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Chris Slaby

@cjslaby.bsky.social
1.5K followers 977 following 784 posts

Scholar, teacher, writer, earth human person (he/him/his). Art + history: Native American and Indigenous Studies; the environmental humanities; media, culture, and representation. Food and music, too, though those are more passions than subjects of study.

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Reposted by Chris Slaby
Jacqueline Antonovich @jackiantonovich.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
In 1974, Cornell lecturer Lin Farley began recognizing a pattern in the experiences women shared in her Women and Work course: women were being pushed out of jobs by men’s sexual behavior. Farley coined the term, “sexual harassment.”
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Michael Lobel @mlobelart.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
This 1890 painting by Van Gogh of flowering chestnut trees, which hasn't been seen publicly in over 50 years, and which goes on sale - along with modern works by the likes of Cezanne, Monet & others - at Sotheby's in NY in November👀 www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...
Painting of flowering trees, primarily in shades of green, with figures below and built structures in the background
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Dustin A. Chacón @lingdustin.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
I've heard people make claims that AI would lead to a new Renaissance, but I didn't imagine it'd happen like this:
Screenshot of a Tweet from Pope Leo XIV. It reads: 

"In this era of artificial intelligence, it is becoming urgen to distinguish human art from what machines produce. There is an ontological difference, even before an aesthetic one, between art and what a machine can generate through statistical calculation based on millions of images created by others. Algorithms lack the spark of humanity. For this reason, the Church wishes to renew an alliance with artists and cultural institutions to safeguard our humanity."
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Jesse Locker @jessemlocker.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
If you’re near Hartford, be sure to catch this lecture, “Conserving Artemisia Gentileschi’s, Hercules and Omphale” by Ulrich Birkmaier, Senior Conservator of Paintings at the Getty Museum, at the Wadsworth October 22
thewadsworth.org
Public Lecture | Conserving Artemisia Gentileschi’s Hercules and Omphale September 3, 2026 | The Wadsworth
Artemisia Gentileschi’s painting Hercules and Omphale was severely damaged in a 2020 explosion in Beirut. Over 200 people died, and cultural heritage
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Bathsheba Demuth @brdemuth.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Being in this role has already been exciting — keep the proposals coming!
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Rob Delaney @robdelaney.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Massive apologies to those affected by our viral marketing stunt gone wrong 😬🐳 exploringthegreats.com/moby-dick @hesterblum.bsky.social
Thumbnail from Hester Blum & Rob Delaney’s Moby-Dick podcast.
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University of Washington Press @uwapress.uw.edu · 01/10/2026
We are thrilled to announce Bathsheba Demuth as the new series editor of Weyerhaeuser Environmental Books, succeeding Paul S. Sutter. We’re grateful to Paul for 12 years of extraordinary leadership and excited to see Bathsheba carry the series into its next chapter! @brdemuth.bsky.social
uwpressblog.com
Bathsheba Demuth Appointed Weyerhaeuser Environmental Series Editor
Bathsheba Demuth steps in as the new series editor for Weyerhaeuser Environmental Books at the University of Washington Press, succeeding Paul S. Sutter.
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Devin Fitzgerald, bibliothot @devinfitz.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Participant bios for this dream team! cegs.ucla.edu/call-for-par...
cegs.ucla.edu
“Prints Across the Pacific, 1565–1815/Estampas a través del Pacífico, 1565–1815” | Getty Connecting Art Histories Project 2026–28 – CMRS Center for Early Global Studies
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Melissa Johnson, PhD @ladyhistorian.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
We should let people dream of something besides labor
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Melissa Johnson, PhD @ladyhistorian.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
I am tired of having to pretend that the value of studying my discipline solely rests on the "marketable skills" we teach. Sometimes things are just worth knowing and doing because they make your life bigger and richer.
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Michael Lobel @mlobelart.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Journals should now probably be requiring peer reviewers to sign statements that they will not upload submissions they're reviewing into any external AI platform; wondering if any editorial boards are discussing this currently
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Sonja Drimmer @sonjadrimmer.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
In this article I offer a critical history of the infiltration of the AI industry into the historical humanities (art history in particular) since the early 2010s. It’s not actually about “Gen” AI but AI writ large. (I don’t write the titles!) www.artforum.com/features/gen...
artforum.com
MACHINE YEARNING
Sonja Drimmer critically examines art historians’ recent embrace of generative AI as a tool for humanities research.
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Sonja Drimmer @sonjadrimmer.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
bsky.app/profile/sonj...
