AI-Collaborative Monastery Design Project

Kyle Smith is professor of Christianity in the History of Religions program at the University of Toronto, Mississauga and winner of the university's inaugural Early Career Teaching Award. His undergraduate courses bring ancient religious traditions into conversation with contemporary questions about meaning-making, cultural transformation, and technology. Rather than treating AI as simply a research tool, his pedagogy positions AI as both creative collaborator and object of critical analysis, with assignments that ask students to reverse-engineer mythology, create propaganda to recognize manipulation, and design speculative futures grounded in historical knowledge. His research focuses on Christianity in Roman Mesopotamia and Sasanian Persia, with recent work tracing Saint Nicholas's transformation from ancient protector of sailors and thieves to American Christmas icon.

Kyle Smith Professor, Department of Historical Studies, UTM

Objectives

As part of Desert Solitaire: Christian Monasticism and the Ascetic Tradition (Fall 2025), this capstone project – Monastery 3.0 – challenges students to synthesize historical knowledge with contemporary innovation by designing a 21st-century monastic movement using AI collaboration. Unlike assignments where AI undermines learning objectives, this project strategically positions AI as a creative partner for tasks like visual design, branding, and multimedia production. This allows students to focus intellectual energy on the substantive work of historical analysis, theological grounding, and cultural diagnosis.

The required 500-word AI Collaboration Report with screenshot documentation ensures students don’t passively accept AI outputs but critically reflect on how AI contributions differ from human creativity, developing metacognitive awareness about technology’s role in creative processes. By requiring both historical grounding in course materials (25% of grade) and thoughtful AI integration (15% of grade), the assignment models how emerging technologies can support rather than replace deep disciplinary knowledge.

Student Example: Gurjaap Brar’s Apostles of Altruism assignment demonstrates an approach to balancing historical grounding with creative AI collaboration. The student has agreed to share their example.

Process

The assignment was designed as a semester-long scaffolded project combining historical research, creative application, and AI-assisted multimedia production. The steps included:

Step 1: Submit Ungraded Proposal

Students draft one-page outline including preliminary mission statement, core practices, and initial AI collaboration strategy
Proposal serves as checkpoint to ensure viable project direction before Reading Week
Instructor provides feedback on historical grounding and feasibility

Step 2: Develop Foundation Document (750 words)

Students research and synthesize historical precedents from course materials (ancient desert monasticism, Benedictine communities, Eastern Orthodox practices)
Conduct contemporary cultural diagnosis identifying what societal fractures or needs the monastery addresses
Articulate theological and philosophical grounding drawing on primary sources studied in class
This component demonstrates mastery of course content and analytical thinking

Step 3: Create Practical Rule (750 words)

Students design daily schedule reflecting monastic rhythms adapted to contemporary context
Outline core practices (prayer, work, community life), governance structures, formation processes for new members
Develop sustainable economic model balancing contemplative values with practical needs
This component requires creative application of historical models to modern contexts

Step 4: Design Visual and Multimedia Elements (AI collaboration encouraged)

Create logo/branding identity using tools like Canva, Adobe, or AI image generators
Develop architectural concepts or spatial designs (sketches, digital renderings, floor plans)
Design social media presence mockups showing how the monastery would communicate its mission
Produce recruitment materials (brochures, videos, manifestos)
Students may use AI extensively for these visual/technical tasks

Step 5: Write AI Collaboration Report (500 words, No AI Permitted)

Document all AI tool use throughout the project
Include screenshots showing prompts, iterations, and refinements
Critically reflect on: What could AI do well? Where did AI fall short? What required distinctly human creativity, judgment, or disciplinary knowledge?
Analyze the division of labor between human and AI contributions

Step 6: Choose Submission Format and In-Class Presentation

Students select format that best showcases their monastery: website, slide deck, video essay, digital magazine, or instructor-approved alternative
Students deliver 12-minute pitch styled as “TED talk meets medieval chapter meeting”
Present monastery’s mission, historical grounding, practical implementation, and vision
Respond to 3 minutes of peer and instructor questions
Presentations assessed on clarity, creativity, and ability to connect ancient wisdom to contemporary contexts

Step 7: Ongoing Workshop Sessions

Throughout semester, class dedicates periodic sessions to workshopping projects in progress
Students share challenges, get peer feedback, and refine their thinking collaboratively

Future-Focused Skill Development

This activity supports future-ready learning by aligning with principles from the University of Calgary’s STRIVE model. It emphasizes Transparency by requiring students to document all AI tool use with screenshots and prompts in a dedicated AI Collaboration Report, making their collaboration process visible and helping them understand when and how AI contributed to their work. It also promotes Responsibility by requiring students to critically analyze the division of labor between human and AI contributions, maintaining intellectual ownership of theological analysis and historical synthesis while strategically delegating visual design and multimedia production to AI tools.

Student Feedback

Students shared that the creative freedom to design monasteries addressing contemporary challenges they cared about made the work engaging and personally meaningful. The opportunity to take initiative in choosing which monastic traditions to draw from and which modern problems to address allowed students to explore intersections of historical knowledge and personal interests. One student shared that the assignment shifted how they thought about applying ancient wisdom to contemporary contexts.

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