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Ross Fair

@rossfair.bsky.social
841 followers 1.6K following 17 posts

Historian of Upper Canadian settlement and agriculture; Public Historian. Improving Upper Canada: Agricultural Societies and State Formation, 1791-1852 (UTP, 2024) utorontopress.com/9781487553531/imp…

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Reposted by Ross Fair
The Rundown @therundowntvo.bsky.social · 17h
Are Toronto's bike lanes really empty? Charlie Buckley hit the streets to count cyclists, dug into city data, and compared the numbers with major cycling cities around the world.
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Royal Historical Society @royalhistsoc.org · 24/09/2026
New from History UK: a valuable and interesting survey of UK history students use of and attitudes towards GenAI in HE teaching - their preliminary report is published today: bit.ly/4hatsRR The report is by Dr Sarah Jones and Dr Simon Peplow @simpep.bsky.social #skystorians
Opening page of History UK's statement on their survey and report on AI and History Students in UK universities. Full text: 

Artificial intelligence (AI) has become impossible to ignore in higher education. For historians, working in a discipline which depends on interpretation, evidence, and critical thinking, the development of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) has raised particularly significant questions. In 2026, we launched a survey to gather the perspectives of people who are often overlooked in considerations of the impact of AI and appropriate responses – history students themselves.
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Phillip Maciak @pjmaciak.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
No matter how you refine your questions, the chatbot will generate responses reflecting what the greatest number of users are likely to want to hear, which tends to be close to what they think they already know." A great, painstaking piece. www.hnn.us/article/ai-i...
hnn.us
AI Is an Anti-Primary Source Machine
Real voices from the past are threatened by chatbots designed to amplify — and ultimately become — the loudest voices in the room.
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Jamie Bradburn @jbcurio.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
NEW! 130 years ago today, Torontonians caught a glimpse of their entertainment future when a motion picture was projected in the city for the first time. The story over at Toronto Today @torontotoday.ca #TOHistory www.torontotoday.ca/local/histor...
torontotoday.ca
'A most marvellous invention' was brought to Toronto 130 years ago today
Advancements in projection technology, a race to be first and a scandalous kiss were all part of the first public projection of moving pictures in Toronto
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Walking Eagle News @theeagleist.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
BREAKING: sucks to have stuff renamed by white people, doesn’t it?
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Jess McLaughlin, PhD (they/them) @jfmclaughlin92.bsky.social · 23/08/2026
I think we can safely say the history department had the best stickers today
A large circular sticker for the UAA Department of History. It reads "god forbid women have hobbies" and features a reproduction of the famous illustration of The Women's March on Versailles, 1789
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Jamie Bradburn @jbcurio.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
NEW! For Toronto Today @torontotoday.ca I look at the history of the Zanzibar Tavern, from its early days as a tiki-inspired lounge, through the go-go era of the Yonge Street Strip, to fighting COVID #TOHistory www.torontotoday.ca/local/histor...
torontotoday.ca
Is this the end of Zanzibar Tavern? Club’s 75-year history says no
Historian Jamie Bradburn walks readers through Zanzibar’s long history on Yonge Street. The club’s owners are optimistic the venue will reopen after a devastating fire this week
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Dr Sophie Michell @sophiemhistory.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
As promised, a blog that talks about human error, children (not) being transported and why AI can't do what historians do (because it can't think) sophiemhistory.substack.com/p/historians...
sophiemhistory.substack.com
Historians and AI
Sources, methodology, and lies
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Toronto Archives @torontoarchives.cityof.toronto.ca · 29/07/2026
Have you ever wondered what happens when you request records at the Archives? Here's a look behind the scenes in the Records Centre — when you request to view material in Research Hall, records are retrieved from a climate-controlled space storing over 130,000 boxes. Those shelves are 40ft tall!
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Evan @evansmithhist.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
The real Trojan Horse
Trojan horse meme 

Horse: ‘obscure and depressing historical facts’

