You won’t want to miss the Academy for Human Rights and Erie 1 BOCES' next training event, which addresses one of the most significant issues of our time: teaching in the age of artificial intelligence.

Open to any educator or administrator interested in learning more about how to teach in the ever evolving age of AI, this full-day conference will feature several keynote speakers who will explore various topics concerning AI and education including:

Hell is Other Robots: Understanding What AI Is (and Isn’t)
Robin Zebrowsky, Professor of Cognitive Science (Beloit College)

Using AI to Debunk Conspiracy Theories, Climate Denial, and Polarization
David Rand, Professor of Information Science and Marketing and Management Communications (Cornell University)

Using AI to Debunk AI
Siwie Lyu, Director, Institute for Artificial Intelligence and Data Science

Media Literacy and AI
Pamela Brunskill, senior director of education design at the News Literacy Project

Using AI in the Classroom
Angela Thering, Curriculum, Assessment, and Teaching Transformation (University of Buffalo)

You will be redirected to BOCES to complete your registration. The fee for this event is $200, with most districts having a COSER account with BOCES that will help defray the cost. (Be sure to check with your school treasurer to see what’s available.)

About the Speakers

Pamela Brunskill develops and updates educational resources such as the Framework for Teaching News Literacy, oversees professional learning opportunities for educators and those in Family and Community Engagement, and supports cross-team projects. Before joining NLP in 2021, she was an elementary and middle school teacher, a literacy coach for grades 4-8, an adjunct instructor in the education departments at several universities, and a developer of curriculum resources for publishers and children’s authors. Pamela has authored five books for the education market and co-authored Information Literacy: Separating Fact from Fiction. She holds a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from SUNY College at Buffalo and a master’s degree in education from the University of Buffalo.

Siwei Lyu is a SUNY Empire Innovation Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the University at Buffalo, State University of New York. Dr. Lyu's research interests include digital media forensics, computer vision, and machine learning. He is currently the Director of the Institute for Artificial and Data Science, Director of UB Media Forensic Lab (UB MDFL) and the founding Co-Director of Center for Information Integrity (CII) of University at Buffalo, State University of New York.

David Rand is a Professor of Information Science and Marketing and Management Communications at Cornell University. Applying the tools of computational social science and cognitive science, David’s research combines behavioral experiments run online and in the field with computational models to understand people’s attitudes, beliefs, and choices. He focuses on exploring how dialogues between humans and generative AI models can be used to correct inaccurate beliefs (e.g. conspiracy theories, health misperceptions), illuminating why people share inaccurate information and what interventions reduce such behaviors, understanding political psychology and polarization, and promoting human cooperation. David received his B.A. in Computational Biology from Cornell University in 2004 and his Ph.D. in Systems Biology from Harvard University in 2009, was a post-doctoral researcher in Harvard University’s Department of Psychology from 2009 to 2013, and was an Assistant and then Associate Professor (with tenure) of Psychology, Economics, and Management at Yale University from 2013-2018, and an associate and then full professor of Management Science and Brain and Cognitive Sciences at MIT prior to joining Cornell in 2025.

Angela C. Thering, PhD, is an AI Consultant and Instructor with twenty years of experience in higher education, specializing in curriculum design, online learning, and faculty development. Thering works with UB's Office of Curriculum, Assessment, and Teaching Transformation (CATT). In her consulting role, Thering advises and leads professional development with faculty and staff, helping them integrate generative AI into teaching and learning in ways that are ethical, inclusive, and human-centered. Her teaching experience spans K–12, undergraduate, graduate, doctoral, and workforce development settings, giving her a broad perspective on how AI and information integrity shape learning across the educational spectrum. As an instructor, Dr. Thering applies these same approaches to her own courses, updating learning activities and assessments so students learn how to use AI effectively. Across these roles, she emphasizes accessibility, innovation, and multidisciplinary collaboration, equipping educators and learners to adapt thoughtfully in the age of AI.

Robin Zebrowsky runs the Cognitive Science program at Beloit College and teaches classes including Cyborg Brains and Hybrid Minds and Artificial Intelligence in Fact and Fiction (COGS 205). She also teaches Philosophy and Psychology courses, including Minds, Brains, and Bodies and Memory and Cognition. Her research focuses on 4E cognition (embodied, embedded, extended, and enactive), mostly in relation to artificial intelligence and cyborg technologies. This ranges from the implications of conceptual metaphor and gesture on the possibilities of machine minds, through questions about extended human cognition through presence technologies or physical and social prosthetics.