iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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Evan @evansmithhist.bsky.social · 27/02/2025

When your research is relevant but you’re not in academia anymore

Matthew McConaughey taking a long drag from a cigarette while doomscrolling

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Nikolas Orr @nikolasorr.bsky.social · 28/10/2025

My honours thesis was titled “Skirting ‘round a…”. (Visual artists do it better 🤷🏻)

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Kurt Sengul @kurtsengul.bsky.social · 05/09/2025

🚨I spoke to Crikey for this story on the need for better media reporting on the far right! Long story short: stop giving neo-Nazis propaganda wins www.crikey.com.au/2025/09/05/h...

crikey.com.au

How to report on neo-Nazis without giving them what they want

Media coverage of the anti-immigration marches was a 'propaganda triumph' for Australian neo-Nazis, who use media-baiting tactics to spread their message.

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Nikolas Orr @nikolasorr.bsky.social · 14/08/2025

Very cool if true: Academia.edu says I have readers in Singapore, Hanoi and Cangzhou

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Kaleb Knoblauch @kjknoblauch.bsky.social · 06/08/2025

At bottom, these programs are an attempt to sidestep work and thought, which is inimical to historical thinking. Not to mention the gross environmental and economic costs. And to treat this as some kind of inevitable paradigm shift is truly ahistorical thinking.

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Aparna Nair @disabilitystor1.bsky.social · 05/08/2025

Seriously, fuck off. I say that with all due gravity.

Task Could this be
acceptable use?
Under what conditions?
Ask generative AI to identify
or summarize key points in
an article before you read it
Yes Acceptable without explicit citation
Use an AI chatbot as a
writing partner to help
generate and develop ideas
Yes Acceptable, may require explicit citation
depending on circumstances
Ask generative AI to produce
a starter bibliography
Yes Acceptable without explicit citation only if
each reference is checked and additional
databases and sources are mined
Ask generative AI to produce
a historical image for a paper
or presentation
Yes Image should be clearly marked as AI
generated and with explicit discussion as to
how the image was created. Images should
not be shared beyond the classroom

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Kim A. Wagner @kimatiwagner.bsky.social · 01/08/2025

The argument that Palestine should not be recognised as a state as it can not comply with the obligations of a state reminds me of the 1899 Hague Convention, which excluded 'uncivilised' people from attempts to minimise the cruelty of war - because they were deemed incapable of observing such laws.

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Nikolas Orr @nikolasorr.bsky.social · 28/07/2025

After a year of practising history as a public servant, I’ve been thinking about the opportunities & constraints in a gov role – how it changes the work we do, types of histories we write, people/sources we consult, and audiences we write for. DM me if you want to throw around ideas on this theme!

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Nikolas Orr @nikolasorr.bsky.social · 28/07/2025

One historian’s take on doing history. Great thread!

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Nikolas Orr @nikolasorr.bsky.social · 28/07/2025

I upset someone just the other day. Peer review can be tough 🤷🏻‍♂️

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Lauren Donovan Ginsberg @laurenginsberg.bsky.social · 24/07/2025

So, if humanities produce good job outcomes, humanities have a secure ROI that bring in more than they cost, and STEM now has an even lower ROI due to grant cuts…. shouldn’t we invest more in humanities where less $$ goes a longer way? Apparently not. We should ask why not. /9

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Nitish Pahwa @nitishpahwa.com · 15/07/2025

you've heard about the college kids who can't do anything without ChatGPT's help—but what about the students who oppose generative A.I. for myriad reasons and refuse to rely on it as a shortcut? well, I found and spoke with a few of them here: slate.com/life/2025/07...

slate.com

What It’s Like to Be a Student Who Hates ChatGPT

“Everyone is using it”—almost everyone.

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Nikolas Orr @nikolasorr.bsky.social · 26/03/2025

Judge hands down sentence to statue vandals: “His famous label attached to his duffel coat says 'please look after this bear'. On the night of March 2 2025, your actions were the antithesis of everything Paddington stands for." www.abc.net.au/news/2025-03...

abc.net.au

Paddington Bear statue vandalisers fined for criminal damage

The pair drunkenly stole the statue in the early hours of the morning before fleeing in a taxi to the RAF base they live on.

