iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by E.L. Meszaros

Sara Mohr @sarabmohr.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

NEW: My report on focus groups and interviews with high school and college students gives us insight into how the humanities fit into their educational journey and development as whole people. bit.ly/4rujwWB

bit.ly

Pathways and Barriers to the Humanities: The Perspectives of High School and College Students

Young people are the biggest stakeholders in their own education, and yet we know little about how students think about coursework, attending college, and their broader life goals. Focus groups and in...

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WOR$T GIRL IN ACADEMIA @medievaliste.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Once again, the median pay for an adjunct professor in the United States of America is $3,500 per course. Not per month, per course.

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E.L. Meszaros @iastranger.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

If you can't lose the baby weight just by breastfeeding, don't worry -- the food insecurity that comes with the gig economy in the year of our lord twenty twenty-six will take care of it 🙃

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E.L. Meszaros @iastranger.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

Hearing the cool story from the new dean of an institution I'm working for about how she got a tenure-track teaching job right out of her PhD program with zero teaching experience. I mean bully for her, but FULLY unrelatable in the year of our lord 2026.

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E.L. Meszaros @iastranger.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

That nearing-40 urge to live an itinerant life out of a backpack and wake up to a new sunrise over an unfamiliar horizon rather than pay rent.

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E.L. Meszaros @iastranger.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

I'm leading a whirlwind intro to cuneiform through World Virtual Tours! Sept. 9, 1 pm ET, and totally free. Come play/write/learn/laugh/love! www.worldvirtualtours.online/events/cunei... www.tiktok.com/t/ZTD3sK26Y/

tiktok.com

CUNEIFORM: Writing Like a Mesopotamian Scribe Join for FREE 🆓 on our website (LINK IN BIO) Delve into cuneiform—the wedge-shaped script that shaped administration, literature, and recordkeeping across...

TikTok video by World Virtual Tours

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E.L. Meszaros @iastranger.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

Come read Akkadian with me! I'm teaching an intro course (based around my fav Babylonian astronomical compendium -- but really, how can you choose?) and three intermediate courses on myth, astronomy, and math through the Paideia Institute! All virtual! All materials provided!

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E.L. Meszaros @iastranger.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

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Canadian History Ehx @cdnhistoryehx.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

Before Europeans arrived, these were some of the names for The Great Lakes: Superior: gichi-gami (great sea) Erie: erielhonan (long tail) Michigan: michigami (long body of water) Ontario: Ontarí'io\kanadario (great lake\beautiful water) Huron: karegnondi (fresh water sea)

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Josephine beckbook.com Riesman @josie.zone · 16/05/2026

Guys. The Ancient Greeks weren't white. They were more like cephalopods than modern humans -- their skin was bioluminescent and constantly shifting its color. And they didn't live in in idyllic seaside villages; they could only survive near deep-ocean vents. They DID have Matt Damon accents, though

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E.L. Meszaros @iastranger.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

I also use Zelle, or like any money app you've got. The Zelle account is associated with my partner's name, since we're both in the bank account and he's male so I guess institutions just think he's the only important one.

Screenshot of a Zelle qr code associated with Dave Meszaros and a phone number ending in 7608.

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E.L. Meszaros @iastranger.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

Help! I need $1500 in the next two hours to make rent for this month. ANYTHING you are able to give will help. venmo.com/code?user_id... I'm currently adjuncting, teaching three online courses, freelance tutoring, selling on Etsy, and actively applying to jobs, but still can't keep up.

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E.L. Meszaros @iastranger.bsky.social · 29/06/2026

Resharing for the new week. Help me eat or pay rent or grieve, if you're able! I promise cool info in return.

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Ursula K. Le Guin Bot @leguinbot.bsky.social · 19/06/2026

We all do harm by being.

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Parchment & Clay @parchmentandclay.bsky.social · 30/05/2026

In this cynical Sumerian proverb, we get a cheery sentiment: your destiny may suck, but at least you can't escape it. #AncientSayings Ancient Sayings #50: You can't dodge fate youtu.be/0dCrLTBRUK4

youtu.be

Ancient Sayings #50: You can't dodge fate

YouTube video by Parchment and Clay

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E.L. Meszaros @iastranger.bsky.social · 29/05/2026

You could take a live class with me! This summer I'm doing an into to Akkadian course that reads through the astronomical compendium MUL.APIN. www.paideiainstitute.org/mul_apin_an_...

paideiainstitute.org

MUL.APIN: An Introduction to Akkadian and Early Babylonian Astronomy

Living Latin and Ancient Greek

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E.L. Meszaros @iastranger.bsky.social · 29/05/2026

Or you can take an online course with me! I've got a six-lecture, pre-recorded course introducing you to Mesopotamian Astronomy for @digital-hammurabi.bsky.social. This was such a joy to teach, and I think the class is pretty fun! digitalhammurabi.thrivecart.com/mesopotamian...

digitalhammurabi.thrivecart.com

Cataloguing the Heavens: Introduction to Mesopotamian Astronomy

Checkout page for Cataloguing the Heavens: Introduction to Mesopotamian Astronomy.

