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Christina Laffin

@christinalaffin.bsky.social
1.7K followers 2.2K following 290 posts

Associate Professor in Premodern Japanese Literature and Culture, University of British Columbia. She/her.

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Reposted by Christina Laffin
Ian Linkletter @linkletter.org · 09/10/2026
3 UK universities have now discontinued Turnitin as a result of their plans (past, present, and future) to train AI models using student data. At BCIT, I am making sure Turnitin is on the agenda. You should too. www.timeshighereducation.com/news/more-un... (must be logged in with free account)
timeshighereducation.com
More universities end Turnitin contracts as concerns mount
Newcastle and Westminster join Southampton in decision not to renew deal with plagiarism checker amid questions over how once-ubiquitous service is adapting to AI age
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Jen St. Denis @jenstden.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
"With any development in a case like this, thoughts should immediately go to the victims... But discussion of the victims or their families has taken a back seat to unprecedented levels of anti-trans vitriol from both public figures and media," writes @melwoods.me thetyee.ca/Analysis/202...
thetyee.ca
A Predictable Wave of Anti-Trans Hate | The Tyee
The arrest of an alleged accomplice in the Tumbler Ridge shooting has fuelled a false narrative linking trans people with violence.
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Mel Woods @melwoods.me · 08/10/2026
Really appreciate Jen and @thetyee.ca asking me to weigh in about the person arrested in connection to the Tumbler Ridge tragedy, and how the ensuing media narrative is both a symptom of the larger anti-trans hate movement and will directly contribute to its continued amplification.
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NiCHE Canada @nichecanada.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
ICYMI: “We have not yet had a public conversation about the ongoing consequences of the great land grab, but now is a good time to start.” - @kellyblack.ca - @vilocalhistory.bsky.social niche-canada.org/2026/10/02/t... #envhist #cdnhist #bchistory #vancouverisland
niche-canada.org
The Great Vancouver Island Land Grab: Kelly Black on How a 19th-Century Grant Shapes the Present
Historian Kelly Black discusses the E&N Railway land grant’s historical dispossession of Indigenous lands and its ongoing socio-environmental impacts.
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Christina Laffin @christinalaffin.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
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Katie Drummond @katie-drummond.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
I'm so proud to publish this, and grateful to Lighthouse Reports, Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism (ARIJ), and the Palestine Reporting Lab for the invaluable collaboration. You can read and explore the entire project here:
wired.com
How Israeli Checkpoints Choke Palestinian Life in the Occupied West Bank
Lost time. Lost jobs. Lost friends. Lost family. Lost lives. Our joint investigation reveals the system that has divided the West Bank and measures what it cost people to move through it.
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paulseesequasis @pseesequasis.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
On #OrangeShirtDay paying respect to generations of my family and kin who went to St. Michael’s Residential School ~ 1931. Duck Lake, Sask ~ 1) Maggie Bird, 2) Mary Rose Naytowhow (My Kokum), 3) Ada Wolfe, 4) Philomene Peeteetuce, 5) Dorothy Eyahpaise, 6) Mary Anne Seesequasis, 7) Veronique
On #OrangeShirtDay paying respect to generations of my family and kin who went to St. Michael’s Residential School ~ 1931. Duck Lake, Sask ~ 1) Maggie Bird, 2) Mary Rose Naytowhow (My Kokum), 3) Ada Wolfe, 4) Philomene Peeteetuce, 5) Dorothy Eyahpaise, 6) Mary Anne Seesequasis, 7) Veronique Morrisette, 😎 Elizabeth Constant, 9) Irene Dunn, 10) Helen Ledous, 11) Anais Prosper, 12) Henritte Napope, 13) Florence Peeteetuce, 14) Jospehine Ledoux, 15) Florence Bird, 16) Mary Rose Seeseequasis, 17) Alice McDonald, 18) Nancy Gardipy, 19) Victoria Dunn, 20) Cecile Redwing, 21) Madeline Sutherland, 22) Grace Seesequasis, 23) - Badger, 24) --, 25) Mary Josephine Greyeyes, 26) Flora Greyeyes, 27) Helen Peeteetuce, 28) Antoinette Arcand, 29) Clemenie Arcand, 30) Francoise Wichikan, 31) Marie Redwing, 32) Gertrude Greyeyes, 33) Esther Greyeyes, 34) Annie Bear, 35) Stella Mike, 36) Clara Bird, 37) Edna Sauve, 38) Victoria Baldhead, 39) Gladys Meechett, 40) Alice Gamble, 41) Philomene Ichmakew, 42) Marie Therese Reentach, 43) Mary Anne Seeyapussum, 44) Marie Therese Paul, 45) Irene Prosper
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Paul Cohen @paulecohen.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
🚨the Department of History at the University of Toronto (St George campus) is hiring an Assistant Professor in the history of early modern or modern South Asia jobs.utoronto.ca/job/Toronto-...