Person A: Me

Person B: other people
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New-Cleckit Dominie @ncdominie.bsky.social · 28/07/2026
This is just to say I have OCRed the text thet was in tne arch:ve and whicb yov were prabaldy seamhing for "breahtast" Fargme ms fheg mem debo:w5 sb ?mccf mmb 5c oc1b
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Alex Bozikovic @alexbozikovic.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
Thinking about the fact that Toronto has two 70MM IMAX projectors - at Ontario Science Centre and at Ontario Place, the world's first IMAX theatre - that have been closed by Doug Ford for nonsensical reasons.
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The Beaverton @thebeaverton.com · 23/05/2026
AI tech mogul confused why expendable human capital booing him during commencement address
thebeaverton.com
AI tech mogul confused why expendable human capital booing him during commencement address
COLUMBUS, OH - Jack Smarnoff, CEO of tech firm Confinity AI, is reportedly confused as to why the graduating class of Ohio State University are loudly booing his commencement speech, specifically the ...
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Jamie Bradburn @jbcurio.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
The latest update to my guide to online historical Toronto newspaper resources includes: * A new home for the Multicultural History Society of Ontario's collection * Has the Telegram finally made it onto the internet? #TOHistory #cdnhistory jamiebradburncreative.wordpress.com/online-newsp...
jamiebradburncreative.wordpress.com
Guide to Online Toronto Historical Newspaper Resources
Let’s say you’re doing a Toronto-related research project. You need to browse old newspapers, but cannot physically access a research institution to view their paper or microfilm collections for wh…
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Ted McCormick @tedmccormick.bsky.social · 10/05/2026
Historical research does not need to be done faster or in greater volume for any social or intellectual purpose whatever; if anything, it needs to be done more slowly and deliberately than at present, by people allowed the training, time, space, and resources to do it that way.
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Claire Langhamer @clairelanghamer.bsky.social · 28/04/2026
On protecting what matters. @ihr.bsky.social @royalhistsoc.org @histassoc.bsky.social History UK www.history.ac.uk/news-events/...
history.ac.uk
Protecting What Matters: A joint statement by the Historical Association, History UK, Royal Historical Society and the IHR
Protecting what matters: A joint statement by the Historical Association, History UK, Royal Historical Society and the IHR
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American Historical Association @historians.org · 13/04/2026
We need historians because the past is never just the past. Every policy debate, public conversation, and cultural shift is shaped by what came before. Historians help us understand context, trace change over time, and recognize what’s at stake. #TalkAboutHumanities 🗃️
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Juan José Ponce Vázquez @jjponcevazquez.bsky.social · 31/03/2026
Careers fields of History majors. Fight the gross misrepresentations about what you can do with a History major. Especially from your parents.
Graphic representing the different sectors of the economy in which you can find history majors, with the most common being Management (14%), K12 (11%), Law (11%), and Business and Finance (10%).
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Buckinghamshire Archives @bucksarchives.bsky.social · 17/03/2026
ChatGPT: You’re so right, archivist. Eating the document would help preserve it using a new storage solution — one that's never been tried before in the archive sector. You wouldn't just be enjoying a cheap lunch, you would be furthering archival science for the world.
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Steven Nelson @snelsonus.bsky.social · 09/02/2026
If Bad Bunny can cover the history of Puerto Rico, colonialism, transatlantic slavery, hemispheric consciousness, as well as contemporary life and politics in under 14 minutes, you can do your 15- or 20-minute conference presentation with time to spare.
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Plague Poems @plaguepoems.bsky.social · 28/01/2026
The climatologist told me historians will wonder why we didn’t do more. The epidemiologist told me historians will wonder why we didn’t do more. The activist told me historians will wonder why we didn’t do more. The historian told me that nobody listens to historians.
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University of Toronto Press @uoftpress.bsky.social · 02/12/2025
We are pleased to share that Improving Upper Canada by Ross Fair has been awarded the 2025 Floyd S. Chalmers Award in Ontario History! Congratulations to the author. Read the announcement: bit.ly/48KNTQR #CanadianHistory #OntarioHistory @torontomet.bsky.social
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Ross Fair @rossfair.bsky.social · 03/11/2025
I'm pleased to learn that The Champlain Society has awarded me its 2025 Floyd S. Chalmers Award for my book, Improving Upper Canada. #cdnhist #envhist #onhist #aghist
champlainsociety.utppublishing.com
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Ross Fair @rossfair.bsky.social · 31/10/2025
For #Halloween let me resurrect (from the long-deceased and dearly-missed Torontoist) a piece I wrote about resurrection men who supplied Toronto's medical schools. Grave Robbing! Luggage! Trains! "Terrible Feeling of Indignation among the People!" web.archive.org/web/20160307...
A multi-part headline in multiple fonts from the Fergus News-Record, 2 June 1887.
The Grave Robbery. / Money the Object of the Scoundrels! / The Body Recovered at Toronto! / IT WAS TAKEN DOWN IN A TRUNK AND SOLD TO A MEDICAL COLLEGE. / Brought Back to Fergus and Re-interred! / Terrible Feeling of Indignation among the People!
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Asheesh Kapur Siddique @asheeshks.org · 16/09/2025
Best thing I've ever read about AI and the academy - every line a banger
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Henry Snow @henrys.now · 12/08/2025
Historians are often tempted to tell you something is "worth about X in today's dollars." Here's why I think you should not do that, and what I think you should do instead buttondown.com/anotherway/a...
buttondown.com
Please Stop Putting Very Old Things in "Today's Dollars"