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E.L. Meszaros @iastranger.bsky.social · 29/05/2026

I've got an Etsy shop! Get transliterated cuneiform (great for D&D campaigns and script lovers in your life) or a Babylonian-style horoscope (for those astrology fans in your life) www.etsy.com/shop/CustomC...

etsy.com

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E.L. Meszaros @iastranger.bsky.social · 29/05/2026

I'm running free "tours" through ancient Mesopotamian science with World Virtual Tours! Join in for talks filled with visuals (usually planetarium software!) about the ancient night sky and how Babylonian practitioners saw it. www.worldvirtualtours.online/erica/

worldvirtualtours.online

Erica Meszaros - World Virtual Tours

Erica Meszaros TIP ERICA Latest Reviews Leave a review

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E.L. Meszaros @iastranger.bsky.social · 29/05/2026

A THREAD OF SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION because it's the end of the month and rent is due soon and this is what i've got :shrug: Share if you can or want to!

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E.L. Meszaros @iastranger.bsky.social · 11/05/2026

Had to hire a babysitter to get my toddler to daycare so I can go teach an 8 am class, but they just didn't show up. How are other folks doing the parent/academic combo? 'cause my methods are clearly not working 🙃

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Max Planck Institute for the History of Science @mpiwg.bsky.social · 01/04/2026

We're excited to welcome our new Journalist in Residence, Adrija Roychowdhury. Adrija will work on her project "Encoding Ancient History. The Curious Case of Mathematics, #ArtificalIntelligence, and the #IndusScript" at the MPIWG. 🔍 📰 🔗 buff.ly/SBJYSPn #SciComm @indianexpress.com

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Dan Pearce @gamedesigndan.bsky.social · 01/04/2026

An episode of House MD called 'Of Leaves' where he realizes that the hospital is slightly bigger on the inside than the outside.

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E.L. Meszaros @iastranger.bsky.social · 30/03/2026

Me, to every email from academia.edu or researchgate, asking if I'm the author of some article: "I've never written anything."

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Moudhy Al-Rashid (she/her) @moudhy.bsky.social · 27/03/2026

We therefore learn from this learned commentary made by a Babylonian scribe over 2000 years ago, that in the Akkadian language, the word shitti means "shit"

Photo of a cuneiform tablet with some dark spots on it.

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Nick Seaver @nickseaver.website · 27/03/2026

new publication alert: a little commentary I wrote about 🔎 clues 🔎 and the detection of AI-generated material is out in American Ethnologist (paywalled at the moment, but hit me up if you can't access it): doi.org/10.1111/amet...

Abstract

As Al-generated images and texts proliferate, people have developed techniques for
identifying them using clues like misshapen hands in images or distinctive words in text.
This commentary situates these emerging practices within what Carlo Ginzburg called the
“conjectural paradigm”: a mode of knowing that links contemporary Al detection to older
traditions of medical symptomatology, art historical connoisseurship, and detective work.
Yet unlike the stable or slowly evolving clues of earlier conjectural practices, the signifiers of
Al involvement are rapidly shifting. This instability has consequences not only for how texts
are read but also for how they are written. Authors now navigate a landscape of suspicion
where their words may be misrecognized as machine generated. Rather than resolving into
stable literacies, our efforts to recognize Al’s handiwork reveal the deeper uncertainties of
authorship and interpretation.

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Marin K. Levy @marinklevy.bsky.social · 26/03/2026

Okay, can we have a moment for the Interimaginary Departures Gate at Austin’s airport?

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Jordan @jordanpfot.bsky.social · 26/03/2026

Might be the greatest opening paragraph of anything ever.

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E.L. Meszaros @iastranger.bsky.social · 25/03/2026

What a fucking time to be teaching a unit on discourse analysis and "space technology" in my History of Technology class... Also what a time to live in...

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Ursula K. Le Guin Bot @leguinbot.bsky.social · 25/03/2026

We all have forests on our minds. Forests unexplored, unending. Each one of us gets lost in the forest, every night, alone.

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will pooley @willpooley.bsky.social · 25/03/2026

There’s no such thing as the history of science (and this is a blog post about it) (inspired by a great 2017 article by Lorraine Daston) williamgpooley.wordpress.com/2026/03/25/t... 🗃️

williamgpooley.wordpress.com

There is no such thing as the history of science

People on the internet are arguing about what ‘science’ means and what properly belongs to the ‘history of science’. (Aparna Nair’s thread on Bluesky is a good introdu…

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E.L. Meszaros @iastranger.bsky.social · 25/03/2026

It was such a treat to be included in this! Also time is a social construct.

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Ursula K. Le Guin Bot @leguinbot.bsky.social · 24/03/2026

We are all dead, and we spoiled the world before we died. There is nothing left. Nothing but dreams.

