New Artificial Intelligence Courses Launching at SIU in Spring 2026
CARBONDALE, Ill. — November 25, 2025
The School of Computing at Southern Illinois University Carbondale is excited to announce a new suite of AI-focused courses launching in Spring 2026. These courses provide hands-on experience with cutting-edge artificial intelligence tools and concepts, preparing students across all disciplines to use, understand, and innovate with modern AI systems.
CS 491-003 — Applied Generative AI
CS 491-953 (Distance Learning class) — Applied Generative AI
Generative AI can create new text, images, synthetic data, reasons, and plans. This course offers a comprehensive exploration of generative artificial intelligence (AI) and its practical use in solving complex problems across disciplines. Students will gain proficiency with tools such as ChatGPT, Claude, Grok, and AI copilots, and will learn how to select and tailor these systems for specific tasks.
The class includes instruction in developing generative AI–driven solutions across mathematically rigorous engineering domains, predictive finance and economics, and creative fields requiring artistic and conceptual design.
Students will also examine real-world case studies involving specialized AI tools—from augmented reality healthcare applications to drone swarms in agriculture. For example, ELSA, an AI-powered system used by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), demonstrates how AI can reduce repetitive, document-heavy workflows.
Course discussions also address the ethical implications of AI, and its impact on industries and society. No prerequisite is required.
CS 491-004 — Intro to Large Language Models
This course provides an accessible yet thorough introduction to the concepts and mechanisms that power modern large language models (LLMs). Students will learn how LLMs represent text, use attention mechanisms, process inputs, and generate coherent outputs.
The curriculum covers key topics such as model architectures, pretraining strategies, and fine-tuning for applications like text classification, summarization, and instruction following. By the end of the course, students will have a conceptual and practical understanding of how LLMs function and how they can be applied effectively across diverse real-world tasks.
CS 491-005 — Intro to Prompt Engineering
This course demystifies interaction with generative AI by treating it as a strategic form of communication—not a programming challenge. Students learn how to craft effective prompts to guide AI systems such as ChatGPT and Meta Llama to produce precise, tailored outputs.
Designed for students in business, arts, humanities, social sciences, and STEM, this course emphasizes practical, discipline-specific applications. Examples include:
- Marketing: brainstorming slogans, analyzing consumer trends
- Psychology: exploring therapeutic approaches, drafting case summaries
- History: simulating debates between historical figures
- Creative arts: overcoming writer’s block, generating composition ideas
- STEM: creating structured prompts for real-world engineering and data problems
Students will learn techniques such as chain-of-thought reasoning, tree-of-thought prompting, in-context learning, GraphRAG, role-playing strategies, and iterative refinement. The course prepares students to critically evaluate AI-generated content for quality, accuracy, and bias.
Upon completion, students will not only be competent users of generative AI but effective directors of it—equipped to enhance creativity, productivity, and problem-solving across any academic or professional field.
The School of Computing is proud to expand its curriculum with these innovative offerings, supporting SIU’s mission to prepare students for the rapidly evolving landscape of intelligent technologies.
Media Contact: School of Computing Communications • socinfo@siu.edu