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Vanessa Lamb

@drvanessalamb.bsky.social
855 followers 1.3K following 63 posts

Geographer. Associate Professor @ York University, Toronto. previously University of Melbourne. Political Ecology. Rivers, Borders, Sand, Dams, Climate, Justice, Southeast Asia. www.yorku.ca/professor/vanessa-lamb

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Reposted by Vanessa Lamb
Shawn Micallef @shawnmicallef.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
So much respect for this, and the framing. ABC, the right wing version of Progress Toronto, has used health care workers/hospitals as reason to rip them out. This puts a lie to that (and on University ambulances can bypass cars in the wide bikelanes if needed). So many lies.
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Anne Helen Petersen @annehelen.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
This is *the* piece. Kate Manne, professor of philosophy at Cornell, speaks truth to the totality of failures at the university — and why students protesting the war in Gaza have faced far harsher consequences than any of the Cornell 7: www.thecut.com/article/what...
thecut.com
What It Feels Like at Cornell Right Now
As a professor at the Ivy League school, Kate Manne has known many, many victims. There’s a palpable feeling on campus, she writes, that this is big.
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Tressie McMillan Cottom @tressiemcphd.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Please try to reclaim your precious precious attention, at all costs. Do puzzles. Take walks without a phone. Dear god, try to read, almost anything that isn’t a manifesto will really do. You are going to need your brain.
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Canadian Dimension @canadiandimension.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
"The university is not just in crisis. The university is the crisis." Rinaldo Walcott (@blacklikewho.bsky.social) argues that Jason Arday's death lays bare a broken academic system built on unequal power, gatekeeping, and the grinding machinery of institutional recognition.
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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Rolling Stone @rollingstone.com · 25/08/2026
Dolly Parton's family asked that, in lieu of flowers, fans make a donation to the singer's Imagination Library. Here's what the charity does ⬇️ www.rollingstone.com/music/music-...
rollingstone.com
Turning Pages: Inside Dolly Parton's Imagination Library
Core team of 15 staff and thousands of volunteers and partners help the country-music philanthropist deliver books to kids around the world.
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Anna Kornbluh @annakornbluh.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
happy first day of school! teaching college does not get easier. below are some resources for solidarity, courage, inspiration, collaboration first: assignment ideas, syllabus language, memes and more for the pro-learning classroom against-a-i.com
against-a-i.com
AGAINST AI -
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Joseph Fasano @josephfasano.bsky.social · 24/08/2026
Back to school. ❤️
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Mrs. Betty Bowers @mrsbettybowers.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
Oops!
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Tressie McMillan Cottom @tressiemcphd.bsky.social · 22/08/2026
I remember when many of us hypothesized this during the MOOC IP grab. It sounded insane. Now:
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Xun-ling Au 歐迅灵 🏴 @xunlingau.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
"Over the past three decades, Thai authorities have pressured Karen villagers to leave their homes in the Kaeng Krachan National Park, at times violently, including by raiding their villages, burning their farms & properties & forcibly relocating them" And now deporting them to Myanmar... horrific
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Mongabay @mongabay.com · 18/08/2026
Plans to mine marine sand off Indonesia’s Numbing Island have sparked opposition from local fishers and environmental groups. Critics warn that dredging could destroy vital fishing grounds, damage coral reefs, and weaken natural coastal defenses. @basten.bsky.social and Yogi Eka Sahputra report.
mongabay.cc
Sand mining plans spark opposition from fishers in Indonesia’s Riau Islands
NUMBING ISLAND, Indonesia — The waters off Numbing Island, part of the Riau archipelago between Sumatra and Singapore, are among Indonesia’s richest fishing grounds. Local fisher Edy says the…
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Chaucer Doth Tweet @levostregc.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Stoppe callinge them "data centers" and starte callinge them "slop peripherals"
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Emily Fishbein @emilyfishbein11.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
My article, co-written with @jaumannaw.bsky.social, looks at how decades of armed conflict, militarization and strategic ceasefires helped enable Myanmar’s rise as a global rare earth mining hub, and how unchecked extraction endangers lives and the environment (1/3).
