Anand Rao
Professor of Communication and Digital Studies | Director, Center for AI and the Liberal Arts University of Mary Washington
- Fredericksburg VA
Dr. Rao specializes in communication, AI in education, AI pluralism, debate, discourse, and social media
University of Mary Washington
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Media
Social
Biography
Anand Rao, professor of communication at the University of Mary Washington, doesn’t disagree that new technologies have shaped Millennials, but, for him, the principles of good communication carry over into the realm of social media. In fact Dr. Rao teaches an upper-level communication course on social media, in which students explore the opportunities and challenges of an increasingly digital world.
Dr. Rao also is the director of UMW’s Speaking Intensive program and the Speaking Center. His articles have been published in journals and books on such topics as rhetoric and the courts, and political debate, and he has delivered numerous scholarly presentations throughout the United States and around the world. Recently, he was a technical and creative consultant on College Sports Television’s documentary about the National Debate Tournament, and he worked on his own documentary on collegiate debate and the Mary Washington Debate Team.
Dr. Rao has worked with students on local film projects and directed UMW’s entry in the 48-hour Film Project. Dr. Rao also studies uses of new media, including social networking, blogging, micro-blogging, and convergence media presentation to communicate in interpersonal and broadcast settings. Dr. Rao helped develop UMW’s new major in Communication and Digital Studies, and he currently serves as its program director.
A member of the Golden Key national honor society, Dr. Rao was the recipient of the Andrew Mellon Predoctoral Fellowship and was selected by the Committee on International Debate and Discussion to represent the United States on a debate tour of Japan in 1993. He currently is vice-chair of the National Association of Communication Centers and is past president of the American Association for the Rhetoric of Science and Technology.
Areas of Expertise
Education
University of Pittsburgh
Ph.D.
Post-Graduate Studies
University of Pittsburgh
M.A.
Graduate Studies
University of Pittsburgh
B.A.
Undergraduate Studies
Links
Media Appearances
AI Pluralism: Why Diverse AI is Better AI
Tech Unhinged online
2025-07-07
Anand Rao shares the groundbreaking concept of AI Pluralism—an emerging framework that calls for diverse, dialectical AI systems rather than monolithic, one-size-fits-all models.
Columbia suspended him after he built a cheating app. Now he’s raised $5.3M for it.
Gothamist online
2025-05-02
Anand Rao was quoted in an article about a Columbia University undergrad who was suspended for building an artificial intelligence tool to cheat on coding interviews at tech firms, and has raised $5.3 million to turn the idea into a company much bigger. Rao, who chairs the communications department at the University of Mary Washington, is actively developing an AI curriculum and already offers a free one-credit “Intro to AI” course.
The Metacognition Revolution
The Atlantic online
2024-08-28
Anand Rao spoke to The Atlantic – Online Feature for an article titled “The Metacognition Revolution." Rao discussed the special topics course he taught in Fall 2023, DGST 301N: ChatGPT and Generative AI, and the importance of introducing and using AI in the classroom in order to demonstrate both the dangers and opportunities associated with its use. He also discussed how, by building their chatbots, students developed a healthy skepticism of AI as they better understood some of its limitations.
Teaching Tip: Navigating AI in the Classroom
Inside Higher Education online
2024-02-06
Anand Rao, professor of communication at the University of Mary Washington, introduces students to low- and no-code options to build their own generative AI tools in his special topics course on digital studies.
The Age of AI: AI in the Classroom
With Good Reason online
2023-10-18
Many teachers are scared about the impact AI will have on cheating. But Anand Rao of the University of Mary Washington says most of his students will be using AI in the workplace once they graduate. So he encourages them to use AI on assignments and coaches them on how to use it appropriately.
Professors Turn to ChatGPT to Teach Students a Lesson
The Wall Street Journal online
2023-02-02
Rao discussed the impact the generative AI tools, like ChatGPT, will have on knowledge production.
Gandhi’s Influence on Dr. James Farmer
Metta Center for Nonviolence online
2021-05-05
We speak with P. Anand Rao who is a professor of Communications and Digital Studies at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Virginia. I reached out to Rao to see if he could talk to us a little bit about what research he’s done into this connection between Gandhi and the civil rights movement. And also, how it ties into the legacy of James Farmer.
