Erin J. Wamsley 🧠📈😴
@wamsleylab.bsky.social
Cognitive neuroscientist, runs a sleep lab. Studying sleep, dreaming, memory and rest. Uses EEG, interested in open science, women in STEM. 🧠📈😴 Frustrated with the higher-education industrial complex. Luddite-adjacent. #AAUP. Views are my own.
Pinned
I'm going to start a new university, and it's going to be just some faculty and some students meeting in the forest.
No buildings, administrators, landscaping, trustees, development, general counsel, registrar, climbing walls...
Everyone gets a computer and books, that's it.
1/x
#Academicsky
No buildings, administrators, landscaping, trustees, development, general counsel, registrar, climbing walls...
Everyone gets a computer and books, that's it.
1/x
#Academicsky
Cornell will:
1. Report detailed admissions data to the federal govt quarterly, by race. 😓
2. Distribute Trump admin's interpretation of civil rights law as "training materials" to faculty/staff. 🤯
3. Pay $60M, inc. $30M for new agricultural research demanded by Trump admin.
#academicsky
1/2
1. Report detailed admissions data to the federal govt quarterly, by race. 😓
2. Distribute Trump admin's interpretation of civil rights law as "training materials" to faculty/staff. 🤯
3. Pay $60M, inc. $30M for new agricultural research demanded by Trump admin.
#academicsky
1/2
Breaking News: Cornell University reached an agreement with the Trump administration that would restore hundreds of millions in funding to the university. It's expected to pay a $30 million fine to the government and to invest $30 million in agriculture and farming programs.
Cornell Reaches Deal with Trump Administration to Restore Research Funds
The Ivy League university had warned of layoffs after the Trump administration stripped it of funds this year. The cuts were among the deepest in higher education.
nyti.ms
November 7, 2025 at 8:11 PM
Cornell will:
1. Report detailed admissions data to the federal govt quarterly, by race. 😓
2. Distribute Trump admin's interpretation of civil rights law as "training materials" to faculty/staff. 🤯
3. Pay $60M, inc. $30M for new agricultural research demanded by Trump admin.
#academicsky
1/2
1. Report detailed admissions data to the federal govt quarterly, by race. 😓
2. Distribute Trump admin's interpretation of civil rights law as "training materials" to faculty/staff. 🤯
3. Pay $60M, inc. $30M for new agricultural research demanded by Trump admin.
#academicsky
1/2
Reposted by Erin J. Wamsley 🧠📈😴
and you know what? even many 10th graders should be able to understand writing that’s “complex, erudite, punctuated by deep and fluent references”
sometimes “meeting students where they are” means assigning something written by an adult for other adults
sometimes “meeting students where they are” means assigning something written by an adult for other adults
Here's another bit of conventional wisdom Zohran completely blew away: His speech was at well above a 10th-grade level. It was complex, erudite, punctuated by deep and fluent references. You don't have to condescend to voters with baby talk! Part of re-establishing norms is speaking like an adult.
November 5, 2025 at 10:58 AM
and you know what? even many 10th graders should be able to understand writing that’s “complex, erudite, punctuated by deep and fluent references”
sometimes “meeting students where they are” means assigning something written by an adult for other adults
sometimes “meeting students where they are” means assigning something written by an adult for other adults
Racial diversity is good, because no racial group is inherently any better than others, so all racial groups should be included.
Viewpoint diversity is stupid, because some views ARE better than others and NOT all viewpoints should be included.
Why is #highered falling for this?
#academicsky
Viewpoint diversity is stupid, because some views ARE better than others and NOT all viewpoints should be included.
Why is #highered falling for this?
#academicsky
November 1, 2025 at 9:42 PM
Racial diversity is good, because no racial group is inherently any better than others, so all racial groups should be included.
Viewpoint diversity is stupid, because some views ARE better than others and NOT all viewpoints should be included.
Why is #highered falling for this?
#academicsky
Viewpoint diversity is stupid, because some views ARE better than others and NOT all viewpoints should be included.
Why is #highered falling for this?
#academicsky
Reposted by Erin J. Wamsley 🧠📈😴
My paper 'Dreaming in Focus: Cognitive and evolutionary perspectives on the functions and mechanisms of sleep cognition' is available on the online first of 'International Journal of Dream Research', and will be in print of April of next year.
journals.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/index.php/IJ...
journals.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/index.php/IJ...
journals.ub.uni-heidelberg.de
October 31, 2025 at 1:58 AM
My paper 'Dreaming in Focus: Cognitive and evolutionary perspectives on the functions and mechanisms of sleep cognition' is available on the online first of 'International Journal of Dream Research', and will be in print of April of next year.
journals.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/index.php/IJ...
journals.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/index.php/IJ...
