversations, and through guest lecturers, you’ll learn how you might extend that learning all around campus.”
CDS 222 is now available for registration and meets two in-demand Stony Brook Curriculum (SBC) requirements: “CER Practice & Respect Critical/Ethical Reasoning” and “TECH Understand Technology.”
Read more on SBU News.