NEW ROCHELLE, NY (October 6, 2025) — Iona University welcomed over 200 educators from K-12, higher education, and Catholic schools for a full-day conference titled “The Future of Teaching: Writing, Reading & Thinking in the AI Age,” focusing on how artificial intelligence (AI) can transform and enhance educational practices.
Hosted by Iona’s Gabelli Center for Teaching & Learning, the event drew participants from 11 colleges and universities, 11 public school districts, and more than 20 Catholic, public, and independent high schools, with attendees traveling from as far as Pennsylvania and Massachusetts.
John Warner, author of “More Than Words: How to Think About Writing in the Age of AI,” delivered the keynote address, emphasizing the role of AI in supporting human creativity. “Iona University is ahead of many other universities, and so I am super encouraged,” Warner said. “The University takes its mission seriously – to develop human beings. I think that’s important, so that the use of AI, or integration of AI, is going to come in a way that supports human flourishing, as opposed to a substitute for human output or labor.”
The conference highlighted Iona’s leadership in AI-aware pedagogy, driven by faculty through the Gabelli Center’s Presidential and Provost Fellowships. Faculty presentations included Ivy Linton Stabell, Ph.D., on shaping intellectual perspectives with AI; Christine Hardigree, Ph.D., and Eric Abrams, Ph.D., on AI literacy versus traditional reading; and a panel on data science across curricula, featuring faculty from Iona’s National Science Foundation project, including Sunghee Lee, Benjamin Gaines, Smiljana Petrovic, Nora Slonimsky, and Jeanne Zaino.
Tricia Mulligan, Ph.D., Iona’s provost and senior vice president for Academic Affairs, underscored the necessity of engaging with AI. “At Iona, we are choosing to engage with AI not because it is fashionable, but because it is necessary,” Mulligan said. “AI can provide outputs in seconds, but it cannot help us discern whether those outputs are true, fair, ethical, or good. That work remains profoundly human.”
The Gabelli Center, supported by Marc Gabelli, Elaine Madonna Gabelli, and the EMG Madonna Foundation, reinforces Iona’s commitment to Catholic education. Its initiatives include scholarships for aspiring Catholic school teachers, AI training for K-12 educators, and a speaker series on education, ethics, and AI. The conference also featured a ribbon-cutting and blessing ceremony for the Gabelli Center.
For more information, visit www.iona.edu.
This article was drafted with the aid of Grok, an AI tool by xAI, under the direction and editing of Robert Cox to ensure accuracy and adherence to journalistic standards.