iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Dr Dave Hitchcock @davehitchcock.bsky.social · 14h

I'm casting around a bit for a good focused piece on the value and purpose of historiography. There's always a chapter of Jordanova etc to fall back on, but does anyone use anything a bit more spicy?

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Stephen Graham @stephengraham.bsky.social · 21h

I had this bit about Jeffrey Archer from the 1995 HIGNFY video memorised for whenever I needed a handy fact about him.

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👻 🎃 🦇 Bela Lughosti's Dad 🏳️‍⚧️ 🇵🇸 @belalugosisdad.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

This is why I've always disagreed with the idea that "art" is purely subjectively defined. Art is a communication. The listener/viewer completes that communication in recieving it, but it is the intentionality of the creator that makes it art. "AI music" is no more music than traffic noise is.

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University and College Union (UCU) @ucu.org.uk · 30/09/2026

Nottingham today. Everywhere tomorrow. 2,700 staff put at risk. 600+ jobs targeted. At least 48 courses facing closure. What happens here sets the template for the sector. Stand with Nottingham.

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University and College Union (UCU) @ucu.org.uk · 30/09/2026

Our members at Nottingham University commence strike action today over threats to hundreds of jobs and course closures. Please show them solidarity as they head onto picket lines this morning.

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Jessica Ellis @baddestmamajama.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

I have separated the art from the artist and am now whipping the art to stiff peaks, after which I will gently fold it into the artist before baking at 350 til golden and puffed

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The Public Domain Review @publicdomainrev.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

A few of the seven etchings that comprise Käthe Kollwitz's Peasants’ War series (ca. 1901–1908) about the innate dignity, courage, and strength of the poor. More in our latest post here: publicdomainreview.org/collection/k…

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Dr Dave Hitchcock @davehitchcock.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

I spent this thread ticking off how many of these my own dad did (all of it) when I was young. I still hear the words 'take responsibility for your actions' in his voice, suspect I always will. Dealing with violence against women and disrespect in young men goes well past 'a conversation'.

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Ted McCormick @tedmccormick.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

can writing survive the New York Times

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Dr Dave Hitchcock @davehitchcock.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

(Burnham's speech) Tying a change to the pensions triple lock up with a new national care service is very smart politically. It's probably also sound public policy although I doubt a fully national care service can be paid for only through this change.

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Dr Dave Hitchcock @davehitchcock.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

If the UK HE 'Situation' has made it itself clear this far 'out' into wider policy discourse, as it were, you know it's real bad. Like internationally noticeably bad.

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Carl Zimmer @carlzimmer.com · 27/09/2026

Four days ago, a scientist was surprised by the news that Anthropic discovered new virus genes for making DNA. He says he’s been studying them for years—and feeding his data to Anthropic’s AI as part of his own research. Coincidence? Here’s my story. nyti.ms/3VSWayc

nyti.ms

Did Anthropic’s A.I. Really Make a Scientific Discovery on Its Own? (Gift Article)

An expert at the University of Copenhagen said his team had been sharing its research with the company’s A.I. model, Claude, and that its new finding matched their work.

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Dr Dave Hitchcock @davehitchcock.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

How are they going to enforce the Oath? But seriously for a moment, what, other than the grim pursuit of money, are we actually doing here?

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Dr Charlotte Parsonson-Young @charlie-l-y.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

On Saturday 10th October @cromwellorg.bsky.social is holding our annual Study Day, this year in Worcester on the theme of 'Ending the Civil Wars'. All welcome, and tickets are available for both in-person or online attendance. Registration closes 2nd October. #earlymodern #britishcivilwars

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Carl T. Bergstrom @carlbergstrom.com · 26/09/2026

Does my Speak-n-Spell feel pain when I type O-U-C-H? The jury is out. Philosophers and neuroscientists say that's fucking stupid, but I called a guy from the Center for Pretending that Household Electronics Are Sentient and he said there's no way to know for sure.

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Dr Dave Hitchcock @davehitchcock.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

A thing I think about is that the guys absolutely in the tank for AI cannot in any universe "out sci-fi" me, a Humanities guy. I've read all of it. I've been reading it since I was like six. I get every single reference they think they own. I am not on their side because of that reading.

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Josh Shepperd @joshshepperd.bsky.social · 17/06/2026

I feel like digital humanities was this great 15 year moment of techno-optimism that created solid resources and showed how old media connected to new media. Whereas AI is going to introduce a period of techno-cannibalism designed to devour digital humanities labor and anyone else in its proximity.

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Dr Dave Hitchcock @davehitchcock.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Damn I just got done supporting an entirely normal and real human with one of these MSCAs and now I learn that application is going to get swamped in a sea of autocomplete horseshit.

