Melinda Baldwin
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mbaldwin.bsky.social
Melinda Baldwin
@mbaldwin.bsky.social

#histSTM studying scientific publishing, funding, and peer review. Associate prof @ UMD College Park. All opinions mine!

Philosophy 26%
Physics 22%
The first photo of my new book, courtesy of my editor... "The Most Awful Responsibility: Truman and the Secret Struggle for Control of the Atomic Age" comes out in early December! Feel free to pre-order it today! www.harpercollins.com/products/the...

Reposted by Melinda Baldwin

Apparently all you needed to do to predict the NYC election results was read that one N.K. Jemisin novel.

It really says a lot about us as a society that we've decided the solution to people being unhoused is somehow "no one gets to sit down, ever."

Reposted by Melinda Baldwin

I think hostile architecture is the perfect metaphor for our current culture. We will refuse to have comfortable outdoor seating just to prevent the people we don’t want to be there from using it. We will all just be uncomfortable.

Subscribe to @theonion.com now to secure YOUR whimsical holiday wrapping paper insert! (You can't have this one, it's mine and I saved it from December 2024 fair and square.)
BREAKING: Friday night massacre underway at CDC. Doznes of "disease detectives," high-level scientists, entire Washington staff and editors of the MMWR (Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report) have all been RIFed and received the following notice:

Ancient historians, we're so excited for this search! Spread the news far and wide!
New History Job Posted Today: Assistant Professor of Ancient History | University of Maryland Department of History
Assistant Professor of Ancient History | University of Maryland Department of History
College Park, Maryland, The University of Maryland, College Park Department of History, invites applications for a tenure-track Assistant Professor position from historians of the Ancient Mediterranean worlds within the broad geographical zone that extends into Asia, Africa, and Europe. Chronological specialization is open. However, expertise in the Roman Imperial or late antique periods in particular aligns with existing areas of teaching and research expertise in the department.  Preference will be given to scholars whose work engages with the diversity and complexity of the Mediterranean world in such areas as ethnicity, gender, environment, or connectivity. In addition to exceptional scholarly promise, the successful candidate will demonstrate excellence in teaching. Responsibilities include teaching a general survey of the ancient Mediterranean and the Near East, other lecture courses, and upper-level undergraduate and graduate seminars as they align with the candidate’s interests and departmental requirements, as well as engaging in curriculum development. MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS Education: A Ph.D. in History or a related field is required in hand by August 1, 2026 Experience: Teaching experience at the college or university level is required. PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS We seek candidates whose research, teaching, and service have prepared them to contribute to all the pillars of the College of Arts and Humanities’ Strategic Plan: Transformative Thinking; Boundless Creativity; Expansive Empathy; and Meaningful Futures. Contributions toward those goals and values might include leadership in teaching, mentoring, research, or service toward building an equitable and inclusive scholarly environment and/or increasing access or participation of all individuals equitably and fairly. The University of Maryland, College Park, actively subscribes to a policy of equal employment opportunity, and will not discriminate against any employee or applicant because of race, age, sex, color, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability, religion, ancestry or national origin, marital status, genetic information, political affiliation, and gender identity or expression. This search is contingent upon the availability of funds. Apply Here
dlvr.it

Reposted by Melinda Baldwin

Me: Oh my god is this another LLM?
Personify Health, ripping off mask: Oh my GOSH how do you keep finding me??????

Reposted by Melinda Baldwin

Cigna: please complete our health assessment
Me: oh great another stupid service
Cigna: access it here
Me: why...why does it want me to log in to another service
Cigna: it's just our health partner, Personify Health!
Me: what...what does that do
Cigna: ohhhhhhh... helps you advocate for your needs
New History Job Posted Today: Assistant Professor of Ancient History | University of Maryland Department of History
Assistant Professor of Ancient History | University of Maryland Department of History
College Park, Maryland, The University of Maryland, College Park Department of History, invites applications for a tenure-track Assistant Professor position from historians of the Ancient Mediterranean worlds within the broad geographical zone that extends into Asia, Africa, and Europe. Chronological specialization is open. However, expertise in the Roman Imperial or late antique periods in particular aligns with existing areas of teaching and research expertise in the department.  Preference will be given to scholars whose work engages with the diversity and complexity of the Mediterranean world in such areas as ethnicity, gender, environment, or connectivity. In addition to exceptional scholarly promise, the successful candidate will demonstrate excellence in teaching. Responsibilities include teaching a general survey of the ancient Mediterranean and the Near East, other lecture courses, and upper-level undergraduate and graduate seminars as they align with the candidate’s interests and departmental requirements, as well as engaging in curriculum development. MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS Education: A Ph.D. in History or a related field is required in hand by August 1, 2026 Experience: Teaching experience at the college or university level is required. PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS We seek candidates whose research, teaching, and service have prepared them to contribute to all the pillars of the College of Arts and Humanities’ Strategic Plan: Transformative Thinking; Boundless Creativity; Expansive Empathy; and Meaningful Futures. Contributions toward those goals and values might include leadership in teaching, mentoring, research, or service toward building an equitable and inclusive scholarly environment and/or increasing access or participation of all individuals equitably and fairly. The University of Maryland, College Park, actively subscribes to a policy of equal employment opportunity, and will not discriminate against any employee or applicant because of race, age, sex, color, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability, religion, ancestry or national origin, marital status, genetic information, political affiliation, and gender identity or expression. This search is contingent upon the availability of funds. Apply Here
dlvr.it
🎙️ Just published: Communicable E37: 'Peer review is broken'

