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Amy J. Ko

@amyko.phd
1.2K followers 55 following 396 posts

Professor @ University of Washington Information School. Computing, learning, design, justice, kitties, tacos, coffee, gender, politics, and transit. I write at amyjko.medium.com. I maintain wordplay.dev, bookish.press, adminima.app, reciprocal.reviews.

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Reposted by Amy J. Ko
Katherine Alejandra Cross @quinnae.com · 20h
Indeed. This point can't be stressed enough. "Sex-based" is a term we've always used to describe *discrimination*, and its sudden mainstreaming as pseudo-feminism in the UK reveals it as a poison that unravels the entire liberal democratic architecture of civil rights. I wrote about it here.
liberalcurrents.com
The Potemkin Feminism of "Sex-Based Rights"
"Sex-based rights" are a Potemkin feminism that commit us to a theory of objective sex where there is something special about your very biology that entitles you to special treatment not deserved by o...
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Amy J. Ko @amyko.phd · 19h
Today I was grateful to welcome students, faculty, and staff to the start of the 2026-27 academic year. It was a joyful salve while processing yet another pointless murder of a trans person in the U.S.
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Amy J. Ko @amyko.phd · 29/09/2026
Today I'm grateful for a generous amount of time to think, write, and collaborate on the future. It's such a central part of my job as a professor, yet one of the hardest things to make time for!
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Amy J. Ko @amyko.phd · 26/09/2026
Thank you Big Thief for cozy Friday night on the farm.
A stage on the right and crowd on the left in a magenta hue at dusk.
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Amy J. Ko @amyko.phd · 25/09/2026
What a lovely student welcome event this afternoon! Thanks to the staff who helped organize it, and the many student leaders for welcoming our 2026-27 classes to campus for the start of the quarter.
A wood framed room with a large projector screen and a few hundred students, faculty, and staff.
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Amy J. Ko @amyko.phd · 24/09/2026
Thanks to Shibuya Hi-Fi and friends for a transformative listen to Steely Dan’s Aja (and a deliciously mercurial mocktail) www.shibuyahifi.com
shibuyahifi.com
Shibuya Hi-Fi Vinyl Bar in Ballard
The goal of Shibuya is simple: To place our guests in the midst of an unprecedented leisure experience through an osmosis of taste and sound.
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Amy J. Ko @amyko.phd · 23/09/2026
What a fun afternoon of teaching prep! I’m teaching another quarter of our Wordplay undergrad research studio and a new required PhD course on teaching. I have no idea how either will go and that’s the way I like it :)
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Amy J. Ko @amyko.phd · 22/09/2026
What a lovely night in the city! Good community, great walks in the hood, and a surprisingly tasty pasta and brownie. I’m full of love and gratitude.
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Amy J. Ko @amyko.phd · 20/09/2026
Yep!
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Amy J. Ko @amyko.phd · 19/09/2026
I have some thoughts on "AI" doomerism. amyjko.medium.com/flawed-premi...
amyjko.medium.com
Flawed premises in AI doomerism
Flawed premises in “AI” doomerism As I have written many times before, I am an “AI” skeptic. It feels almost quaint at this point to share that, as Silicon Valley drowns the news in both the …
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Amy J. Ko @amyko.phd · 19/09/2026
Today I'm grateful for the lively day at Wesleyan! Thanks to Yuxuan Mei for hosting and to everyone for the rich conversations about creativity, learning, and AI. Slides for my talk: "A Means to Know End: Generative AI and the Many Futures of Learning" faculty.washington.edu/ajko/slides/...
Amy smiling in front of a chalkboard with inscruitable mathematics above a couch.
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Amy J. Ko @amyko.phd · 17/09/2026
Today I’m grateful I only have to be in Texas for one hour and 17 minutes on my way to Connecticut. And yes, I will be breaking the law so that I may safely urinate without being assaulted by transphobic men.
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Amy J. Ko @amyko.phd · 17/09/2026
Today I’m grateful for a vibrant faculty kickoff before our Autumn quarter, for ~80 amazing colleagues, and our radically trans disciplinary collective. It’s going to be a bumpy year, but I believe in this group’s capacity to come out the other side smarter and stronger for it.
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Amy J. Ko @amyko.phd · 16/09/2026
Today I’m grateful to be able to vote in Washington state without the !#$&@“ing federal government trying to stop me by banning mail in ballots (the only way we vote here!).
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Amy J. Ko @amyko.phd · 15/09/2026
Today I’m proud of our SIGCSE TS papers being accepted! We have so much to share about joy, accessibility, stereotypes, and culturally sustaining pedagogy. See you in Sacramento in February.
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Amy J. Ko @amyko.phd · 11/09/2026
25 years ago today I was installing a car seat for my 2-day old daughter at the hospital. I turned on the radio while I assembled bits and pieces, only to hear of towers crumbling. When I returned inside, my baby girl was quiet in my wife's arms while hospital staff stared in silence at a nearby TV.
