Syllabus

The common learning path and the timetable

Modified

15 October 2026

The learning path

The course has three phases: preparation, one course day, and a follow-up task. The phases are the same in every edition. The edition pages give the dates.

flowchart LR
    A["<b>Before</b><br/>Read Bender et al.<br/>Describe one GenAI use<br/>in your research"] --> B["<b>Course day: morning</b><br/>Four analytical lenses"]
    B --> C["<b>Course day: afternoon</b><br/>Panarchy and Ecocycle<br/>Research-use clinic"]
    C --> D["<b>After</b><br/>Responsible GenAI<br/>Use Statement"]

Before the course day

  • Read the required text: Bender et al., On the Dangers of Stochastic Parrots (2021).
  • Write a short description of one actual or planned use of generative AI in your research. Say why you might use it and what you do not know about it.

Further reading is optional. The literature page lists readings and cases for each lens. The assignments page gives a plan for the eight hours of preparation.

On the course day

The morning builds a shared vocabulary. Each lens takes about 35 minutes: a short input, a documented case, and a group activity of 15 minutes. Each group works first on an example from its own research-use descriptions.

  1. Lens 1: Stochastic Parrots — Scale and Environment. Output: a material-and-provenance map.
  2. Lens 2: Representation and Pygmalion. Output: a representation and harm pathway.
  3. Lens 3: Lifecycle and Labor. Output: a lifecycle risk matrix.
  4. Lens 4: Political Economy. Output: a stakeholder and incentive map.

The afternoon applies the vocabulary to the institutions in which participants work.

  1. Panarchy: a facilitated discussion of 120 minutes, with the afternoon break in the middle. Output: a shared chart, three priorities, action owners, and a review point.
  2. Ecocycle: a 30-minute adaptation. Output: a diagnosis of the priority initiatives.
  3. Research-use clinic: each participant applies the worksheet to their own research use. Each participant then decides with three questions: constraints, comparison, and accountability. A peer reviews the result.

Your contributions on the day are four lens worksheets, a group Panarchy chart, an Ecocycle diagnosis, and one practical action.

After the course day

Write a Responsible GenAI Use Statement for your own research. The assignments page describes the task, the peer discussion, the formal check, and the template.

Timetable

Timetable of a one-day edition
Time Block
09:00–09:20 Welcome, objectives, research-use examples
09:20–09:55 Lens 1: Scale and environment
09:55–10:30 Lens 2: Representation and Pygmalion
10:30–11:00 Break
11:00–11:35 Lens 3: Lifecycle and labor
11:35–12:10 Lens 4: Political economy
12:10–12:20 Integrate the four lenses; agree on the Panarchy challenge
12:20–13:20 Lunch
13:20–14:25 Panarchy, steps 1 to 7
14:25–14:55 Break
14:55–15:50 Panarchy, steps 9 to 13
15:50–16:20 Ecocycle: 30-minute adaptation
16:20–16:40 Individual research-use clinic
16:40–16:50 Next actions and instructions for the follow-up task
16:50–17:00 Course evaluation and closing

Materials

  • The handouts page lists every worksheet, chart, and template.
  • Each lens page links its slide deck. The decks are Reveal.js presentations. Press S for the presenter notes and ? for the keyboard shortcuts.
  • The literature page lists every reading with a lawful link.
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