Always on hand to provide assistance in integrating a wide variety of technologies in the teaching and learning process
Can artificial intelligence level the playing field in legal practice? While Big Law continues to dominate, AI is opening new doors for solo practitioners and small firms to thrive. Join Professor Josh Fairfield and Ben Byrd ’08L for a thought-provoking conversation on how AI is reshaping the legal landscape—what it can do, what it can’t, and what it means for your future.
🗓️ Thursday, November 6, 2025
🕐 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM
📍 Classroom B
🍕 Pizza will be served!
Join Senior Academic Technologists Brandon Bucy and Helen MacDermott for bite-sized training sessions designed to boost your tech confidence and efficiency.
Each week, we’ll spotlight one tool, tip, or feature from platforms you use every day—like: Canvas, Qualtrics, Word, Adobe Acrobat, Adobe Express …and more!
💡 What to Expect:
Whether you’re streamlining workflows or discovering hidden features, these short sessions are designed to fit your schedule and elevate your tech game.
Want to suggest a future topic? Contact hartecenter@wlu.edu.
William Donald Bain Family Professor of Law and Director of Artificial Intelligence Legal Innovation Strategy Joshua Fairfield will provide a fresh perspective on the ways artificial intelligence is actively transforming legal practice, sharing insights into recent breakthroughs, emerging practical uses, and the most pressing risks and opportunities for legal professionals today.
A new promotion from PayPal and Venmo provides their users with a one-year subscription to Perplexity Pro and access to the Comet AI browser at no cost. The Perplexity Pro plan, which is typically priced at $20 per month or $200 per year, includes unlimited searches, access to advanced AI models, and image generation capabilities.
The offer also includes access to the Comet AI browser, a Chromium-based (same open-source codebase beneath Chrome, Edge and Opera) browser with integrated AI functions. Normally, access to this browser is limited to invitees or subscribers of the Perplexity Max plan.
Comet has several unique features, chief among them a powerful AI assistant you can access at any time. It’s a chatbot that lives inside your web browser and can access the pages you open. (Unsurprisingly, Comet uses Perplexity as its default home page and search engine.)
To receive the offer, users must link their PayPal or Venmo account to Perplexity. This can be done through the PayPal or Venmo mobile apps or on a dedicated page on Perplexity’s website.
The following conditions apply:
The Harte Center was buzzing with great energy during our Fall Academy Open House!
Many thanks to everyone who explored all that we have to offer, from the Writing Center and Academic Success Coaching and Peer Tutoring to the PLAI Lab and Academic Technologies. It was wonderful to see returning colleagues and meet new colleagues discovering new ways the Harte Center can support teaching, learning, and collaboration across campus.
We look forward to working with you throughout the year—whether you’re seeking writing or tutoring support for your students or experimenting with AI in the classroom. The Harte Center is here to help make your academic journey even more impactful.
Dear Faculty,
We have just updated our Perusall reading annotation app to take advantage of additional features and functionality. To activate Perusall in your Canvas course, follow the instructions at Canvas Instructor Quick Setup. Additional information regarding Perusall setup is available at Getting Started for Instructors.
If you have used Perusall in the past, please note:
If you have any questions or experience any issues activating Perusall in your Canvas course, or want to learn more about Perusall, please contact Brandon Bucy.
On Wednesday, August 6, starting at 5:00 pm EST, Reclaim Hosting will be performing a scheduled PHP update on our WordPress multisite network.
To keep WordPress secure, stable, and running the latest features, it’s necessary to update the underlying PHP software that powers our sites. PHP updates help close potential security gaps, improve performance, and ensure future compatibility with plugins and themes.
We recognize that maintenance periods are inconvenient, but these updates are a vital part of system stewardship. Our hosting provider, Reclaim Hosting, will handle all technical details and minimize downtime as much as possible.
Please save all your work in WordPress and log out of your account before 5:00 pm EST on Wednesday, August 6.
Any changes not saved before the update begins risk being lost.
The site may be inaccessible for a period during the maintenance window.
This update is expected to take up to two hours.
Contact Helen at hmacdermott@wlu.edu with any questions or concerns.
Friday, September 19, 2025
9:00 am – 4:30 pm
Houston H. Harte Center for Teaching and Learning
@ Washington and Lee University
The PLAI Summit is a full-day event bringing together educators, students, and professionals to explore one of the most urgent questions of our time: how do we use AI to extend human capability—without compromising what makes us human?
Through hands-on demos, thought-provoking discussions, and multidisciplinary exchange, we’ll dive into how AI is reshaping art, society, science, and learning. The goal isn’t just to showcase innovation—it’s to build a shared awareness of when and why we choose to use AI, and when we deliberately choose not to.
We’re grateful to the faculty and students from 14 Spring Term classes who shared their work through presentations, performances, poster sessions, and creative displays during last week’s Spring Spotlight in the Harte Center. The energy, insight, and innovation on display truly captured the spirit of Spring Term at W&L.
If you didn’t get a chance to attend—or if you want to revisit some of the projects—be sure to explore the growing collection of student work on the Spring Spotlight website. You’ll find podcasts, short films, digital essays, and more—all reflecting the depth and diversity of learning across disciplines.
And it’s not too late to contribute! If your class created digital work that you’d like to see included on the site, please reach out to Helen MacDermott (hmacdermott@wlu.edu) to get started.
Thank you again to everyone who helped make this year’s Spotlight a meaningful and memorable celebration of student learning!
Join us on Tuesday, April 8, 2025, from 1:00–2:00 PM in Classroom D for a thought-provoking talk with Professor Josh Fairfield as we dive into one of the most pressing legal questions of our time: What happens when a machine creates something new?
From original artwork to lines of code, AI is reshaping what it means to be a creator—and the legal world is racing to catch up. This session will explore how courts, lawmakers, and scholars are wrestling with copyright, patent, and authorship in the age of artificial intelligence. If you’re curious about the future of innovation and intellectual property law, this event is for you.
Oh—and did we mention pizza will be served? 🍕
Bring your curiosity (and your appetite) as we unpack the legal frontier of AI-generated creativity. See you there!