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Amy J. Ko @amyko.phd · 11/09/2026
Today I'm grateful for a lifetime of hard-won resilience, which I've needed for navigating continued attacks on trans people by the right and the predictable abandonment by cowards on the left. It's going to get worse before it gets better; resilience is how I stay alive, and help others live too.
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Amy J. Ko @amyko.phd · 10/09/2026
Today I'm proud of my collaborators and mentees for finalizing a wonderful set of CHI papers! We're excited to share the work and hope the community likes them. More importantly, we hope they advance understanding of what the world things is possible and necessary.
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Amy J. Ko @amyko.phd · 08/09/2026
Today I'm proud of finally adding epub/ebook export support to bookish.press! Want to read Bookish books on your ebook reader? Now you can, no DRM. See criticallyconsciouscomputing.org and bookish.press/tac for examples. Fully tested on my little xteink x3, Kindle, and Apple Books.
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Amy J. Ko @amyko.phd · 05/09/2026
Today I’m grateful for the bus, light rail, tram, and train that brought me to and from Tacoma for a lovely day of cafes and dreaming, and the breezy sunshine above it all.
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Amy J. Ko @amyko.phd · 03/09/2026
I'm so excited to launch this pilot! Lots of positive feedback so far, but the coming year will teach us a lot.
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Amy J. Ko @amyko.phd · 31/08/2026
Today I'm proud to announce the public beta of Reciprocal Reviews, a platform for sustainable peer review by linking publishing to reviewing: reciprocal.reviews Check out our newsletter for background on the launch and next phase. reciprocalreviews.substack.com/p/reciprocal...
reciprocalreviews.substack.com
Reciprocal Reviews public beta is live
When I first started thinking about reviewer reciprocity in 2022, there were plenty of challenges: culture shifts in peer review, building consensus, and the lack of any prior evidence of such…
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Amy J. Ko @amyko.phd · 29/08/2026
Today I'm grateful for this planet. The end.
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Amy J. Ko @amyko.phd · 28/08/2026
Today I'm grateful to have a job and workplace where I needed to leave work early to stave off depression with a peaceful 3 mile walk home in the sunshine. That should be a universal right, but isn't in our exploitative system that puts profit over people.
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Amy J. Ko @amyko.phd · 27/08/2026
Today I'm grateful for the energetic, creative, committed Information School staff! They make the research, teaching, and service missions of the school possible every day.
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Amy J. Ko @amyko.phd · 21/08/2026
Today I'm proud of reporting the Department of Education for posting hate speech on its social media accounts in all of my feeds. Truly the best of timelines!
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Amy J. Ko @amyko.phd · 20/08/2026
Today I’m grateful for every academic that remains committed to truth, progress, and transformation over status, compliance, and resources. The former is the only reason for us to persist, and the moment we forget it, we are done.
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Amy J. Ko @amyko.phd · 19/08/2026
Today I’m inspired by the courage of this goose, boldly crossing the street in the middle of traffic, with a calmness and boldness I can only aspire to in my life and work. You go, goose.
A goose in the middle of the street, against a don’t walk signal.
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Amy J. Ko @amyko.phd · 18/08/2026
Today I'm grateful to be home from Sweden. I wish I could walk/metro/train anywhere in Seattle to get anything at any time without having to smell a tailpipe as easily as in Stockholm, but I do like my kitty, wife, work, and dormant volcanoes!
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Amy J. Ko @amyko.phd · 14/08/2026
A week of fika at #ICER2026 medium.com/bits-and-beh...
medium.com
A week of fika: ACM ICER 2026
A week of fika: ACM ICER 2026 By the end of this academic year, I needed a vacation. It was a year of major disruptions to my federal research funding, weekly disruptions in my administrative role …
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Amy J. Ko @amyko.phd · 12/08/2026
So proud of my student and collaborators' ACM #icer2026 papers this year on joy, identity expression, and help-seeking community! dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/... dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/... dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/...
dl.acm.org
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3765964.3811650
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Amy J. Ko @amyko.phd · 07/08/2026
Today I'm grateful for all the translings being their most trans selves, without apology, despite the harassment, threats, and oppression all around us. You inspire me every day to be fearless!
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Amy J. Ko @amyko.phd · 04/08/2026
Today I'm proud to release Wordplay's accessible music functionality, designed and built at the UW CREATE hackathon this past weekend by 6 of us! Check our our docs (wordplay.dev/guide?concep...) and fun examples (wordplay.dev/gallery/Music). Ever want to randomly generate a jazz solo? Now you can!
wordplay.dev
Wordplay: Accessible, Multilingual, Programmable Typography
An educational programming language for creating interactive typographic media with code.
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Amy J. Ko @amyko.phd · 29/07/2026
Today I leave so impressed by the CS for Oregon community’s Summer Equity Symposium! The energy from teachers is wonderful, and the commitment to CS learning that is critical, broad, and inclusive is rich. Bravo to the team and teachers for their leadership! csfororegon.org
csfororegon.org
CS for Oregon
CS for Oregon is guiding, supporting, and promoting research-based, equitable, and inclusive K-12 computer science education throughout Oregon.
