Joe Borsato @theecoalchemyst.bsky.social · 7hGave a workshop last week in my class and today in a colleague’s class on the ethics of LLMs, their history writing, and how historians and historians-in-training can get ahead of the ethical issues of LLMs by embracing critical and analytical thinking skills. Huge success. Students loved it! 261
Reposted by Joe BorsatoCall me Ishmaboo @billjank.bsky.social · 13hSolid dose of hopium from @doctorow.pluralistic.net 37817
Reposted by Joe BorsatoAsheesh Kapur Siddique @asheeshks.org · 16hIt's always good to remember, when social needs like libraries and fully-funded public education are said to be 'too expensive' to provide at scale, what the US actually spends its money on. The cost of the Iraq War was $3 trillion www.hks.harvard.edu/publications...hks.harvard.eduThe True Cost of the Iraq War: $3 Trillion and BeyondWriting in these pages in early 2008, we put the total cost to the United States of the Iraq war at $3 trillion. This price tag dwarfed previous estimates, including the Bush administration's 2003 pro... 093
Reposted by Joe Borsatorumon carter @rumon.ca · 03/10/2026For those in my local - Victoria, BC #yyj - @doctorow.pluralistic.net will be in town on the 20th. Anyone interested in making a social outing of it? www.munrobooks.com/events/61136... @h2cents.bsky.socialmunrobooks.comAn Evening with Cory Doctorow | Munro's BooksVictoria's legendary independent bookstore since 1963 0245
Joe Borsato @theecoalchemyst.bsky.social · 02/10/2026Just presented my paper on Mi’kmaw women as cultural mediators in 17th c. Paris, at the Canadian Critical Feminist Histories conference at Queen’s! So glad to have had the chance to present with the group and in Kingston too! 040
Reposted by Joe BorsatoAsheesh Kapur Siddique @asheeshks.org · 02/10/2026Excellent piece by @jenniferberkshire.bsky.social on the weak Left vision for public education. This extends to higher ed; beyond free tuition and full employment, the Left doesn’t have a program of what content people are supposed to get out of college. educationwars.substack.com/p/whats-left...educationwars.substack.comWhat’s Left for Public Education?The left has no vision for public schools - and that’s a big problem 53115
Reposted by Joe BorsatoThe Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History @jich.bsky.social · 02/10/2026Latest book review! Jakob Burnham reviews 'By Flesh and Toil: How Sex, Race, and Labor Shaped the Early French Empire' by Mélanie Lamotte (Harvard University Press, 2026): doi.org/10.1080/0308... @harvardpress.bsky.socialdoi.orgBy Flesh and Toil: How Sex, Race, and Labor Shaped the Early French EmpirePublished in The Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History (Ahead of Print, 2026) 032
Joe Borsato @theecoalchemyst.bsky.social · 30/09/2026It’s #OrangeShirtDay and I’m thinking about the alliance that the Innu leader Anadabijou made with the French in 1603, which became the basis for Indigenous-European alliances in the lands that we now call Canada. The lessons of mutually-beneficial alliances from the 17th c. remain meaningful. 030
Joe Borsato @theecoalchemyst.bsky.social · 29/09/2026As an advocate for budget justice, I have long opposed the mandate of “you must fundraise not only for your basic needs but also for general operations.” Years ago, I even opposed this budget model as a graduate student, but faculty just laughed at me then. Will faculty fight cuts? #HigherEdCuts 001
Reposted by Joe BorsatoChris Newfield @cnewf.bsky.social · 29/09/2026Here are eight things public universities can’t do with their current budget model. There’s a new plan, discussed at the link, that won’t fix the budget but will hurt research 141
Reposted by Joe BorsatoEd Zitron @edzitron.com · 28/09/2026AI has lost the Mandate of Heaven I’m afraid. WSJ saying it’s a “when” the ai bubble bursts. SNL dabbing on their biggest names for being weird. FT says 50% of chips sold in 2026 and 2027 have nowhere to go. Hundreds of billions short on revenue for even 10% ROIC. A disaster. 342238417
Reposted by Joe BorsatoEmily Lowan (she/her) @emilylowan.bsky.social · 27/09/2026I am disgusted by the appearance of white nationalists on the Tkʼemlúps te Secwépemc reserve. This is happening just days before the National Day for Truth & Reconciliation. I stand with Indigenous communities & all marginalized communities in the fight for a future free from racist intimidation.cfjctoday.comApparent white nationalist gathering spotted on Tkʼemlúps reserve SundayTK'EMLUPS - A post on social media appears to show a group of masked individuals gathered on the Tkemlps te Se... 1223768
Reposted by Joe BorsatoClare Downham @downham.bsky.social · 25/09/2026Funded PhD opportunities with a short deadline. Join our early medieval cluster at Liverpool with 7 PhDs currently working with the Institute of Irish Studies on all aspects of Irish, British and Icelandic topics and connections www.nationalgallery.org.uk/research/col... #museums #medievalskynationalgallery.org.ukCollaborative PhDs | Research | National Gallery, LondonAs part of collaborative consortia, the Gallery hosts a cohort of PhD students funded by the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council. 12623
