Emily Smith
@emsmith.bsky.social
"'T is not too late to seek a newer world."
Reposted by Emily Smith
We shed as we pick up, like travellers who must carry everything in their arms, and what we let fall will be picked up by those behind. The procession is very long and life is very short. We die on the march. But there is nothing outside the march so nothing can be lost to it.
November 29, 2025 at 6:15 PM
We shed as we pick up, like travellers who must carry everything in their arms, and what we let fall will be picked up by those behind. The procession is very long and life is very short. We die on the march. But there is nothing outside the march so nothing can be lost to it.
Reposted by Emily Smith
There might be no better example of the war coming home than a CIA trained teen death squad recruit getting asylum in the US and then shooting a bunch of soldiers who were deployed to DC for no reason other than Kabuki Security Theater
November 28, 2025 at 5:34 PM
There might be no better example of the war coming home than a CIA trained teen death squad recruit getting asylum in the US and then shooting a bunch of soldiers who were deployed to DC for no reason other than Kabuki Security Theater
Reposted by Emily Smith
Opening move: Roll the die.
>If the number is even, share an important life update.
>If it’s odd, just ask, “Hi. How are you?”
>If the number is even, share an important life update.
>If it’s odd, just ask, “Hi. How are you?”
Texting Your Dad Simulator
Opening move: Roll the die.
>If the number is even, share an important life update.
>If it’s odd, just ask, “Hi. How are you?”
www.pointsincase.com
November 28, 2025 at 4:08 PM
Opening move: Roll the die.
>If the number is even, share an important life update.
>If it’s odd, just ask, “Hi. How are you?”
>If the number is even, share an important life update.
>If it’s odd, just ask, “Hi. How are you?”
Reposted by Emily Smith
“Close reading is not magic. Its power lies in argument: always vulnerable, nothing simpler and yet nothing harder. And to clarify my stakes: the way that close reading is powerful is that it lays claim to power.”
#EduSky This is SO DANG GOOD!
#EduSky This is SO DANG GOOD!
I wrote an essay for @bostonreview.bsky.social about what I learned about close reading when I taught at West Virginia University
www.bostonreview.net/articles/the...
www.bostonreview.net/articles/the...
The Claims of Close Reading - Boston Review
Literary studies have been starved by austerity, but their core methodology remains radical.
www.bostonreview.net
November 26, 2025 at 3:40 PM
“Close reading is not magic. Its power lies in argument: always vulnerable, nothing simpler and yet nothing harder. And to clarify my stakes: the way that close reading is powerful is that it lays claim to power.”
#EduSky This is SO DANG GOOD!
#EduSky This is SO DANG GOOD!
Reposted by Emily Smith
Someone is going to have the write the thing about how “vibe” has become a substitute for meaningful theory in a world where the theory is so clear — grift and power — but we collectively refuse if because it isn’t sophisticated enough to generate make work for empiricists.
November 22, 2025 at 1:12 PM
Someone is going to have the write the thing about how “vibe” has become a substitute for meaningful theory in a world where the theory is so clear — grift and power — but we collectively refuse if because it isn’t sophisticated enough to generate make work for empiricists.
Reposted by Emily Smith
Yn a free society, universitye-level studye of the artes and humanityes sholde not be avaylable onlye to the wealthye and privileged.
November 20, 2025 at 12:11 AM
Yn a free society, universitye-level studye of the artes and humanityes sholde not be avaylable onlye to the wealthye and privileged.
Reposted by Emily Smith
Reposted by Emily Smith
It seems crucial (and long overdue) that our national political discourse has finally shifted from an obsession with "the economy" to what actually matters: whether people can afford the basic things they need to live.
November 10, 2025 at 10:13 PM
It seems crucial (and long overdue) that our national political discourse has finally shifted from an obsession with "the economy" to what actually matters: whether people can afford the basic things they need to live.
Reposted by Emily Smith
got to post-Zohran blog @thecut.com — multiple election outcomes on Tuesday showed that refusing to fold on trans people, migrants, Muslims, and marginalized communities while pushing kitchen table issues is a winning strategy. the pundit class’s “Decision to Win”-style arguments can be put to bed
Welcome to Woke 2.0
Democrats won by running on kitchen-table issues and accepting or embracing trans people and immigrants.
www.thecut.com
November 6, 2025 at 9:05 PM
got to post-Zohran blog @thecut.com — multiple election outcomes on Tuesday showed that refusing to fold on trans people, migrants, Muslims, and marginalized communities while pushing kitchen table issues is a winning strategy. the pundit class’s “Decision to Win”-style arguments can be put to bed
Reposted by Emily Smith
"Mass capitalistic control of books and periodicals, news gathering and distribution, radio, cinema, and television has made the throttling of democracy possible and the distortion of education and failure of justice widespread."