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Kathleen E. Kennedy @themedievaldrk.bsky.social · 21/03/2026

Periodic reminder to be VERY cautious when declaiming about quipus unless you're from a Peruvian indigenous community. The tantalizing nature of mysterious, purportedly illegible quipus is a colonial legacy-quipu reading persists in local traditions, and some are only for ceremonial (not museum) use

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E.L. Meszaros @iastranger.bsky.social · 21/03/2026

An (incomplete) list of things I've done as a precarious grad student/adjunct to survive (2016-2026): -stole leftover toilet paper rolls from a side-gig when they were replaced in public bathrooms -held class online because I couldn't afford public transportation fare into the city -freelanced

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Karl Galle @karlgalle.bsky.social · 21/03/2026

For anyone who might be passing through Berlin between now and January, a new exhibition on the history of the zodiac in ancient Babylonia, Egypt, and the Greco-Roman world opens at the Neues Museum today: www.smb.museum/en/museums-i... #HistSTM 🔭

smb.museum

Destiny in the Stars

The Beginnings of the Zodiac

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Erin Grievances @erinbartram.bsky.social · 21/03/2026

I’ve been out of the game for a while and lost track of people in the move to this place, so if you’re an adjunct/VAP/postdoc in history, can you reply and let me know what you work on? I am an editor at @contingent-mag.bsky.social and we are often looking for book reviewers etc.

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E.L. Meszaros @iastranger.bsky.social · 21/03/2026

On the hunt for an accountability buddy/group. Having such trouble balancing the adjunct/freelance life and raising a toddler with getting my own stuff done. Any suggestions/recommendations?

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E.L. Meszaros @iastranger.bsky.social · 18/03/2026

So glad I've reached the stage of life where I don't look young because I would like to buy a beer and I did forget my id (and wallet) at home

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Jeremiah McCall (he/him) @gamingthepast.bsky.social · 13/03/2026

Hey folks, CfP coming up for a Workshop on Analogue Games and the Ancient and Pre-Modern Past at Durham University hosted by cool HGS folk @drhelenroche.bsky.social and @peregrinekiwi.bsky.social. Looks great; wish I could be there! submission email in the CfP

CfP: ANALOGUE GAMES AND THE ANCIENT & PRE-MODERN PAST - INSTITUTE OF ADVANCED STUDY, DURHAM UNIVERSITY, FRIDAY 1 MAY 2026
Organisers: Dr. Helen Roche (Durham University, UK) and Dr. Hamish Cameron (Victoria University of Wellington, NZ)
Recently, analogue games have been gaining increasing attention within the context of Game Studies, Ludonarratology, Historical Game Studies and Classical Game Studies. This interdisciplinary workshop will focus on modern analogue games which engage with ancient and pre-modern pasts, with an eye to producing an edited volume which will complement existing work already in progress.

The organisers are currently seeking abstracts, and welcome suggestions for 20-minute papers which engage with:
• a broad range of historical periods (including games with historical elements which are not purely historical, e.g. historically-inspired fantasy and science fiction; mythical games); archaeogaming;
• any analogue game genres - including, but not limited to, board games and card games, Tabletop Roleplaying Games (TTRPGs), live action games, tabletop wargames, miniature wargaming, and megagames;
• analogue games which range beyond the popular (e.g. analyses of indie games as well as well-known classics);
• analogue games as vectors for historical pedagogy, engagement and outreach; serious games; creative ludic research methods;
• intersectional and postcolonial perspectives are especially welcome.
Our primary goal is for the workshop to take place in person (though please note that we cannot guarantee funding to cover speakers' expenses, and any funding we can find will be used to facilitate attendance by ECRs and precarious speakers). However, given sufficient interest, we would consider organising a separate online workshop at a later date to accommodate those who are unable to travel to Durham in person.

Please send abstracts of no more than 300 words to gaming.history.ias@gmail.com by 31 MARCH 2026.

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Moudhy Al-Rashid (she/her) @moudhy.bsky.social · 10/03/2026

There's a broken cuneiform tablet from the Old Babylonian period, nearly 4,000 years ago, which preserves a tiny portion of a dialogue between two friends. It feels a bit like the conversations I've been having for the past week, so I wanted to share it.

Photo of a cuneiform tablet fragment shaped a bit like an irregular diamond. It preserves nearly 20 incomplete lines of text separated by a horizontal ruling

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E.L. Meszaros @iastranger.bsky.social · 09/03/2026

Guy on the bus just got everyone's attention to ask us what the five great lakes are, and my little Michigan-born heart has never felt more right-place-right-time

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E.L. Meszaros @iastranger.bsky.social · 07/03/2026

Can I put "I'm a good hang" in an application for a virtual/in-person institute? additional details: they're asking what I bring to the table.

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E.L. Meszaros @iastranger.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

My comps/quals: 1. Akkadian 2. History of Astronomy 3. Babylonian Astronomy 4. Historiography (...of Babylonian Astronomy) 5. Babylonian History 6. Cuneiform tablet identification 1 oral, 5 written (3 4-hour and 2 24-hour)

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