The AI CoLab
Technical curriculum design that moves students from first programming work to original computational and AI research.
A curriculum built in 2016
Jon Chun and Katherine Elkins established the AI CoLab and the world's first Human-Centered AI curriculum and lab at Kenyon in 2016. Jon designed the technical curriculum and courses; Jon and Katherine developed the broader interdisciplinary educational model together. The program gives humanities and social-science students enough technical fluency to conduct original computational and AI research while keeping disciplinary expertise at the center.
A curriculum, and a lab
The curriculum launched in 2016. Downloads of its materials now reach 4,700+ institutions. The gateway course enrolls 61% women and more than 90% non-STEM majors, with a 0% dropout rate.
The courses
The sequence is project-based: students move from programming and data analysis into machine learning, generative AI, software and data workflows, model evaluation, and independent research. Course lists document that progression; the goal is research capability.
- IPHS 200, Programming Humanity
- IPHS 300, AI for Humanity
- IPHS 391, Frontiers of AI: GenAI Multi-Agent Networks. One of the first interdisciplinary, project-based agentic-AI courses, open to every division of the liberal arts. Approved 2023; first taught Fall 2024; last taught Fall 2025; more than half the content is rewritten each year as the field moves. Course materials:
- IPHS 484, Senior Seminar
Reach
Jon and Katherine Elkins have mentored 190+ undergraduate research projects published on Digital Kenyon, where they have been downloaded 125,000+ times from 4,700+ institutions across 198 countries. Adopting institutions include Stanford, MIT, Berkeley, Carnegie Mellon, and Princeton. Browse the work on Digital Kenyon →
On the road
Co-founder Katherine Elkins has presented the program widely, including at Carleton College's Day of Digital Humanities, the Kahn Institute at Smith College, Washington University, Weill Cornell Medicine–Qatar, and the OpenAI Forum.
What is the AI CoLab?
The lab Jon co-founded with Katherine Elkins at Kenyon College in 2016, home to the world's first human-centered AI curriculum and AI Lab.
What is IPHS 391?
One of the first interdisciplinary, project-based agentic-AI courses, open to every division of the liberal arts; approved in 2023 and first taught in Fall 2024.
How widely is the student work used?
More than 190 undergraduate projects are published on Digital Kenyon, where they have been downloaded 125,000+ times from 4,700+ institutions across 198 countries.