- W.E.B. Du Bois
- W.E.B. Du Bois
September 18, 2025 at 9:26 PM
"Mass capitalistic control of books and periodicals, news gathering and distribution, radio, cinema, and television has made the throttling of democracy possible and the distortion of education and failure of justice widespread."
- W.E.B. Du Bois
- W.E.B. Du Bois
Reposted by Emily Smith
I missed this piece over the summer, but @mkirschenbaum.bsky.social put it on my radar and I highly recommend it. It models what I think must be done, a direct engagement with whether or not "writing" is valuable and forcing students to answer the question for themselves. lithub.com/what-happene...
What Happened When I Tried to Replace Myself with ChatGPT in My English Classroom
My students call it “Chat,” a cute nickname they all seem to have agreed on at some point. They use it to make study guides, interpret essay prompts, and register for classes, turning it loose on t…
lithub.com
September 9, 2025 at 12:35 PM
I missed this piece over the summer, but @mkirschenbaum.bsky.social put it on my radar and I highly recommend it. It models what I think must be done, a direct engagement with whether or not "writing" is valuable and forcing students to answer the question for themselves. lithub.com/what-happene...
Reposted by Emily Smith
Transgender studies professor Dr. Susan Stryker tears Gavin Newsom a new one while accepting the Transgender Legacy Award from the California state legislature 🔥🔥🔥 @susanstryker.bsky.social
August 25, 2025 at 10:20 PM
Transgender studies professor Dr. Susan Stryker tears Gavin Newsom a new one while accepting the Transgender Legacy Award from the California state legislature 🔥🔥🔥 @susanstryker.bsky.social
Reposted by Emily Smith
Governor Newsom dates 19 year old, thinks that anyone under the age of 26 isn't fit to make meaningful decisions.
August 23, 2025 at 7:18 PM
Governor Newsom dates 19 year old, thinks that anyone under the age of 26 isn't fit to make meaningful decisions.
Reposted by Emily Smith
There is not yet wide evidence that "gen AI" actually enhances researchers' and developers' results. Some of the most headline-grabbing work that claimed it does is now actively disavowed by the institution under which auspices it was done. That is a MASSIVE ding on the reliability of that research.
This should get WIDE circulation:
MIT stating that it “has no confidence in the provenance, reliability or validity of the data and has no confidence in the veracity of the research contained in the paper.”
gizmodo.com/mit-backs-aw...
MIT stating that it “has no confidence in the provenance, reliability or validity of the data and has no confidence in the veracity of the research contained in the paper.”
gizmodo.com/mit-backs-aw...
MIT Backs Away From Paper Claiming Scientists Make More Discoveries with AI
The retracted paper had impressed a Nobel Prize winner in economics.
gizmodo.com
August 18, 2025 at 5:31 PM
There is not yet wide evidence that "gen AI" actually enhances researchers' and developers' results. Some of the most headline-grabbing work that claimed it does is now actively disavowed by the institution under which auspices it was done. That is a MASSIVE ding on the reliability of that research.
Reposted by Emily Smith
“Abolish ICE” is the floor
There needs to be a congressional investigation into ICE and its practices. The agency needs to be completely dissolved and its agents and officers need to be prosecuted for any and all crimes committed.
What's so clear here -- and so terrifying -- is that these cops view themselves as Trump's goons and know that Trump will let them get away with anything. www.thehandbasket.co/p/federal-ag...
August 17, 2025 at 3:21 AM
“Abolish ICE” is the floor
Reposted by Emily Smith
every “ancient tradition” was invented between 1848-1870 and every “modern perversion” is so ancient as to predate writing
August 15, 2025 at 5:34 PM
every “ancient tradition” was invented between 1848-1870 and every “modern perversion” is so ancient as to predate writing
Reposted by Emily Smith
I hate that universities are held in opposition to the trades. My dad’s work as an electrician made me appreciate expertise and made me want the highest form of knowledge in my field. love to pay an expert for their knowledge— seems nice that our economy could sustain many kinds of expertise.
August 15, 2025 at 12:15 PM
I hate that universities are held in opposition to the trades. My dad’s work as an electrician made me appreciate expertise and made me want the highest form of knowledge in my field. love to pay an expert for their knowledge— seems nice that our economy could sustain many kinds of expertise.