Instead, do this
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Waitman Wade Beorn, PhD, FRHistS @waitmanwbeorn.com · 26/07/2025
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The Museum of English Rural Life (MERL) @themerl.bsky.social · 11/04/2025
Why did historic artists make so many paintings of extremely large cows? Our curator @olliedouglas.bsky.social reveals all!
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Kevin M. Kruse @kevinmkruse.bsky.social · 22/03/2025
Perfect description of why so many historians in particular are hostile to AI
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Kathleen O'Grady 🇨🇦 @kathleenogradyca.bsky.social · 16/03/2025
Today’s must read from American historian and Yale professor, Timothy Snyder snyder.substack.com/p/the-absurd...
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Susie Dent @susiedentwords.bsky.social · 28/02/2025
Word of the day is ‘huff-snuff’ (16th century): a hectoring bully or braggart.
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Ted McCormick @tedmccormick.bsky.social · 11/02/2025
if you thought archives were problematic, wait till you see no archives
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Community Archives of Belleville and Hastings County @cabhc.bsky.social · 12/02/2025
How not to label your family photographs.
Front and back of a family photo: on the front, an older woman, sitting in a chair. On the back, the words "Mother's mother".
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Joseph Gagné, Ph. D. @josgagne.bsky.social · 12/02/2025
#MakeNewFranceGreatAgain #WhatEvenIsThisReality #NouvelleFrance #VastEarlyAmerica #PoliticalHumor #NewFrance
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Paul Fairie @paulisci.bsky.social · 11/02/2025
1913
STEEL MILLS CLOSED; NEW TARIFF BLAMED
--The York Dispatch, 18 Nov 1913
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Karen Dalton Beninato @kbeninato.bsky.social · 08/02/2025
Every day I get closer to understanding how it must have felt when the incoming Senator was Caligula's horse.
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Tobias Wilson-Bates @phdhurtbrain.bsky.social · 02/01/2025
I just want to teach them to write...
I'm Julius Ceasar being stabbed to death by ChatGPT, Google Search AI, Grammarly, Microsoft AutoCorrect
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Khoa @khoavuumn.bsky.social · 02/01/2025
Researcher: "We let the data speak for itself." Earlier that day:
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Mark Crail @markcrail.bsky.social · 30/12/2024
🗃️ #C19th #Genealogy #LocalHistory A reminder that if you need an excel calculator that works with pounds, shillings and pence, I have one you can download and use freely. Please share… chartistancestors.blog/2023/07/12/n...
chartistancestors.blog
Need a calculator that works with pounds, shillings and pence?
If you struggle to add, multiply and divide sums of money written in pre-decimal currency, then you are not alone – and you may wish to download the Excel calculator I’ve created for just tha…
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Evan @evansmithhist.bsky.social · 24/12/2024
"you'll be visited by three spirits" The three spirits
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Mateusz Fafinski @calthalas.bsky.social · 22/12/2024
Sometimes working with manuscripts gets us really, really close to the people from the past allowing us to hear their voices. This is a story of a letter from a schoolgirl to her teacher, written probably sometime at the end of the 9th or the beginning of the 10th century. A thread 🧵 #medievalsky /1
A faint writing, the text is in Latin and it reads: Domina magistra felhin date mihi licenciam in hac nocte vigilare cum magistra adalu et ego vobis ambabus manibus confirmo atque iuro ut per totam noctem declinare volo aut legere aut pro seniore nostro cantare Valete et ut peto facite. (Abbreviations have been resolved in this transcription).
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AHA (Australia) @austhistassoc.bsky.social · 02/12/2024
Missed AHA President Michelle Arrow (@michellearrow.bsky.social) on ABC Radio National talking about the future of history at university? Listen here: buff.ly/3ZuSIbx
buff.ly
Is history history? - ABC listen
Universities are scrambling to make up the funding shortfalls they'll face because of reduced numbers of overseas students.
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Eric Very @ekvery.bsky.social · 24/11/2024
A view upsetting to the historians. "It was a pity, said the Premier , that the fort interfered with the progress of such a fine expressway.
All happy except the historians
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The Museum of English Rural Life (MERL) @themerl.bsky.social · 21/11/2024
'what's wrong with your massive sheep that looks like a brain?'
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Richard Fitch @tudorcook.bsky.social · 16/11/2024
"this is fine" British Library Manuscript - royal ms 20 a ii f3r
A medieval manuscript illustration from the British Library royal ms 20 a ii f3r.
Image shows a medieval king in a green gown and wearing a crown. He is stood within a burning castle with arms in the air and a look of 'oh dear' on his face
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michael veale @michae.lv · 15/11/2024
In response to OpenAI’s recent ‘A Student’s Guide to Writing with ChatGPT’, Arthur Perret (maître de conferénces, Jean Moulin Lyon 3) writes a line-by-line rebuttal — A Student’s Guide to Not Writing with ChatGPT www.arthurperret.fr/blog/2024-11...
arthurperret.fr
A Student’s Guide to Not Writing with ChatGPT
Site web d’Arthur Perret, enseignant-chercheur en SIC.
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Tina Adcock @tinaadcock.bsky.social · 09/11/2024
Scholars and students of Canada/northern North America! Here's a Canadian history starter pack. Please let me know if I've forgotten anyone! go.bsky.app/KVWtRgB
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Paul Fairie @paulisci.bsky.social · 08/11/2024
A List of Things People Blamed on Flappers 🧵
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UGuelph History Department @uguelphhist.bsky.social · 06/11/2024
Join Rural History Roundtable on Tues Nov 12 from 330-5pm EST, when @rossfair.bsky.social (TMU) will give a talk titled "A Measure of Improvement in Upper Canada: The 1852 Agricultural Exhibition." In person at MCKN Room 132, or via Zoom: www.eventbrite.ca/e/a-measure-... #cdnhist #aghist
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