On Friday, September 26, 2025, 佩珀代因大学 hosted its annual faculty conference, where professors and administrators from all six schools of the institution gather each year for a time of fellowship, celebration, and learning.

“It was truly exciting to see a robust and engaged gathering of the full academic community at the 2025 faculty conference,” said Jay Brewster, the University’s provost and chief academic officer. “The event successfully celebrated the enduring atmosphere of collegiality, which extends to all corners of our campus. In the process, it reinforced our commitment to providing Pepperdine students with dedicated teachers and mentors capable of helping them navigate an ever evolving world.”

2025年教师大会联合大学教授学习

This year the daylong event addressed the rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI) and recommended that University faculty members take a human-centered approach to integrating AI into the classroom. With keynote addresses and panel discussions from experts in the field and breakout sessions relating to each of Pepperdine’s diverse academic disciplines, the 2025 conference helped prepare University professors to employ AI in their work by launching an important dialogue focused on technology, pedagogy, and faith.

“人工智能无处不在。 It's revolutionizing every industry, including higher education, and it's already prevalent here at Pepperdine,” says Lila Carlsen, Pepperdine’s vice provost and chair of the faculty conference. “This conference was an opportunity to learn not just the nuts and bolts of AI, but how we can use such powerful technology in a way that is fully aligned with our values as an institution. It was an opportunity to reassert the student as the center of our enterprise and to continue pursuing knowledge and truth in our fields at the very highest level.”

Pepperdine hosted notable scholars and practitioners of AI at the 2025 conference to help bring this important conversation to campus. James A. Landay, Stanford University professor of computer science and director of its Human-Centered AI Institute, and Ramesh Srinivasan, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), professor of information studies and director of the UC Digital Cultures Lab, offered keynote addresses on using AI in furthering humanistic pursuits.

A panel discussion featuring Jennifer McCaney, executive director of UCLA’s biodesign program; William Hsu， UCLA放射科学与生物工程教授； and Kyle Forrest, Deloitte’s future of HR leader, shared how recent AI developments could benefit the industries of healthcare, business, and scientific development. The panelists offered recommendations for how institutions such as Pepperdine can use AI to benefit those they serve.

Carlsen organized the prestigious cohort of speakers in collaboration with Fabien Scalzo, associate professor of computer science at Pepperdine’s 西维尔大学 and director of the 凯克数据科学研究所. Together, Carlsen and Scalzo recruited expert speakers who could help faculty members recognize the potential benefits of AI in the classroom.

外部专家和学校领导讨论了人工智能的话题

“With the faculty conference, we wanted to provide ideas and examples of what can be done in the classroom with AI to benefit student learning,” says Scalzo. “AI is disrupting the way we teach, and we wanted to provide inspiration for faculty members to play a part in shaping how AI is being used.”

Beyond the keynote and panel discussions, the conference curated breakout sessions that covered a variety of topics. Speakers offered commentary on how AI relates to subjects such as Christianity and creativity, personal purpose, business, and the humanities. 教师 members were also invited to attend a beginners’ workshop on how to start using AI in their research. These breakout sessions, like the rest of the conference, were designed to help Pepperdine be on the cutting edge of technological standards.

“As Christians, we see the image of God in each other, and we would never want a tool to diminish or to replace the importance of that value that orients everything, from how we treat each other to how we design our courses,” says Carlsen. “However, if we don’t adapt, we will be left behind. It is important to remember that God is the ultimate creator, and we are cocreators with God. With AI, we can use innovative new technologies to be more productive and effective creators."

Pepperdine’s IT Department officially approved the use of Google Gemini and Zoom AI companion by faculty, staff, and students in September, and the faculty conference followed the University’s release of this new suite of AI products. Both of these tools are private to the University, meaning none of the data imported into the respective software systems will be available to train or refine the larger AI models. This institutional development marks an exciting new step as Pepperdine prioritizes enhancing student and faculty literacy in AI.

“Pepperdine is dedicated to equipping our students with the ability to go forth from campus, pursue their given vocations, and make an immediate, positive impact in the world,” said Brewster. “Thanks to Dr. Carlsen and Dr. Scalzo’s leadership, the 2025 faculty conference advanced that mission forward. By covering the concept of human-centered AI, it took one of the most prevalent and important topics in our society and shed light on how Pepperdine faculty members can engage and adapt to become better educators.”