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Amy J. Ko @amyko.phd · 27/07/2026
Here's our new DOGE-terminated study on CS teacher ed pathways. We studied how U.S. programs have been planned, designed, and launched, and barriers to sustaining them. Part of being "AI Ready" is having teachers; the right apparently doesn't want us to be ready. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
tandfonline.com
Browse all journals
Browse all journals
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Amy J. Ko @amyko.phd · 22/07/2026
Today I'm grateful for the new PK-12 CSTA standards, which address diversity in much more robust ways! To celebrate, we've released a 2nd edition of Critically Conscious Computing, incorporating the new standards and suggestions for how to take them even further: criticallyconsciouscomputing.org
criticallyconsciouscomputing.org
Critically Conscious Computing: Methods for Secondary Education
Computer science (CS) is often taught as a utopian discipline, full of powerful abstractions that can transform lives and society for the better. However, as computing has reshaped every part of…
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Amy J. Ko @amyko.phd · 17/07/2026
Today I’m proud of our Upward Bound teaching team! We have a lively group of high school students this summer and they’ve created a space to channel their energy, especially the past few days while I was away.
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Amy J. Ko @amyko.phd · 15/07/2026
Today I'm grateful for the vibrant community of K-12 CS educators, who educate our children and support each other, despite persistent scarcity, uncertainty, and change. Thanks for a lovely few days in NOLA talking about teaching and learning CS. medium.com/bits-and-beh...
medium.com
CSTA 2026: CS teaching 2.0
CSTA 2026: CS teaching 2.0 Over my many years of traveling to conferences, I’ve learned a few things that make for a great few days of networking: vibrant cities, good food, and attendees eager to …
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Amy J. Ko @amyko.phd · 13/07/2026
Today I'm grateful to be new New Orleans for #CSTA2026, starting off the day with a smoky cortado at Fourth Wall, the distinct scent of a southern city after a rain storm, and the aching poetry of aja monet's 'the color of rain' in my ears. There can be beauty in tragedy, maybe even especially so.
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Amy J. Ko @amyko.phd · 12/07/2026
I've been entering the heart of darkness lately, trying to understand the nature of AI-assisted software development. Here are some thoughts, three months in, to its promise and perils: medium.com/bits-and-beh...
medium.com
Know thine enemy: A critical engagement with AI-assisted software development
A critical engagement with AI-assisted software development I have long been a skeptic of large language models, generative AI, and other forms of very large statistical models of surveilled human …
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Amy J. Ko @amyko.phd · 11/07/2026
Today I’m grateful for an uninterrupted afternoon of designing our new required course on teaching for our PhD students. It’s going to be a fun one!
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Amy J. Ko @amyko.phd · 08/07/2026
Today I’m grateful for our mild 73° Seattle summers for keeping me dry, warm, and sandaled. (Can that be a word??)
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Amy J. Ko @amyko.phd · 07/07/2026
My birthday is on Saturday and I feel like just hanging out and connecting. I'm going to be at Human People Beer Cafe in Roosevelt on Saturday around 1-3 pm for non-alcs and pizza. Drop by if you're around and you'd like to catch up!
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Amy J. Ko @amyko.phd · 05/07/2026
There is little about this country to be proud of right now. But that’s true of its entire history, 250 years of genocide, oppression, displacement, and neglect, built on a foundation of greed and struggle. And yet a courageous few always fight for a more perfect union, and win, and so I will too.
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Amy J. Ko @amyko.phd · 04/07/2026
Today I’m proud of the many SIGCSE submissions from our Center for Learning, Computing, and Imagination! They span joy, identify-inclusive teaching, accessibility, fairness, and more. We hope you like them :)
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Reposted by Amy J. Ko
Sean Munson @smunson.com · 03/07/2026
We are hiring an assistant professor to join @hcde.uw.edu in Autumn 2027. We welcome applications in all areas, with a focus on: (1) Environment and sustainability; (2) Civic infrastructure and society; (3) Labor and the future of work. Learn more & apply: apply.interfolio.com/188238
apply.interfolio.com
Apply - Interfolio {{$ctrl.$state.data.pageTitle}} - Apply - Interfolio
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Amy J. Ko @amyko.phd · 02/07/2026
Today I’m grateful for the joyful group in my lab this summer, exploring student agency, linguistic justice in relation to computing! It’s going to be a fun summer hanging out with kids and imagining new futures with them.
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Amy J. Ko @amyko.phd · 01/07/2026
Today I’m grateful for all the people who prepped for months and years to try to stop today’s civil rights losses for trans people in America. As this court continues to further treat us as 2nd class, we’re going to need your continued persistence to restore justice in the coming years. Thank you.
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Amy J. Ko @amyko.phd · 27/06/2026
Today I’m proud to be trans, and I’m proud of the thousands of trans people who came together in Seattle to create community, provide care, celebrate freedom, snack, and organize for everyone’s liberation, not just ours. Happy pride!
Tens, trans folks, and an open blue skyRemember juniper blessing
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Amy J. Ko @amyko.phd · 23/06/2026
There’s a lot to dislike about this world right now, but spicy chicken fingers, broccoli salad, and a ginger beer are not among them.
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