Dr. Zoé Elise Thomas
@archaeadne.bsky.social
she/her VAP @ Millsaps College. Roman archaeologist working on public architecture and politics, esp in Gaul, plus projects on osteology and reception. Malcontent and “feistful” sometimes. Opinions are mine alone.
Reposted by Dr. Zoé Elise Thomas
BREAKING: Democrat Johnny DuPree has flipped a Republican-held Mississippi Senate district in a special election.
DuPree was previously the mayor of Hattiesburg.
His win imperils the Mississippi Senate GOP's narrow supermajority.
www.mississippifreepress.org/democrat-joh...
DuPree was previously the mayor of Hattiesburg.
His win imperils the Mississippi Senate GOP's narrow supermajority.
www.mississippifreepress.org/democrat-joh...
Democrat Johnny DuPree Flips Republican-Held Mississippi Senate District in Forrest County
Johnny DuPree, a Democrat who served as the mayor of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, for 16 years, has flipped a Republican-held Mississippi Senate seat.
www.mississippifreepress.org
November 5, 2025 at 3:18 AM
BREAKING: Democrat Johnny DuPree has flipped a Republican-held Mississippi Senate district in a special election.
DuPree was previously the mayor of Hattiesburg.
His win imperils the Mississippi Senate GOP's narrow supermajority.
www.mississippifreepress.org/democrat-joh...
DuPree was previously the mayor of Hattiesburg.
His win imperils the Mississippi Senate GOP's narrow supermajority.
www.mississippifreepress.org/democrat-joh...
Reposted by Dr. Zoé Elise Thomas
When people learn with ChatGPT instead of following their own searches, they end up knowing less, caring less, and producing worse advice, even when the facts are the same.
Friction is an essential ingredient for learning! Convenience makes us shallow.
academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/ar...
Friction is an essential ingredient for learning! Convenience makes us shallow.
academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/ar...
Experimental evidence of the effects of large language models versus web search on depth of learning
Abstract. The effects of using large language models (LLMs) versus traditional web search on depth of learning are explored. A theory is proposed that when
academic.oup.com
October 28, 2025 at 3:14 PM
When people learn with ChatGPT instead of following their own searches, they end up knowing less, caring less, and producing worse advice, even when the facts are the same.
Friction is an essential ingredient for learning! Convenience makes us shallow.
academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/ar...
Friction is an essential ingredient for learning! Convenience makes us shallow.
academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/ar...
Reposted by Dr. Zoé Elise Thomas
If you're in education or know a student, READ THIS. Demand change.
@lollardfish.bsky.social: "It’s not on us, on you and me, to use AI ethically or responsibly. It’s on the companies to build safe, reliable, ethical products." 1/
#academicsky #education #health
@lollardfish.bsky.social: "It’s not on us, on you and me, to use AI ethically or responsibly. It’s on the companies to build safe, reliable, ethical products." 1/
#academicsky #education #health
Here’s where it gets personal for me. When I was 9, I started experiencing suicidal ideation … disinterested in living, and at least some of the time contemplating death and how it might happen … It’s easy to imagine how I would have used programs like these chatbots.
Perry: How can AI be used ethically when it’s been linked to suicide?
"It’s not on us, on you and me, to use AI ethically or responsibly. It’s on the companies to build safe, reliable, ethical products," David M. Perry writes.
www.startribune.com
October 26, 2025 at 11:44 AM
If you're in education or know a student, READ THIS. Demand change.
@lollardfish.bsky.social: "It’s not on us, on you and me, to use AI ethically or responsibly. It’s on the companies to build safe, reliable, ethical products." 1/
#academicsky #education #health
@lollardfish.bsky.social: "It’s not on us, on you and me, to use AI ethically or responsibly. It’s on the companies to build safe, reliable, ethical products." 1/
#academicsky #education #health
Reposted by Dr. Zoé Elise Thomas
A beautiful testament to the essential humanity of teaching.
"I will never compete with AI in word count or response time. But I will keep saying, 'Tell me more about that…' I will keep noticing how the girl in the back always looks up when I mention whales or rivers or grief."