Screenshot of post by me

Sonja Drimmer
@sonjadrimmer.bsky.social
This is very unfortunate! And I'm sorry both for the staff of the Bodleian and all of us who rely on its resources. Does this make you and your colleagues at the Bodleian rethink your partnership with OpenAl given that their guiding principle is likewise to exploit the data from your collections?
7:24 AM • Mar 11, 2026
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Sonja Drimmer @sonjadrimmer.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
I’ve been writing and speaking on this topic for years, and I’m glad that news media are finally drawing attention to it. www.salon.com/2026/07/28/t...
It may be tempting to see value in projects such as the Schmidt Foundation — that’s Eric Schmidt of Google — funding a fellowship in AI at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, or the Musk Foundation’s support of the Scroll Prize to use AI in reconstructing ancient texts in the burnt scrolls of Herculaneum. But these projects are simply two among countless others that have been seeding AI into museums and historical research for well over a decade. Even more egregious is the case of AI companies buying  and destroying rare books en masse in the process of scanning them for data. In the context of the dire austerity we are witnessing, the juggernaut of tech money seems impossible to resist.
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Sara Pritchard @sarabpritchard.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
#envhist of space And the night sky 🌌🌠 -->🛰🛰🛰🛰🛰
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Laura Helmuth @laurahelmuth.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Not everybody knows this, and everybody should. On Sept. 26, 1983, a Soviet nuclear warning system alerted Stanislav Yevgrafovich Petrov that the U.S. had launched a missile attack. He did not retaliate, preventing WWIII. This is a post about AI. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanisl...
en.wikipedia.org
Stanislav Petrov - Wikipedia
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NiCHE Canada @nichecanada.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
"Sea and Steppe" by @ultradaphne.bsky.social is part of the series “Gender and Atlantic Ocean Environments,” co-edited with Written in the Waves journal, for their special issue Soil and Sea. niche-canada.org/2026/09/22/s... #envhist #envhum #migration
niche-canada.org
Sea and Steppe
Many poets have compared kovyla, the native feather grass of the Ukrainian steppe, to sea waves. When I look at the ocean I crossed, I can remind myself of who I am and where I came from.
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Sara Pritchard @sarabpritchard.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
🌌 #TransformingNight💡🌃🛰️ from @uwapress.uw.edu drops this Tuesday, Sept 22! Extra thanks to all who preordered! 🤩 Shipping starts today! In the meantime, read an excerpt from the book on @literaryhub.bsky.social #LightPollution #ArtificialLight #ALAN #Night #Darkness lithub.com/what-the-wor...
lithub.com
What the World’s Nightscapes Reveal About Our Dependence on Artificial Light
An image of Earth at night as seen from space appeared on my laptop screen during an internet search. The captivating image with a vague title—“Global Map”—drew me in like an insect mesmerized by t…
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Sara Pritchard @sarabpritchard.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
I'm on @askhistorians.bsky.social today, answering questions about my brand-new book, #TransformingNight, from @uwapress.uw.edu! 🌌💡🌃🛰️ www.reddit.com/r/AskHistori...
reddit.com
From the AskHistorians community on Reddit
Explore this post and more from the AskHistorians community
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Dan Howlett @dhowlett1692.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
Today @sarabpritchard.bsky.social joins us on @askhistorians.bsky.social for a fascinating history from her new book Transforming Night: The History and Science of Light Pollution. Come check it out! www.reddit.com/r/AskHistori...
reddit.com
From the AskHistorians community on Reddit
Explore this post and more from the AskHistorians community
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Jacqueline Antonovich @jackiantonovich.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Anyway, Doctoring the West: Women Physicians and the Politics and Practice of Medicine will be out June 2027.
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Sara Pritchard @sarabpritchard.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
It's Here 🥲
Cover of my new book, Transforming Night
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Robert Groß @robertgro5.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
I thought you all out there should know that Verena Winiwarter was honored with one of the Republic of Austria’s highest awards (Staatspreis für Geschichtswissenschaften, Sonderpreis Lebenswerk) for her work in interdisciplinary #envhist I think that's great! www.ots.at/presseaussen...
