Amber
@amberla.bsky.social
amlit phd | community college prof | a little black cloud in a dress | swimming through libraries 🐋 she/her
@dmcampbellwsu.bsky.social Thinking of you while visiting a certain author’s residence in Lenox, MA!
November 10, 2025 at 2:04 AM
@dmcampbellwsu.bsky.social Thinking of you while visiting a certain author’s residence in Lenox, MA!
Just going to walk around my campus and with this taped to my forehead. Will make it my background for every Zoom meeting.
Whatever strategy you’re about to suggest, we’ve thought about it. docs.google.com/document/d/1...
ChatGPT Harm Reduction for Writing Assignments
ChatGPT Harm Reduction for Writing Assignments Because this document has escaped containment, a couple points of explanation. I wrote this for myself and a few colleagues as we work out how to handle...
docs.google.com
October 28, 2025 at 2:20 PM
Just going to walk around my campus and with this taped to my forehead. Will make it my background for every Zoom meeting.
Reposted by Amber
Tomorrow. D.C. The National Mall. Sunup to sundown.
October 26, 2025 at 2:32 AM
Tomorrow. D.C. The National Mall. Sunup to sundown.
Reposted by Amber
Giving students thoughtful, personalized feedback and instruction is not a problem that originates from the difficulty for an instructor to generate feedback, it is a problem that originates from institutions pivoting to student:instructor ratios where that dynamic is not logistically feasible.
September 28, 2025 at 6:22 PM
Giving students thoughtful, personalized feedback and instruction is not a problem that originates from the difficulty for an instructor to generate feedback, it is a problem that originates from institutions pivoting to student:instructor ratios where that dynamic is not logistically feasible.
Reposted by Amber
It is, far and away, the most challenging thing I’ve encountered since entering the academy. And that is saying a lot. I might be working on this but I keep putting it aside because I’m not medicated enough to describe how demoralizing it all is.
We have allowed the lazy, grifting Silicon Valley charlatans into the front door, & in doing so, we have learned just how many of our own colleagues & administrators simply are not interested in the actual business of education. It's incredibly demoralizing.
bsky.app/profile/mcop...
bsky.app/profile/mcop...
Thanks so much for your reporting on this, Ben. I just got an email from my campus's IT office triumphantly advertising free student access to four different AI models -- at the same time as we have a hiring freeze, caps on grad enrollment, and a 7% budget cut -- and wanted to scream.
September 27, 2025 at 9:29 PM
It is, far and away, the most challenging thing I’ve encountered since entering the academy. And that is saying a lot. I might be working on this but I keep putting it aside because I’m not medicated enough to describe how demoralizing it all is.
Reposted by Amber
The landscape in higher ed is bleak right now, but here's a bright light at my institution: there's a new tenure track position at @davidsoncollege.bsky.social in Gender & Sexuality Studies. Please share widely!
Assistant Professor of Gender & Sexuality Studies (731) - HigherEdJobs
Jobs in higher education. Faculty and administrative positions at colleges and universities. Updated daily. Free to job seekers.
www.higheredjobs.com
September 11, 2025 at 1:01 AM
The landscape in higher ed is bleak right now, but here's a bright light at my institution: there's a new tenure track position at @davidsoncollege.bsky.social in Gender & Sexuality Studies. Please share widely!
Reposted by Amber
Even though it means they couldn’t fully attend to their coursework this summer, proud that my students are involved in union organizing at their jobs!!
August 16, 2025 at 12:18 AM
Even though it means they couldn’t fully attend to their coursework this summer, proud that my students are involved in union organizing at their jobs!!
Even though it means they couldn’t fully attend to their coursework this summer, proud that my students are involved in union organizing at their jobs!!
August 16, 2025 at 12:18 AM
Even though it means they couldn’t fully attend to their coursework this summer, proud that my students are involved in union organizing at their jobs!!
Reposted by Amber
Fun fact: even as UCLA is being extorted for $1B by a fascist government, its administration is requiring all faculty to install a “security” program that surveils everything we do and shares that information with the federal government.
Summary of our concerns
1. Implementation Timeline
We have learned that the UC system has suffered numerous and increasingly frequent cyber attacks and security breaches. For years, the administration has done little to stud...
sites.google.com
August 9, 2025 at 10:21 PM
Fun fact: even as UCLA is being extorted for $1B by a fascist government, its administration is requiring all faculty to install a “security” program that surveils everything we do and shares that information with the federal government.