"I will never compete with AI in word count or response time. But I will keep saying, 'Tell me more about that…' I will keep noticing how the girl in the back always looks up when I mention whales or rivers or grief."
Please read this essay aloud.
“[Teaching] is about being present. About staying long enough to know what to ask. About saying: ‘I think I know what you mean,’ even if we’re wrong. Especially if we’re wrong.”
Thanks @heymrsbond.com for sharing this. It impacted me.
therumpus.net/2025/10/02/h...
“[Teaching] is about being present. About staying long enough to know what to ask. About saying: ‘I think I know what you mean,’ even if we’re wrong. Especially if we’re wrong.”
Thanks @heymrsbond.com for sharing this. It impacted me.
therumpus.net/2025/10/02/h...
Human Error Is the Point: On Teaching College During the Rise of AI - The Rumpus
My syllabus is a mess of half-remembered intentions. I re-use icebreakers that I know don’t work. I forget to grade the first assignment until Week Four. I write emails that begin with “So sorry for t...
therumpus.net
October 22, 2025 at 10:24 AM
A beautiful testament to the essential humanity of teaching.
"I will never compete with AI in word count or response time. But I will keep saying, 'Tell me more about that…' I will keep noticing how the girl in the back always looks up when I mention whales or rivers or grief."
"I will never compete with AI in word count or response time. But I will keep saying, 'Tell me more about that…' I will keep noticing how the girl in the back always looks up when I mention whales or rivers or grief."
Reposted by Dr. Zoé Elise Thomas
Hundreds of residents of Oxford, Mississippi, turned out at a No Kings protest against the Trump administration on Saturday, Oct. 18, 2025. Here are some photos of those who showed up and the protest signs they carried.
Photos: No Kings Protest in Oxford, Mississippi
Hundreds of residents of Oxford, Mississippi, turned out at a No Kings protest against the Trump administration on Saturday, Oct. 18, 2025.
buff.ly
October 21, 2025 at 11:45 PM
Hundreds of residents of Oxford, Mississippi, turned out at a No Kings protest against the Trump administration on Saturday, Oct. 18, 2025. Here are some photos of those who showed up and the protest signs they carried.
Reposted by Dr. Zoé Elise Thomas
It felt like an extremely radical thing to say "you can just not teach them how to use this. i don't even know what it means to teach them AI skills but you can also just not. it might make your students more hireable, honestly."
But this idea that it's a tool whose existence justifies its use?
But this idea that it's a tool whose existence justifies its use?
October 16, 2025 at 2:57 AM
It felt like an extremely radical thing to say "you can just not teach them how to use this. i don't even know what it means to teach them AI skills but you can also just not. it might make your students more hireable, honestly."
But this idea that it's a tool whose existence justifies its use?
But this idea that it's a tool whose existence justifies its use?
Reposted by Dr. Zoé Elise Thomas
Happy [belated] National Fossil Day! Before CT scanning and photogrammetry, fossil were hand drawn like this series of traditional carbon dust illustrations. I miss those days. Photos of my illustrations alongside the actual fossils #NationalFossilDay, #SciArt, #PaleoArt, #paleontology, #CarbonDust
October 16, 2025 at 9:59 AM
Happy [belated] National Fossil Day! Before CT scanning and photogrammetry, fossil were hand drawn like this series of traditional carbon dust illustrations. I miss those days. Photos of my illustrations alongside the actual fossils #NationalFossilDay, #SciArt, #PaleoArt, #paleontology, #CarbonDust
Reposted by Dr. Zoé Elise Thomas
To understand the Trump administration’s vision for American education, @megomatz.bsky.social and I studied dozens of hours of political appointees’ speeches and podcasts and essays. What emerged is a desire to dismantle the nation’s system of public schools.
These Activists Want to Dismantle Public Schools. Now They Run the Education Department.
Under Trump, the Department of Education has been bringing in activists hostile to public schools. It could mean a new era of private and religious schools boosted by tax dollars — and the end of publ...
www.propublica.org
October 9, 2025 at 2:37 AM
To understand the Trump administration’s vision for American education, @megomatz.bsky.social and I studied dozens of hours of political appointees’ speeches and podcasts and essays. What emerged is a desire to dismantle the nation’s system of public schools.