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Vanessa Lamb @drvanessalamb.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
New Open Access article on #sandmining "River #Sand and Gravel #Mining: Global Drivers, Impacts, and Pathways for Sustainable Management" agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/...
agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com
River Sand and Gravel Mining: Global Drivers, Impacts, and Pathways for Sustainable Management
Global sand and gravel mining research is fragmented, with impacts widely reported but extraction extent and drivers poorly constrained Hydrogeomorphic processes control mining impacts across spa...
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Tressie McMillan Cottom @tressiemcphd.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
All of the branding finally got me to talk about menopause. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/13/o...
nytimes.com
Opinion | Welcome to the Golden Age of the Crone (Gift Article)
A new generation is not willing to settle for being invisible.
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Vanessa Lamb @drvanessalamb.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
Excited for POLLEN 2026! Antulio Rosales and I organised two panels on #Extraction, Digital Infrastructures + #Nature. @pollenetwork.bsky.social Program here: lnkd.in/grA9wuRB
Poster with text of conference panel title New Frontiers of Extraction
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Vanessa Lamb @drvanessalamb.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
Excited for POLLEN 2026! Antulio Rosales and I organised two panels on #Extraction, Digital Infrastructures + #Nature. @pollenetwork.bsky.social Program here: lnkd.in/grA9wuRB
Poster with text of conference panel title New Frontiers of Extraction
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Vanessa Lamb @drvanessalamb.bsky.social · 05/06/2026
#Rivers for life: procession for Thai Rivers calling attention to transboundary pollution in Mekong, Sai, Kok, Ruak and Salween.
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Mitchell Volk @mvolk.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
Well holy crap. Erin Brockovich (yes, the same one the led the Hinkley, CA toxic groundwater lawsuit in ‘93) launched a website tracking AI data centers across the US and the ecological impacts to the environment and drinking water. MN is riddled with them. www.brockovichdatacenter.com
Erin Brockovich leading the charge on tracking AI data centers across the US
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Ethel Tungohan @tungohan.bsky.social · 08/05/2026
What happens in writing retreats? How should we change the conditions of our work to enable us to write + think? @nishanath.bsky.social & I listen to voice memos I taped during my last retreat and chat all things writing @academicaunties.com! www.academicaunties.com/episodes/wri... #academicsky
academicaunties.com
Writing Retreats
For this episode of the podcast, we tackle writing, writing retreats, and why writing can be, and probably should be, a community-based practice. Last m...
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Vanessa Lamb @drvanessalamb.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
The connections made here between food, kitchens and the pollution of #Mekong and #Salween Rivers is important. apnews.com/article/rare...
apnews.com
Rare earth mining is poisoning Mekong River tributaries, threatening 'the world's kitchen'
Toxic runoff from rare earth mines in Myanmar is contaminating rivers that flow into Thailand, threatening the Mekong River and its basin's fisheries and farmland.
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CSEASI-ICESEA @cseasi-icesea.bsky.social · 29/04/2026
The @cseasi-icesea.bsky.social is offering two awards of $3,250 each for students from Southeast Asian countries currently studying in Canada. For eligible grad students, don't forget to apply by April 30:
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Vanessa Lamb @drvanessalamb.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
I am very excited to read this! congratulations Sarah! @china-geographies.bsky.social
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Vanessa Lamb @drvanessalamb.bsky.social · 22/04/2026
The #Salween as well as the #Mekong River (2 major rivers in Southeast Asia) are now contaminated with arsenic etc likely from mining upstream in #Myanmar. Thai scholars have already deemed this a crisis and many locals are doing the best they can to draw attention to the issue. bit.ly/48hhHEk
bit.ly
Asia’s longest free-flowing river contaminated by arsenic linked to Myanmar mines
MAE HONG SON, Thailand — Saw Si Paw Rak Salween guns the wooden fishing boat’s engine and steers along the river that inspired his family name. He is ethnic Karen — his parents migrated from Myanmar’s...
