iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Brian Croxall @briancroxall.bsky.social · 21/05/2026

I *did* play the Barn somewhere in summer 1996!

Reposted by Brian Croxall

Mark Sample @samplereality.bsky.social · 08/05/2026

Please enjoy this supercut I made of a DOGE bro saying "I don't know." Because there's a shit ton he didn't know. Like, for example, the Constitution.

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Reposted by Brian Croxall

Jason Rhody @jasonrhody.bsky.social · 07/05/2026

Members made this possible. Collective action requires the collective. Whether MLA, AHA, or another society, please join, engage, and participate. Together, we can accomplish some pretty amazing things.

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Brian Croxall @briancroxall.bsky.social · 21/04/2026

Remember that class I taught this semester: AI for the Humanities? I've just published the syllabus, reading list, and all the assignments on @kcommons.bsky.social. Come and get them! #openaccess #citepedagogy works.hcommons.org/collections/...

works.hcommons.org

Search AI for the Humanities, 2026

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Brian Croxall @briancroxall.bsky.social · 01/04/2026

If you're a member of @modernlanguage.bsky.social, you should have just received an invitation to vote on amendments to the constitution. As I'm currently chair of the Committee on Amendments, I'm happy to answer questions about the why and what of these proposals.

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Reposted by Brian Croxall

Mark Sample @samplereality.bsky.social · 08/03/2026

I love that @modernlanguage.bsky.social has posted the depositions of the DOGE bros who gutted the National Endowment for the Humanities. All part of the lawsuit the MLA, AHA, and ACLS have filed against the federal government.

youtu.be

Nathan Cavanaugh Deposition (Part 3) in MLA-ACLS-AHA Lawsuit about the NEH

YouTube video by ModernLanguageAssoc

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Brian Croxall @briancroxall.bsky.social · 08/03/2026

Here's what my professional org (@modernlanguage.bsky.social) has been up to recently, along with several others: www.nytimes.com/2026/03/07/a.... Read about the lawsuit MLA, ACLS, AHA, and Authors Guild have been pursuing.

nytimes.com

When DOGE Unleashed ChatGPT on the Humanities

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Reposted by Brian Croxall

David Mimno @dmimno.bsky.social · 04/03/2026

Excellent venue for computational humanities work, colocated with ACL in San Diego on July 6. Please share!

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Brian Croxall @briancroxall.bsky.social · 04/03/2026

Talked about this with my class yesterday in response to Paul Ford's recent in the NYT (www.nytimes.com/2026/02/18/o...). He says that most software isn't "good." We bounced from there to talk about what "good" writing is and when they choose to produce and when they don't.

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Brian Croxall @briancroxall.bsky.social · 04/03/2026

Sure. But since I have ample evidence that studnets do not submit in the format I require of them, I've decided to start suggesting that there is a way to learn to do this correctly.

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Brian Croxall @briancroxall.bsky.social · 03/03/2026

Just discovered that Steve Reich's *Music for 18 Musicians* will be performed on my campus in three weeks. This is me for the next 21 days. media1.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2l...

giphy.com

Omg GIF - Find & Share on GIPHY

Discover & share this Omg GIF with everyone you know. GIPHY is how you search, share, discover, and create GIFs.

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Brian Croxall @briancroxall.bsky.social · 03/03/2026

I mean, that's how imma gonna read it.

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Brian Croxall @briancroxall.bsky.social · 03/03/2026

So that "AI for the Humanities" course I'm teaching? Here's the vibe-coding assignment that I gave to my students earlier today: docs.google.com/document/d/1.... As always, my assignments are CC-BY.

docs.google.com

Vibe-Coding

Vibe-Coding Rationale In his February 2026 piece for The New York Times, Paul Ford writes that he “believe[s] there are millions, maybe billions, of software products that don’t exist but should.” He ...

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Reposted by Brian Croxall

Diane Jakacki @djakacki.bsky.social · 11/02/2026

Call for Proposals: What does an edited volume look like in a post-print world? What does an edited volume “get” you (in a professional sense)? Do we even still need edited volumes?

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Brian Croxall @briancroxall.bsky.social · 11/02/2026

Please send your proposal to brian.croxall@byu.edu and dkj004@bucknell.edu no later than Sunday, 15 March 2026. #mla27

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Brian Croxall @briancroxall.bsky.social · 11/02/2026

If you're interested in participating, we invite editors *of* and contributors *to* edited collections to send us two tips (150 words + brief vita) for making the most of it and surviving the experience with your sanity intact.

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Brian Croxall @briancroxall.bsky.social · 11/02/2026

For the 2027 MLA Convention, @jakacki.bsky.social and I are proposing a special session, "Edited Collections: Tips and Tricks to Successful Publishing." This will be a roundtable, with contributors *to*, editors *of*, and publishers *of* edited volumes. Plus admin. @modernlanguage.bsky.social

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Brian Croxall @briancroxall.bsky.social · 10/02/2026

It's literally being updated every day, as I'm only a step or two ahead of my students most of the time. Once the semester has wrapped, I'll add it to the syllabus so there's a record of what was done.

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Brian Croxall @briancroxall.bsky.social · 10/02/2026

It's been a while since I was this far out on an edge pedagogically, and while it's nerve-wracking and taking ALL THE TIME, it's also exactly what I need to be doing right now. Grateful for the chance to stretch.