Reposted by Dr. Zoé Elise Thomas
When I was researching my book Ghosts, Monsters, and Demons of India, I learned of a 1000-year-old myth about Roman tech being used to build killer robots to guard the Buddha's remains in Pataliputra, and a Hungarian folklorist read my book & got excited about it, & she managed to dig up a🧵(1/3)
October 5, 2025 at 1:21 PM
When I was researching my book Ghosts, Monsters, and Demons of India, I learned of a 1000-year-old myth about Roman tech being used to build killer robots to guard the Buddha's remains in Pataliputra, and a Hungarian folklorist read my book & got excited about it, & she managed to dig up a🧵(1/3)
Reposted by Dr. Zoé Elise Thomas
Meta is constructing its largest data center yet: a $10 billion facility in Louisiana, as big as 70 football fields, requiring more than twice as much electricity as the City of New Orleans.
Louisiana has had to greenlight $3 billion in new energy infrastructure to service Meta's facility.
Louisiana has had to greenlight $3 billion in new energy infrastructure to service Meta's facility.
New Meta Data Center Needs Twice as Much Energy as New Orleans
Meta is constructing its largest data center yet: a $10 billion facility in Louisiana requiring more than twice as much electricity as New Orleans.
www.mississippifreepress.org
September 29, 2025 at 5:44 PM
Meta is constructing its largest data center yet: a $10 billion facility in Louisiana, as big as 70 football fields, requiring more than twice as much electricity as the City of New Orleans.
Louisiana has had to greenlight $3 billion in new energy infrastructure to service Meta's facility.
Louisiana has had to greenlight $3 billion in new energy infrastructure to service Meta's facility.
Reposted by Dr. Zoé Elise Thomas
For anyone wanting to NOT agree to the new Academia.edu Terms of Service, which includes using your work for AI purposes, you don't need to accept the terms to delete your account.
Instead, click on the Terms of Service link in the pop-up...
🏺 #AcademicSky
Instead, click on the Terms of Service link in the pop-up...
🏺 #AcademicSky
September 18, 2025 at 9:39 AM
For anyone wanting to NOT agree to the new Academia.edu Terms of Service, which includes using your work for AI purposes, you don't need to accept the terms to delete your account.
Instead, click on the Terms of Service link in the pop-up...
🏺 #AcademicSky
Instead, click on the Terms of Service link in the pop-up...
🏺 #AcademicSky
Reposted by Dr. Zoé Elise Thomas
I'm sorry, worldwide, irrevocable, non-exclusive, transferable permission to my voice and likeness? For what now? In any manner for any purpose???
This is in academia/.edu's new ToS, which you're prompted to agree to on login. Anyway I'll be jumping ship. You can find my stuff at hcommons.org.
This is in academia/.edu's new ToS, which you're prompted to agree to on login. Anyway I'll be jumping ship. You can find my stuff at hcommons.org.
September 17, 2025 at 5:16 PM
I'm sorry, worldwide, irrevocable, non-exclusive, transferable permission to my voice and likeness? For what now? In any manner for any purpose???
This is in academia/.edu's new ToS, which you're prompted to agree to on login. Anyway I'll be jumping ship. You can find my stuff at hcommons.org.
This is in academia/.edu's new ToS, which you're prompted to agree to on login. Anyway I'll be jumping ship. You can find my stuff at hcommons.org.
Reposted by Dr. Zoé Elise Thomas
If someone’s not mourning the death of Robert Redford in a manner that’s consistent with your views, make sure you set up a database, call their employer, and get them fired.
September 16, 2025 at 7:22 PM
If someone’s not mourning the death of Robert Redford in a manner that’s consistent with your views, make sure you set up a database, call their employer, and get them fired.
Reposted by Dr. Zoé Elise Thomas
Some personal news:
I've been fired from the Washington Post in the aftermath of the Charlie Kirk shooting.
Thread incoming.
substack.com/@karenattiah...