jobs.utoronto.ca
Assistant Professor - South Asian History
Assistant Professor - South Asian History
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Dr. Paula R. Curtis @paularcurtis.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Getting properly ready for our upcoming symposium with a coffee and Lee’s book! 😌 Sign up to join us hybrid for the event. ⬇️ You can also read Lee’s book open acesss. #medievalsky press.umich.edu/Books/F/Four...
The book Four Years in Izumi: Village Japan in the Early Sixteenth Century by Lee Butler. The cover is a photo of the cover of the Tabihikitsuke manuscript with Masamoto’s monogram.
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Clueless Toshika @cluelesstoshika.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Shinagawa vibe be like
Banner sign a bus stop saying "NOT GO!! (Immigration Bureau)"
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Michael Warburton @michaelwarburton.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Cher’s outfit reveals on The Cher Show (1975) designed by BOB MACKIE — who passed away today at the age of 87.
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Stacy Fahrenthold @sfahrenthold.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
First event of the Fall here at UC Davis! The Davis Palestine Film Series presents THE PALESTINE EXCEPTION, a film screening & panel discussion about refusing silence in the face of genocide in Palestine. 🍉 On campus at UC Davis Cruess Hall Theater, Sept 26 4pm. Admission is free and open to all.
Event poster for September 26 film screening and panel discussion of The Palestine Exception. The event takes place at UC Davis Cruess Theater on Saturday September 26, 4-6:30pm. This event is organized by the Davis Palestine Film Series with cosponsors Yolo for Palestinian Justice, Yolo Democratic Socialists, Davis Jews for Justice, the Davis Graduate, Veterinary, Medical, and Law Students for Palestine, Yolo Indivisible, UC Davis Young Democratic Socialists of America, Jewish Voice for Peace, and UC Davis Students for Justice on Palestine. Further updates at davispalestineseries.org. The poster is white, red, green, and black and features a still from the film depicting protestors at the New York City encampment in 2024, and a collection of red poppies in the upper left corner.
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University and College Union (UCU) @ucu.org.uk · 13/09/2026
“Trans rights are human rights, and an injury to one is an injury to all.” UCU vice-president Mark Pendleton seconded Composite Motion C01 on union equality reps at #TUC26. Equality is not separate from industrial work. It is our industrial work.
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Christina Laffin @christinalaffin.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Blue Boy Trial (ブルーボーイ事件) screening today as part of the Vancouver Japanese Film Festival
Five seated people watching a standing witness and lawyer, all wearing 60s-era garb
 Text reads "Blue Boy Trial
ブルーボーイ事件
Vancouver Japanese Film Festival"Based on a true story, transgender filmmaker Iizuka’s remarkable film is set in 1960s Japan, a time of Olympic pride and a crackdown on “public morals.” Anti-prostitution laws targeted women but a legal loophole exempts male sex workers, the so-called “blue boys.” When police arrest the doctor performing their sex reassignment surgeries, the sensational “Blue Boy Trial” begins. Three transgender women, all played by trans actors, take the stand, igniting a national debate on identity and happiness. The story combines a remarkable cast with production and costume designs to recreate the 60’s-era Tokyo of smoky nightclubs and bustling back alleys as well as the intense courtroom atmosphere. Half a century later, this buried history still reverberates in the lives of sexual minorities. Deeply affecting and very relevant.
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mosababutoha @mosababutoha.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Lana (12) and Bana (8) who were killed by Israel today with their parents in north Gaza.
