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SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (April 21, 2026) — What lessons can the ways humans use language teach us amidst increasing emphasis on generative artificial intelligence in today’s world? Santa Barbara City College (SBCC) English professor Dr. Kimberly Monda, Ph.D., will address that question and more when she presents the 44th Annual Faculty Lecture, “The Power of Human Language in the Age of Generative AI,” at SBCC’s Garvin Theatre at 2:30 p.m. on April 30, 2026.
SBCC’s Annual Faculty Lecture celebrates the art and craft of teaching and the ideals of public education through the lens of the lecturer’s given discipline. It is also an opportunity for faculty, staff, students and members of the general public to take a break from their regular routines to explore important ideas together. Dr. Monda’s lecture will focus on the threats generative AI poses to education and human development and invite the audience to fight these threats by reflecting and acting on what they most value about human communication.
Dr. Monda’s disciplines, composition and literature, are steeped in humanity’s efforts to use the written word to tell the truth about what it means to be human. Inspired by her personal and academic experience of how meaningful it can be to read and discuss books and shorter written texts with others, and by the joy of reading to children when she worked at a daycare during college and then reading to her two sons, Dr. Monda has asked the SBCC community to contribute to “SBCC Recommends,” a website that will post recommendations of favorite texts, for children and adults, to inspire others to read more. The recommendations will be published the day of her lecture.
A faculty member in the English department since 1995, Dr. Monda teaches English 110, Composition and Reading (renamed English C1000, Academic Reading Writing, in Fall 2025); and English 11, Critical Thinking Through Literature — core courses that emphasize development of foundation academic skills, preparing students for college and beyond. She has served as the department’s Director of Composition as well as its Chair, received SBCC’s Faculty Excellence Award in 2012-13, and served as the President of SBCC’s Academic Senate in 2014-16 and 2023-24.
The Santa Barbara City College Faculty Lecture is a series of annual lectures wherein a distinguished SBCC faculty member is chosen by colleagues to deliver an address on a scholarly subject of general interest. Her selection as Faculty Lecturer marks Dr. Monda’s last semester as a full-time faculty member at SBCC.
EVENT DETAILS
44th Annual Faculty Lecture
Where: SBCC’s Garvin Theatre, West Cliff Campus, 721 Cliff Dr., Santa Barbara, CA
When: April 30, 2026, 2:30-3:30 p.m.
Reception following
Parking: Complimentary on West Cliff Campus during the length of the event.
The free event is open to all, but organizers ask that attendees kindly RSVP.
RSVP to the Lecture here.
About SBCC
Established in 1909, Santa Barbara City College (SBCC) is one of the oldest community colleges in California. The district consists of SBCC’s main campus on Santa Barbara’s beachfront coast, two separate campuses for its School of Extended Learning programs, as well as a Cosmetology school. The college offers a range of associate degree, certificate and transfer programs and is recognized by the Department of Education as an official Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI).