I've been fired from the Washington Post in the aftermath of the Charlie Kirk shooting.
Thread incoming.
substack.com/@karenattiah...
The Washington Post Fired Me — But My Voice Will Not Be Silenced.
I spoke out against hatred and violence in America — and it cost me my job.
substack.com
September 15, 2025 at 11:07 AM
Some personal news:
I've been fired from the Washington Post in the aftermath of the Charlie Kirk shooting.
Thread incoming.
substack.com/@karenattiah...
I've been fired from the Washington Post in the aftermath of the Charlie Kirk shooting.
Thread incoming.
substack.com/@karenattiah...
Reposted by Dr. Zoé Elise Thomas
The firing came after State Auditor Shad White, a Republican, tagged the university in a social media post.
“To @olemiss, did an Ole Miss employee just repost this insane reaction to Charlie Kirk’s murder? Answer,” White wrote on Thursday morning.
“To @olemiss, did an Ole Miss employee just repost this insane reaction to Charlie Kirk’s murder? Answer,” White wrote on Thursday morning.
University of Mississippi Fires Employee Over Charlie Kirk Post
The University of Mississippi has fired employee Lauren Stokes for sharing a post on social media that criticized Charlie Kirk’s views after his assassination on Wednesday.
buff.ly
September 15, 2025 at 12:45 PM
The firing came after State Auditor Shad White, a Republican, tagged the university in a social media post.
“To @olemiss, did an Ole Miss employee just repost this insane reaction to Charlie Kirk’s murder? Answer,” White wrote on Thursday morning.
“To @olemiss, did an Ole Miss employee just repost this insane reaction to Charlie Kirk’s murder? Answer,” White wrote on Thursday morning.
Reposted by Dr. Zoé Elise Thomas
I really, REALLY wish people would internalize the absolute stranglehold voter suppression and gerrymandering have over many red states with high BIPOC populations (who reliably vote blue) before consistently writing off these entire states and saying shit like “they deserved it”.
September 5, 2025 at 4:49 PM
I really, REALLY wish people would internalize the absolute stranglehold voter suppression and gerrymandering have over many red states with high BIPOC populations (who reliably vote blue) before consistently writing off these entire states and saying shit like “they deserved it”.
Reposted by Dr. Zoé Elise Thomas
U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ignored federal data, twisted legislation and pointed to unsubstantiated treatments while addressing topics such as COVID-19 vaccines, rural hospitals and school shootings during a three-hour Senate Committee hearing.
buff.ly/dHQxkea
buff.ly/dHQxkea
Fact Checking RFK Jr. on Vaccines, SSRIs and School Shootings
U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made myriad false and misleading claims on Thursday as he fielded questions examining his seven-month tenure.
www.mississippifreepress.org
September 5, 2025 at 2:45 PM
U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. ignored federal data, twisted legislation and pointed to unsubstantiated treatments while addressing topics such as COVID-19 vaccines, rural hospitals and school shootings during a three-hour Senate Committee hearing.
buff.ly/dHQxkea
buff.ly/dHQxkea
Reposted by Dr. Zoé Elise Thomas
“My dream is to expand once we get the pantry up and running. We are going to expand it with the youth and also a mental health side,” Estina Holder said. “My heart is to serve, so we want to give back to the kids and have the services for people who need mental health services.”
Lumberton’s First Food Pantry to Open in 2026
In Lumberton, Mississippi, where nearly 4 in 10 live in poverty, the city’s first food pantry in early 2026 and serve at least 100 families monthly.
buff.ly
September 5, 2025 at 12:45 PM
“My dream is to expand once we get the pantry up and running. We are going to expand it with the youth and also a mental health side,” Estina Holder said. “My heart is to serve, so we want to give back to the kids and have the services for people who need mental health services.”
Reposted by Dr. Zoé Elise Thomas
Warnock to RFK jr: "For the first time, we are seeing deaths of children from measles. We haven't seen that in two decades. We're seeing that under your watch. You are a hazard to the health of the American people."
