“The Death of the Essay? Strategies for Teaching Writing in the Age of AI” IAS/UWAASA workshop
Upcoming IAS workshop co-convened with the UWA Academic Staff Association:
The Death of the Essay? Strategies for Teaching Writing in the Age of AI
Generative AI has already reshaped University policy and practice, raising questions around the ethics of research, communication, and written expression. Within this new LLM landscape, is the essay in danger of extinction? This workshop seeks to address some of the philosophical dilemmas raised by the impact of LLMs on written assessment, but, more importantly, to share strategies for how to teach writing when students can outsource the process to AI. Across disciplines where the essay has been the cornerstone for teaching analysis and critical thought, how do we encourage writing as thinking? How do we teach sustained argumentation in an attention economy that privileges efficiency over contemplation? Can the lessons the essay teaches be retained and encouraged despite AI?
This session seeks to bring together staff from critical and interpretative disciplines who wish to share approaches and concerns about essay writing in their units.
Host: Dr Emily Eastgate Brink (UWAASA Vice President & Art Historian)
Date: Friday 13 March 2026
Time: 12:00-4:00pm (catering will be provided).
Venue: Institute of Advanced Studies, The University of Western Australia
Register: Please RSVP by email to the UWA Institute of Advanced Studies: ias@uwa.edu.au