🎃 Halloween meets sleep science💤:
Our ECSM team's “Polysomnography Pumpkin” brought sleep science to the spooky season - earning second place at Oxford’s Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin Building Games!
Brains, electrodes, and a few spiders included.🧠
Our ECSM team's “Polysomnography Pumpkin” brought sleep science to the spooky season - earning second place at Oxford’s Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin Building Games!
Brains, electrodes, and a few spiders included.🧠
October 31, 2025 at 11:49 AM
Reposted by Erin J. Wamsley 🧠📈😴
I wrote about how "Grokipedia" is a new front on the war against reality itself. It's an attempt by the oligarchic class to seize the means of knowledge production itself and create a weaponized unreality.
www.thedissident.news/grokipedia-a...
www.thedissident.news/grokipedia-a...
Grokipedia and the Coup Against Reality Itself
Grokipedia, the copycat of Wikipedia launched by Elon Musk isn’t just a string of AI generated slop, it is a weapon. The launch of "grokipedia" is a calculated, strategic escalation by the billionaire...
www.thedissident.news
October 28, 2025 at 4:33 PM
I wrote about how "Grokipedia" is a new front on the war against reality itself. It's an attempt by the oligarchic class to seize the means of knowledge production itself and create a weaponized unreality.
www.thedissident.news/grokipedia-a...
www.thedissident.news/grokipedia-a...
OK... but if you brag about your Google Scholar sH-index you have to pronounce it "Shindex".
#academicsky #metasci
#academicsky #metasci
Google Scholar-based tool gives extra credit to first and last authors
Researchers welcome the initiative, but say it doesn’t go far enough to capture the nuance of researcher productivity and impact.
www.nature.com
October 28, 2025 at 12:43 PM
OK... but if you brag about your Google Scholar sH-index you have to pronounce it "Shindex".
#academicsky #metasci
#academicsky #metasci
Reposted by Erin J. Wamsley 🧠📈😴
"And as millions face the prospect of starving, the president is obsessed over the fun minutiae of party-planning... Trump has spoken to senior administration officials about the idea of putting his name or image (like a bust) in the ballroom." - @swin24.bsky.social
Trump to the Poor: Let Them Eat Ballroom
Millions of Americans are about to lose food aid from the government, but the man in charge is focused on his ‘MAGA-Saddam,’ multi-million-dollar White House ballroom.
zeteo.com
October 27, 2025 at 11:48 PM
"And as millions face the prospect of starving, the president is obsessed over the fun minutiae of party-planning... Trump has spoken to senior administration officials about the idea of putting his name or image (like a bust) in the ballroom." - @swin24.bsky.social
When frustrated with manuscript submission, I keep it in perspective by flashing back to the early 2000s, when "Build PDF" took hours, you had to keep your browser open, and when it inevitably crashed you'd lose your data and have to start over. (At least that's how I remember it..)
#academicsky
#academicsky
October 27, 2025 at 8:55 PM
When frustrated with manuscript submission, I keep it in perspective by flashing back to the early 2000s, when "Build PDF" took hours, you had to keep your browser open, and when it inevitably crashed you'd lose your data and have to start over. (At least that's how I remember it..)
#academicsky
#academicsky
Reposted by Erin J. Wamsley 🧠📈😴
potentially of interest www.chronicle.com/blogs/letter...
Letter | How Rigorous Was that Bias in Sociology Essay?
The essay didn’t practice what it preached, writes Jonathan Ben-Menachem.
www.chronicle.com
October 27, 2025 at 3:29 PM
potentially of interest www.chronicle.com/blogs/letter...
Reposted by Erin J. Wamsley 🧠📈😴
"Within the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, there will be a 75 percent cut to the sciences division and a 60 percent cut to the arts and humanities. The scope of cuts to the social sciences division remains unclear but is estimated to fall somewhere between 50 and 70 percent."
#academicsky #edusky
#academicsky #edusky
Harvard Slashes Admissions for Ph.D. Candidates
Harvard University plans to drastically reduce the number of Ph.D. students it admits in the next two years, according to a series of emails obtained by The Crimson, the student newspaper.
www.insidehighered.com
October 24, 2025 at 12:30 PM
"Within the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, there will be a 75 percent cut to the sciences division and a 60 percent cut to the arts and humanities. The scope of cuts to the social sciences division remains unclear but is estimated to fall somewhere between 50 and 70 percent."
#academicsky #edusky
#academicsky #edusky
So, apparently, "left-wing bias" is responsible for a failure of sociologists to adopt #openscience practices and robust causal inference methods. 🤔 And apparently, this implies that enforcing political "viewpoint diversity" among the faculty is a "scientific necessity."
