The closing of African American Studies and GWSS at Iowa is absolutely heartbreaking. It is such an important time to study these subjects. Words really cannot express how upsetting this decision is. www.thegazette.com/higher-educa...
If you can donate to help Texas School for the Deaf build a new playground for their kids, please click the link to contribute givebutter.com/jdeuBe
Last call for abstracts for the Cognitive Linguistics Association of North America Conference #CLANAC2 in Kelowna, BC this May 27-29, 2026. Any topics related to Cognitive Linguistics are welcome. Deadline has been extended to Jan. 30 and can be submitted here: ubc.ca1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...
"Future looks bleak for AnihΕ‘inΔpΔmowin, other language programs at First Nations University"
About the PhD: Audits and evaluation of AI systems β and the broader context that AI systems operate in β have become central to conceptualising, quantifying, measuring and understanding the operations, failures, limitations, underlying assumptions, and downstream societal implications of AI systems. Existing AI audit and evaluation efforts are fractured, done in a siloed and ad-hoc manner, and with little deliberation and reflection around conceptual rigour and methodological validity. This PhD is for a candidate that is passionate about exploring what a conceptually cogent, methodologically sound, and well-founded AI evaluation and safety research might look like. This requires grappling with questions such as: What does it mean to represent βground truthβ in proxies, synthetic data, or computational simulation? How do we reliably measure abstract and complex phenomena? What are the epistemological or methodological implications of quantification and measurement approaches we choose to employ? Particularly, what underlying presuppositions, values, or perspectives do they entail? How do we ensure the lived experiences of impacted communities play a critical role in the development and justification of measurement metrics and proxies? Through exploration of these questions, the candidate is expected to engage with core concepts in the philosophy of science, history of science, Black feminist epistemologies, and similar schools of thought to develop an in-depth understanding of existing practices with the aim of applying it to advance shared standards and best practice in AI evaluation. The candidate is expected to integrate empirical (for example, through analysis or evaluation of existing benchmarks) or practical (for example, by executing evaluation of AI systems) components into the overall work.
are you displeased with todayβs AI safety evaluation landscape and curious about what greater conceptual clarity, methodological soundness, and rigour in AI evaluation could look like? if so, consider coming to Dublin to pursue a PhD with me
apply here: aial.ie/hiring/phd-a...
pls repost
Screenshot of a data visualization titled βThe Cost of American Exceptionalism,β subtitled βWhat would change if the U.S. matched the OECD average?β The page explains that each card shows how outcomes would change if the U.S. matched the average of 31 peer democracies. Below, a section labeled βEconomy & Inequalityβ displays eight cards comparing U.S. figures to OECD averages. Highlights include: +$19K per household per year in redistributed income and +$96K in redistributed wealth if the top 1% matched OECD shares; a 71% lower CEO-to-worker pay ratio (from 354Γ to 101Γ); 50 million more workers with union coverage; 26 million more people with health insurance; $2.1 trillion saved annually in healthcare spending; $691 less per person per year in prescription drug costs; and intergenerational economic mobility being twice as high. Each card shows the U.S. value alongside the OECD average.
If there's one empirical insight I'd want everyone to understand about American politics, it's this:
America's problems are solved problems. Just not here.
What would change if the US simply matched the average of 31 peer democracies? Not Denmark or Norway. Just the middle of the pack. π§΅
People who aren't in Minnesota might not know that if you drive or walk past pretty much any school, there's going to be a group of people, parents and childless, standing guard to make sure the kids are safe from feds. It's pretty remarkable. And very disturbing. www.mprnews.org/story/2026/0...
The American Dialect Society has chosen its word of the year: slopβ¦used as both a freestanding noun, and a productive suffix! Check out all the words we nominated at the link! And while I nominated βthatβs AIβ (and it won for most useful), thereβs no fake news here!
The Multilingual Education SIG is hosting its preconference Wednesday, Jan 28th, 1pm. If you aren't already a member, you can join! We'll have a presentation by @annalim.bsky.social followed by a social gathering in the evening. #ACEDHH2026
I'm hiring! 2 x PhD positions to work at Uni Zurich with me on "Evolutionary Semantics" for an ERC-funded project. semantically curious MA grads from linguistics, cog psych, anthro encouraged to apply
evolvinglanguage.ch/studying-the...
finally, we're living through precedented times
Love this story about traditional ecological knowledge and stingless beekeeping in Peru! news.mongabay.com/2026/01/im-p...
It's also worth noting here that the *minimum* salary for these ICE positions is $52,205. While the *median* salaries for childcare workers and home health aides are less than $35,000 per year.
π― It's our 100th episode! π―
To celebrate, we're giving you 100 fun facts about linguistics this month
See how many you recognize and tell us about your favourite linguistics facts this month in honour of our 100th episodiversary!
Just wow. @pluralistic.net.web.brid.gy came out swinging in this article. He's right though and that's the coolest part.
Episode of @npr.org Code Switch about the student protests and bloody strikes that led to the creation of ethnic studies across the US. I think about this episode all the time, especially when University administrators shut down protests & closed racialized student groups. TW: police violence
Scientists should listen to philosophers more: correlation is not causation.
New research shows fMRI signals donβt always match the brainβs true activity levels, overturning a core assumption used in tens of thousands of studies.
neurosciencenews.com/fmri-neural-...
This is also what my Socio students in TX think. They use the term to describe afflue t white girl talk from CA but for a completely different set of features, including the ones you've mentioned here
Today, ProPublica launched a first-of-its-kind app to help you find out where your generic drugs come from and what the factories that made them are like.
Hereβs how to use it.
Earlier this year, ProPublica found that the sepsis rate in second-trimester pregnancy loss hospitalizations increased by more than 50% under Texasβ abortion ban.
Hereβs how we did our analysis.
(Published Feb. 2025)
"take away Gxxgle's predatory acquisitions they wouldn't have a mobile stack, an ad stack...a server management, they wouldn't have document collaboration, they wouldn't have navigation. They haven't made a successful consumer-facing product in this millenium" Cory Doctorow
youtu.be/d2e-c9SF5nE?...
When I ate pork this was my go to Chinese order!
If you're inclined to try to make them, here they are Peking Duck Pancakes (Chun Bing, ζ₯ι₯Ό) - Red House Spice share.google/HbbwLxgEaV9d...
Lol my only guess is torillas? Like the ones that come with Moo Shu Pork or Peking Duck. Otherwise I have no idea lol
Funny coffeeshop chats:
1) Guy gives his guy friend a book as a gift, "oh cool, now I have a book to read"
2) two elderly ladies making plans for lunch, "I have leftover Chinese at home. Beef and mushrooms. Maybe you can show me how to reanimate the Mexican round things that come with the Chinese."
Chart via @taxfoundation.bsky.social / @carlquintanilla.bsky.social
This is the Tufts PhD student who seized by masked agents on the street and jailed for two months because she wrote an op-ed calling for the school to divest from Israel.
NEW: The South Carolina NAACP and three voters with disabilities sued state election officials, arguing that several state laws restricting who can give and receive voting assistance violate Section 208 of the Voting Rights Act. They seek to block the restrictions.
The sound of your uncle's laugh; an ice cream cone you had ten years ago. Why do we hold on to memories like these? Are they more than mere mental clutter?
Just one of the topics discussed in our latest episode, w/ @aliboyle.bsky.social & @jomahr.bsky.social!
Listen: disi.org/what-is-memo...
5-year (!) postdoc opportunity: Join our Edinburgh team and do fieldwork on the Burun languages!
Deadline for application: 17 December.
Position starts March 1st, 2025
elxw.fa.em3.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/Candid...