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Christina Laffin @christinalaffin.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Please join me in supporting if you can: www.gofundme.com/f/saddle-lak...
gofundme.com
Donate to Saddle Lake Cree Nation Treaty Health Legal Defense Fund, organized by James Makokis
Help Saddle Lake Cree Nation Defend Treaty Health Rights and Pr… James Makokis needs your support for Saddle Lake Cree Nation Treaty Health Legal Defense Fund
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The Breakdown AB @thebreakdownab.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
BREAKING! "Saddle Lake Cree Nation is asserting its Treaty rights and jurisdiction to provide safe refuge for those seeking and providing gender-affirming care. Any Albertan will be able to access gender-affirming care on Saddle Lake Cree Nation reserved lands and territories"
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Andy Yan @ayan604.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
Going to the PNE this weekend? Remember to stop by the new Japanese Canadian Hastings Park Interpretative Centre! 1-6 pm A reminder of how fragile Freedom can be. #cdnpoli #bcpoli #Vanpoli Here's the story on opening of the Centre: vancouver.citynews.ca/2026/08/28/v...
vancouver.citynews.ca
Memorial honours Japanese Canadians incarcerated at Hastings Park
For Daniel Tokawa, the pain of having his community ripped apart by prejudiced policies from eight decades ago is finally beginning to heal.
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Ordinary Notes @hystericalblkns.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
I'm going to keep posting this by @blacklikewho.bsky.social because i think its analyses are right on. It is urgent and brilliant. canadiandimension.com/articles/vie...
canadiandimension.com
The university is the crisis
The crisis of the university is its inability to be honest about the nature of its self-induced crisis. Its leaders or senior managers often share the perspectives of those who wish the university to ...
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Tristan Felix B. @tristiger.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
📢 Japan peeps 🚨 Tomorrow is the last day to submit a comment about proposed changes to permanent residency requirements 🚨 If you have feelings, stories, stats, etc. let them know 🙌🏻
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Yuzhou @baiy.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
There have been several major East Asian librarian positions opened up this summer at major public and private institutions across the US. I'm helping CEAL maintain a webpage, where we publicize many such job postings. Please bookmark and share it: www.eastasianlib.org/newsite/cate...
eastasianlib.org
Jobs – CEAL: Council on East Asian Libraries
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Dominic Pettman @dominicpettman.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
Me, walking my students through the syllabus.
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Carolina VonKampen 📚 Freelance Editor @carolinavonkampen.com · 22/08/2026
Anyone available for a 22K-word PDF proofread in the next week? It’s a nonfic self-help book by a family medicine doctor w/ stories about the concept of karma that I substantive edited, copyedited, and designed. You'll work directly with me. Tell me your rate (flat or hourly). DM for more info!
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Banshee Lover's Rage @annlynzee.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
Translator Jan Mitsuko Cash gets standing ovation after winning Best Translation and calling on the manga publishers to double their rates and describes the poor working conditions of translators that create their success.
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Akito INOUE @hiyokoya6.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
I co-edited an English-language book, Japanese Game Studies: A Guide to Studying Japanese Games link.springer.com/book/9789819... and it is now out. The project started back in 2021, so it has taken us five years to finally get it published... hiyokoya.hatenadiary.jp/entry/2026/0...
hiyokoya.hatenadiary.jp
Japanese Game Studies: A Guide to Studying Japanese Games - Critique of Games メモと寸評
I co-edited an English-language book, Japanese Game Studies: A Guide to Studying Japanese Games https://link.springer.com/book/9789819598564 and it is now out. The project started back in 2021, so it ...
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Vancouver Island Local History Society @vilocalhistory.bsky.social · 25/05/2026
The Great Vancouver Island Land Grab explores the history and legacy of the Esquimalt & Nanaimo Railway land grant of the 1880s. This travelling exhibit looks at what happened, who was affected, and why the story still matters today #BCHistory #VancouverIsland youtu.be/xJ7P0rP95d8?...
youtu.be
The Great Vancouver Island Land Grab (Exhibit Trailer - English)
YouTube video by Vancouver Island Local History Society
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Stephen Guy-Bray @stephengb.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
The University of Toronto is advertising a tenure-track job in Global Anglophone Literature and Postcolonial Theory. I pasted information below. Full details: jobs.utoronto.ca/job/Toronto-... Closing Date: October 15, 2026
jobs.utoronto.ca
Assistant Professor - Global Anglophone Literature
Assistant Professor - Global Anglophone Literature
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Vancouver Island Local History Society @vilocalhistory.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
The next stop for The Great Vancouver Island Land Grab exhibit is Duncan! You can see the exhibit at the #Cowichan Branch of the @vilibrary.bsky.social beginning August 26th. Check it out with your friends and family, and let us know what you think! TheGreatLandGrab.ca #VILandGrab
Graphic with a green background and the outline of grabbing hands. “The great vancouver island land grab. Next stop: Duncan, BC. Cowichan Branch, VI regional library.”