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Nikolas Orr @nikolasorr.bsky.social · 22/03/2025

My writing at the local library this morning was not helped by the full-volume “floor is lava” kids’ session on downstairs nor the Top Gun and Voltron re-runs to my right.

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Dr Blair Williams @blairwilliams26.bsky.social · 21/03/2025

So, Australian #AcademicBluesky, uhhh what do you make of the ARC's proposed "A NEW PLAN FOR ARC-FUNDED RESEARCH"? 👀

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Evan @evansmithhist.bsky.social · 20/03/2025

The first issue of the Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History (@jich.bsky.social) under the new editorial team is out now, with books reviews edited by me. www.tandfonline.com/toc/fich20/c...

tandfonline.com

The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History

Volume 53, Issue 1 of The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History

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Thomas Cauvin @thomascauvin.bsky.social · 11/03/2025

Arts as a remedy to contested monuments. Paper in "Contested Histories" contestedhistories.org/wp-content/u... Bottom-up public intervention versus vandalism? Many international examples. #Arts #Monuments #PublicHistory #skystorians

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Nikolas Orr @nikolasorr.bsky.social · 19/02/2025

Definitely sign up for this! There are some rewarding careers for historians out there!

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Nikolas Orr @nikolasorr.bsky.social · 14/02/2025

Anyone got access to this article? Asking for a friend… Anna Cole, “Gender, race and colonialism: Aboriginal debutante balls in the 1960s”, Crossings, no. 20 (June 1994), 22–30.

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Prof Sandy O’Sullivan (Wiradjuri, trans they/them) @sandyosullivan.bsky.social · 06/02/2025

Please consider doing this survey. We'd love to hear from people all over the world. Queer or not queer, you'd have thoughts on seeing queer representation.

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Nikolas Orr @nikolasorr.bsky.social · 30/01/2025

No I have not been hallucinating; ‘sewage’ and ‘sewerage’ are both words but mean different things! TIL the difference: 💩 vs🚰 (Obviously, the ‘S’ in Sydney’s ‘MWSDB’ referred to sewerage 😏)

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Nikolas Orr @nikolasorr.bsky.social · 30/01/2025

After the AHA shot down their members’ statement on Gaza, I can’t see it having much to say about this but it really needs to. The historiography and writing is, well, fit for an “incredible Nation”.

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Nikolas Orr @nikolasorr.bsky.social · 29/01/2025

That time in a project when I have to choose been using “Second World War” or “World War II” and along comes @davidmotadel.bsky.social and drops the “second world war”-with-no-caps treatment 🤯

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Nikolas Orr @nikolasorr.bsky.social · 29/01/2025

On the importance of historians.

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Nikolas Orr @nikolasorr.bsky.social · 29/01/2025

Very excited to hear from a current student that they read an article of mine as part of their degree. Now to find out in which subject and thank the convenor… Cooeee!

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Julia Laite @julialaite.bsky.social · 21/01/2025

Hi everyone, can you help one of my students with her MA dissertation? Amy is exploring the motivations, influences & ambitions of those who practice history (from professionals to amateurs, paid to hobbyist). Fill in her survey to add your experience (& please share): forms.office.com/e/mFNv6tAqxn

forms.office.com

Microsoft Forms

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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 14/01/2025

On CBC last night, I spelt out the moral case to keep on trying, however hard it might be. Defending the living planet is not an option we can abandon. Ultimately, it is all that counts. www.youtube.com/watch?v=qX2V...

youtube.com

Author George Monbiot on countering despair amid alarming climate change trends

YouTube video by CBC British Columbia

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Dan Hicks @profdanhicks.bsky.social · 02/01/2025

Happy 2025 everyone! — here’s the cover of my new book, out on 1 May ✨

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Peter Gleick @petergleick.bsky.social · 25/12/2024

If you've never donated to Wikipedia, now's the time. Elon Musk is attacking it because it's one of the only sources of honest, curated information that he can't control. www.newsweek.com/elon-musk-ta...

newsweek.com

Elon Musk takes aim at Wikipedia

The billionaire has become one of the most prominent supporters of President-elect Donald Trump.

