Why Shaw University is launching a new AI degree — in its divinity school
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Shaw University says the new doctoral degree in Artificial Intelligence and Moral Agency coming to its divinity school is the first program of its kind offered at any of the country’s HBCUs.
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The four-year program is aimed at church leaders, including those who also work in secular jobs outside the church. The program will start next spring and include how to examine AI ethically, with courses on AI literacy, algorithmic bias, privacy and transparency, AI governance, human agency, cognitive bias and the impact of AI on marginalized communities.
Dean Mark Harden told The News & Observer the program aligns with Shaw University’s 160-year-old mission of advancing education and social justice.
“The Southern chaplain who founded the school was getting attention to the need for former slaves to have literacy — to know how to read and write, and to become civic-minded — so that’s why the school got founded,” Harden said.
Because of AI, a lot of people may get left behind,” he said. “We see ourselves as filling in that gap to respond to people who may get left behind and people who want to stay above the curve,” he said.
Rather than training students purely as AI developers, the program prepares ethical leaders, Harden said, who can lead organizations in using artificial intelligence responsibly.
Students are expected to have theological reflections on their engagement with AI to understand how the technology can replace human decisions.
In recent years, the private Shaw University, like many historically Black colleges and universities, have struggled financially due to declining enrollment, underfunding and rising costs of operating the campus. Harden believes the new program could help attract new students by addressing the growing demand for ethical AI education in myriad jobs.
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AI cuts across healthcare, education, ministry, law, criminal justice, finance, social work, art, communications and nonprofits and people in any of those fields could benefit from the degree, Harden said.
The degree is aimed at people with at least five years of pastoral leadership experience and a graduate theological degree, such as the master’s degrees that Shaw already offers.
Shaw has already enrolled 12 students for spring 2027, with applications for admission for future classes accepted beginning this summer.
The day after the university sent out the press release, 22 people had already expressed interest in enrolling. A little over a week later, that was up to 52 people, Harden said, and they hadn’t started advertising yet.
Harden said students won’t be learning new AI software that could quickly become outdated.
“Technology is changing every day, so we don’t want to train one widget, and then we get a new version of a widget in two months,” he said. “We know that the need is there, we know the interest is there.”
This story was originally published July 9, 2026 at 5:00 AM with the headline “Why Shaw University is launching a new AI degree — in its divinity school.”
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