September 4, 2025 at 4:47 PM
Warnock to RFK jr: "For the first time, we are seeing deaths of children from measles. We haven't seen that in two decades. We're seeing that under your watch. You are a hazard to the health of the American people."
Reposted by Dr. Zoé Elise Thomas
BOOK ANNOUNCEMENT! @mahliann.bsky.social, @marcuscarter.com, and myself have combined our collective brains and written a wide-reaching introduction to the complex and interdisciplinary field of Game Studies in this forthcoming book for Polity. www.politybooks.com/bookdetail?b...
September 4, 2025 at 4:59 AM
BOOK ANNOUNCEMENT! @mahliann.bsky.social, @marcuscarter.com, and myself have combined our collective brains and written a wide-reaching introduction to the complex and interdisciplinary field of Game Studies in this forthcoming book for Polity. www.politybooks.com/bookdetail?b...
Reposted by Dr. Zoé Elise Thomas
Students being progressive is not a bigger problem than a sustained assault by an authoritarian president, please get a grip
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
September 3, 2025 at 12:51 PM
Students being progressive is not a bigger problem than a sustained assault by an authoritarian president, please get a grip
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
Reposted by Dr. Zoé Elise Thomas
Something I didn't get to say yesterday:
We heard over and over during the event about "human-centered" approaches to "AI". But if refusal is not on the table (at every level: individual students and teachers right up through UNESCO) then we have in fact centered the technology, not the people.
We heard over and over during the event about "human-centered" approaches to "AI". But if refusal is not on the table (at every level: individual students and teachers right up through UNESCO) then we have in fact centered the technology, not the people.
It has been really interesting to attend UNESCO's Digital Learning Week (though unfortunately I'm not able to stick around). My public lecture from yesterday can be found here:
www.youtube.com/live/l-OWi6V...
>>
www.youtube.com/live/l-OWi6V...
>>
September 3, 2025 at 10:35 AM
Something I didn't get to say yesterday:
We heard over and over during the event about "human-centered" approaches to "AI". But if refusal is not on the table (at every level: individual students and teachers right up through UNESCO) then we have in fact centered the technology, not the people.
We heard over and over during the event about "human-centered" approaches to "AI". But if refusal is not on the table (at every level: individual students and teachers right up through UNESCO) then we have in fact centered the technology, not the people.
Reposted by Dr. Zoé Elise Thomas
I maintain this list and celebrate each new addition and funding improvement to allow all to access our discipline. It feels equally important to mark the rollback of past successes. Programs at UVa, Columbia, Cornell, and Rutgers, now no longer exist. RT pls. 1/ livyarrow.org/funded-mas-a...
Funded MAs and More
Additions and Corrections Welcome esp. for Fall 2025 applications! How to use this list. The organizational principles is application closing date. I have grouped by month–the later in the cycle th…
livyarrow.org
September 2, 2025 at 12:07 PM
I maintain this list and celebrate each new addition and funding improvement to allow all to access our discipline. It feels equally important to mark the rollback of past successes. Programs at UVa, Columbia, Cornell, and Rutgers, now no longer exist. RT pls. 1/ livyarrow.org/funded-mas-a...
Reposted by Dr. Zoé Elise Thomas
A video on the hate campaign against Ms. Rachel for being pro-Palestinian children, but really a video about right-wing attacks on children's early education, but really a video about the importance of emotional literacy. Fantastic watch
August 26, 2025 at 3:32 PM
A video on the hate campaign against Ms. Rachel for being pro-Palestinian children, but really a video about right-wing attacks on children's early education, but really a video about the importance of emotional literacy. Fantastic watch
Reposted by Dr. Zoé Elise Thomas
also, an all timer in the field of game journalism, “Yakuza opining on a Yakuza game”
Yakuza 3 reviewed by Yakuza
Jake Adelstein, a fearless Jewish-American reporter who spent 12 years as a crime reporter in Japan, was joined by high-ranking gangster bosses to conduct an experiment for Boing Boing: evaluate the c...
boingboing.net
August 28, 2025 at 9:57 PM
also, an all timer in the field of game journalism, “Yakuza opining on a Yakuza game”