Alex Istok
@alexistok.bsky.social
Classics PhD. Teaching at Samford University. Writing about early Christian apologies and Roman legal spaces (real + imagined).
Reposted by Alex Istok
Here's the wager: invest your time in reading and writing and, if they're right, then you haven't lost anything; if they're wrong and you go along, you've lost a skill you should have been developing *and* you've been distracted then whole time
Hello. I wrote a nice long essay about AI and this very strange moment where we're constantly told we're living in the dawn of a strange new future but the only thing that's actually clear is that everyone feels pretty unmoored and uncertain. I hope you'll read it
AI Is a Mass-Delusion Event
Three years in, one of AI’s enduring impacts is to make people feel like they’re losing it.
www.theatlantic.com
August 19, 2025 at 12:52 PM
Here's the wager: invest your time in reading and writing and, if they're right, then you haven't lost anything; if they're wrong and you go along, you've lost a skill you should have been developing *and* you've been distracted then whole time
Anyone know when/if the Tesserae Project website is coming back online?
July 15, 2025 at 7:47 PM
Anyone know when/if the Tesserae Project website is coming back online?
scare quotes doing a lot of work:
July 7, 2025 at 3:17 PM
scare quotes doing a lot of work:
annoyed with rhetoric about politics and stuck trying to write about fiction and this article is kind of helping (a must read anyway if you haven’t):
June 16, 2025 at 8:14 PM
annoyed with rhetoric about politics and stuck trying to write about fiction and this article is kind of helping (a must read anyway if you haven’t):
If a book has “early Christian” in the title, do you think a Classicist is less likely to pick it up?
February 25, 2025 at 3:10 PM
If a book has “early Christian” in the title, do you think a Classicist is less likely to pick it up?
Reposted by Alex Istok
Working on my intermediate Latin poetry syllabus and keep thinking about how to approach LLMs/ai and their role/hindrance in the translation process with my students. Any suggestions? Articles? Translation theory texts? To help out the conversation?
January 7, 2025 at 6:14 PM
Working on my intermediate Latin poetry syllabus and keep thinking about how to approach LLMs/ai and their role/hindrance in the translation process with my students. Any suggestions? Articles? Translation theory texts? To help out the conversation?
thought I would be fine working at the coffee shop without headphones but I just heard someone say “Roman Empire”
November 16, 2024 at 3:04 PM
thought I would be fine working at the coffee shop without headphones but I just heard someone say “Roman Empire”
Some Saturday morning Syriac:
November 16, 2024 at 12:27 PM
Some Saturday morning Syriac:
Hey! Quick intro: I’m working on a writing project that contextualizes second and third century early Christian apologies in the Roman world. I’ll post about that + sometimes teaching (gen ed. + Latin) + things related to poetry/being outside !
November 10, 2024 at 4:20 AM
Hey! Quick intro: I’m working on a writing project that contextualizes second and third century early Christian apologies in the Roman world. I’ll post about that + sometimes teaching (gen ed. + Latin) + things related to poetry/being outside !
Reposted by Alex Istok
i really thought this country would say no. instead, it shouted yes
November 6, 2024 at 9:06 AM
i really thought this country would say no. instead, it shouted yes
Reposted by Alex Istok
here's a partial #AARSBL24 starter pack. if you're going to be part of the conversation at or around AARSBL, like this post and i'll add you! repost to signal boost!
i'm hoping combos of starter packs, feeds, and hashtags will help folks connect, whether they can come or not.
i'm hoping combos of starter packs, feeds, and hashtags will help folks connect, whether they can come or not.
November 1, 2024 at 6:21 PM
here's a partial #AARSBL24 starter pack. if you're going to be part of the conversation at or around AARSBL, like this post and i'll add you! repost to signal boost!
i'm hoping combos of starter packs, feeds, and hashtags will help folks connect, whether they can come or not.
i'm hoping combos of starter packs, feeds, and hashtags will help folks connect, whether they can come or not.
Reposted by Alex Istok
okay, the second starter pack i want to create is folks attending + presenting + advertising panels at #SBLAAR24.
like this skeet if, and only if, that’s you. we’ll get a good running commentary going in anticipation of and during the conference!
please reskeet to signal boost.
like this skeet if, and only if, that’s you. we’ll get a good running commentary going in anticipation of and during the conference!
please reskeet to signal boost.
October 28, 2024 at 10:49 PM
okay, the second starter pack i want to create is folks attending + presenting + advertising panels at #SBLAAR24.
like this skeet if, and only if, that’s you. we’ll get a good running commentary going in anticipation of and during the conference!
please reskeet to signal boost.
like this skeet if, and only if, that’s you. we’ll get a good running commentary going in anticipation of and during the conference!
please reskeet to signal boost.