iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Pamela Swett

McGill-Queen's University Press @mcgillqueensup.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

We've got a book for that! Interested in reading the real story of Lake Ontario? Daniel Macfarlane, associate professor at Western Michigan University, has written the authoritative history of the use and abuse of Lake Ontario. Read it now! #LakeOntario #researchthatmatters buff.ly/woiwybh

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Mar Hicks @histoftech.bsky.social · 26/05/2026

with alt text

State media control influences large language models
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-10506-7
Received: 25 October 2024
Accepted: 8 April 2026
Published online: 13 May 2026

Hannah Waight'*, Eddie Yang?%, Yin Yuan', Solomon Messing', Margaret E. Roberts", Brandon M. Stewart® & Joshua A. Tucker47

Millions of people around the world query large language models (LLMs) for information. Although several studies have compellingly documented the persuasive potential of these models'-1, there is limited evidence of who or what influences the models themselves, leading to a flurry of concerns about which companies and governments build and regulate the models. Here we show through six studies that government control of the media across the world already influences the output of LLMs via their training data. We use a cross-national audit to show that LLMs exhibit a stronger pro-government valence in the languages of countries with lower media freedom than in those with higher media freedom. This result is correlational, so to triangulate the specific mechanism of how state media control can influence LLMs, ve develop a multi-part case study on China's media. We demonstrate that media scripted and curated by the Chinese state appears in LLM training datasets. To evaluate the plausible effect of this inclusion, we use an open-weight model to show that additional pretraining on Chinese state-coordinated media generates more positive answers to prompts about Chinese political institutions and leaders. We link this phenomenon to commercial models through two audit studies demonstrating that prompting models in Chinese generates more positive responses about China's institutions and leaders than do the same queries in English. The combination of influence and persuasive potential across languages suggests the troubling conclusion that states and powerful institutions have increased strategic incentives to leverage media control in the hopes of shaping LLM output.

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Reposted by Pamela Swett

CFI | FCI @innovation.ca · 13/04/2026

CFI is recruiting Programs Officers! Join a team that helps build Canada’s research infrastructure. Support national funding programs for universities, colleges and research hospitals. 📍Ottawa (hybrid) 🗓 April 26, 2026 🔗bit.ly/4vK2Kov

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Pamela Swett @pswett.bsky.social · 10/04/2026

Some interesting research from PhD candidate Andy Lopez and professor Mike Schutz. Using collections of everyday sounds they’ve demonstrated that the beeps that are used for auditory research don’t reflect sounds in the real world – and that has real consequences. news.mcmaster.ca/dont-keep-it...

news.mcmaster.ca

Don’t keep it simple: Study finds lab beeps don’t reflect what we actually hear

A new study explores how complex sounds can improve healthcare, navigation, and auditory research into how we hear.

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Pamela Swett @pswett.bsky.social · 31/03/2026

McMaster has become the first university in Ontario to sign the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment, more familiarly known as DORA, which will allow us to better assess research contributions in terms of societal and community impact. news.mcmaster.ca/mcmaster-sig...

news.mcmaster.ca

McMaster signs Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA)

McMaster has signed the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA) as part of an institutional commitment to advance meaningful ways of recognizing and rewarding research contributions. S...

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Reposted by Pamela Swett

Jen Evans @jennifervevans.bsky.social · 08/03/2026

My first ever interview in Turkish for International Women’s Day on the threat of anti-gender policies to democracy. archive.is/jZQi6

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Reposted by Pamela Swett

Jen Evans @jennifervevans.bsky.social · 07/03/2026

New online portal with documents on the post 1945 German far right. radikale-rechte.de

radikale-rechte.de

Startseite | Die radikale Rechte in Deutschland 1945-2000

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Reposted by Pamela Swett

祖思薪 Eugenia Zuroski @zugenia.bsky.social · 12/02/2026

Why do I love teaching at @mcmasteruniversity.bsky.social? Well yesterday a biochem major who’s taking my 18th-century lit class came to my office hours to talk with me about MY BOOK which she IS READING out of SHEER INTEREST ✨

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Pamela Swett @pswett.bsky.social · 06/02/2026

“For authoritarian regimes, internet blackouts are a powerful political tool of repression that conceal state violence,” says Communication Studies and Media Arts PhD candidate Niloofar Hooman. Read her timely analysis in @ca.theconversation.com: theconversation.com/why-iran-kee...

theconversation.com

Why Iran keeps turning off the internet during mass protests

By cutting internet access during uprisings, the Iranian regime turns connectivity itself into a mechanism of control.

