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David Vail

@davidvailphd.bsky.social
697 followers 413 following 122 posts

Historian of Environment, Agriculture, Science, Medicine, & Public Health. New Project: Vulnerable Harvests: Emergency Conservation in the Cold War Great Plains (Nebraska Press). My posts and views are my own.

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David Vail @davidvailphd.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Aspirational > Functional. Creative > Durable.
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Contingent Magazine @contingent-mag.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
“Historians of science seek to understand bygone worldviews in their full complexity, however strange, sometimes laughable, or downright reprehensible those might be . . . It’s a vital tool for seeing modern science as part of—not liberated from—a still-unfolding story.“
contingentmagazine.org
They Thought What?
Unpacking the history (and present) of science
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David Vail @davidvailphd.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
Key questions for all colleges and universities in this moment: What is your commitment to humanities work (Faculty, Students, Programs, etc..)? And how will we know? Supporting us is key for facing what's ahead for our students and communties.
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David Vail @davidvailphd.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
We teach to nurture people. Humanities provide the nourishment and the durable skills.
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David Vail @davidvailphd.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
"When you study the past...You’re learning about cause and effect, greed and goodness, the sorts of contests and the interplay of dynamics that set the course of events. You can’t name a line of work or describe a kind of life that isn’t nourished by that knowledge."
nytimes.com
Opinion | For a Bonkers New World, a ‘Brave New World’
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David Vail @davidvailphd.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
unknews.unk.edu
Vail, Ziolkowski, Beissel Heath selected for endowed faculty positions at UNK - UNK NEWS
The appointments support their continued academic and professional work.
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David Vail @davidvailphd.bsky.social · 18/07/2026
www.npr.org/2026/07/18/n...
npr.org
This unusual, Johnny Carson-backed fund has helped Nebraska arts survive — until now
A unique public-private endowment has long shielded Nebraska's cultural scene from federal budget cuts. But a massive state deficit is putting its future in jeopardy.
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David Vail @davidvailphd.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
unknews.unk.edu
A New Chapter: UNK partners with nonprofit to preserve legacy of Nebraska author Mari Sandoz - UNK NEWS
"We have much yet to learn from her life and writing."
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Kansas History @kshistoryjournal.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
The American Agriculture Movement and the 1979 tractorcade are the subject of our new oral history series. Here, you'll read about Peggy Arensman's experience, an interview conducted by the Kinsley Public Library and supported by Humanities Kansas. Introduction by Jim Leiker. #kansashistory
Image of farm tractors on a street with the U.S. capitol building in the background.
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David Vail @davidvailphd.bsky.social · 28/05/2026
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David Vail @davidvailphd.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
Only hire humans.
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David Vail @davidvailphd.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
nytimes.com
Opinion | This Is Who’s Really Driving the Decline in Interest in Liberal Arts Education
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David Vail @davidvailphd.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
nytimes.com
Opinion | A Defense of a Liberal Arts Education in the Age of A.I.
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David Vail @davidvailphd.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
New LEGO build to start summer break. DC-3 PamAm. Catch me if you can.
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David Vail @davidvailphd.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
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David Vail @davidvailphd.bsky.social · 08/05/2026
It's Commencement!!!!! CONGRATULATIONS student colleagues!! I'm so honored to celebrate with you today!!! Epic adventures await!
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McSweeney's @mcsweeneys.net · 27/04/2026
Q: How will this new technology benefit overworked faculty? A: By allowing Skynet to relieve you of tasks tedious enough to merit paid employment, you can free up time for unremunerated pursuits.
buff.ly
Frequently Asked Questions About Our Innovative New EdTech Collaboration
“With a free Skynet Edu account, students can gain the career-readiness needed to navigate an exciting future in which they will be hunted by a remorseless, ...
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Dolly Jørgensen @dollyjorgensen.bsky.social · 26/04/2026
A reminder that you can join our online book talk with John Scanlan on The Idea of Waste: On the Limits of Human Life (Reaktion Books, 2025) tomorrow (Monday 27 Apr 2026), 4pm Central European time / 3pm in the UK / 10 am Eastern Info to join: newnatures.org/greenhouse/e...
The idea of waste cover with a cave full of garbage and a ray of light coming down
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David Vail @davidvailphd.bsky.social · 26/04/2026
Humanities gives you discernment.
