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Felicia Steele

@feliciajsteele.bsky.social
686 followers 884 following 450 posts

Professor, linguist, knitter, curmudgeon: teach and study the History of the English language, British Literature before 1700, and many adjacent things. All opinions my own.

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Felicia Steele @feliciajsteele.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
One of my students wound up marooned in Iceland because of the volcanic eruption, and that sounds like a much better situation than this.
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Moira Donegan @moiradonegan.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
ProPublica got the literal check Collins was bribed with.
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Allison Gill @muellershewrote.com · 21/09/2026
Crush the arts (Kennedy Center), destroy the civil service (DOGE), control elections (gestures broadly), dismantle the press (gestures more broadly), decimate science (NIH), and demolish education (DeptEd). The authoritarian playbook.
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Felicia Steele @feliciajsteele.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
I haven't had a chance to read this whole piece, but these screenshots capture my concerns, as a linguist who largely teaches future teachers, with Grammarly. What models of usage do they use? What are their reference texts? If I don't know "what's under the hood," why trust it?
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Jason "Red5" Lyall @jaylyall.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
"Scholars whose parents did not graduate from college are less likely to land tenure-track jobs at major research universities & less likely to get tenure Researchers...found disadvantage of being a 1st-gen college grad could be even greater than disadvantages associated w being female or nonwhite"
nytimes.com
The Working Class Face a ‘Class Ceiling’ in Elite Occupations (Gift Article)
Being female or a person of color has long been seen as a disadvantage in hiring and promotion. A new study of college professors shows that class may loom as large.
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Jonathan M. Katz @katz.theracket.news · 19/09/2026
Bad news: Nazis are everywhere. Good news: Ours are idiots. theracket.news/p/our-nazis-...
theracket.news
Our Nazis have a problem
PLUS: Book cover reveal! And a last chance to see your name in The Legend of Skokie (in a good way).
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Felicia Steele @feliciajsteele.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
I'm grateful for the clarity of this explanation substack.com/@justindesch...
substack.com
Justin Deschamps (@justindeschamps)
I haven’t heard this take before about data centers. It’s spot on.
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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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Daniel José Older @djolder.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
"The University of Chicago’s undergrad social-sciences division will go “analog” this fall, implementing a blanket policy banning technology in class and AI assistance on coursework across the division’s core courses." www.chronicle.com/article/u-of...
chronicle.com
U. of Chicago Bans Tech, AI in Social Sciences Core Courses
The new restrictions apply to students and faculty members.
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M.J. Crockett @mjcrockett.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Refusing "AI" makes sense for some labs, but not for us: we've been using ML tools for almost a decade. We also wanted to disaggregate the nonsensical category of "AI" and instead talk concretely about how we use automation in our work, and how to make automation work for us.
amacad.org
Making Automation Work for Social Scientists
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Felicia Steele @feliciajsteele.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
If you want a usage to go away, just ignore it.
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Felicia Steele @feliciajsteele.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
In the file of best polyglot stories ever, I think this "French only with a gun go my head" is pretty entertaining @michaelerard.bsky.social
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Emily M. Bender @emilymbender.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
Preparing for a workshop on teaching critical thinking in STEM in light of current, let's say pressures, and decided I should start my talk with a slides that lays out the values that form my premises:
Slide header: Premises/values: Cards on the table