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Erin Grievances @erinbartram.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
If you are interested in this assignment, here's how I designed/used it.
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Michael Coyle @oplopanax.ca · 03/08/2026
Details of celebration of life for Mike
Image describing details of celebration of life for Michael Coyle. Sunday August 9, 4-5:30 pm Dogwood Pavilion/Community Centre 1655 Winslow Avenue Coquitlam BC. email mfcmemorial2026@gmail.com for link to livestream. Photos of Mike waring red hat hat, in helicopter looking backward, with his partner and son, and hiking.
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sakura christmas @prof-christmas.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
Absolutely chilling that this is happening to a colleague in our field, a specialist of Cambodian Buddhism, who has served on committees for @asianstudies.org
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Laleh Khalili @lalehkhalili.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
I had the pleasure of reviewing Nadine Attwell's wonderful Archives of Intimacy: Racial Mixing and Chinese Lives in the Colonial Port City, 1905–1949 (www.sup.org/books/histor...) and also writing about women seafarers. www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
lrb.co.uk
Laleh Khalili · Canton Kitty: Seafaring
Seafaring is a bundle of contradictions. It is highly skilled labour, yet mostly invisible. Lower ratings of seafarers...
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Nadine Attewell @nadineattewell.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
While everyone is reading that LRB review of a celebrated film about seafarers… Deeply appreciate being read by @lalehkhalili.bsky.social for an article on women and seafaring and seafaring women.
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Jessica Smith @thedaybooks.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
It’s nice to see everyone’s textual analysis of The Odyssey It’s almost like the humanities give you entertainment, feelings, pleasure, and fun/interesting stuff to talk about, as well as lenses into both past and current society
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Siobhán McElduff @siobhanmcelduff.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
I think Emily Wilson has earned the right to have whatever opinion she likes about adaptations of Homer. Her translations are amazing achievements and she's already survived several rounds of outrage about a female translator of such a manly poet.
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National Centre for Writing @writerscentre.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
🎉Applications are OPEN for Emerging Translator Mentorships 2026–27! Mentees receive six months of personal mentoring with a mentor in their language or field, as well as invitations to industry events for their professional and creative development.
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Prof Ben Britton @bmatb.expmicromech.com · 17/07/2026
Are you experienced with X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and looking for a new role? Or do you know someone who might be looking? We are recruiting for a Staff Scientist position at UBC. Find out more 👇 Please repost. 🧪🔬 ubc.wd10.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/ubcfac...
ubc.wd10.myworkdayjobs.com
Research Scientist: X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy
Staff - Non Union Job Category M&P - AAPS Job Title Research Scientist: X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy Department Research | B. Britton| Department of Materials Engineering | Faculty of Applied ...
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Robbie Richardson @londonmikmaq.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
My cousin Michelle Sylliboy wrote the words in Mi’kmaq language for an opera being performed in Edinburgh next month! So cool.
eif.co.uk
Get to Know: Indigenous Voices of Canada | Edinburgh International Festival
Two Indigenous poets. Two composers. This is the story how the first half of Voices of Canada came together, where Indigenous artists and voices take centr
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Trans News Network @transnews.network · 02/07/2026
Since our founding last summer Trans News Network has taken on everything from the New York Times' bigotry to Epstein's anti-trans cronies and much, much more. As a worker-run news org, we're dedicated to journalism that's in-depth, hard-hitting and unrepentantly radical. Help us keep doing it:
transnewsnetwork.networkforgood.com
Trans News Network's First Anniversary Fundraiser
Since our founding nearly a year ago, Trans News Network has exposed how The New York Times' bigotry is directed from the very top , revealed Epstein's extensive network of anti-trans cronies, sh...