Reposted by Joe BorsatoKrista Kesselring @kjkesselring.bsky.social · 24/09/2026Pleased to see this volume on married women & the law now out - the product of a great conference on coverture organized by Danaya Wright. (Rather pricey, but good for the library-wishlist!) #earlymodern #history www.cambridgescholars.com/product/978-... 02614
Joe Borsato @theecoalchemyst.bsky.social · 23/09/2026My latest blog post about Cree geographic knowledge in 17th-century cartography is now live with the British Library’s blog, focusing on some research that I completed this summer at the library as a 2026 Eccles Fellow. www.bl.uk/stories/blog...bl.ukCharting Indigenous lands and waterwaysCree geographical knowledge at the British Library and the early cartography of the Hudson Bay watershed. 02018
Joe Borsato @theecoalchemyst.bsky.social · 23/09/2026Today, students in my British North America seminar examined the Seven Years War from Indigenous, British, and French perspectives. We talked about the roles of Indigenous alliances, military leadership, social dynamics, and the militia myth in shaping the events of the war. It was a great time! 050
Reposted by Joe BorsatoEmmett Macfarlane 🇨🇦 @emmettmacfarlane.com · 22/09/2026Funny, because the Truckers got three weeks to hang out before police lifted a finger. Interesting. 331029408
Reposted by Joe BorsatoIan Petrie @icpetrie.bsky.social · 22/09/2026JOB: TT Assistant Professor, Global Humanities, Simon Fraser University Literary, Rhetorical and Social Worlds of Ancient Greece universityaffairs.ca/search-jobs/... 037
Joe Borsato @theecoalchemyst.bsky.social · 20/09/2026The Kingston fall fair is always a good time - seen here from a distance. What you can’t see beyond the lights and entertainment are the sounds of cows mooing, which I find charming as a person who grew up on a farm but who has lived in a downtown area for the past half-decade. 021
Reposted by Joe BorsatoBroadbent Institute @broadbent.bsky.social · 18/09/2026The @canadianlabour.bsky.social's new report 'Public Runways, Private Profits' shows why Carney's plan for privatized ownership of Canada's airports will mean cuts to jobs & higher prices. @dtcochrane.bsky.social explains on the Perspectives Journal Podcast: perspectivesjournal.ca/terminal-profits 02318
Joe Borsato @theecoalchemyst.bsky.social · 19/09/2026This week, students in my British North America class discussed research on Indigenous, British, & French disputes over land rights in Mi’kma’ki (Nova Scotia) and the Ohio valley in the 1750s. It was a good start to the year - great to hear the constant chatter in small group discussion sessions. 030
Joe Borsato @theecoalchemyst.bsky.social · 15/09/2026We had a presentation in our department yesterday about using AI to simulate historical processes. It was basically an exercise in textual realism (historical agents never do anything that contradicts a text they write) and the model was based on a 1960s war simulator, so very niche and impractical. 250
Reposted by Joe BorsatoJo Wolff @jowolff.bsky.social · 14/09/2026The fallacy that University leaders pushing AI are falling into is thinking that the point of undergraduate research is to find things out. It isn't. What students find out is typically already generally known. The point of undergraduate research is to learn how to find things out. 351441412
Joe Borsato @theecoalchemyst.bsky.social · 15/09/2026Higher education is no longer a safe space to work even for the most privileged members of the professoriate. This has been true for many people for a long time but it is now getting much worse. 000
Reposted by Joe BorsatoUniversity and College Union (UCU) @ucu.org.uk · 14/09/2026UCU members at Brighton University face the threat of derecognition. We have called an emergency rally tomorrow at 1:15pm. It would be amazing to see as many #TUC26 delegates as possible in attendance. 58-67 Grand Parade, Brighton and Hove, Brighton BN2 0JY 011181
Reposted by Joe BorsatoDaniel C. Blight @danielcblight.bsky.social · 14/09/2026***URGENT PLEASE SHARE*** University of Brighton management have announced today that they ‘give notice of termination of all collective agreements’. This is a fundamental erasure of workers' rights. Management have announced the termination of all contractual documents, which includes: 13598709
Joe Borsato @theecoalchemyst.bsky.social · 14/09/2026It’s really pathetic to hear some tenured historians talk about how “AI is the future” when they have no evidence that it will be, and (not to be coy) besides it’s not in the business of historians to predict the future. It has real Alan “keys” Lichtman vibes. 010
Reposted by Joe BorsatoJoseph Rezek @rezekjoe.bsky.social · 14/09/2026Mathematicians out here saying it is not the proof that matters, but the human understanding of the proof. We are all humanists now. 28599106
Joe Borsato @theecoalchemyst.bsky.social · 12/09/2026Glad to see 2 more of my archival-based research articles are now accepted/forthcoming. I also have 2 more under consideration, which if accepted will bring my total to 7, all in Q1/Q2 journals. It’s not bad considering I’m also finishing book revisions, adjuncting, and working a 2nd job. #NoLLMs 010