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Pamela Swett @pswett.bsky.social · 04/02/2026

Alexis-Carlota Cochrane, PhD candidate in Communication Studies and Media Arts, calls for an “enforceable, survivor-centred, AI-aware online safety framework” in response to new digital tools harming women and gender diverse people: news.mcmaster.ca/ai-generated...

news.mcmaster.ca

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Pamela Swett @pswett.bsky.social · 03/02/2026

Episode 1 of Generations Ahead, a new podcast series produced by the Wilson College of Leadership & Civic Engagement and The Walrus Lab, is out. Sam Reusch (Apathy is Boring) and my colleague Sara Wolfe discuss youth civic engagement during a critical time for democracy.

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Pamela Swett @pswett.bsky.social · 02/02/2026

David Brooks’ last opinion piece for the NYT directs Americans to re-embrace their humanity, and he calls on universities to lead in this work. At Mac, the Faculty of Humanities and Wilson College, co-led by the Faculty of Social Sciences, do this every day. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/30/o...

nytimes.com

Opinion | Time to Say Goodbye

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Pamela Swett @pswett.bsky.social · 05/01/2026

A key point in this editorial, by Mount Allison president Ian Sutherland and student Lucas Orfanides, is that, along with possessing relevant (and essential) job skills, liberal arts grads are uniquely well positioned to deal with AI's ethical shortcomings. www.theglobeandmail.com/business/com...

theglobeandmail.com

Opinion: An AI future demands liberal arts agility

Graduates have the ethical and creative thinking skills that the AI-driven jobs of tomorrow will demand

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Pamela Swett @pswett.bsky.social · 22/12/2025

Excited to announce that McMaster Humanities is looking to recruit established international researchers to our institution. Please see the following link for details of the government of Canada’s Impact+ program and reach out to me if you are interested. www.humanities.mcmaster.ca/2025/12/22/m...

humanities.mcmaster.ca

McMaster seeking international academics for new Canada Impact+ Research Chairs program – Faculty of Humanities | McMaster University

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Reposted by Pamela Swett

Dr. Dawn Bowdish @msmacrophage.bsky.social · 24/11/2025

Excited to share my acting debut with Ontario's public broadcaster TVO (@tvodocs.bsky.social @therundowntvo.bsky.social & more). I was in an episode on fever for the TVO Kids series 'Burps, Butts, and Bones' (do they know their audience or what?). I learned about acting from the +++talented Ryan.

youtu.be

Hot to Trot 🥵🤒 | 💀 BURPS, BUTTS AND BONES 🧪 | Answer Questions About The Human Body | TVOkids

YouTube video by TVOkids

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Pamela Swett @pswett.bsky.social · 13/11/2025

Well done, McMaster scholars Melinda Gough and Peter Cockett!

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Reposted by Pamela Swett

Joël Glasman @glasmanjo.bsky.social · 17/10/2025

Call for Application: Full Professor of Modern and Contemporary History @unibayreuth.bsky.social

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Reposted by Pamela Swett

Samantha Brennan @samanthabrennan.bsky.social · 19/09/2025

Tenure track philosophy job in Canada Western University’s Department of Philosophy seeks to hire a Asst Professor with an area of specialization in one or more of metaphysics, epistemology, and logic, broadly construed). The anticipated start date is July 1, 2026 www.uwo.ca/facultyrelat...

uwo.ca

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Reposted by Pamela Swett

Leo Baeck Institute London @lbilondon.bsky.social · 09/07/2025

TOMORROW: LBI London Summer Lecture 2025 Hitler’s Mein Kampf: Reflections 100 Years On Dr Lisa Pine Tomorrow, Thursday 10 July 2025, 5:30pm–7:00pm Senate House, London Free admission Sign up: lbilondon.ac.uk/pine @ghilondon.bsky.social @lisapine.bsky.social

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Reposted by Pamela Swett

Dr. Elisabeth M. Yang @emyang.bsky.social · 05/06/2025

Impending and Exciting News! Job Opportunity as a Research Fellow for my Wellcome Trust Research Project in Medical Humanities and HPSM at the University of Leeds soon to be posted!