🫤
#academicsky #metasci
🫤
#academicsky #metasci
Opinion | Left-Wing Bias Is Corrupting Sociology
Other social scientists have reformed. Sociologists haven’t.
www.chronicle.com
October 23, 2025 at 1:19 AM
So, apparently, "left-wing bias" is responsible for a failure of sociologists to adopt #openscience practices and robust causal inference methods. 🤔 And apparently, this implies that enforcing political "viewpoint diversity" among the faculty is a "scientific necessity."
🫤
#academicsky #metasci
🫤
#academicsky #metasci
UVA just formally agreed to:
- BAN transgender people from bathrooms matching their identity
- BAN diversity statements in hiring
- BAN mentoring programs for underrepresented groups
- BAN training programs that discuss white privilege
#academicsky #edusky
- BAN transgender people from bathrooms matching their identity
- BAN diversity statements in hiring
- BAN mentoring programs for underrepresented groups
- BAN training programs that discuss white privilege
#academicsky #edusky
UVA agreed to the "Guidance for Recipients of Federal Funding Regarding Unlawful Discrimination" (link down thread). UVA pays nothing and does not get an outside monitor (unlike Columbia).
Critically, this doesn't stop the feds from opening new inquiries.
federalinfo.virginia.edu/sites/federa...
Critically, this doesn't stop the feds from opening new inquiries.
federalinfo.virginia.edu/sites/federa...
October 22, 2025 at 10:20 PM
UVA just formally agreed to:
- BAN transgender people from bathrooms matching their identity
- BAN diversity statements in hiring
- BAN mentoring programs for underrepresented groups
- BAN training programs that discuss white privilege
#academicsky #edusky
- BAN transgender people from bathrooms matching their identity
- BAN diversity statements in hiring
- BAN mentoring programs for underrepresented groups
- BAN training programs that discuss white privilege
#academicsky #edusky
When I came back from class today there was a Werther's Original on my desk that wasn't there before and I ate it.
October 21, 2025 at 11:43 PM
When I came back from class today there was a Werther's Original on my desk that wasn't there before and I ate it.
Reposted by Erin J. Wamsley 🧠📈😴
...I am disgusted. My class's 50th Reunion will take place in less than a...month and I am encouraging my classmates to cancel their plans to attend and to discontinue any support for Vanderbilt.
I have always been proud to have attended @vanderbilt.edu . No longer. I am ashamed of the Board's...
I have always been proud to have attended @vanderbilt.edu . No longer. I am ashamed of the Board's...
October 21, 2025 at 8:31 AM
...I am disgusted. My class's 50th Reunion will take place in less than a...month and I am encouraging my classmates to cancel their plans to attend and to discontinue any support for Vanderbilt.
I have always been proud to have attended @vanderbilt.edu . No longer. I am ashamed of the Board's...
I have always been proud to have attended @vanderbilt.edu . No longer. I am ashamed of the Board's...
Reposted by Erin J. Wamsley 🧠📈😴
Fellow academics, I'm doing it. Going all in. Pulling the plug, literally.
This is on my syllabus for Spring 2026: "This is an analog class. No Canvas; this syllabus is your guide."
All readings are printed books; hand-written exams; no laptops. #academicbluesky #Highered #academia #Rutgers
This is on my syllabus for Spring 2026: "This is an analog class. No Canvas; this syllabus is your guide."
All readings are printed books; hand-written exams; no laptops. #academicbluesky #Highered #academia #Rutgers
October 21, 2025 at 2:37 PM
Fellow academics, I'm doing it. Going all in. Pulling the plug, literally.
This is on my syllabus for Spring 2026: "This is an analog class. No Canvas; this syllabus is your guide."
All readings are printed books; hand-written exams; no laptops. #academicbluesky #Highered #academia #Rutgers
This is on my syllabus for Spring 2026: "This is an analog class. No Canvas; this syllabus is your guide."
All readings are printed books; hand-written exams; no laptops. #academicbluesky #Highered #academia #Rutgers
The only acceptable response to these fascist demands is "NO!". Vanderbilt did not say "NO!".
If even a few prominent schools negotiate on this, it will damage the ability of other red state schools to get a strong "NO!" from their own administrations.
1/2
#academicsky #edusky
If even a few prominent schools negotiate on this, it will damage the ability of other red state schools to get a strong "NO!" from their own administrations.
1/2
#academicsky #edusky
"Fails to reject" this truly vile incursion by the federal government. Sigh, I gotta get my thoughts in order before I write them letting them know I see their decision.
vanderbilthustler.com/2025/10/20/b...
vanderbilthustler.com/2025/10/20/b...