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Patrick McCray @patrickmccray.bsky.social · 25/04/2026
As I enter Day #2 of a workshop about A.I. and the humanities, one dominated by philosophers, I am recalling the danger of "charismatic technologies" Charisma is a powerful attribute. But so is wisdom. lareviewofbooks.org/article/sell...
lareviewofbooks.org
Selling a Charismatic Technology | Los Angeles Review of Books
Historian of technology Patrick McCray reviews Morgan Ames’s new book on the MIT Media Lab’s One Laptop per Child program.
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Dolly Jørgensen @dollyjorgensen.bsky.social · 24/04/2026
In case you missed it, links for our massive book talk series 👇
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Dolly Jørgensen @dollyjorgensen.bsky.social · 22/04/2026
You can listen to/watch our recorded Greenhouse environmental humanities book talk conversation with Michael Lobel on Van Gogh & the End of Nature here: 🎥 newnatures.org/greenhouse/e... 🎧 newnatures.org/greenhouse/p... #EarthDay #envhum
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David Vail @davidvailphd.bsky.social · 22/04/2026
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David Vail @davidvailphd.bsky.social · 21/04/2026
I'm thrilled to mark 10 years at University of Nebraska at Kearney. Honored to be part of this dynamic campus. I'm grateful to my student colleagues most and dedicate this to them. It's been a very special thing to share these moments with you over the years. Thank you.
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Dolly Jørgensen @dollyjorgensen.bsky.social · 20/04/2026
Due to technical difficulties with no internet service for the author, our #envhum book with John Scanlan on The Idea of Waste: On the Limits of Human Life (Reaktion Books, 2025) will be NEXT MONDAY, 27 April, at 4pm in Norway / 3pm in UK. newnatures.org/greenhouse/e...
John Scanlan, The Idea of Waste: On the Limits of Human Life. Announcement for book talk with cover on right side.
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David Vail @davidvailphd.bsky.social · 03/04/2026
I'm thrilled to talk about some of my latest scholarship next week at Colorado State University's Sustainable Landscape Collaboratory. If you are in Fort Collins, please stop by. Excited to discuss shelterbelts.
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Dolly Jørgensen @dollyjorgensen.bsky.social · 19/03/2026
Now available for preorder (publishes in June 2026): Unsettling Extinction, edited by Roman Bartosch, Ursula Heise & Kate Rigby www.bloomsbury.com/uk/unsettlin... I have an article in this called "Extinction as Cultural Heritage"
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David Vail @davidvailphd.bsky.social · 17/03/2026
Excited to see this project with the University Library of Agder and Center for Gender Equality with Dr. Hilde Røsstad. Only wish I lived closer to attend these in person.
urldefense.com
Oppdagelser: Forskningshistoriens banebrytende kvinner - Universitetet i Agder
I mars 2026 inviterer Universitetsbiblioteket i Agder i samarbeid med Senter for likestilling til en nyskapende foredragsserie med tittelen:
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Dolly Jørgensen @dollyjorgensen.bsky.social · 10/03/2026
“A.I. chatbots contain the sum of all human knowledge” is so egregiously wrong that I don’t know what to say. Chatbots have been trained on corpus of digital(ised) text - ABSOLUTELY NOT the sum of all human knowledge. Paper, experience, embodiment, oral tales all missing. These people are fools!
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David Vail @davidvailphd.bsky.social · 09/03/2026
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David Vail @davidvailphd.bsky.social · 08/03/2026
nytimes.com
When DOGE Unleashed ChatGPT on the Humanities
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Melina Antonia Buns @melinabuns.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
Spring has started to sprout and the @greenhouseuis.net is looking forward to full month with events on everything from climate justice in education over the sea urchins on the menu to the architecture of low-voltage cabins. 🌿 #envhum
Overview of the events happening at the Greenhouse Center for Environmental Humanities during March 2026. For more information about the center, visit the website https://www.uis.no/en/greenhouse. For information about the book talk series, see also https://newnatures.org/greenhouse/
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Patrick McCray @patrickmccray.bsky.social · 27/02/2026
When the NSF was founded in 1950, it was after 5 years of debate and resistance that the agency would be too independent of congressional/presidential oversight... www.science.org/content/arti...
science.org
NSF officials break silence on how AI and quantum now drive agency grantmaking
Leaders acknowledge White House role in controversial moves
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Patrick McCray @patrickmccray.bsky.social · 26/02/2026
"...any metric of agricultural intensity was always the best predictor of acceleration of the decline.” www.nytimes.com/2026/02/26/c...
nytimes.com
Birds Aren’t Just Declining. They’re Declining Faster, a New Study Finds.
