AI and Higher Education : Opportunities, Challenges and Trends

Authors

Paul Tiyambe Zeleza
Ben Vinson III
PhD

Synopsis

ISBN: 978-2-38234-105-6

AI and Higher Education: Opportunities, Challenges and Trends explores the profound transformation artificial intelligence is unleashing across global universities. From redefining teaching, research, and administration to reshaping relationships among students, faculty, staff, and leadership, AI has become a pervasive force and a reality demanding urgent response. This timely and incisive monograph examines AI’s place in historical context, maps regional adoption trends across continents, and critically analyzes how institutions are responding. It highlights not only the potential benefits of AI in enhancing learning and operations, but also the ethical, cultural, and environmental dilemmas it raises. Offering strategic guidance on policy, governance, and innovation, the monograph equips key stakeholders in higher education with the tools to engage AI thoughtfully and equitably in the academy. Drawing on comparative global examples and interdisciplinary research, it identifies both risks and opportunities. Bridging global perspectives with practical recommendations, this is an essential guide for educators, administrators, policymakers, and anyone invested in the future of higher education.

 

Extract from endorsements

Excellent and Timely Publications!

This excellent and timely work on artificial intelligence and universities arrives at a critical juncture, as the global higher education sector grapples with the opportunities, uncertainties, and ethical dilemmas posed by rapidly evolving AI technologies. Rather than offering a narrow or overly technical treatment of the subject, this volume adopts a refreshingly comprehensive approach—drawing on perspectives from multiple continents to present a well-rounded and comparative account of how AI is being understood, adopted, and contested across different higher education systems. Particularly commendable is the work’s focus on the university as a unique and complex institutional space where teaching, research, governance, and community engagement intersect—and where the integration of AI cannot be separated from fundamental questions about academic integrity, institutional values, and social responsibility. By systematically engaging the views of diverse stakeholders—faculty, students, administrators, and policymakers—it avoids the common trap of techno-solutionism. Instead, it offers nuanced, context-sensitive strategies for developing AI policies and programs in higher education. As an academic who facilitates a graduate-level course on technology and higher education, I find this volume to be of immense pedagogical and professional value. Its succinct, rigorous analysis and global scope make it essential reading not only for graduate students and scholars, but also for institutional leaders, administrators, and policymakers seeking to navigate this complex terrain. In a moment where AI threatens to outpace regulatory and ethical reflection, this monograph serves as a vital resource for those committed to shaping a more thoughtful, inclusive, and future-ready higher education landscape.

Damtew Teferra, PhD

Professor of Higher Education, University of Kwazulu-Natal;  Founding Director and Board Chair,  International Network for Higher Education in Africa;  Editor-in-Chief, International Journal of African Higher Education; and  Co-Coordinator, CESA-Higher Education Cluster, African Union Commission

 

Timely! Comprehensive! Informative!

In an epoch whose contours and depths have increasingly been defined by the developments and transformations in artificial intelligence, this monograph by Paul Tiyambe Zeleza and Ben Vinson III is an important contribution to the understanding of how AI is developing, challenging, and disrupting thought, systems, and practices in higher education in Africa and beyond. This important pioneering contribution comes at a moment when Africa and its higher education ecosystem cannot wait a minute longer to shape how artificial intelligence determines social, economic, cultural, and political life. It also highlights how changes and practices within artificial intelligence contribute to these determinants.

This highly informative work provides an introduction and broad comparative overview of the technical elements, innovation, and investments in artificial intelligence. It also engages debates on ethics, access, accountability, and the epistemologies of AI as they apply to higher education across different regions of our contemporary world.

Tade Aina, PhD

Higher Education Scholar, Poet, Foundation Executive Senior Program Director, Africa Program,  Carnegie Corporation of New York

 

As higher education enters the age of artificial intelligence, AI and Higher Education provides a clear and compelling guide for institutional leaders seeking to navigate this transformation with purpose and vision. The monograph offers a comprehensive and balanced assessment of how AI is reshaping teaching, research, operations, and governance across colleges and universities worldwide.

With insight and precision, it examines how institutions can align curricula with emerging industry needs, safeguard intellectual property, and empower faculty, staff, and students to harness AI responsibly. It underscores the importance of building the infrastructure, policies, and partnerships necessary to ensure that innovation serves the enduring mission of education.

Drawing from global perspectives, AI and Higher Education calls on those within and beyond academia to steward AI thoughtfully, advancing discovery, innovation, and human potential while positioning higher education at the forefront of an intelligent and inspiring future that helps create a better world.

Talitha M. Washington, PhD, DSc,

Executive Director, Center for Applied Data Science and Analytics, Sean McCleese Endowed Chair, and Professor of Mathematics, Howard University

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Author Biographies

Paul Tiyambe Zeleza

is a globally recognised scholar, academic leader and public intellectual whose life and career span seven countries—Zimbabwe, Malawi, Britain, Canada, Jamaica, Kenya and the United States. He has served at fourteen universities, holding positions from department chair to university president, and has been an active leader in academic organisations, including as President of the U.S. African Studies Association and a member of the Administrative Board of the International Association of Universities. He has also collaborated with major philanthropic foundations and intergovernmental agencies on higher education and development initiatives.

An interdisciplinary scholar, Zeleza’s work encompasses African economic and intellectual history, diaspora and gender studies, cultural studies, literary criticism and human rights. He is the author or editor of thirty-one books (several, internationally award-winning) and more than 400 articles, chapters and essays. His novel, Smoldering Charcoal (1992), now being adapted into a feature film, and one of his scholarly books were named among Africa’s 100 Best Books of the 20th Century.

Zeleza has raised tens of millions of dollars for institutional development and delivered over 300 keynote addresses and lectures in thirty-three countries. He has been honoured as one of 43 Great Immigrants by The New York Times and holds honorary degrees and fellowships from Dalhousie University, the University of Cape Town, Nelson Mandela University and Harvard University.

Ben Vinson III, PhD

a distinguished historian, is the 18th president of Howard University. He is also President of the American Historical Association and past President of the Conference on Latin American History (CLAH). Prior to the presidency at Howard, Dr Vinson served as Provost and Executive Vice President of Case Western Reserve University (CWRU). Dr Vinson’s scholarly work centres on the African diaspora with a focus on Latin America. As an award-winning historian, former editor of The Americas and author or co-author of eight books and dozens of articles, his latest book project, Frank Etheridge: Jazz Age Musician of the African Diaspora, chronicles Etheridge’s experience of playing in interracial orchestras while travelling abroad during America’s Jim Crow era.

Dr Vinson previously served as Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at George Washington University, Vice Dean for Centers, Interdisciplinary Programs and Graduate Education at Johns Hopkins University and Director of the Center for Africana Studies at Johns Hopkins University. He has also served as a faculty member at Barnard College and Penn State University. Dr Vinson is an elected member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Antiquarian Society. He has served on several boards, including those of the American Council of Education, Fulbright, National Humanities Alliance and the National Humanities Center, among others.

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Published

November 26, 2025

Series

CODESRIA Books
Copyright (c) 2025 CODESRIA Books Publication System