UR earns NEH grant to establish Center for Liberal Arts and AI

The University of Richmond has received a grant of more than $700,000 from the National Endowment for the Humanities to establish The Center for Liberal Arts and AI, or CLAAI (pronounced "clay"), which will be dedicated to research, teaching, and creating new programs for higher education.

UR was one of only five institutions of higher learning in the nation to receive funding from the NEH's Humanities Research Centers on Artificial Intelligence. UR Professor of Digital Humanities Lauren Tilton will direct CLAAI, which will open in the fall of 2025.

“This center will build on our institutional strengths in digital and public humanities and visual AI,” said Joan Saab, executive vice president and provost of the University of Richmond. “It will also elevate the role of the University of Richmond and its partner institutions in helping to shape the future of AI, particularly in the context of higher education.”

CLAAI will bring together researchers, students, and educators from 15 colleges across the Associated Colleges of the South to explore pressing social, cultural, and legal questions and dimensions of artificial intelligence.

The center will build on research already taking place across the South and connect liberal arts colleges to address current AI challenges, Tilton said.

CLAAI will host eight faculty fellows each year to explore a shared annual theme. Six fellows will come from across the Associated Colleges of the South, and two will be appointed annually from UR.

“ACS is thrilled to partner with the University of Richmond to support CLAAI,” said ACS President Anna Drake Warshaw. “ACS institutions face shared challenges and opportunities navigating AI in a liberal arts context. The center will foster inquiry, exchange, and innovation across our network, ensuring that critical thinking and humanistic values help shape AI’s use in higher education.”

In collaboration with UR’s Digital Scholarship Lab, the Teaching and Scholarship Hub, and the Bonner Center for Civic Engagement, the new center will support course development in AI across the disciplines; hold an institute for faculty development around AI; and host workshops and lectures to transform critical exploration and integration of AI at universities in UR’s network and globally, officials said.

In addition, CLAAI will expand ethical AI education and increase access to AI tools within UR’s regional network of institutions.