Reposted by Joe BorsatoThe Breach @breachmedia.ca · 11/09/2026As the public backlash to AI and data centres swells, pro-AI politicians are trying to anxiously spin. Marcus Werner debunks the PR push underway to justify public handouts to tech oligarchs. www.youtube.com/watch?v=OE-B...youtube.comPro-AI politicians are NERVOUS about the public backlashYouTube video by The Breach 54434
Joe Borsato @theecoalchemyst.bsky.social · 10/09/2026OECD stats indicate that students who do not use AI are around 20 points ahead of their peers who do use AI. In other words, those not using AI are « equivalent to being around one year of schooling ahead of their peers. » #Evidence #NoAI #Education 000
Joe Borsato @theecoalchemyst.bsky.social · 10/09/2026Meanwhile some people in my profession claim that these tools are worth the costs. 010
Reposted by Joe BorsatoLouigi Addario-Berry @louigi.bsky.social · 09/09/2026I'm proud to announce the creation of the Association for Human Mathematics. We aim to protect mathematics as a human endeavour against the threat of AI and to maintain the independence of the mathematical community from corporate interests. www.ahmath.orgahmath.orgAHM 5283106
Reposted by Joe BorsatoBroadbent Institute @broadbent.bsky.social · 09/09/2026Europe and Canada can only protect their digital ecosystems against US interference if they start investing in tech sovereignty now. perspectivesjournal.ca/canada-europe-tech-sovereigntyperspectivesjournal.caCanada and Europe Need to Build a Firewall Against US Tech Coercion | Perspectives JournalEurope and Canada can only protect their digital ecosystems against US interference if they start investing in tech sovereignty now. 093
Reposted by Joe BorsatoSixteenth Century Society @16csociety.bsky.social · 09/09/2026Noticed an uptick in posts from SCS? That's thanks to the society's new Tech Advisors, Seán Thomas Kane and Joshua Caleb Smith. They serve jointly in the position created at #SCSC2025. You can reach out to them by emailing TechAdvisor@sixteenthcentury.org. 141
Reposted by Joe BorsatoIrishPhilosophy @irishphilosophy.bsky.social · 08/09/2026With alt - AI in mathematics 021
Joe Borsato @theecoalchemyst.bsky.social · 08/09/2026New semester and new classes to teach, today. Don’t ask if I’m prepared.static.klipy.comSo It Begins - Winston (Ian McShane)ALT: So It Begins - Winston (Ian McShane) 010
Reposted by Joe BorsatoChris Newfield @cnewf.bsky.social · 04/09/2026I was induced to critique that Vanderbilt slam of humanities scholarship, and had a strangely good time doing it. I explain why Appiah should like and help, not trash The Activist Humanist. Collaboration can cure ALL real epistemic ills in the humanities: do this! criticalnoise.org/the-struggle...criticalnoise.orgThe Struggle to Face Forward – History of the Present 1227
Reposted by Joe BorsatoErin Grievances @erinbartram.bsky.social · 07/09/2026I hate to say history, of all of the humanities disciplines, deserves what's coming to it, but many of the field's leaders, the people with the power and security to protect it and advocate for it, have done absolutely fuck all instead. 1161
Reposted by Joe BorsatoAsheesh Kapur Siddique @asheeshks.org · 06/09/2026We keep discussing ”strategies” for teaching in the age of AI to avoid talking about resources. It’s so boring!! The strategy is invest $ to hire people, lower class size, support research-engaged learning & stop measuring the worth of disciplines in relation to # of enrollments and majors. 3516104
Reposted by Joe BorsatoNational Library of Ireland @nlireland.bsky.social · 04/09/2026Online Talk | The Irish Colleges in Early Modern Europe Join us on Zoom for the third lecture of the new 'Strangers to Citizens' online talk series, delivered by Dr Liam Chambers. 📅 Tues, 15 Sepat 3pm: www.nli.ie/exhibitions-events/onlin…nli.ieOnline Talk | The Irish Colleges in Early Modern EuropeAs part of the 'Strangers to Citizens' Online Talk Series 01010
Joe Borsato @theecoalchemyst.bsky.social · 02/09/2026“Graduate students are not abandoning academia. They are asking whether the academy, as it is currently structured, deserves their trust.“ I am still not persuaded that most academics have or are even remotely willing to face this question. Not doing anything will destroy all our professions. 092
Reposted by Joe BorsatoKeith Grant @keithsgrant.bsky.social · 31/08/2026Folks, can any of you recommend a very good Canadian consultant who specializes in SSHRC grant application editing? If so, would you please DM me? Editors/consultants, please feel free to tell me about your own services, too. Thank you! 112
Reposted by Joe Borsatolissa @unraveledlissa.bsky.social · 29/08/2026“Canadians are living through the devastating reality of not having a meaningful plan to address climate change… at this critical moment, the government is fighting to throw our case out of court, while… moving ahead with fossil fuel expansion and rolling back key climate protections.” 056
Joe Borsato @theecoalchemyst.bsky.social · 27/08/2026I am ashamed to admit that it has taken me six years of living in Kingston to finally try the sushi burrito, which the university district is know for, and holy sh!t it did not disappoint! Folks, I now actually feel ready to teach a new semester, in a way that I did not yesterday! #SushiBurrito 010