Bullet points: 
* I care more about students’ learning than about the “accuracy” of grades or the prestige associated with a specific degree
* I want to work collaboratively with my students, rather than policing them
* I don’t want to spend any time reading, much less providing feedback on, something nobody wrote
* Science is a human, communal process; there is no knowing without knowers; and our work cannot be autocompleted
* Deep thinking and human connection are always more important than polish, speed, or “productivity”
* Research agendas should not be set by & for industry
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Garry @thegmcconnachie.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
This is why Dolly Parton will be remembered and loved ❤️📚
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Felicia Steele @feliciajsteele.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
I know that many people feel as if they are peculiarly blessed to live at the same time as certain artists, but I feel that way about David Bowie, Prince, and Dolly Parton. But Dolly is the only one who could make Protestants venerate saints again.
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Tressie McMillan Cottom @tressiemcphd.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
I like this notetaking example. it is a good case of how gender works. Notetaking has never been about producing a transcript. It is a bureaucratic skill in the 20th c. organixarion because it is SENSEMAKING. Those women socialized to take notes? They have been doing men’s metacognition for them
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Susan (George) Schorn @susanschorn.bsky.social · 18/08/2026
Stories like this are a good example of what Kellogg and other cognitive psychologists call the "audience representation of the text" being formed in real time. Expert writers must maintain three distinct conceptualizations of their text in working memory as they write--
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Stephen Chrisomalis @schrisomalis.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
I am actively recruiting MA and PhD students in linguistic, historical, and cognitive anthropology at Wayne State for Fall 2027. No GRE; multi-year funding for all PhD students. Application deadline 01/15. Share widely, or contact me for more info. clasprofiles.wayne.edu/profile/dz6179
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Anna Kornbluh @annakornbluh.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
not a conspiracy and other researchers are documenting and developing www.theamericanvandal.com/p/against-te...
theamericanvandal.com
Against Technofeudal Education
Pillars For Protecting Our "Core Infrastructure" From OpenAI
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Merriam-Webster @merriam-webster.com · 31/07/2026
Find the 5 words from your birth year that perfectly describe YOUR vibe ⬇️ www.merriam-webster.com/time-traveler/
I recently discovered Merriam-Webster's Time Traveler feature which tells you which words are the same age as you.
I'm convinced there are 5 words from your birth year that perfectly describe your vibe.
Mine (1987):
·
-adhd
• brain fart
-dad joke 
-potty-mouthed
-thirtysomething
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Baldur Bjarnason @baldurbjarnason.com · 08/08/2026
This is the main reason I'm so angry about the "AI" bubble. All this enormous effort could have been spent combatting the climate crisis and the opportunity cost of your fucking chatbot is going to be the very climate we live in Imagine what we could have done with those 3 trillion dollars?
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Felicia Steele @feliciajsteele.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
Is it wrong to wish a broken toe on someone? That seems like a benign curse, sort of like my go-to: "May (insert name here) and their descendants to the 7th generation never find a good parking space "
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Felicia Steele @feliciajsteele.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
No kidding.
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Felicia Steele @feliciajsteele.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
And this is exactly why I object to deaccessioning books! A book might tear, but it won't lock its covers or disappear once you own it!
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Felicia Steele @feliciajsteele.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
Paging Neal Stephenson
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Felicia Steele @feliciajsteele.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
It is hard not to think of America in terms of family, so please hear me out on this one. It is going to be long and talk a lot about genealogy. /1
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Felicia Steele @feliciajsteele.bsky.social · 23/07/2026
I think the same could be said about most science fiction and comics. One shouldn't identify with Lex Luther Ozymandias.
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Linguist List @linguistlist.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
Books: The Language Beat: Essays and Reporting on Language and Life: Erard (2026)
dlvr.it
Books: The Language Beat: Essays and Reporting on Language and Life: Erard (2026)
More than two decades ago, Michael Erard, a linguist and writer, set out to marry the linguist’s fascination with language to the journalist’s fascination with story. Could he go beyond the usual cliches and engage with language where and how it’s actually used and studied? In journalism, a "beat" is an area or topic to which a journalist brings their expertise. "The Language Beat: Essays and Reporting on Language and Life" collects 42 of Erard’s long-form features, reports, essays and review
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Felicia Steele @feliciajsteele.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
I'm so excited that the military is guaranteeing gender affirming care ...what, what is that? A dining club boy's insecurities are determining policy again? And resulting in price gouging and supply manipulation? Oops...my mistake.
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Emily M. Bender @emilymbender.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
When people ask me what the phrase "artificial intelligence" means, my short answer is, it means "venture capitalists, give me some money". But OUP asked me for a longer answer, given here and summarized in the section headings: doi.org/10.1093/9780...
Screencap of page for linked article, reading: 

