CAS AI Umbrella

Welcome

The CAS AI Umbrella fosters shared experiences, collective knowledge building, and new approaches to the challenges and opportunities AI presents in academic, social, and natural contexts. A college-level coordinating committee supports these goals through the following activities:   

Maintaining a central AI-related website that facilitates connection, resource sharing, and research across CAS. 
Hosting and supporting events on AI-related topics that create dialogue, collaboration, and spark ongoing conversations within CAS.

Intellectual Commitments

Our approach is grounded in four guiding commitments: 

Playfulness and experimentalism: We value tinkering, testing ideas, learning from failure, and iterating in response to new insights. 
Open-mindedness: We are neither inherently pro-AI nor anti-AI; instead, we welcome diverse perspectives to inform thoughtful engagement. 
Humility: We recognize that no single individual, discipline, or program can anticipate all the challenges or opportunities AI presents. 
Collaborative orientation: We support the co-creation of knowledge by valuing individual and collective contributions from all community members, regardless of role, rank, or perspective.

How We Work

Our work is dialogical and iterative, engaging faculty, students, and staff across CAS.

The coordinating committee maintains the website and hosts events, while also encouraging CAS units to initiate their own conversations, experiments, and initiatives. 

Individuals and units are invited to share insights, lessons learned, and emerging questions with the committee through a shared feedback form. 

Periodically, the committee synthesizes this input and shares it with the broader CAS community to support collective learning. 

About us

The committee was assembled in February 2026 to oversee the overall functioning of CAS AI Umbrella under the initiative of Professor Jing Deng, Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.

Committee members

**DIRECTOR**
Bhuwan Thapa
Assistant Professor
Geography, Environment & Sustainability

Plaxedes Chitiyo — **DIRECTOR**
Bhuwan Thapa
Assistant Professor
Geography, Environment & Sustainability

CAS AI News

Discover how CAS faculty members and students are interacting with AI in meaningful ways. From research breakthroughs to classroom innovation, our AI stories highlight real impact.