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Retraction Watch @retractionwatch.com · 24/09/2026

"If medical schools and universities don't want the literature to be overwhelmed with garbage," Oransky said, "then they should probably stop giving every applicant ... an incentive to publish a lot of crap."

medpagetoday.com

Is AI Flooding Medical Journals With 'Meaningless' Research?

'It's not fraudulent, and it's not really slop,' one expert says

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Dr Dave Hitchcock @davehitchcock.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

This post has the Michel de Montaigne seal of approval.

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Dr Dave Hitchcock @davehitchcock.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

'History is a Human Craft'. In piece about ethics, our classrooms and AI, I suppose I've put up my barricades and drawn my lines. I suggest 8 'considerations' before we do any teaching with AI. This is part of a new @royalhistsoc.org short series on 'AI and History Teaching' in Transactions.

blog.royalhistsoc.org

History is a human craft | Historical Transactions

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Dr Dave Hitchcock @davehitchcock.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

UKRI is using AI to "screen" grant applications? That is beyond awful and we are so very screwed.

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Paris Marx @parismarx.com · 24/09/2026

Just when I think I can’t hate OpenAI and Sam Altman any more, new details come out about how ChatGPT helped a shooter plan one of the worst mass shootings in Canadian history in Tumbler Ridge, BC. OpenAI made an explicit decision not to report the user to authorities.

motherjones.com

ChatGPT helped the Tumbler Ridge school shooter focus on guns, tactics, and terror, our investigation reveals

OpenAI’s chatbot fed the shooter’s violent fantasies and planning up to the massacre.

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Dr Dave Hitchcock @davehitchcock.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

blog.royalhistsoc.org

History is a human craft | Historical Transactions

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Dr Dave Hitchcock @davehitchcock.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Some of us have to write long papers about why AI is a bullshit engine. The youth, however, clearly just get it.

Is “That’s AI” the new “six-seven”? No, this bit of slang means something: the young people have simply broadened the definition of AI to make it equivalent to “bullshit”.

So it’s always deployed as an insult? Always.

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Dmitry Grozoubinski @explaintrade.com · 23/09/2026

It seems like the police are assuming the far-right losers are 'looking for an excuse' to do more damage and so must be given maximum space. In fact, they are turning a big dial that says 'thuggery' on it and constantly looking over at the state for the slightest sign of consequences.

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BeijingPalmer @beijingpalmer.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

bit weird given the play is written in early modern English but I'd pay to hear Ēalā Rōmēo, Rōmēo, for hwȳ eart þū Rōmēo? Wiðsace þīnum fæder and forsac þīnne naman; oþþe, gif þū nelt, swere mē þæt þū mīn lēofa sīe, and ne bēo iċ nā lenġ Capulēting.

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Joseph Rezek @rezekjoe.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

I am thrilled to announce that the American Studies Program at Boston University will be accepting new PhD Students for the 27/28 academic year. These are fully funded, unionized, 5-year positions, with 4 semesters of guaranteed dissertation fellowship in years 4 & 5.

Application Deadline: December 15, 2026
The American Studies Program at Boston University is a nationally recognized leader in the interdisciplinary field of American Studies. Our students and faculty study the disparate yet interconnected cultures of colonial North America and the United States as seen in the ideas and actions of its people, and as expressed in a range of forms, especially culture, the arts, media, literature, and institutions - often seen through a global or transnational lens. Formerly known as the American & New England Studies Program, we maintain active collaborations with many cultural institutions in the region, especially in the Boston Area. Our large PhD program has produced tenure-track protessors, public historians, museum curators, and directors at major universities, museums, and other cultural and historical institutions.
Funding Opportunities
PhD students receive full funding for up to five years (12 months a year) under a collective bargaining agreement. During this time, they take courses, teach in their fields and disciplines of interest, and develop and write dissertations. The fellowship package guarantees four semesters of dissertation fellowship in years 4 and 5, with no service obligations Additional funding is available from Boston University for travel to conferences, for archival research, and for internships.
Current students have recently received outside fellowships from the Fulbright Foundation, the American Antiquarian Society, the Massachusetts Historical Society, the Huntington Library, the Smithsonian Institution, the Beinecke Library, the Corning Museum of Glass, the New Bedford Whaling Museum, and the American Historical Association.
Graduate Student Association
The Program's own independent Graduate Student Association (GSA) is comprised of elected PhD students who sponsor events and programs for developing professional skills, while representing our students' interests to the governing faculty.