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Reposted by Pamela Swett

NPR @npr.org · 03/04/2025

Among the thousands of groups affected by the sudden cessation of funds are state arts councils, museums, historic sites, archives, libraries, educators and media outlets in all 50 states.

npr.org

Cultural groups across U.S. told that federal humanities grants are terminated

Among the thousands of groups affected by the sudden cessation of funds are state arts councils, museums, historic sites, archives, libraries, educators and media outlets in all 50 states.

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Reposted by Pamela Swett

Participedia @participedia.bsky.social · 28/03/2025

📣 Reminder for Canadian university students! Applications due Monday, March 31st! More details below. ⬇️

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Reposted by Pamela Swett

Dr. Dawn Bowdish @msmacrophage.bsky.social · 14/02/2025

I'm really appreciative of @thespec1846.bsky.social and JP Antonacci covering the recent measles outbreaks. Local news gets to the heart of local concerns in aa very personal way that I think has the power to change hearts and minds www.thespec.com/news/hamilto...

thespec.com

Norfolk elementary schools grapple with measles outbreaks

Unvaccinated students have been ordered to quarantine as infections are confirmed in 15 Grand Erie kids.

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Reposted by Pamela Swett

Samantha Brennan @samanthabrennan.bsky.social · 10/02/2025

Philosophy at Guelph is hiring in Ethics/ Applied Ethics. Please share widely. careers.uoguelph.ca/job/Guelph-A...

careers.uoguelph.ca

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Reposted by Pamela Swett

kcruikshank.bsky.social @kcruikshank.bsky.social · 01/02/2025

It’s good to see a well worn #envhist #cdnhist book at the Hamilton Public Library. Join us in Hamilton Ontario for the sequel/epilogue at 2025 Canadian History and Environment Summer Symposium - "Contamination and Rebirth" Friday, May 30 – Sunday, June 1, 2025 niche-canada.org/2025/01/17/c...

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Pamela Swett @pswett.bsky.social · 17/01/2025

Our Undergraduate Student Research Award (USRA) recipients all completed fascinating independent research projects this past summer — everything from an analysis of health disparities in Black and Indigenous communities to unravelling an art forgery. www.humanities.mcmaster.ca/2025/01/10/u...

humanities.mcmaster.ca

Undergraduate Student Research Award winners share Humanities research – Faculty of Humanities | McMaster University

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Reposted by Pamela Swett

Mark Sample @samplereality.bsky.social · 02/01/2025

Firaxis—the studio behind the Civilization series—is hiring a historian. An *actual* historian. And note, when they ask for "4+ years as a Writer, Narrative Designer, or other position with commensurate duties," that includes teaching, writing, and research—i.e. your Ph.D. in History.

boards.greenhouse.io

Historian

Sparks Glencoe, Maryland, United States

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Pamela Swett @pswett.bsky.social · 18/12/2024

Studying philosophy (and other humanities subjects) is an ideal preparation for a world of work that's increasingly defined by AI. As this piece points out, "...we should invest in developing the cognitive tools that will always stand apart from automated routines." Indeed!

linkedin.com

AI Isn't the Next Big Thing, Thinking Is

Why Human Intellect Still Reigns Supreme This week's edition includes the feature story. If you want to read the whole edition of the newsletter.

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Pamela Swett @pswett.bsky.social · 21/11/2024

My first Bluesky post, and it's a nice one: I was thrilled to "hood" my now-former PhD student Ryan Heyden at today's convocation ceremony. You can read a little more about Ryan and his research in this Q and A. Congratulations to all our graduates! dailynews.mcmaster.ca/articles/goo...

dailynews.mcmaster.ca

‘Good historical research offers an opportunity to understand the present’

New PhD Ryan Heyden’s interest in Germany, migration and humanitarianism has both personal and intellectual significance

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