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Vanessa Lamb @drvanessalamb.bsky.social · 22/04/2026
‘How can we work in #Myanmar, and not be in #solidarity with civil society?’ a new article with Sophia Htwe, Saw John Bright and Anne Décobert, raises and attempts to address how to enact solidarity in difficult time for Myanmar onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
‘We need solidarity’: Reflections on Building and Troubling Solidarity in Research Ethics in Myanmar
Calls for solidarity by civil society are taking place alongside changes in how researchers navigate shifting research landscapes. Yet what solidarity-based research entails in practice and how this ...
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Dr Karen Pinder 🇨🇦 🔬 @drkarenpinder.bsky.social · 11/04/2026
Picture of the century. 😍 📷 credit: Science Tube
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Hyun Bang Shin @hyunshin.bsky.social · 28/03/2026
We are hiring - a two-year LSE Fellow in Urban Geography and Planning @lsegeography.bsky.social. The full details can be found here: jobs.lse.ac.uk/Vacancies/W/... Application closing date: 26th April.
jobs.lse.ac.uk
LSE Fellow in Urban Geography and Planning
LSE Fellow in Urban Geography and Planning, , <p style="text-align: center;"><em><span>LSE is committed to building a diverse, equitable and truly inclusive university</span></em></p> <p style="text-a...
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Vanessa Lamb @drvanessalamb.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
@zalifung.bsky.social writes thoughtfully and carefully about the process of doing research in collaboration with human rights lawyer Mueda during the PhD and the key ways this shaped the work. A great paper as part of our Asia Pacific Viewpoint Special Issue! onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Brokers, Collaborators and Knowledge Translators: Expanding the Role of Research Assistants in Geographic Research
While ‘local’ research assistants (RA) often play a key role in knowledge production in fieldwork-based disciplines like geography, their role and agency often remain silenced. This paper brings toge...
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Vanessa Lamb @drvanessalamb.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
A must read for #Myanmar/Burma studies scholars: the Spring IERB Team provide an insider's view of Myanmar's Interim Ethics Review Board formed by displaced academics. Part of our forthcoming Asia Pacific Viewpoint special issue! @zalifung.bsky.social onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Navigating Ethical Review Processes in Conflict‐Affected, Authoritarian Contexts: A Case Study of Myanmar's Interim Ethics Review Board (IERB)
This article examines the formation and operation of Myanmar's Interim Ethics Review Board (IERB), which was established in November 2023 by displaced academics involved in the Civil Disobedience Mov...
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Shawn Micallef @shawnmicallef.bsky.social · 23/03/2026
Ford on Ford violence
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Vanessa Lamb @drvanessalamb.bsky.social · 23/03/2026
Loved this paper on gendered labour and "dance clubs" in #Vietnam by Nga Dao and Quang Phung titled "Rethinking the ‘Defeminization of Agriculture." onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Rethinking the ‘Defeminization of Agriculture’: Land Consolidation and Crop Diversification in Vietnam's Red River Delta
Over the past two decades, agricultural restructuring in Vietnam — driven by land consolidation, crop diversification and modernization — has shifted farming from labour-intensive to capital-intensiv...
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Casey Newton @caseynewton.bsky.social · 10/03/2026
NEWS: Grammarly tells me it will let "experts" like me opt out of having their names used against their will and for no compensation as part of its "expert review" feature www.platformer.news/grammarly-ex...
Grammarly declined my request to interview CEO Shishir Mehrotra today. But it told me that in response to criticisms, it will allow experts to opt out of the feature by emailing expertoptout@superhuman.com.

The company gave me this statement over email:

We’ve heard the feedback about this tool and appreciate the engagement from those who have taken the time to raise thoughtful questions about the functionality and the experts surfaced. We agree that the product experience can be improved for both users and experts. The agent was designed to help users discover influential perspectives and scholarship that add value to their work. We want the people behind those perspectives to have greater control over whether their name is used, while providing new ways for influential voices to reach new audiences. Our goal is to improve Expert Review to deliver this outcome.