Reposted by Emily Smith
Schrödinger's humanities: Simultaneously moribund and dying in a world in which students increasingly only want to major in STEM and business, and also so powerful that they can inculcate dangerous, subversive ideologies like gender theory and post-colonialism in impressionable young people.
August 15, 2025 at 12:46 PM
Schrödinger's humanities: Simultaneously moribund and dying in a world in which students increasingly only want to major in STEM and business, and also so powerful that they can inculcate dangerous, subversive ideologies like gender theory and post-colonialism in impressionable young people.
Reposted by Emily Smith
2/2 @prisonculture.bsky.social created a great list which was reformatted and available at this link for people looking for actions that aren't protesting or voting.
We don't need to shoulder this alone. If we all do a part, no matter how small, it all adds up to very significant change.
We don't need to shoulder this alone. If we all do a part, no matter how small, it all adds up to very significant change.
Copy of (reformatted) Some Actions That Are Not Protesting or Voting
Some Actions That Are Not Protesting or Voting A list adapted from & inspired by Frontline Medics. Here was their original list of 25 actions. I’ve added a lot of things and edited other things. [Not...
docs.google.com
August 14, 2025 at 3:15 PM
2/2 @prisonculture.bsky.social created a great list which was reformatted and available at this link for people looking for actions that aren't protesting or voting.
We don't need to shoulder this alone. If we all do a part, no matter how small, it all adds up to very significant change.
We don't need to shoulder this alone. If we all do a part, no matter how small, it all adds up to very significant change.
Reposted by Emily Smith
I'm not sure you can call most state universities (which often receive just 25%-30% of their funding from the state) as substantially government entities, but what do I know?
Federal court refuses to block Alabama’s “divisive concepts” law, says university faculty classroom speech is government speech with no First Amendment protection. This dangerous development allows lawmakers to dictate what professors say in class. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
storage.courtlistener.com
August 14, 2025 at 8:27 PM
I'm not sure you can call most state universities (which often receive just 25%-30% of their funding from the state) as substantially government entities, but what do I know?
Reposted by Emily Smith
one of the great tragedies of our age is how many people are willing to view AI as magic because they don't understand how it functions but unwilling to exhibit any humility at all towards more important things they understand even less (like the climate or medicine)
the program is tokenizing inputs into vectors, then doing matrix multiplication to probabilistically compute which token should follow those tokens.
as usual, you are mystified by systems beyond your understanding and come to a bad conclusion (coincidentally the one you know will get you yelled at)
as usual, you are mystified by systems beyond your understanding and come to a bad conclusion (coincidentally the one you know will get you yelled at)
August 9, 2025 at 9:18 PM
one of the great tragedies of our age is how many people are willing to view AI as magic because they don't understand how it functions but unwilling to exhibit any humility at all towards more important things they understand even less (like the climate or medicine)
Reposted by Emily Smith
*Academics in early August
August 6, 2025 at 4:31 PM
*Academics in early August
Reposted by Emily Smith
If I have to explain to you why it's a bad idea to use a machine that makes shit up 15-80% of the time AND destroys the environment AND contributes to rising fascism and genocide AND puts brilliant skillful creatives out of work by stealing their work, then we're already speaking different languages
August 6, 2025 at 1:01 AM
If I have to explain to you why it's a bad idea to use a machine that makes shit up 15-80% of the time AND destroys the environment AND contributes to rising fascism and genocide AND puts brilliant skillful creatives out of work by stealing their work, then we're already speaking different languages
Reposted by Emily Smith
say it again:
4 million people work in higher ed, the largest employer in 10 states, second largest employer in 10 more, and in 60 of the 100 biggest cities
demolishing higher education is economic sabotage
4 million people work in higher ed, the largest employer in 10 states, second largest employer in 10 more, and in 60 of the 100 biggest cities
demolishing higher education is economic sabotage
It's important to note here that we're not just talking about faculty & university staff. 100s of U.S. colleges are in towns or small cities where they form the major industry & lifeblood of the community. Loss of students -> loss of rent $, restaurant $, bars, bookstores, gaming stores...
The US could see a 30-40% decline in new international student enrollment, resulting in nearly $7 billion in lost revenue and more than 60,000 fewer American jobs. https://www.nafsa.org/fall-2025-international-student-enrollment-outlook-and-economic-impact
August 4, 2025 at 12:30 PM
say it again:
4 million people work in higher ed, the largest employer in 10 states, second largest employer in 10 more, and in 60 of the 100 biggest cities
demolishing higher education is economic sabotage
4 million people work in higher ed, the largest employer in 10 states, second largest employer in 10 more, and in 60 of the 100 biggest cities
demolishing higher education is economic sabotage