Reposted by Amber
This weekend was James Baldwin’s heavenly birthday! We’ve been preparing the announcement of a new book series in his honor! PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD!
Q&A with series editors at manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/blog/2025/08...
Q&A with series editors at manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/blog/2025/08...
August 4, 2025 at 6:28 PM
This weekend was James Baldwin’s heavenly birthday! We’ve been preparing the announcement of a new book series in his honor! PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD!
Q&A with series editors at manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/blog/2025/08...
Q&A with series editors at manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/blog/2025/08...
Reposted by Amber
I'm so tired of hearing that we need to "teach our students how to use AI" when the thing they most need to use it is a critical-thinking skill set that can only be acquired by NOT using it. I'm tired of hearing that it's inevitable. I'm tired.
August 1, 2025 at 4:52 PM
I'm so tired of hearing that we need to "teach our students how to use AI" when the thing they most need to use it is a critical-thinking skill set that can only be acquired by NOT using it. I'm tired of hearing that it's inevitable. I'm tired.
Reposted by Amber
~ There are other things we want to say but twitter isn't the best place to say it.
That's why you should come to our Student Debt Update Call in early August: ~
debtcollective.org/event/studen...
That's why you should come to our Student Debt Update Call in early August: ~
debtcollective.org/event/studen...
Student Debt Update Call
There is a lot happening on the student debt front — whether you’re enrolled in SAVE, IDR, or another payment plan. Join us for an update call on all things student debt and fight with us as we…
debtcollective.org
July 24, 2025 at 2:20 PM
~ There are other things we want to say but twitter isn't the best place to say it.
That's why you should come to our Student Debt Update Call in early August: ~
debtcollective.org/event/studen...
That's why you should come to our Student Debt Update Call in early August: ~
debtcollective.org/event/studen...
Reposted by Amber
How to craft a prompt. Somewhere all the abused, demoralized English comp professors should be sharpening their knives
July 18, 2025 at 2:09 PM
How to craft a prompt. Somewhere all the abused, demoralized English comp professors should be sharpening their knives
Reposted by Amber
You taught me language, and my profit on’t
Is, I know how to curse.
Is, I know how to curse.
July 8, 2025 at 11:32 PM
You taught me language, and my profit on’t
Is, I know how to curse.
Is, I know how to curse.
Reposted by Amber
Mark Twain, 1907: "For twenty-five or thirty years I have squandered a deal of my time—too much of it perhaps—in trying to guess what is going to be the process which will turn our republic into a monarchy and how far off that event might be."
Read the rest here: marktwainhouse.org/sams-shorts/...
Read the rest here: marktwainhouse.org/sams-shorts/...
July 3, 2025 at 7:21 PM
Mark Twain, 1907: "For twenty-five or thirty years I have squandered a deal of my time—too much of it perhaps—in trying to guess what is going to be the process which will turn our republic into a monarchy and how far off that event might be."
Read the rest here: marktwainhouse.org/sams-shorts/...
Read the rest here: marktwainhouse.org/sams-shorts/...
Reposted by Amber
The American Academy of Pediatricians bluntly telling us the current CDC can't be trusted, and of course they are absolutely correct
publications.aap.org/aapnews/news...
publications.aap.org/aapnews/news...
AAP will continue to publish its own vaccine recommendations after CDC advisers sow distrust
The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices plans to form a work group to review child and adolescent immunization schedules despite them undergoing constant review in real time.
publications.aap.org
June 26, 2025 at 12:35 PM
The American Academy of Pediatricians bluntly telling us the current CDC can't be trusted, and of course they are absolutely correct
publications.aap.org/aapnews/news...
publications.aap.org/aapnews/news...
Reposted by Amber
It is perfectly acceptable to begin a sentence with ‘and.’
And it’s equally acceptable to begin a sentence with ‘but’ or ‘or.’
And it’s equally acceptable to begin a sentence with ‘but’ or ‘or.’
June 23, 2025 at 1:39 PM
It is perfectly acceptable to begin a sentence with ‘and.’
And it’s equally acceptable to begin a sentence with ‘but’ or ‘or.’
