Cathy Davidson, a nationally recognized scholar, shared insights on her research into higher education and current work on active learning, collaboration and the responsible use of artificial intelligence as a guest speaker in Pacific’s Presidential Speaker Series.

Davidson visited Pacific at the invitation of President Christopher Callahan, who brought the higher education thought leader to Arizona State University when he served as dean of the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication.

“Cathy's work, starting with her seminal book ’The New Education,’ published nearly a decade ago now, remains the single biggest influence on my thinking and approach to teaching and learning in colleges and universities in the 21st century,” the president shared with the audience.

In an engaging conversation with Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Gretchen Edwalds-Gilbert, Davidson urged faculty to view themselves as partners with students, emphasizing that higher education should prepare learners not just for existing jobs, but for the skills needed to adapt to constant change.

"How do you educate students, not just for a changing world, but how to address change? How to be confident enough in their own abilities that when suddenly their job disappears, they now have the confidence to relearn and continue to learn and be prepared for the next opportunity that comes along? That's a different concept of education than doing well on tests," she said.

On artificial intelligence, she cautioned against adopting it uncritically but pointed to its potential when used to challenge students rather than replace learning. “If you’re just getting canned answers from AI, what you may be doing is getting an A on the paper if your teacher is not careful about it, but you’re going to fail at learning, and the consequences of that are terrifying for the future,” Davidson said.

Davidson highlighted the importance of collaboration and communication as core outcomes of a college education. She praised Pacific’s culture of care, small class sizes and commitment to student success, noting she was “falling in love with this place,” which was answered by roaring applause by the audience.

“It's a beautiful, beautiful campus … I love the library,” she said “That, to me, is a great indication of an institution that cares about student success. Because here the library's planned for all the different possible kinds of learning and the different kinds of learning environments within one space.”

Faculty had the opportunity to connect with her directly in hands-on lunch and learn sessions Thursday and Friday to discuss innovative teaching strategies.

Davidson is the author of “The New Education: How to Revolutionize the University to Prepare Students for a World in Flux” and “The New College Classroom and was recently selected to receive the 2025 Harold W. McGraw Prize for Higher Education.

See past speakers from the Pacific Presidential Speaker Series.