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Vanessa Lamb @drvanessalamb.bsky.social · 05/03/2026
Exciting New Paper: The Community Ethics Advisory Board's insights into how to 'ground' research ethics in communities of research at the Thai–Burma border. Part of a special issue coming soon, edited by Anne Décobert, Sophia Htwe + @zalifung.bsky.social). onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Reimagining Research Ethics Through Local Knowledge and Leadership: The Community Ethics Advisory Board on the Thailand–Burma Border
This article examines the Community Ethics Advisory Board (CEAB) on the Thailand–Burma border as a locally led ethics advisory mechanism that complements formal and institutionalised ethics systems w...
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Prachatai English @prachataienglish.com · 25/02/2026
dlvr.it
CIVICUS global campaign urges the release of Mother Nature Cambodia activists
CIVICUS global campaign urges the release of Mother Nature Cambodia activists CIVICUS, a global civil society alliance, calls for the immediate release of five Mother Nature Cambodia environmental rights defenders, who are now featured in its ‘Stand As My Witness’ campaign. The global campaign by CIVICUS urges the release of imprisoned human rights defenders.   Long Kunthea, Ly Chandaravuth, Phuon Keoraksmey, Thun Ratha and Yim Leanghy have been in jail for over 600 days. They were handed prison sentences between six to eight years and are currently held in various prisons in Cambodia.  The activists were among ten members of the environmental group Mother Nature Cambodia convicted on 2 July 2024. The Phnom Penh Capital Court charged them of “plotting against the state” and “insulting the King” due to their peaceful environmental advocacy.   “The conviction and imprisonment of Mother Nature Cambodia activists was clearly aimed at silencing their voices and to stifle activism.  The global Stand As My Witness campaign calls on Cambodian authorities to overturn their unjust convictions. The environmental defenders must be released immediately and unconditionally,” said Rajavelu Karunanithi, Advocacy and Campaigns Officer for Asia at CIVICUS.   Mother Nature Cambodia has a long track record of environmental advocacy in Cambodia. Their work includes raising awareness about destructive infrastructure projects and campaigning against illegal sand mining. The group received the Right Livelihood Award in 2023. However, the members facing charges were prevented by the court from travelling to Stockholm to receive the award.  "Jailing Mother Nature activists highlights the repression of activists in Cambodia under Prime Minister Hun Manet. In recent years, dozens of activists and journalists have been criminalised. Media outlets have been shut down, and civil society’s work is heavily restricted. “Cambodia must stop attacks on activists. The government must respect international human rights obligations and protect fundamental freedoms s',” said Rajavelu Karunanithi. The five activists join 17 other jailed individuals featured in Stand As My Witness. The campaign includes leading global activists like Iran’s Nobel Peace Prize-winning women’s rights activist Narges Mohammadi, Hong Kong activist Chow Hang-Tung, Kashmiri human rights defender Khurram Parvez and the Tajikistani 2024 Martin Ennals Award winner, Manuchehr Kholiqnazarov.   The campaign has so far supported the release of over 30 human rights defenders from around the world.   Civic space in Cambodia is rated as ‘repressed’ by the CIVICUS Monitor.   eng editor 1 Wed, 2026-02-25 - 11:14 * Pick to Post * Mother Nature * CIVICUS * Cambodia * Human right defender * Environmental activist (Feed generated with FetchRSS)
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Sarah Weinman @sarahweinman.com · 23/02/2026
This was so great, and yes, art is dangerous *because* expressions of joy inspires more questions, and more knowledge.
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Mekong Review @mekongreview.com · 11/02/2026
Our February–April 2026 issue is now available online! Check it out... or better yet, subscribe and never miss an issue: mekongreview.com/sub...
