| Course Title: AI and Social Justice |
| Start Date: 09/09/2026 End Date: 12/22/2026 |
| Term: Fall Semester 2026 |
| Description: Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems are ubiquitous, ranging from digital personal assistants to healthcare management. While the benefits of AI are touted widely, how does AI negatively impact society? How do AI systems mirror and strengthen biases already embedded in the data used to train them and in our social structures? Via what mechanisms might AI stigmatize and further marginalize vulnerable populations? In this course we will gain an understanding of how AI systems work, explore the societal dimensions of technology, learn to evaluate, assess, and question its impact on society, and consider how AI can be used as a tool to achieve equity and increase social justice. |
| Distribution(s): NO - Meets No Distrib. Rqmt , FY - First-Year Seminar , WI - Writing-Intensive |
| Academic Level Of Course: Undergraduate | Credits:4.00 |
| Faculty | Phone | Email address |
| Lisa Ballesteros | 413-538-2421 | lballest@mtholyoke.edu |
| Meeting Dates | Method | Meeting days | Meeting times | Building name | Room | Frequency |
| 09/09/2026 - 12/22/2026 | Seminar | Tuesday and Thursday | 09:00AM - 10:15AM | TBA | TBA | Weekly |
| Requisite Courses | ||
| None |
| Comments |
| Additional Comments |
| Course Tags | ||
| FYSEM0001 | First-Year Seminar | This is a First-Year Seminar. |
| Cross-listed Sections |
| None |
| Course Availability | ||||
| Section status: Closed | Capacity: 15 | Enrollment: 15 | Available: 0 | Waitlist: 0 |
BOOK INFORMATION
| Book List | Required | Publisher Full Price |
| To be determined. |
| Additional Book Comments |
| This is NOT the complete book list for this class. |