Albert S. Fu

I was a critic for my friend Yuki Kato's Author Meets Critics session at ESS on her book Gardens of Hope. It's a great book, and it was a fun session! Check out the book here:

nyupress.org/9781479...

Lol. I got an email from Binghamton (my grad alma mater) saying I have $0.27 left on an old BUC$ account. I'm glad they're keeping track as a public agency, but it's a example of how gift cards and pre paid accounts can scrape up these cents for profit later.

The 2026-2027 PA State Appropriations Request PowerPoint says, "PASSHE's investment in faculty and staff reflects the people-centered nature of higher education." Pretty sure many system employees will disagree with this.

I think this would be a good survey measure of parental exhaustion, better than a Likert scale. “If your kid asked you to definitely not go in the living room for 15 minutes, where would you fall on the spectrum of alarm to gratitude”

US involvement in regime change commons.wikimedia.or...

Lots of fans were chatting about WWE prices at the NJPW show in New Jersey last night. These are hardcore wrestling fans who used to go to at least one WWE PPV/PLE a year on top of AEW, TNA, indies, etc. I don't think TKO understands that wrestling indies aren't the same as smaller MMA orgs.

Taking my daughter to New Japan Pro Wrestling show

The reason why politicians and admins won't use cost per FTE is that some of the most cost-effective programs are humanities and social sciences. Probably, also because numbers freak them out. It's easier to just say 15 graduates.

The university ecosystem that was created post WW2 is being destroyed. Large classes in 'service' departments were intended to help schools balance needs elsewhere. Completion metrics in many states will lead to a collapse of institutions because this isn't how managed cost per FTE works.

My nine year old is excited. Oh yea and I think her parents are as well. @craiggerber.com bsky.app/profile/crai...

New AI Agent Logs Directly Into College Platform Canvas to Do Your Homework for You The AI "homework agent," called Einstein, will even complete assignments while you sleep before you even realized they were assigned, the company

Yep. It's getting worse. Even if this is just hype for now, it (and others) will get better.

Every year my ASA submission gets closer and closer to the deadline.

I've been wanting an English butler voice.

Universities Are Selling Themselves Off Piece by Piece American higher ed has become a mesh of corporate contracts and outsourced services. From dining halls to student records, private vendors now run many institutions’ most basic operations — atomizing ...

Generative AI in classes is just the latest case of higher education selling it's organs to tech companies. AI is used in student recruiting, fund raising, advising, library services, etc.

Unions should be concerned because these contracts play a role in negotiations.

jacobin.com/2025/09/univ...

I was certainly disappointed when they announced that... especially as this occurred when my union had just affiliated with AFT.

The faculty are UAW, but separately AFT has said AI has to be negotiated.

NYU’s Full-Time Contingent Faculty Are Poised to Strike After trying to bargain a first contract for over a year, the union for 1,000 full-time contingent faculty at New York University is voting on authorizing a strike. Contract faculty say NYU is refusing to budge on pay raises and job security protections.

"Many of us who work at universities, not just NYU, have watched in confusion and horror at the way our administrations have approached generative AI and its integration into the systems that we use to teach."

AFT has said AI must be a mandatory subject of bargaining.

I received some unexpected nice comments about my research. Bragging aside, it's extra meaningful as sociology & other fields are under assault. This inspired me to contact someone I never met in person & thank them. These are dark times in higher ed, hopefully we can try to cheer each other up.

I know generations are a poor descriptor of people's experiences, but it's likely there won't be many Gen Z faculty due to everything that's happened the past 20 years.

Lots of my colleagues rightfully point fingers at questionable admin decisions. However, those decisions don't exist in vacuum. The structure of higher ed. needs to addressed.
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Epstein’s Ties With Academics Show the Seedy Side of College Fund-Raising Professors and presidents are often eager to raise outside cash. Some are now facing blowback after connecting with Jeffrey Epstein.

This is also how questionable figures end up on boards/councils/trustees that undermine the function of universities. They can push out presidents and influence tenure cases. www.nytimes.com/2026...
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There's a story on social media regarding a professor getting caught using NotebookLM to grade papers. Of course we know it's happening.

I think we need to frame this beyond bad actors, and really consider where we are going in terms of humanity as a whole.

I enjoy reading about W.E.B. Du Bois's teaching. Here's a short thread about it.

What happened to Science Goodreads and how do we rebuild it? A 65 million dollar question (at least) - CAIROS Blog The story of the rise and fall of Mendeley

1/ Finally wrote up “The Story of Mendeley”! Most people know the tool, few know about its rise and fall. The Mendeley story provides important clues for how to build self-sustaining AND non-extractive knowledge commons, which is why I think it deserves more attention 🧵

Normally I don't think much of political endorsements, but I think Bernie endorsements will make a difference in primaries going into 2026. There's already evidence of that.

He's been featured prominently in the WWE (a couple high profile matches) and has been in a few movies. He's definitely in the eschelon of celebrities where one doesn't have know his music to know he exists.

Cool. Professional wrestler Raven mentioned the looking glass self during his interview with Chris Van Vliet. Pour one for Cooley for being cool.

I added The Origins of Totalitarianism to my audiobook listening list. It's been a while since I've engaged with some Arendt. The irony is that it's on Audible. That's late capitalism for you.

Pa. public universities didn’t get a state funding increase this year, and they’re preparing for a tough enrollment outlook The Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education had asked the state for a 6.5% funding increase. It had increased tuition to prepare for that scenario.

Every year during my annual physical, my doctor asks how the state system is doing. Thankfully, he does it after blood pressure and other tests are complete.

Reading this on the staggering scope of what it would take to remake our cities as fire-safe, and then multiplying it in my head by the staggering scope of needed prep for our cities' water/sewer infrastructure to be ready for the next century. it’s $$$$ x $$$$$, but needs to be done together