Contents
Introduction
AI Is a Research Field
AI Is an Approach to Cognitive Science
AI Is a Parlor Trick
AI Is an Ideology
AI Is a Way to Hide and Devalue Human Labor
AI Is a Way to Shift Accountability
AI Is a Way to Centralize Power
Conclusion
Notes
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Modern Language Association @modernlanguage.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
NEH grantees: join us tomorrow, 9 July, at 2:00 p.m. ET for an MLA strategy session on how to reinstate terminated grants. You'll get guidance on navigating the NEH’s instructions and have the opportunity to ask questions about the reinstatement process. Register at www.mla.org/Events/Webin...
Person takes notes in a notebook while viewing a screen with multiple speakers
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Felicia Steele @feliciajsteele.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
I think we should impose a new rule: any candidate for senate or president must have been elected to and held at least one office beyond a local planning board. I'd be happiest if we said they had to have served in the state legislature. I know this would disallow HC from the Senate. So be it.
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Felicia Steele @feliciajsteele.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
Every day we inch closer to plot points in the Handmaid's Tale
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Kathryn Brightbill ✒️ @kebrightbill.bsky.social · 05/07/2026
Florida folks: If you have O- blood and are of African or African American descent, OneBlood is searching for donors who have a rare antigen that matches with a teenager with sickle cell disease who needs 50 units of blood so she can have a bone marrow transplant.
wfla.com
Rare blood needed to save life of Florida teen needing bone marrow transplant
FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla. (WFLA)— Blood donors of African descent are needed to save the life of a Florida 18-year-old fighting an aggressive form of sickle cell disease, OneBlood announced. Gigi Felix,…
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Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social · 05/07/2026
well that was quick
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Felicia Steele @feliciajsteele.bsky.social · 28/06/2026
I have never been this anxious about the 4th of July, and I once went to a fireworks show where unexploded fireworks went off in the audience.
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Andy Famiglietti @afamiglietti.org · 27/06/2026
If your college degree trains you for a specific job and that job goes in the toilet, you are FUCKED If your college degree trains you to be a broadly capable person, you have options!
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Bookshop.org @bookshop.org · 23/06/2026
Anti-Prime Day starts…NOW! 🥳 Today through 6/26, enjoy free standard shipping site-wide, all while supporting local, independent bookstores.
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Scribblebibble @scribblebibbler.bsky.social · 23/06/2026
One week to go until the Scribblebibble Writing Competition closes! Get your entries in before the end of June! scribblebibble.com/scribblebibb... scribblebibble.com/scribblebibb...
scribblebibble.com
Scribblebibble writing competition - Scribblebibble
Scribblebibble's annual writing competition. Open to students aged 7-18 worldwide. Teachers and parents can submit entries.
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Felicia Steele @feliciajsteele.bsky.social · 20/06/2026
MLA Chairs' workshops are an amazing resource for current --and aspiring-- departmental leaders, and the virtual seminar provides an accessible option for faculty without summer travel support. I benefited tremendously and look forward to participating again.
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Tom Reed @tjreed.bsky.social · 20/06/2026
Error rate admitted by LLM companies would have caused me to fire the person who promoted one to production. ROI from use of AI agents/API’s is not being measured in any meaningful way. But reduction in coders continue. There is a massive technical debt building. Means a lot of shitty code out there
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Felicia Steele @feliciajsteele.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
I need to learn more about this.
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Felicia Steele @feliciajsteele.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
Please read this whole thread. I've thought for a long time about how we can draw Gothic and diabolical analogies to AI. One more is that they require our consent to infiltrate our lives.
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Dr Ian McCormick @wokestudies.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
Books are ... #HigherEd #edchat #reading #literacy
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Dr. Holly Walters @manigarm.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
GenAI is a tech bubble of hype and absurdity. It runs on nothing but vibes and dollar signs in billionaire's eyes. But that's why we must resist it. We broke NFTs, we broke the Metaverse, we can break this nonsense too.
The reason RAM prices went up 4x is that a massive amount of not-yet-manufactured memory was bought with money that doesn't really exist to put into GPUs that haven't been made yet, to be installed in data centers that haven't been built, powered by infrastructure that may never exist, to satisfy demand that isn't actually there, in order to generate profits that are mathematically impossible.
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Felicia Steele @feliciajsteele.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
You know, criminals usually get better value for bribes. I guess this is what happens when one criminal bribes another.
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Dan Kaszeta FRHistS @dankaszeta.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
As of today, the Russian invasion of Ukraine has gone on longer than the First World War.
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Felicia Steele @feliciajsteele.bsky.social · 07/06/2026
I'm almost curious--not curious enough to actually put it in a system--to see what AI would do with a prompt asking it to write a dissertation about verbal in Old English sermons.
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Emily M. Bender @emilymbender.bsky.social · 01/06/2026
The Guardian reviews @ghostdoc2026.bsky.social : "The roots of AI in rightwing ideology is examined in Valerie Veatch’s enjoyable doc, including an array of colourful, often crazed, figures" -⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ www.theguardian.com/film/2026/ju...
theguardian.com
Ghost in the Machine review – entertaining AI polemic dives into its dark history in race politics and eugenics
The roots of AI in rightwing ideology is examined in Valerie Veatch’s enjoyable doc, including an array of colourful, often crazed, figures
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TK (Takashi DY) Kozai @bioniclab.bsky.social · 30/05/2026
🔗 This is part of the "Your Tax Dollars At Work" series on federally funded research that sounded ridiculous but generated enormous returns. Full series archive: bioniclab.substack.com/notes #YourTaxDollarsAtWork
bioniclab.substack.com
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