Do Students Need to Recall Anything?

Prompted: Liberal Arts in the Age of AI returns for Episode 2 with a conversation about the sometimes unsettling invitations of Generative AI for liberal arts educators. Drawing on the insights of a technologist, a media specialist, a supply-chain professor, and an adult-learning administrator--Ken Arnold, Katie Day Good, Philip Johnson, and Abbie Lipsker—this episode explores fresh ideas for tech-free "Walden Zones" on campus, right next to tech-saturate innovation spaces. The conversationalists don't agree on everything, especially when it comes to the role of memory in learning. They do agree on the need for virtue formation and explore different ways that virtue can be explored in philosophical courses and put in practice in professional programs. This may be the most optimistic of Prompted's conversations, as the conversationalists treat AI not as a threat, so much as an occasion for exploring new forms of learning.Whether you’re an educator, a student, or simply someone wondering how to prepare people for a dynamic future, this episode offers a grounded re‑visioning of what the liberal arts can do.The podcast was edited by Riley Johnston, produced by Craig Mattson, and funded by the Calvin Center for Christian Scholarship.