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Stephanie Porras @periodeye.bsky.social · 13/12/2024

Spanish conferences have 2 hour lunches with wine BUT the papers go til 7ish. I’ve decided this is the way.

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Fabrice Riceputi @campvolant.bsky.social · 16/12/2024

Une ressource exceptionnelle sur les monuments liés à l’esclavage, la colonisation et leur contestation. Entretien avec Julie Marquet et Emmanuelle Sibeud sur la très riche base de donnée franco-britannique en ligne "Cast in Stone/Gravé dans le marbre". histoirecoloniale.net/une-ressourc...

histoirecoloniale.net

Une ressource exceptionnelle sur les monuments liés à l’esclavage, la colonisation et leur contestation

Entretien avec Julie Marquet et Emmanuelle Sibeud sur la très riche base de donnée franco-britannique en ligne "Cast in Stone/Gravé dans le marbre".

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Kate Fullagar @kfullagar.bsky.social · 13/12/2024

Really extraordinary and moving essay by Jeff Sparrow: “a paternalistic injunction to “bridge divisions” displays a jaw-dropping lack of moral seriousness” theconversation.com/friday-essay...

theconversation.com

Friday essay: ‘A future of dust’ – Jeff Sparrow on Gaza and why, in evil times, writers have a responsibility to take sides

Paradoxically, the very scale of the crisis in Gaza makes worthwhile even the tiniest gesture of solidarity.

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Nikolas Orr @nikolasorr.bsky.social · 29/11/2024

Over time I’ve come to appreciate the hard-headed scepticism of historians towards much art history. I wonder, in the case below, how certain scholars of Rubens can really be on the separation of labour between the painter and his assistants and what evidence they rely on… 1/

A screenshot of a video produced by the Museo Nacional del Prado, which starts: “La mayor parte de lo que vemos en el cuadro Mercurio y Argos fue pintado por Rubens.”

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Thesiswhisperer @thesiswhisperer.bsky.social · 29/11/2024

Real talk from Mark Carrigan about the trash fire that is Twitter now. Sending this to a few colleagues by text. I might even log in to my Twitter account for the first time in over a year to post it. (I haven't deleted as I don't want impersonators) blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsoci...

blogs.lse.ac.uk

Twitter/X has ceased to be a neutral platform it’s time academics let go

Following the recent US election Twitter/X has seen an exodus of users to other platforms. Mark Carrigan, argues that the platform no longer holds value for academics looking to share and communica…

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Seven Sydnor @sevensydnor.bsky.social · 28/11/2024

Hey writers, How many boxes can you check off? #writingcommunity

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Nikolas Orr @nikolasorr.bsky.social · 27/11/2024

Who is this speaking at he National Press Conference who sees only danger in global consciousness and wishes for an imaginary past when the information that reached Australian was pure fact?

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Kim A. Wagner @kimatiwagner.bsky.social · 26/11/2024

I tell myself students that if they use AI to write their essays, I'll use AI to give them feedback...

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Kane Murdoch @ccguerilla.bsky.social · 24/11/2024

Really interesting podcast talking to one of the people who thought up the idea of what is now Bluesky. This chat fills me with hope that maybe this one won't turn to Enshit. pca.st/episode/45c5...

pca.st

The Streisand Effect with Mike Masnick - Better Offline

Better Offline is a weekly show exploring the tech industry’s influence and manipulation of society - and interrogating the growth-at-all-costs future that tech’s elite wants to build. Combining narr...

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Patrick Chovanec @prchovanec.bsky.social · 24/11/2024

My one constructive criticism on BlueSky, as a community: we need to “like” less and “retweet” more. In the absence of an algorithm, that’s the way we find each other and reward good content.

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