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Zali Fung @zalifung.bsky.social · 23/01/2026
New paper in @politicalgeography.bsky.social 🚨 www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... I show how authoritarianism not only erodes civil and political rights, but undermines the organisations designed to protect those rights and hold state and corporate actors accountable 1/3
sciencedirect.com
Pursuing accountability under authoritarian rule: Thailand's National Human Rights Commission and community struggles for justice
Rising authoritarianism in Southeast Asia and globally underscores the need for geographers to critically interrogate this concept, its uneven effects…
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Gisselle Vila Benites @giviben.bsky.social · 20/02/2026
#CfP Mining Transitions in Latin America: A Special Issue for The Extractive Industries and Society. We are looking for contributions that problematize how energy, sustainability, and post-mining transition frameworks "touch ground" in Latin America. More details: drive.google.com/file/d/1m1Q5...
drive.google.com
SI Mining Transitions.pdf
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Nora Loreto @nolore.bsky.social · 13/02/2026
Mark Carney said that Canada is "considering" sending aid to Cuba. Before COVID, one million Canadians visited Cuba every year. Their convertavle peso is pegged to the Canadian Dollar. I argue that we need to send fuel and supplies ASAP, regardless of Trump. noraloreto.substack.com/p/canada-mus...
noraloreto.substack.com
Canada must support Cuba
"You cannot ‘live within the lie’ of mutual benefit through integration when integration becomes the source of your subordination.”
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Jan Kirsch, M.D., M.P.H. @drjanicekirsch.bsky.social · 02/02/2026
The city of Minneapolis and its people have been nominated for the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize. The Nation Magazine can formally do so because it's had many peace laureates on its editorial board. www.thenation.com/article/acti...
thenation.com
“The Nation” Nominates Minneapolis for the Nobel Peace Prize
With their resistance to violent authoritarianism, the people of Minneapolis have renewed the spirit of Dr. King’s call for “the positive affirmation of peace.”
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Jeff Doctor @jeff.doctor · 25/01/2026
Canadian-made Roshel Senator spotted in the wild slowly ramming through protestors (and sandwich boards) @nolore.bsky.social @rachelgilmore.bsky.social noraloreto.substack.com/p/canadian-b...
noraloreto.substack.com
Canadian-built machines of war
“As we move from fighting the war to fighting the peace, I think we really have to see this as an opportunity for an economic renaissance" - Chrystia Freeland
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Kim TallBear @kimtallbear.bsky.social · 25/01/2026
again, if you're looking to help with mutual aid.
standwithminnesota.com
Stand With Minnesota Donation Directory
Stand With Minnesota is a hub for supporting, learning, and taking action to support Minnesotans impacted by ICE and federal enforcement.
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Heba Gowayed هبة جويد @hebagowayed.bsky.social · 25/01/2026
As a mother I can’t imagine having to write this. How awful.
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Vanessa Lamb @drvanessalamb.bsky.social · 24/01/2026
Protestors shut down Minneapolis. wow these images. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/23/u...
nytimes.com
Demonstrators Flood Minneapolis Streets as Hundreds of Businesses Close to Protest ICE
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Vanessa Lamb @drvanessalamb.bsky.social · 14/01/2026
The first genocide case to come to ICJ in more than 10 years happening this week. www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/1/...
aljazeera.com
UN’s top court opens landmark Myanmar Rohingya genocide case
Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh hope for justice as the ICJ begins its first full genocide case in more than a decade.
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Vanessa Lamb @drvanessalamb.bsky.social · 12/01/2026
Flambeau River
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Dr Shona Loong @shonaloong.bsky.social · 12/01/2026
1/ ✍️ A new article that has been a little scary to put out into the world: "Volunteering while researching conflict and violence: reflections on listening, solidarity, and decoloniality in Myanmar's borderlands". Open access: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....
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Jonathan Birch @birchlse.bsky.social · 08/01/2026
Martin Peterson's creative response to being banned from teaching Plato (shared with his permission).
An email from Martin Peterson to university administrators.
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Vanessa Lamb @drvanessalamb.bsky.social · 06/01/2026
New Year's READ: Volunteering While Researching Conflict and Violence by @shonaloong.bsky.social onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... Excited that this is part of our special issue on #Decolonising Research #Ethics in Asia Pacific Viewpoint (w/Anne Décobert, Sophia Htwe + @zalifung.bsky.social)
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
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Jordan Carlson @jordantcarlson.bsky.social · 01/01/2026
With which professors, at which (oversaturated, underfunded, understaffed) universities, for which jobs? Lots of Canadian press pointing at this without looking at the actual case in the country.
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