Amy Piedalue = Mega Honors Husky
December 4, 2023
Amy Piedalue = Mega Honors Husky
An open letter to the Honors Community, by Amy Piedalue
December 1, 2023
Dear Honors Huskies,
Maybe you don’t remember me or maybe we haven’t met. But I am a huge fan of all things UW Honors, so this love letter is for you! Over the past 18 years I have amassed quite a lot of evidence to prove how much I love you:.
- As an undergraduate in the Honors Program, I began working as a student assistant in the office, where I made some of my greatest friends.
- I helped students as a part-time Honors advisor while earning my PhD in Geography with Vicky Lawson as my faculty advisor.
- Since 2019 I teach unique Honors courses.
- I regularly participate in both alumni and faculty panels.
- Oh, and I am now contributing to the Honors newsletter. Right now. At this very moment.
Perhaps this isn’t the most romantic love letter. But the data says plenty. And it just keeps getting better for me. And, I hope, I can continue to make it better for all of you.
I’m delighted to continue my involvement and commitment to this amazing program and community as Honors’ 2023-24 Curriculum and Community Innovation Scholar. As I work with Honors students, staff, and other faculty, I hope to contribute to some of the Program’s core strengths, including interdisciplinary education and innovative curriculum. Both contribute to the overarching goal of fostering critical thought and global consciousness that extends far beyond the requirements to graduate.
As an Honors student and staff member, I learned immensely about the meaning of these values and the unique kind of education they promote. But my real education has come as an instructor of Honors courses. I am continually amazed by the talented, thoughtful, caring, and insightful students that join Honors and really make the program special. Every time I teach an Honors course, I learn as much from my students as they learn from me. Their curiosity opens up new questions for us to explore together in class, and pushes me to continue expanding the breadth and depth of my course content.
This fall, I taught a new course: “Can ChatGPT Teach this class? Exploring the societal and ethical implications of AI.” A timely subject for sure, but also one which requires context and history to properly understand. As they have learned about AI —how it is integrated into our daily lives and the significant implications of that presence — students have posed vital questions about how AI works, who currently controls its development, and who should perhaps have more of a voice in the kinds of guardrails we put on that development. They read beyond our course material and help one another ‘deep dive’ into key topics — to not only understand what is happening with AI, but also to critically examine the dominant narratives about AI and AI ethics that we encounter in media coverage and politician’s speeches.

In teaching these brilliant Honors students — including a course on AI and SciFi/Fantasy earlier this year — I have come to realize the vital importance of AI literacy for our wider global society. Nobody can bear alone the full weight of this challenge to educate ourselves in order to demand that AI advancements serve the needs of our diverse communities and are shaped and controlled by an equally diverse set of innovators. I’m excited to continue these conversations throughout this academic year, as well as to contribute to the Program’s interdisciplinary curriculum planning and innovation.
If I haven’t had a chance to meet you yet, I hope to see you at an AI Ethics 101 chat, or at my Lunch & Learn with Stephanie Smallwood on January 30!
Warmly,
Amy Piedalue
Links
Lunch & Learn event: https://honors.uw.edu/event/lunch-learn-w-amy-piedalue-free-public/
Faculty Award: https://honors.uw.edu/faculty/faculty-awards/