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Dolly Jørgensen @dollyjorgensen.bsky.social · 24/02/2026
Official opening of the PITCH project intervention “Carbon Culture. Museum of the Fossil Fuel Age” at the German Museum of Technology in Berlin tonight. Special congrats go to curators Nora Thorade & Eike Heine who have done a fantastic job.
Proud PITCH lead in front of an engine with yellow sign and a banner Carbon CultureWoman in front of exhibition sign: Carbon Culture. We are dependent!Man looking up at a locomotive back with yellow fuel canister with sign in it.
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Patrick McCray @patrickmccray.bsky.social · 23/02/2026
Someone asked me last week what I thought the worst thing about AI products in higher ed was - I replied that they eroded and destroyed the social compact of trust and expertise between teacher and student.
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David Vail @davidvailphd.bsky.social · 24/02/2026
If this passes, it will be a broken promise (even if less than originally planned) that will be hard to forgive. The arts and humanities are the lifeblood of our state. This is poisonous. And the rationales for going forward with this are equally in bad faith. I'm sad for our state.
nebraskaexaminer.com
Nebraska lawmakers propose cutting $5M from state Cultural Endowment Fund • Nebraska Examiner
For the first time, Nebraska lawmakers are slated to remove state tax dollars from a unique endowment fund supporting arts and humanities in the state.
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Dolly Jørgensen @dollyjorgensen.bsky.social · 23/02/2026
New article: Carbon cultures of progress in history of technology museums, by me & Nora Thorade. We examine how #histtech #museums narrate our industrial heritage and make its energy reliance visible or invisible. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.... #envhist #petrocultures
tandfonline.com
Carbon cultures of progress in history of technology museums
The way we narrate our industrial heritage and make its energy reliance visible or invisible matters. In this article, we examine how history of technology museums cultivate narratives of progress ...
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David Vail @davidvailphd.bsky.social · 21/02/2026
Humanities Here. Some questions about A.I.: Aren't the short-term risks and hazards too dangerous for very, very maybe positives? How many learning and job casualties are acceptable? Why give our freedom to know over to a machine that steals and flattens for profit?
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Patrick McCray @patrickmccray.bsky.social · 16/02/2026
"I made a lot of money by stealing the work of other people. How should I share my wealth?"
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Patrick McCray @patrickmccray.bsky.social · 14/02/2026
"The computer has begun to be an instrument for the destruction of history. When society legitimates only those 'data' that are in 'one standard format' and that 'can easily be told to a machine,' then history, memory itself, is annihilated." (Weizenbaum, Computer Power & Human Reason, 1976)
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Dolly Jørgensen @dollyjorgensen.bsky.social · 12/02/2026
It is so important to keep hammering in this point. People always ask me why I would have to go visit archives - why not just look at a scan? Because they haven’t been scanned! And they are never going to be! There are millions & millions of pieces of paper in every archive.
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David Vail @davidvailphd.bsky.social · 13/02/2026
nytimes.com
Opinion | A.I. Companies Are Eating Higher Education
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David Vail @davidvailphd.bsky.social · 11/02/2026
Tomorrow, if you can make it. Kearney Public Library.
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Patrick McCray @patrickmccray.bsky.social · 08/02/2026
On "wishful worries" and other myths of technology (“When someone says ‘algorithm,’ start searching for the people.”) @dcbrock.bsky.social's 2019 essay is worth a re-read lareviewofbooks.org/article/our-...
lareviewofbooks.org
Our Censors, Ourselves: Commercial Content Moderation | Los Angeles Review of Books
David C. Brock considers two recent books about largely unseen workforce moderating the tech giants.
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David Vail @davidvailphd.bsky.social · 02/02/2026
We need an additional "I might be a robot" button for websites.
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Melina Antonia Buns @melinabuns.bsky.social · 02/02/2026
I am running a course on the Histories of Energy Transitions this spring, starting 2 March! The course is fully online and asynchronous and it is open to students at ECIU universities as well as anyone enrolled at Norwegian universities. #energyhistory For more information, see below ⤵
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Dolly Jørgensen @dollyjorgensen.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
We have an online information meeting about our new Masters in Public Environmental Humanities program TODAY (Jan 27) at 14:00 Central European time. If you are interested in finding out more, register to attend the meeting (near bottom of this page): www.uis.no/en/studies/t... #envhist #envhum
uis.no
Establishing a secure connection ...
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Dolly Jørgensen @dollyjorgensen.bsky.social · 26/01/2026
Coming up in about 20 min! Hope to see many of you there for the live talk and discussion.
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