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Rare Book School @rarebookschool.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
RBS is currently accepting applications for the following funding opportunities: —𝗔𝗹𝗹 𝗥𝗕𝗦-𝗮𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝘀𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗮𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽𝘀 —𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗠. 𝗖. 𝗟𝗮𝗻𝗴 𝗙𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗶𝗻 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗛𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆, 𝗕𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗵𝘆, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗛𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗛𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗦𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗲𝘀 Details at: rarebookschool.org/scholarships-fellowships #BookSky #RareBooks
A graphic topped by a horizontal black bar features a photo of a group of people standing amongst library stacks full of books bound in bright reds, oranges, yellows, and blues. In the upper right corner is the RBS logo. The man in the foreground holds a large book with a gilded leather binding in his hands. Text reads, “Applications are now open for the following RBS scholarships & fellowships: All RBS-awarded scholarships for both first-time and returning RBS students. Applications due by Sunday, 1 November 2026. The M. C. Lang Fellowship in Book History, Bibliography, and Humanities Teaching with Historical Sources, a two-year fellowship for faculty, librarians, and curators at U.S. liberal arts colleges and small universities. Applications due by Sunday, 6 December 2026. Learn more about these and other RBS funding opportunities at rarebookschool.org/scholarships-fellowships.”
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Jeff Sharlet @jeffsharlet.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
The provost of Dartmouth, at which I teach, has been using AI to write both academic papers & national op-eds, according to brave reporting by @thedartmouth.bsky.social. Many students are already bitter about AI. This leaves us as faculty no ground to stand on. www.thedartmouth.com/article/2026...
thedartmouth.com
Op-eds, academic articles by Provost Santiago Schnell flagged as ‘AI-written’ by ‘near-zero error’ AI detector Pangram
Schnell said he used artificial intelligence for “making writing processes more efficient,” but that AI was not a “substitute” for his own “intellectual judgment or authorship.”
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Anna Kornbluh @annakornbluh.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
who benefits: oligarchs cuz AI is a political project, but who benefits also: corrupt trustees of universities hoovering public money to prop up tech companies with a diffusion crisis faculty need to connect the dots too; join us in chicago for a workshop! www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticket...
zeffy.com
Against the AI Campus: Building Power in Higher Ed
Welcome Reception / October 23 / 6-8 PM Central / Chicago, ILWorkshop / October 24 / 9AM-5 PM Central / University of Illinois-Chicago Email us to inquire…
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McSweeney's @mcsweeneys.net · 22/09/2026
IT IS TIME. buff.ly/pykYN6f
buff.ly
It’s Decorative Gourd Season, Motherfuckers
For the seventeenth year: Welcome to autumn, fuckheads.
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The Organization of American Historians @oah.org · 22/09/2026
📢Congratulations to our new OAH Lecturers! 🎉 We are proud to announce this year’s group of U. S. historians who bring a wealth of knowledge and diverse historical perspectives to the OAH Lectureship Program roster. #OAHLecturer 👉 Meet the new speakers: ow.ly/I0L550ZQhGC
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Princeton University Press @princetonupress.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Now available worldwide, Ann Blair's In the Scholar’s Workshop introduces readers to the hidden hands behind history’s great scholarly works. Learn more: buff.ly/zvTKSFY #History
In the Scholar’s Workshop: Hidden Histories of Collaboration and Authorship by Ann Blair
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Princeton University Press @princetonupress.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
We're thrilled to be co-sponsoring the 2026 E.H. Gombrich Lecture Series next week, 22-24 September at 6:00 pm BST, with @warburginstitute.bsky.social! Dr. Anthony Grafton of @princeton.edu will deliver this three-part lecture series on the life & controversies of Joseph Scaliger. Details below:
Anthony Grafton
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Chris Slaby @cjslaby.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
An academia.edu page is not a personal website! Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.
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Joseph Rezek @rezekjoe.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
BREAKING: Boston University's English department (my dept) recently voted to approve new learning outcomes for the English major, including an anti-AI provision that requires students to “craft and revise writing that is sustained, original, and generated without the assistance of AI."
bu.edu
New Learning Outcomes Announced | English
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Joseph Rezek @rezekjoe.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
This is still the best metaphor
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The New York Times @nytimes.com · 16/09/2026
Breaking News: Annie Dillard, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of the modern classic “Pilgrim at Tinker Creek,” has died at 81.
nyti.ms
Annie Dillard, Meditative Author of ‘Pilgrim at Tinker Creek,’ Dies at 81
Her Thoreau-like account of journeys in the woods, published when she was 28, was the first of many ruminations on life and nature, good and evil.
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Adam Sternbergh @sternbergh.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
RIP Annie Dillard, one of the great, if not the greatest, non-fiction stylists of our time www.nytimes.com/2026/09/16/b...
nytimes.com
Annie Dillard, Meditative Author of ‘Pilgrim at Tinker Creek,’ Dies at 81
Her Thoreau-like account of journeys in the woods, published when she was 28, was the first of many ruminations on life and nature, good and evil.
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Joseph Rezek @rezekjoe.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
You know what gets a library perpetual access to a book??? Purchasing the physical book. I guarantee the publisher won’t come steal it back!!!
