Roopika Risam
@roopikarisam.bsky.social
Author of Barack Obama’s summer 2026 reading pick DATA EMPIRE, Chair of Film & Media Studies at Dartmouth 💚, equestrian🐴, https://roopikarisam.com
So excited about this; I kept thinking Erin (and my own research) were wrong that there hadn't been a book on this before..?!
Erin Keane@erinkeane.bsky.social · 3h agoSome professional news ... I've been spending some time in the archives and am looking forward to having cake at all the events for this book.
As I put this year's "Committee of Chairs" meetings on my calendar, I accidentally wrote "Committee of Chaise," which basically tells you my mood as I enter my third and final year of my chair term. (If we're counting, my second go-around as chair, since I did it at SSU too.)
A blast from the past, with your beloved... Roopsi: We should download some shows because the wifi might not be great on vacation. Beloved: Good idea! How do we do that, Limewire?
***Letter-Writing Campaign Against National Archives and Records Administration Closures in San Francisco (San Bruno) and Chicago*** Save Our National Archives has launched an immediate letter writing campaign and is asking writers to CC their Congressional representatives. Thread - 1/3
While we listened to ABBA on the way home from Fenway, my beloved informed me that I apparently randomly sing “Lay All Your Love On Me” very frequently, and yet I have absolutely no knowledge of this.
Dominican Night at Fenway — and I saw my first grand slam!
My beloved is watching a YouTube video to educate himself on perimenopause and menopause (from a reputable source), and I'm not sure whether to be touched or offended. (He did ask, "Is it okay if I watch this?")
Fascists and authoritarian regimes try to control universities and turn them into purveyors of state propaganda through extortion…... www.politico.com/news/2026/08...
Trump administration asks colleges to commit to education overhaul
Education Secretary Linda McMahon’s letter contains some similarities to a compact offered to and rejected by a small group of schools last year.
politico.com
Google AI Overview has borked Google Drive. RIP Google Drive. I can't find anything now and it keeps claiming I'm not online when I'm quite obviously online. (And for the "Why are you using Google Drive?" crew, this is where the department I chair has kept their files since before I arrived.)
I've been reading this book that just came out f/ @roopikarisam.bsky.social that has rightfully been getting a lot of attention & yeah, it's really excellent. Fantastic longue duree history of "data" with sharp analysis of the present moment. I learned a lot. www.harpercollins.com/products/dat...
Data Empire
BARACK OBAMA’S 2026 SUMMER READING PICK “A must-read.”—NPR, “15 Books Our Critics Can’t Wait to Read This Summer” An NPR, New Scientist, Nautilus, and Next ...
harpercollins.com
As you look toward fall class, do two things for space and grace; . First, add two flex days to you syllabus. You can move the into place when you're sick when everyone needs a metal health day, when a concept needs a little more time. it takes pressure off when the unexpected happens (more)
There is a not-so-fine line between looking at parallels in media shifts and how they might inform how we understand what’s happening now, which Adam Hammond does in Literature and the Digital Age, and the claims below. (Not to mention, the 15th c. university wishes it were that important.)
Sonja Drimmer@sonjadrimmer.bsky.social · 3d agoI’ve seen in two culture /higher ed magazines recently the claim that the printing press engendered a crisis of authority at universities bc anyone could publish what they wanted and people could learn things without universities. This is not true.
You need to read this great story! I always love the people who just go out and do the thing and make it happen, which is rare in an environment where we are socialized to hierarchy, existing institutional structures, and knowing one’s place.
Matt Seybold@mattseybold.bsky.social · 3d agoSo, I really hope I get to tell this story in longer form in the near future, but it it’s burning a hole inside me. Most of it comes from an interview with Bob Hirst this weekend. Bob has been Exec Editor of the Mark Twain Project for 47 years, before which he was part of its staff for ~15. 1/16
Today, I’ve been thinking about how the last 15ish years of social media primed the world for genAI content through memes, algorithm-driven engagement, endless recycling of text (especially other people’s, to court the algorithm), the “democratization” of content creation, and of course, bots.
My parents are completely mystified by all their friends now reading my book and asking when I’ll be home to sign their copies.
From the mouths of teens: “States should provide AI literacy as soon as students get access to classroom devices; AI use should be banned on all graded tests; and teachers can require an oral defense of any project from a student suspected of using AI inappropriately.” www.npr.org/2026/07/30/n...
Adults have struggled to set rules for AI in school. These teens figured it out
Should students be allowed to use AI on assignments? What about on tests? Who should teach AI literacy? About 100 teenagers got together to try to decide.
npr.org
It took the proverbial village but I trotted Flight bareback today for the first time. We did it — and hilarity ensued.
Adam Aleksic discusses this in his book Algospeak with regard to the “influencer accent” - maybe the same applies here? 🤔
I think genAI is certainly the go-to place now for the students who would have been caught by essay mills in the past, for exactly the same pastoral reasons (stress, anxiety, bad life choices, difficult circumstances impairing ability to work); as you say, the tells are now just clearer.
As I read countless articles about genAI classroom problems, which typically point to “tells” like content that wasn’t what they requested, voice, and use of sources, it strikes me that these are similar to pre-genAI plagiarism “tells.” I’m wondering whether the plagiarism problem has been worse +
I work at a public library. People who want to use AI seem to have no trouble doing so. People who don't want to use AI have a harder time. I crowdsourced and then finalized this document "How to disable or avoid intrusive AI" and then gave it a short URL: notoai.org Please pass along if it's useful
A little bit later than usual (blame President Obama), but @jenguiliano.bsky.social and I are happy to share the July issue of #ReviewsInDH. Don't miss this fantastic issue from Asian & Asian Diaspora Studies editor @alizhorvathaliz.bsky.social, on microhistories. reviewsindh.pubpub.org/v7-n7
Volume 7, No. 7: July 2026 - Microhistories · Reviews in Digital Humanities
Vol. 7, No. 7 of Reviews in Digital Humanities, a peer-reviewed journal that facilitates scholarly evaluation of digital humanities work and its outputs, edited by Jennifer Guiliano (Indiana Universit...
reviewsindh.pubpub.org
This is gonna be so good! And the cover is beautiful.
Jay Shelat@jshelat1.bsky.social · 5d agoFriends, my book—No Place for Home: Terror and Race in Literature After 9/11—has a cover! I’m so pleased with what Rachel Moeller and the design team at @uminnpress.bsky.social came up with! The book will be out in Spring 2027 and that I’ll post a pre-order link once it’s available! 1/2
🐳 You’re God damned right @hesterblum.bsky.social & I made a TWENTY-FIVE EPISODE PODCAST just about 𝐌𝐎𝐁𝐘-𝐃𝐈𝐂𝐊. Subscribe now at exploringthegreats.com/moby-dick & enjoy our thrilling trailer:
Want to resist imposed genAI use in your workplace? There’s some advice and inspiration in here (h/t @readywriting.bsky.social) aftermath.site/ai-resistanc...
Welcome To The Resistance: Meet The Workers Dodging (And Sabotaging) Their Employer's AI Mandates
'When I copy-edit writing I take an extra twenty minutes to double check, then say I had Claude copy edit it as well. Everyone’s really happy with my performance'
aftermath.site