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Dr Surekha Davies, Historical Monster Consultant (she/her) @drsurekhadavies.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
Hunting for a #FathersDay gift? How about a book that blends history, science, & pop culture? HUMANS: A MONSTROUS HISTORY is a history of the category of the human, told through ideas about monsters and monster-making. 💙📚 🧪🗃 #ancient #medieval #earlymodern #18thC #histsci #histmed #politics 1/
Row of copies of Humans: A Monstrous History, a red hardback with yellow lettering visible on the spine. One copy in the centre faces outwards. The red cover shows an oval, silver-coloured mirror with a black frame comprised of sci-fi and fantasy monsters, with "Humans" in yellow lettering in a stylized font with details that resemble whale-tails and bats’ wings at the top, curving around the mirror. Just inside the top curve is the subtitle: A Monstrous History. Along the bottom curve of the mirror: Surekha Davies.Hardback book open to colour plates, with one large plate on each page. The plates show richly coloured scenes of people. Left: Seven African-descended people and one Indigenous American (dressed in feather garments and with a bow and arrow) are arranged in three tiers. All but one figure is in fine European clothing; most are short and stocky, or proportioned like children. Right: Turbaned soldiers, some on horseback, watch a naked woman scaling a wall between two cliffs; a male figure, naked from the waist up, rises out of a river.Book open to a page with a black-and-white illustration on the left hand page. The illustration depicts a naked figure with a long, almost elephantine nose and eyelashes; monkeys’ heads at the armpits, dogs’ heads at the elbows and knees; claws for fingers and toes; and a tail. A stream, a tree, and a city appear in the background. Behind the open book are spines of the same book; the main title HUMANS is prominent in yellow. Book spines and back cover in the background.
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Gabrielle Orum Hernández @ghernandez16.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
8. I so appreciate too that Dr. Fleming is naming that gut sense, developed only from that deeply embodied place, as the actual knowledge that carried this moment. she's absolutely right about how intensely that form of knowledge being so deeply discredited in intellectual space.
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Gabrielle Orum Hernández @ghernandez16.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
5. the thing I think we look to AI for is precisely market success. it's why it's so tempting to have it write all job cover letters, especially when speaking from a place of confidence and authority over myself does NOT come naturally.
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Christina Laffin @christinalaffin.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
👀
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Jehannine (J9) Austin @j9austin.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
What a thread! read the whole thing! We all need to be the @alwaystheself.bsky.social in this story… trying to help each other see our value as humans, and using our intuition and speaking our truth..
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Jessie Starling @jstarling.bsky.social · 16/06/2026
Some exciting postdoctoral research opportunities in East Asian religions at University of Oslo, where you can work with the excellent Aike Rots! www.jobbnorge.no/en/available...
jobbnorge.no
Two Postdoctoral Research Fellowships in East Asian Religions (303894) | University of Oslo
Job title: Two Postdoctoral Research Fellowships in East Asian Religions (303894), Employer: University of Oslo, Deadline: Monday, August 31, 2026
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NCC (北米日本研究資料調整協議会) @nccjapaninfo.bsky.social · 13/06/2026
Researching East Asian medical history? Dr. Matthew Hayes recently announced the digitization of Duke Library’s late Edo period medical manuscripts! The collection shows the diversity of medical knowledge in the early 19th c. Explore 63 volumes: archives.lib.duke.edu/catalog/japa... #NCCSpecialist
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Paris Marx @parismarx.com · 11/06/2026
Mark Carney’s AI strategy suggests Canadians’ concerns about AI will evaporate if they become more “literate” about the technology. In trying to boost industry, Carney ignores many of the biggest concerns about generative AI and data centres. If anyone needs to become more AI literate, it’s him.
thetyee.ca
On AI Safety Concerns, Mark Carney Is Out of Step with Canadians | The Tyee
The public is right to be concerned about AI. But Carney and his ministers have framed our reluctance as ignorance.
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vijay iyer @vijayiyer.bsky.social · 08/06/2026
Some wisdom from the great Mary Bassett, whom Harvard forced out of her leadership role at the François-Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health and Human Rights last winter www.thecrimson.com/article/2026...
thecrimson.com
There’s No Room for Palestine in “Viewpoint Diversity” | Opinion | The Harvard Crimson
Harvard’s guiding imperative is defending the restoration of $3 billion in federal grants, which apparently means appeasing those in the Trump administration who have decreed that any discussion of Pa...
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Hatshepsout @hatchepsout.eurosky.social · 04/06/2026
L’artiste franco-iranienne Marjane Satrapi, est « morte de tristesse un peu plus d’un an après le décès de Mattias Ripa, son mari et l’amour de sa vie », indique un communiqué de ses proches, transmis jeudi 4 juin à l’Agence France-Presse (AFP).
static.klipy.com
Black White Feminism: Melancholy Smoke
Alt: Anime d'une femme accablée qui fume une cigarette. Issue du film Persepolis de Marjane Satrapi.
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