In this model, faculty are disposable, decisions are made from above with no input from educators, and students‘ learning conditions cost $$$ but are easily discarded
05.03.2026 12:10
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In this model, faculty are disposable, decisions are made from above with no input from educators, and students‘ learning conditions cost $$$ but are easily discarded
Drexel sent out an email last week to all NTT faculty announcing an expedited review of NTT contracts, which proposes to cut all contracts down to 1 year or 3 years max for senior lecturers. This is a unilateral topdown scrapping of policy faculty fought to implement & that was only approved in 2023
One vision of the university sees no faculty at all, just revolving door of the seamless provision of managed services and tuition fees. Another, shares this vision by having all faculty permanently on strike.
I have seen a lot of cursed stuff in my time in academia but this is among the *most* cursed.
Grammarly is generating miniature LLMs based on academic work so that users can have their writing ‘reviewed’ by experts like David Abulafia, who died less than two months ago.
The quotidian surreal dystopia of living under authoritarianism, this story sounds like a nightmare from a work of fiction
New — I spoke to eight trans people in Kansas about the new state law that invalidated their driver’s licenses overnight, what’s it’s like to live there right now, plus details of two DMV emails exclusively obtained by The Handbasket that shed light on the law’s chaotic and cruel rollout:
I have said this before, but eliminating programs that teach a lot of students but don’t have many majors is like a restaurant not buying flour in its grocery delivery because people aren’t ordering flour on the menu.
I realize this isn’t portable to all subjects or pedagogical situations, but a species of assignment that’s remarkably robust against AI is "reflect critically on this activity we did/object we examined in person"
You could iterate with an LLM, but it would require work nearly equal to just writing
🔥HOT OFF THE PRESS🔥
"No Safe Harbor: Martin R. Delany's Figurative Emigrations"
by Michael Soriano
Please Share!
www.insurrecthistory.com/archives/no-...
The brief 24 hour window in which I’m totally caught up on grading before my students turn in final project proposals 🙏🥳
Things are going well in this country for the rich and the racists.
Libraries are among the few public institutions that represent the kind of world we want to live in. They must be fought for.
I hope New Yorkers will challenge Mamdani about this. Too often, people feel they need to be absolutely for or against a politician — ignoring their missteps or throwing them out with the bathwater. You can like and/or believe in someone and still challenge them to deliver on their promises.
This gofundme was started by a Drexel student whose father was taken by ICE. If you are able to, please join me in donating
www.gofundme.com/f/support-th...
He is seriously amazing & under appreciated at Drexel!
Since 2019, one of the proudest services I do for the profession is collaborate w. @rcolesworthy.bsky.social & Erin Bartram @contingent-mag.bsky.social to compile a (limited) list of pubs by contingent lit studies scholars.
Here is our 2025 compilation.
contingentmagazine.org/2025/12/16/2...
For Jane Austen's 250th Birthday I am sharing my article for @theconversation.com that warns against pretending Austen was radical or "wild". She was a Conservative, supported of empire and mainstream tenets of white supremacy and heteronormative primogeniture.
theconversation.com/jane-austen-...
Today I remembered that there is a resource that is just a list of almost one hundred humanities PhDs who have transitioned to other careers and are available to talk about it.
You can schedule an informational interview or invite them to talk to your department!
docs.google.com/spreadsheets...
Thank you! I’m familiar with AAUP’s report but hadn’t seen this article. Thanks also for your article - I shared it with some of my colleagues in Drexel‘s AAUP chapter. Sending solidarity from Philadelphia 🙏
Reading this, because Drexel just announced that they are also cutting a deal with OpenAI for Chat GPT Edu
an Ancient Aliens meme from the Our Marathon project’s meme collection is the most viewed file in Northeastern’s Digital Repository Service. Appreciate my old coworker Sarah Sweeney sharing this data point and others! librarynews.northeastern.edu?p=276987&fbc...
Cover of the essay. It depicts a Black man, visibly tired and sad, holding a bleading heart that reads The Emotional Labor Behind AI Intimacy by Michael Geoffrey Asia.
Today, DWI publishes a powerful essay by @mgasia.bsky.social, who works impersonating an AI sex companion: data-workers.org/michael/
This piece offers a rare glimpse into the psychological and economic realities behind one of the fastest-growing sectors: AI-assisted intimacy.
The American Association of University Professors said 40% of full-time faculty members — or 169 academics — have received voluntary separation or early retirement offers, making it the “largest attempted firing of faculty currently taking place in the nation.” #AcademicSky
Last call, friends! @hartmann-villalta.bsky.social and I are finishing up our annual list of lit studies publications—articles, books, book chapters—by NTT scholars for @contingent-mag.bsky.social. Please spread the word and send me your pubs by tomorrow/Tues 12/9! 🙏🫡
Introduction to Feminisms class poster with hot pink and green abstract patterns, the poster notes the class is offered in winter 2026 at Drexel University by professor Liz Polcha
I'm working on my course calendars for the winter term while wrapping up teaching in the fall term, but I am very excited to teach this intro to feminist theory class for the first time at Drexel. The class is going to move slow and focus on 1-2 readings per week, with lots of note-taking by hand
A few weeks ago I was interviewed for the "Career Hacks for Humanists" podcast.
Check out our conversation about my weird career trajectory and caring about values while needing a job.
popphd.substack.com/p/job-hacks-...
Google at its peak was basically the best information retrieval system in human history and they and every competitor decided going from there to “you didn’t want answers you wanted half-assed auto-complete 80%-wrong hallucinations” in a few years was the right idea
I need everyone, esp anyone working in education or tech (but really everyone) to WATCH THIS CLIP of @drtanksley.bsky.social discussing the technologies infiltrating our schools & psyches and how she is addressing it with our young people. youtu.be/5mtcSL4S3HQ
The Daniel K. Richter Summer Writing Retreat will convene for the first time in June '26 at the McNeil Center. Each participant will be awarded $4,000, office space, and access to Penn's digital library holdings for one year. Applications open until Jan 15–apply here: www.mceas.org/awards/danie....
I’ve written a piece on the curious lack of media and political interest in the issues faced by our national @britishlibrary.bsky.social. This is strange given we live in a world where ideas, knowledge and research are a long-term source of innovation and insight
www.cityam.com/the-british-...