And it’s equally acceptable to begin a sentence with ‘but’ or ‘or.’
Finished my first half marathon today!
1) I finished, which was the goal
2) I really struggled at the end, and didn’t feel very good, so that’s disappointing
3) there were aspects of the race that made things challenging
4) I’m proud of myself for finishing :)
1) I finished, which was the goal
2) I really struggled at the end, and didn’t feel very good, so that’s disappointing
3) there were aspects of the race that made things challenging
4) I’m proud of myself for finishing :)
June 1, 2025 at 11:55 PM
Finished my first half marathon today!
1) I finished, which was the goal
2) I really struggled at the end, and didn’t feel very good, so that’s disappointing
3) there were aspects of the race that made things challenging
4) I’m proud of myself for finishing :)
1) I finished, which was the goal
2) I really struggled at the end, and didn’t feel very good, so that’s disappointing
3) there were aspects of the race that made things challenging
4) I’m proud of myself for finishing :)
Reposted by Amber
Gift link to my argument in favor of teaching works of "serious literary value" in public schools: slate.com/life/2025/05...
This Year, We All Realized That Kids Aren’t Reading Books in School. Only the Right Is Offering a Solution.
Common Core and the College Board are my enemies. But the classical education movement is not my friend.
slate.com
May 28, 2025 at 12:31 PM
Gift link to my argument in favor of teaching works of "serious literary value" in public schools: slate.com/life/2025/05...
Had a great convo with journalism students today about the Newspapers Worse Than Dead episode of The American Vandal, which they were enthralled with because of how hyperlocal it is. (We are in Silicon Valley.) cc @mattseybold.bsky.social
Newspapers Worse Than Dead (But Print Is A Rent Strike)
Podcast Episode · The American Vandal · S11 E15 · 1h 29m
podcasts.apple.com
May 22, 2025 at 2:00 AM
Had a great convo with journalism students today about the Newspapers Worse Than Dead episode of The American Vandal, which they were enthralled with because of how hyperlocal it is. (We are in Silicon Valley.) cc @mattseybold.bsky.social
Reposted by Amber
You have three days, starting today, to leave a public comment with the FDA about, say, why COVID-19 boosters should remain available to everyone and also free. "Individual consumer" is the category you most likely want (unless you are one of the other categories; if so, choose that).
Regulations.gov
www.regulations.gov
May 20, 2025 at 11:59 PM
You have three days, starting today, to leave a public comment with the FDA about, say, why COVID-19 boosters should remain available to everyone and also free. "Individual consumer" is the category you most likely want (unless you are one of the other categories; if so, choose that).
Reposted by Amber
Some of my family are trying to rebuild their lives after a shockingly catastrophic house fire. Please help if you can. www.gofundme.com/f/83pxt-help...
Donate to Help Rebuild a Family's Life After Fire
<div>On Tuesday, 04/08/2025, <strong>my family (parents, brother, nieces, and nephews) lost their home and possessions in a house fire.</strong> My family has lived in this home for 43 years. They now...
www.gofundme.com
April 12, 2025 at 5:53 AM
Some of my family are trying to rebuild their lives after a shockingly catastrophic house fire. Please help if you can. www.gofundme.com/f/83pxt-help...
“I was very sorry to see you struck down by the evil power of the Dark Side. Would you still be willing to write me a recommendation?”
Questions for the Jedi Vice-Chair of Graduate Studies
Do I absolutely have to construct my own lightsaber to graduate?
Will you accept 30 hours of transfer credit from the Dark Side?
How will being at ...
www.mcsweeneys.net
May 4, 2025 at 6:30 PM
“I was very sorry to see you struck down by the evil power of the Dark Side. Would you still be willing to write me a recommendation?”
A big thank you to @wolvendamien.bsky.social for educating my colleagues and me on LLMs as bullshit engines and how they reproduce harm to already marginalized communities. We need more of this kind of critique here in the heart of Silicon Valley (and elsewhere, obvs).
May 3, 2025 at 4:59 PM
A big thank you to @wolvendamien.bsky.social for educating my colleagues and me on LLMs as bullshit engines and how they reproduce harm to already marginalized communities. We need more of this kind of critique here in the heart of Silicon Valley (and elsewhere, obvs).