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Brian Croxall @briancroxall.bsky.social · 10/02/2026

I've managed to schedule a number of colleagues from Computer Science, our Law School, the Rutgers Business School, and the inimitable @miaout.bsky.social to join my students for conversations about the ins and outs of genAI.

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Brian Croxall @briancroxall.bsky.social · 26/06/2025

Definitely haven’t done one so far. It’s a topic I remain deeply and personally invested in…

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Brian Croxall @briancroxall.bsky.social · 13/06/2025

But what meant the most was when I was severely underemployed in 2009, @brettbobley.bsky.social took the time to talk with me about the process of applying to jobs at the NEH. We had never met apart from Twitter and he chatted on the phone. That meant so much to a broke PhD. #ThanksBrett

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Brian Croxall @briancroxall.bsky.social · 13/06/2025

A huge thanks to @brettbobley.bsky.social who is retiring from NEH ODH. A consummate public servant who is always a joy to see arriving at DH events in his chopper. I owe you a Diet Coke every day from here on out. #ThanksBrett

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Reposted by Brian Croxall

Matthew Kirschenbaum @mkirschenbaum.bsky.social · 05/05/2025

I consider this one of the most important donations I can make. To be clear, the Paving the Way fund supports the legal expenses.

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Brian Croxall @briancroxall.bsky.social · 06/05/2025

I donated to the Paving the Way initiative to help with this critical lawsuit on behalf of the NEH. Think about joining me?

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Reposted by Brian Croxall

Jason Rhody @jasonrhody.bsky.social · 02/05/2025

If your grant was terminated & you are an MLA member (or in a related discipline), please fill out our My NEH Grant Story form. Your story can help inform the actions we are taking to protect the NEH. docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

docs.google.com

My NEH Grant Story

We're documenting the impact of MLA members' NEH grant projects. Let us know about a project you completed with help from the NEH (e.g., a course you taught, a book you finished, a database you built,...

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Brian Croxall @briancroxall.bsky.social · 02/05/2025

This is why I became a lifetime @modernlanguage.bsky.social member last year.

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Reposted by Brian Croxall

Kathleen Fitzpatrick @kfitz.info · 15/03/2025

Maybe small orgs and large orgs could work together rather than taking aim at one another. The impulse to compete always undermines solidarity. Reach out rather than tearing down.

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Reposted by Brian Croxall

Kathleen Fitzpatrick @kfitz.info · 15/03/2025

If you don't know what your org is doing right now to fight for you, maybe ask them rather than assuming they're not doing anything. Mine has been actively meeting with folks on the Hill and strategizing with other orgs and institutions about paths forward, even as they're facing funding cuts.

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Reposted by Brian Croxall

Kathleen Fitzpatrick @kfitz.info · 15/03/2025

Y'all. I get that a small scholarly org can be nimble and take on a lot of quick, grassroots work. It's super important and exciting. But that should not encourage you to insult the hardworking professionals who are keeping large scholarly orgs moving in astonishingly difficult circumstances.

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Brian Croxall @briancroxall.bsky.social · 22/11/2024

I’m 47, which is exactly right.

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Brian Croxall @briancroxall.bsky.social · 21/11/2024

Inspired by the work of Kevin L Ferguson (www.gc.cuny.edu/people/kevin...), I've summed all currently available MCU films. I've only seen one of these.

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Reposted by Brian Croxall

Jason Mittell @jmittell.bsky.social · 18/11/2024

Are you a film & media scholar who wants to learn how to make video essays? Applications for the two-week June 2025 workshop Scholarship in Sound & Image at Middlebury College in Vermont are now open. Come be a videocamper and spread the word!

sites.middlebury.edu

Scholarship in Sound & Image

Workshop on Videographic Criticism

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Brian Croxall @briancroxall.bsky.social · 21/11/2024

Wanting to start a new project on the concept of happy endings in novels. If you've ever read anything on the topic, please send me references!

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Brian Croxall @briancroxall.bsky.social · 21/11/2024

And to top it all off, we just got notice that we received funding to start a fledgling game studies research group for 2025. Now I'm off to enter the lottery.

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Brian Croxall @briancroxall.bsky.social · 21/11/2024

I wrote about my own history with video games earlier in the semester for our Humanities Center blog: humanitiescenter.byu.edu/why-play-gam.... Along the way I manage to talk about e-lit and other forms of ergodic literature.

humanitiescenter.byu.edu

Why Play Games? A History and a (Self-)Justification

This post was written by Brian Croxall, a Humanities Center faculty fellow. This semester and with the support of the College of Humanities, my colleague Michael Call and I launched a new initiativ...

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Brian Croxall @briancroxall.bsky.social · 21/11/2024

I worked on the Beckett Letters project for three years in grad school. When I came across this one, I saved it because it’s so perfect.

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Brian Croxall @briancroxall.bsky.social · 21/11/2024

Congrats! Can’t wait to get a copy!

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Brian Croxall @briancroxall.bsky.social · 20/11/2024

Because the problems in both of them can be solved with a simple conversation.

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Brian Croxall @briancroxall.bsky.social · 20/11/2024

Why did the shoe enthusiast feel no excitement for the upcoming season? He had a case of the Blahniks. #thesearethejokes

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