BREAKING: Chancellor Daniel Diermeier fails to reject higher education compact, reaffirms Vanderbilt’s values and openness to discussion
Of the nine schools who were sent the compact, six explicitly declined to sign it. The University of Arizona submitted a separate statement of principles, and the University of Texas at Austin has not...
vanderbilthustler.com
October 21, 2025 at 11:33 AM
The only acceptable response to these fascist demands is "NO!". Vanderbilt did not say "NO!".
If even a few prominent schools negotiate on this, it will damage the ability of other red state schools to get a strong "NO!" from their own administrations.
1/2
#academicsky #edusky
If even a few prominent schools negotiate on this, it will damage the ability of other red state schools to get a strong "NO!" from their own administrations.
1/2
#academicsky #edusky
Reposted by Erin J. Wamsley 🧠📈😴
Another purge at UT Austin: school may sign onto Trump compact
www.kvue.com/article/news...
www.kvue.com/article/news...
UT professor ousted from admin role over 'ideological differences'
"We must end indoctrination and return to education fundamentals at all levels of education," Gov. Greg Abbott said.
www.kvue.com
October 20, 2025 at 7:47 PM
Another purge at UT Austin: school may sign onto Trump compact
www.kvue.com/article/news...
www.kvue.com/article/news...
"Providing feedback" sounds a lot like negotiating, which in turn smells a lot like capitulation.
#academicsky
#academicsky
Arizona Rejects Compact, Others Leave Options Open
Monday’s deadline to provide feedback on the Trump administration’s proposed deal passed with no signatories and silence from some university leaders invited to join.
www.insidehighered.com
October 21, 2025 at 12:50 AM
"Providing feedback" sounds a lot like negotiating, which in turn smells a lot like capitulation.
#academicsky
#academicsky
It's 1:48pm EST on the 20th and still 🦗🦗🦗 from UT Austin, Vanderbilt, and U Arizona...
It shouldn't be this hard or take this long to publicly say "NO" to fascist extortion.
#academicsky
It shouldn't be this hard or take this long to publicly say "NO" to fascist extortion.
#academicsky
The snake is growing.
✊🏽✊🏻✊🏿✊🏾✊🏼
Vanderbilt, Texas, AZ…now’s the time.
The world is watching.
The resistance is here.
#NoLoyaltyOaths
#NoKings
#DefendHigherEd
✊🏽✊🏻✊🏿✊🏾✊🏼
Vanderbilt, Texas, AZ…now’s the time.
The world is watching.
The resistance is here.
#NoLoyaltyOaths
#NoKings
#DefendHigherEd
October 20, 2025 at 5:50 PM
It's 1:48pm EST on the 20th and still 🦗🦗🦗 from UT Austin, Vanderbilt, and U Arizona...
It shouldn't be this hard or take this long to publicly say "NO" to fascist extortion.
#academicsky
It shouldn't be this hard or take this long to publicly say "NO" to fascist extortion.
#academicsky
"Exposure to more unvetted views does not automatically bring one closer to the truth..“Disciplines do not create expert knowledge through a marketplace of ideas in which content discrimination is prohibited and in which all ideas are deemed equal” ..some ideas are better than others."
#academicsky
#academicsky
Viewpoint Diversity Is a MAGA Plot
Defenses of the policy miss the political point.
www.chronicle.com
October 19, 2025 at 10:19 PM
"Exposure to more unvetted views does not automatically bring one closer to the truth..“Disciplines do not create expert knowledge through a marketplace of ideas in which content discrimination is prohibited and in which all ideas are deemed equal” ..some ideas are better than others."
#academicsky
#academicsky
Reposted by Erin J. Wamsley 🧠📈😴
The snake is growing.
✊🏽✊🏻✊🏿✊🏾✊🏼
Vanderbilt, Texas, AZ…now’s the time.
The world is watching.
The resistance is here.
#NoLoyaltyOaths
#NoKings
#DefendHigherEd
✊🏽✊🏻✊🏿✊🏾✊🏼
Vanderbilt, Texas, AZ…now’s the time.
The world is watching.
The resistance is here.
#NoLoyaltyOaths
#NoKings
#DefendHigherEd
October 18, 2025 at 4:59 PM
The snake is growing.
✊🏽✊🏻✊🏿✊🏾✊🏼
Vanderbilt, Texas, AZ…now’s the time.
The world is watching.
The resistance is here.
#NoLoyaltyOaths
#NoKings
#DefendHigherEd
✊🏽✊🏻✊🏿✊🏾✊🏼
Vanderbilt, Texas, AZ…now’s the time.
The world is watching.
The resistance is here.
#NoLoyaltyOaths
#NoKings
#DefendHigherEd