Hosted by @angelahuttner.bsky.social & @anniejoseph.bsky.social

w/ invited guests: Melinda Baldwin @mbaldwin.bsky.social & Serge Horbach

Listen on Communicable:

#IDSky #Clinmicro #MedSky #peerreview #AI
Communicable E37: 'Peer review is broken'
Contrary to popular belief, peer review has only recently become an...
share.transistor.fm

Fellow academics, this is worth doing. See if your book is in here. If you've got an ISBN it almost certainly is (mine was).
This guy? Who literally said he wants to put civil servants “in trauma?”
Hey authors, the official list of Anthropic works is available for searching.

secure.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com/lookup
Submit a Claim
secure.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com

Reposted by Melinda Baldwin

Meek Mill is in for a treat

"Non-existent referrer stack value in URL. Please contact support for assistance."

GAAAAH. I wonder how many hours of scholarly productivity have been sucked down the black hole of ScholarOne Manuscripts login attempts?? 🫠

Reposted by Melinda Baldwin

www.denverpost.com/2025/09/10/e... "The shooting at Evergreen High is at least the seventh school shooting in Colorado since the 1999 shooting at Columbine High School that killed 12 students and one teacher."
2 students injured in Evergreen High School shooting; suspect also hospitalized
At least three students from Evergreen High School, including a suspected shooter, are in critical condition after a shooting involving an “active assailant,” Jefferson County officials…
www.denverpost.com

Reposted by Melinda Baldwin

Hey my guy, do me two favours before you have your "AI" "solve crime" or whatever:
1) Define "crime;"
2) Tell me the moral of the television series Person Of Interest.

Reposted by Melinda Baldwin

The UMD First Year Book committee has selected the U.S. Constitution as this year’s book!

Join our own Holly Brewer and Michael Ross in "We the Terps: Why the Constitution Matters." For more information and for the day's schedule of events, follow this link! fyb.umd.edu/events.html
Events | UMD FYB 2025
fyb.umd.edu

Reposted by Melinda Baldwin

In this week's history newsletter from AIP, @rebeccacharbon.bsky.social spotlights the new article by @tiffanynichols.bsky.social in Isis, digging into the rise and fall of an early proposal to site a @ligo.org detector in Maine's Blueberry Barrens.
Article spotlight: When LIGO might have been in Maine
AIP History Weekly Edition: August 22, 2025
www.aip.org

Special sections should run around 6,000–15,000 words total; guest editors may divide that word count among 3–10 authors.

Send proposals or queries to Melinda Baldwin (mbaldwin@umd.edu) and Dominik Huenniger (Dominik.Huenniger@glasgow.ac.uk).

We are also interested in proposals for guest-edited special sections of short essays focused around a topic relevant to practitioners in the history of science. Past themes have included “Dilemmas of Archival Objectivity,” “How to Be an Expert,” and “Pedagogy in the History of Science.”

Standalone pieces for this section are generally 2,000–3,000 words long, though we are happy to hear a pitch for something shorter or longer if the topic requires it.

In short, we seek proposals for essays and reviews written by—and of interest to—scholars of science studies broadly defined. If one of the categories above speaks to you, or if you have another idea entirely, please get in touch to discuss your idea!

3) Reviews of historical work in other formats, such as digital resources, podcasts, museum exhibitions, and special issues of scholarly journals;
4) Essays that reflect upon current events or theoretical issues relevant to a broad range of historians of science.

Pieces we are interested in include, but are not limited to:
1) A traditional HSNS multi-book review that compares 3–4 books on a related topic;
2) An in-depth review of one book;

Image Text: We are soliciting contributions for the “Essays & Reviews” section of Historical Studies in the Natural Sciences. HSNS is developing new formats for this section and we are excited to work with authors who have ideas for reviews, essays, and special sections relevant to our readership.

Reposted by Béatrice Cointe

Science studies folks! Dominik Huenniger and I are delighted to solicit contributions for the @hsnatsci.bsky.social "Essays and Reviews" section! Our Call for Proposals is in the image and I will also thread the text.

tl;dr We are experimenting with some new formats and excited to hear your ideas!

I’ve drawn better diagrams on a whiteboard without my notes. And I can’t draw.