Educators are tasked with navigating two major disruptions in education: the sweeping digital shift following the pandemic and the rise of generative AI. In response to the rapid transition to digital instruction, educators worldwide have made unprecedented advances in digital language teaching, cultivating new approaches that foster community and cultural engagement mediated through technology. Yet, this shift has also revealed limitations in digital tools in fostering deep learning and a meaningful sense of community. Further complicating the landscape, the advent of generative AI—symbolized by services like OpenAI’s ChatGPT—has introduced a wide range of new possibilities with the potential to enrich and energize the humanities. But the technological breakthroughs of the recent years have also raised new questions about authenticity and truth as well as the value of (human) creativity.

The symposium is an opportunity to examine these shifts in depth and to collaboratively build a roadmap for the future, with an emphasis on thoughtful integration and purposeful engagement with technology in our field.

Established in 1986 with the support of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Consortium for Language Teaching and Learning is dedicated to enhancing the quality of language study on its member institutions’ campuses.

The Symposium was held in Building E51 on the campus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, May 2–3, 2025.