Event Appearances
AI and the Humanities: Through the Lens of AI Pluralism
Ai4 Conference Las Vegas, NV
2025-08-11
Building Chatbots for AI Literacy
AI Ready RVA Teacher & AI Summer Workshop Richmond, VA
2025-07-23
AI in the Workplace
Fredericksburg Regional Chamber of Congress Workshop Fredericksburg, VA
2025-07-18
Workforce NOW Workshop: AI in the Workplace
AI Tools, Trends & Transformation Fredericksburg, VA
2025-07-16
Getting to Production-Ready: Challenges and Best Practices for Deploying AI
AI & Big Data Expo Olympia, London
2025-02-05
AI Chatbots in Communication
National Communication Association (NCA) Collaboratory on Artificial Intelligence Washington, D.C.
2024-11-22
Unleashing the Power of Data for All
AI & Big Data Expo Amsterdam, NL
2024-10-02
The Future of AI in Academia
OpenAI Higher Ed Forum New York City, NY
2024-10-10
AI for Small Businesses
George Mason Enterprise Center
2024-04-03
Argumentation, Communication, and Critical Thinking: Teaching Durable Skills to Prepare Our Students for Success in an AI-World
Campus Writing and Speaking Program NC State University
2024-03-18
Augmented Debate-Centered Instruction: A Novel Research Agenda for Responsible AI Integration in Education.”
Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI) Conference Vancouver, Canada
2024-03-01
ChatGPT and Communication: How Generative AI Will Transform Our Field
Virginia Professional Communicators Conference Fredericksburg, VA
2023-05-05
Courses
Introduction to AI
Rao introduced a complimentary one-credit course for incoming and current Mary Washington students in summer 2025 that provides the tools to understand and apply AI in an effective and ethical way, particularly in an academic setting. The online, self-paced course shares foundational knowledge about how AI works, how to integrate it into work and approach it with critical awareness.
AI and Society
Rao introduced a fall 2025 course DGST 301N: AI and Society that will delve deeper into the implications of AI on various career paths and personal interests. Students have the opportunity to build their own chatbots, engage in discussions and debates, and attend guest lectures from leading experts, including both in-person and online components. Through the hands-on course, students harness AI tools, tackle ethical, creative and societal challenges through real-world projects, and develop practical skills to become informed leaders in the AI era.
Articles
Our Students’ Future in an AI-World is Debatable
Higher Education DigestAnand Rao and Stefan Bauschard
2024-05-03
As fears of undetectable AI-powered cheating sweep through college campuses, many in higher education are sounding the alarm about its disruptive potential,” the article begins. “But while the threat of ChatGPT-assisted term papers may keep academics up at night, the actual problem facing higher education is much more significant: how can we prepare our students for the AI-driven workplace of the future?”
Chat(GPT): Navigating the Impact of Generative AI Technologies on Educational Theory and Practice
Book Published by Pedagogy VenturesAnand Rao with a host of other authors and editors
2023-03-27
Anand Rao co-authored and co-edited a new book, Chat(GPT): Navigating the Impact of Generative AI Technologies on Educational Theory and Practice, in which educators discuss ChatGPT and other artificial intelligence tools. It was published by Pedagogy Ventures and is listed as the No. 1 new release in Curricula and in the Top 10 for Educational Professional Development. It includes 38 chapters and essays, 14 appendixes and more than 600 pages. The authors’ goal is to help prepare educators for AI in education, as it's most likely to continue to disrupt and transform education at all levels.
GREAT LIVES: Gandhi's influence on the American civil rights movement
The Free Lance-StarP. Anand Rao
2021-03-11
While touring India in 1959, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. visited Mani Bhavan, the house where Mahatma Gandhi had lived in Mumbai. It was in this home that Gandhi launched his Indian movement for truth and nonviolence, called satyagraha. The home had been turned into a museum, and the upstairs room where Gandhi had slept still held his mattress and shoes. When King visited, he asked if he could spend the night in that room, saying, “I am not going anywhere else. I am going to stay here, because I am getting vibrations of Gandhi.” The curators pulled two cots into the room, and Rev. King and his wife, Coretta Scott King, spent the night next to Gandhi’s mattress. Soon after, King told All India Radio that he had decided to adopt Gandhi’s methods of civil disobedience as his own.
Supporting Advocacy, Deliberation, and Civic Learning in the Classroom
UMW Faculty Learning CommunityP. Anand Rao et al.
2021-01-01
We live, teach and learn in complicated times. As faculty in higher education, we have the opportunity to help uphold the civic purpose of higher education. We are accustomed to helping students navigate academic information, and to equipping them for more standard academic tasks. Through thoughtful course design, we can also help our students become better consumers and evaluators of less traditionally academic information: from critically interpreting what they read and see in the news media, to engaging the arguments of their friends, peers and family members. Further, we can challenge our students to use these evaluative skills to engage in debate and advocacy activities around critical issues of the day.
