This piece arguing for abolishing university administration is pretty interesting. While I think this plan would be impossible to achieve, their careful discussion of the history of university governance & other models of faculty leadership are very helpful. It also helps explain the structural problems underpinning why administrators are in some sense designed to be at odds with faculty.

https://muse.jhu.edu/article/917791

#academia

Thanks to @pvonhellermannn for sharing the link in an #academicventing thread

@mmlarthur Yes, AI does have a particular writing style that is unlike how my students usually write.

@mmlarthur And have you found that students are still doing the writing themselves? It’s so hard to design assignments around AI because it can do so much (although often not well). I tested what I thought were sufficiently creative assignments on it and it could do them…

I'm curious how instructors whose policy is that AI can be used for brainstorming but not writing or doing assessments find that works. It has to be really confusing for students right now to keep track of exactly when and how they can use AI.

My policy for now is--in part due to concerns around labor and environmental ethics--to ban all use of AI in my classes. Cate Denial's AI statement addresses this well: https://catherinedenial.org/blog/uncategorized/more-on-ai/

This compilation of AI policies on syllabi is extremely helpful #histodons

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1RMVwzjc1o0Mi8Blw_-JUTcXv02b2WRH86vw7mi16W3U/

@xankarn There have been interesting conversations in the field about how people who work at places with hard history handle the emotional burden. There aren’t enough resources for that yet.

@xankarn That must have been really intense.

@overholt @SethRudy This answer wind, poll closed!

Really interesting story on how #families are changing & what it means for our relationships and support systems: https://theworld.org/media/2024-01-11/study-global-demographic-change-fueling-decrese-family-size-and-kinfolk

#kinship #family #demographics #histodons

@xankarn Have a great time in DC! Message me if any questions/issues come up.

This statement from Rep. Nadler on the hypocrisy of Stefanik’s campaign against antisemitism is exactly what needs to be said and repeated

https://nadler.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=395109

This quote from the (just resigned) chair of Penn’s BOT captures the real failure of (former) president Liz Magill at the House hearing:
"'Over prepared and over lawyered given the hostile forum and high stakes, she provided a legalistic answer to a moral question, and that was wrong"

As a (Jewish) Penn alum & a college prof, I’m deeply concerned by what’s happening with political & donor interference in #highered—while also frightened by surging antisemitism.

#academia

@CitizenWald And the resignations of the expensive lawyers who prepped her!

@SethRudy I think I turned in 3 this semester, but surprisingly I had even more simple cut and paste from websites (2 from Wikipedia). Most plagiarism cases I’ve ever seen in one semester.

@jmadelman Very cool, I'd love to get to work on one of these some day!

@carrideen One prof I know has a policy in his syllabus that you have to wait 24 hrs before asking about a grade. In terms of Canvas, I have it set to hide grades until I’m ready to share them (and walk away from the computer!). Interestingly, tho, it’s very rare at my university that a student will contact me about a grade.

@SethRudy I looked that up recently, there’s this: https://yaledailynews.com/blog/2023/10/26/peer-colleagues-slam-history-professors-book-for-systemically-misrepresenting-sources/

I've incorporated suggestions from here & on Bluesky, and my revised graphic on doing historical research is now available for hi-res download. Please feel free to use it with your students!
#histodons #teaching #research #pedagogy

https://cassandragoodhistorian.com/2023/11/14/teaching-historical-research/

@AMGrogan I'm going to post a link to a slightly-edited, hi-res version on my website soon!

@vintprox Fortunately JStor is available to most university students with their library login