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Tim Harford @timharford.ft.com · 13/09/2026
I've been checking the source of quotes for my forthcoming book, and the performance of Gemini is extraordinary. I paste the quote into Google, and Gemini will barge in with the wrong answer over and over again. It's not an occasional thing - it's reliably wrong. Very odd.
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Asheesh Kapur Siddique @asheeshks.org · 15/09/2026
Unfortunately, I don’t buy the idea that AI competency is an ”essential skill” that “must be taught” in college. College is about learning how to learn and that is best done with books and paper. You can figure out AI after college if you want!
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Asheesh Kapur Siddique @asheeshks.org · 15/09/2026
My proposal is the colleges should take whatever money they’re putting into bespoke versions of chatbots and establish generous book allowances + printing quotas for students alongside uniform digital tech bans like what Chicago has done: chicagomaroon.com/53262/news/s...
chicagomaroon.com
Sosc Core to Institute AI Ban, Technology-Free Classrooms This Fall
All social science Core classes will transition to an “analog” approach for the upcoming academic year, restricting in-classroom technology use and banning AI-assisted writing and grading for students...
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Asheesh Kapur Siddique @asheeshks.org · 15/09/2026
Has anyone considered orienting college education around the practice of sitting together and discussing real books, read on paper? www.nytimes.com/2026/09/15/u...
nytimes.com
Universities Sound Warnings About A.I. Even as They Embrace It
As A.I. upends education, university leaders have been all over the map about how to respond. It can be very confusing for students.
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Asheesh Kapur Siddique @asheeshks.org · 15/09/2026
Colleges could subsidize books for students rather than paying for premium versions of ChatGPT
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Karin Wulf @kawulf.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Thanks for reading my 🧵 on the voluminous discourse on higher ed in the US. I have some (probably obv but am noting anyway) thoughts about the phenomenon of endless reflections on higher ed/ flood of higher ed takes. Why is it different fr reporting and personal essays on other industries? 1/
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Karin Wulf @kawulf.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
What’s missing: 1/ Any framing about what higher is or has been that misses the big public investment post-WW2 and then massive disinvestment starting in the 1980s which spirals into rising costs and student debt is disingenuous at best. 5/
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Karin Wulf @kawulf.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
After reading some of the recent pubs and discourse around US higher ed.… I should just stop right here. But here are the three major fallacies of much of what’s out there, three contexts that are missing, and the one big thing that is driving me around the bend (actually already there, but). 1/
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Sonja Drimmer @sonjadrimmer.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
I forgot to append the link from which that quote comes! bsky.app/profile/sonj...
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Sonja Drimmer @sonjadrimmer.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
The popular imagination of education has moved so far away from this that it’s worth reiterating this model and its value. My students don’t need deliverables.
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Sonja Drimmer @sonjadrimmer.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
It’s excellent getting to say to a group of students, We’re gonna read X & we’re gonna spend 75 minutes talking about it, & ideally the way you think about the world & yourself is gonna be a bit more nuanced, complex, & satisfying, & that’s today’s “product.” Or, as @cnygren.bsky.social & I said:
Suggestions
While in recent years universities have promoted student “productivity” (projects, online portfolios of their work, social media posts about their research papers, the list goes on), little of this push to deliver outputs and create content serves the actual purpose of education, which is to foster the capacity to think well, read well, listen well, and look well. Higher education strengthens the process; if we are going toteach sophisticated materials and challenging content, students need to learn how to think,read, listen, and look their way through it. The emphasis on “content creation” is detrimental to the educational mission.
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Asheesh Kapur Siddique @asheeshks.org · 11/09/2026
Universities are subsidizing internal AI tools that are, from the perspective of the humanities, enabling cheating & cognitive outsourcing. The cost in resources is certainly an issue, but the fact that these tools undermine the work we ask students to do is ridiculous www.umass.edu/it/genai/pla...
umass.edu
GenAI Platform : UMass Amherst Information Technology : UMass Amherst
The UMass GenAI platform is an intuitive and user-friendly platform designed to provide the UMass community with equitable access to leading generative AI models, including OpenAI (ChatGPT), Anthropic...
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Apollo @apollo-magazine.com · 05/09/2026
The Bayeux Tapestry chronicles matters of high state, culminating in the Battle of Hastings, but it also contains in its borders motifs that carry a much more riddling message. Irina Dumitrescu looks at the mysteries of the medieval masterpiece.
apollo-magazine.com
The secrets of the Bayeux Tapestry
Everyone knows that the medieval masterpiece chronicles matters of high state, culminating in the Battle of Hastings, but its borders carry a much more riddling message, writes Irina Dumitrescu
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