A list of affiliate faculty, available also on the program’s webpage

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David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

NSF has reduced the research budget for all atmospheric, ocean, and earth sciences by ~80%. 80%! A lot of us will not be conducting new research or training new students for the foreseeable future.

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Dr Dave Hitchcock @davehitchcock.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

The Platonic ideal of the word 'thought' must be screaming in the ether from all the abuse it is currently getting.

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Dr Dave Hitchcock @davehitchcock.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

I have an idea. How about if I catch a student using AI to plagiarise, as punishment they are forced to watch this 'sitcom' and write about how the experience makes them feel.

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Daniel C. Blight @danielcblight.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

To enable such an unprecedented attack on our rights, management have also today announced the de-recognition of the UCU and Unison. The scale of this assault is so extraordinary that the General Secretary of UCU has called a demo on campus tomorrow.

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Dr Dave Hitchcock @davehitchcock.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

While we are on the subject, mathematicians have also had to get a lot of practice now refuting plagiarisms of their work. All these news stories about this or that "AI" smashing millenium problems turn out to be prrrrreeetty shady.

youtube.com

OpenAI's biggest math breakthrough is getting ugly...

YouTube video by Fireship

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Nadine Akkerman @misswalsingham.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

📢Here's a fully funded 4-year PhD position at Leiden within the ERC project LangPro led by Dr Alisa van de Haar, and co-supervised by yours truly, on professional opportunities for women in the early modern language sector: careers.universiteitleiden.nl/job/PhD-Posi... Apply by 15 Oct 2026

careers.universiteitleiden.nl

PhD Position Women in the Early Modern Language Sector

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Craig Lambert @medievalmariner.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

I’m recruiting a Research Fellow in Early Modern Spanish Maritime History to join our ERC-funded Uncharted Maritime Worlds project at the University of Southampton. Please share with anyone who might be interested! www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DSW249/r...

jobs.ac.uk

Research Fellow (Early Modern Spanish Maritime History) 3497426AR at University of Southampton

An opportunity for an academic position as a Research Fellow (Early Modern Spanish Maritime History) 3497426AR is available, as advertised on jobs.ac.uk. Apply now and explore other academic job openi...

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Dr Dave Hitchcock @davehitchcock.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

Yeah I mean it's more than a little apples and oranges, but where I work 'ranks' in this table higher than Glasgow, Nottingham, Sussex, Kent (!), etc.

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Marianne O'Doherty @marianneodoherty.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

Minded to agree on distraction, but there is a wrinkle in the UK results that calls into q the roles of both systems & distraction. Scotland and NI both have reading scores higher than Northern England's. NI also slightly outperforms N England in Maths. Scotland only just lags N England...

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Dr Dave Hitchcock @davehitchcock.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

The star trek timeline to a united Ireland could have been a few years off, let's give rodenberry that much.

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Dr Dave Hitchcock @davehitchcock.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

I argue the minister's remarks are consistent with his belief, which is held much more widely in UK society, that a. "Arts and Humanities" are ornamental, nice to have, cute, and therefore extraneous while b. "Sciences and Maths" are instrumental, necessary, to be supported no matter the cost

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Ben Mechen @benmechen.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Some fascinating Collaborative Doctoral Awards on offer here at the BL, including a great history of sexuality/book history/library history project relating to the Rund Collection of 19th/20thC erotic books and ephemera www.bl.uk/services/res...

bl.uk

Collaborative Doctoral Landscape Awards

Fully-funded and jointly supervised studentships across four developing research areas.

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Dr Dave Hitchcock @davehitchcock.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Yes, this book really explains the profoundly dangerous set of ideas sitting behind all the ai boosterism and Muskesque promises about outer space utopias.

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lastpositivist.bsky.social @lastpositivist.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Wtf do the government want from us here!? They plainly, *plainly*, do not actually want international students. Their whole line of policy for years has been making it more difficult for such people to come here or stay after they graduate! Why are they also out here encouraging us to attract more!?

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Dr Dave Hitchcock @davehitchcock.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Every course having a mandatory "AI Trailblazer" shows us all how absolutely desperate this is getting. Thou shalt use generative ai we paid for it the beatings will stop when ai is used, etc.

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Asheesh Kapur Siddique @asheeshks.org · 09/09/2026

The public respects math and many sciences because they are complex, seen as expert-driven and intelligible only via expertise. But many people seem to believe that human culture is simply and does not require real expertise or sophisticated, technical interpretation to understand

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Dr Dave Hitchcock @davehitchcock.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

I am proud that Canada is stepping up and in with the UK and France on the settlements and the assault on a two-state solution.

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Dr Dave Hitchcock @davehitchcock.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

No. I will continue to make literacy in general and historical literacy in particular the foundation of my course design.

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