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cathyndavidson.bsky.social
Cathy Davidson
@cathyndavidson.bsky.social
3.8K followers 3.4K following 1.4K posts

CathyDavidson.com. Advocate for active learning, student success. Author “The New Education” etc. Cofounder HASTAC.org ("world's first academic social network"--NSF). Science fiction fan. Lover of oceans. Opinions and typos my own. #SeaScrolling #Breathe .. more

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Cathy N. Davidson is an American scholar and university professor. She is a Distinguished Professor of English, Digital Humanities, and Data Analysis and Visualization at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York where she founded the Futures Initiative. .. more

Political science 21%
Art 21%
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cathyndavidson.bsky.social
Cathy Davidson @cathyndavidson.bsky.social · 8d
"The whole purpose of education is to turn mirrors into windows."--Audre Lorde. Here's the text to my acceptance speech for the 2025 #McGraw Prize in Higher Education: cathydavidson.com/blog/2025-mc...
2025 McGraw Prize in Higher Education: Acceptance Speech Nov 13, 2025 – Cathy N. Davidson
cathydavidson.com

cathyndavidson.bsky.social
Cathy Davidson @cathyndavidson.bsky.social · 23h
Grey sky. #SeaScroll. #Breathe

Reposted by Brendan Nyhan, Robert W. Wallace, Ian Campbell , and 9 more

colindickey.com
Colin Dickey @colindickey.com · 23h
Handing back student work that’s been written by ChatGPT with a 0 followed by the comment “This essay will never stand in authentic wonder before the Beauty of God’s creation.”
vulture.com Vulture @vulture.com · 1d
Pope Leo XIV told students not to use artificial intelligence for homework, saying that AI ‘won’t stand in authentic wonder before the beauty of God’s creation.’
Even God Is Worried About ChatGPT
Pope Leo XIV told students not to use artificial intelligence for homework, saying that AI ‘won’t stand in authentic wonder before the beauty of God’s creation.’
www.vulture.com

Reposted by Brendan Nyhan, Gordon Hodson, Ian Campbell , and 17 more

vulture.com
Vulture @vulture.com · 1d
Pope Leo XIV told students not to use artificial intelligence for homework, saying that AI ‘won’t stand in authentic wonder before the beauty of God’s creation.’
Even God Is Worried About ChatGPT
Pope Leo XIV told students not to use artificial intelligence for homework, saying that AI ‘won’t stand in authentic wonder before the beauty of God’s creation.’
www.vulture.com

cathyndavidson.bsky.social
Cathy Davidson @cathyndavidson.bsky.social · 1d
And I'm so excited to see your name on this list @ruha9.bsky.social. It's a phenomenal team. Thank you for your service and commitment to real change amid all the other things you do. #Grateful

Reposted by Cathy N. Davidson

jasonheppler.org
Jason Heppler @jasonheppler.org · 1d
I mentioned recently how much the current AI infrastructure push reminds me of Silicon Valley in its heyday of tech manufacturing, and every day there’s another example of how it’s remarkably similar.
AI’s water problem is worse than we thought
A new investigation reveals how Amazon is amplifying Oregon’s nitrate pollution crisis.
heated.world

Reposted by Cathy N. Davidson

alliegata.bsky.social
Allie-gata #Resists @alliegata.bsky.social · 1d
Immigration and Customs Enforcement is expanding plans to outsource immigrant tracking to private surveillance firms, scrapping a recent $180 million pilot proposal in favor of a no-cap program with multimillion-dollar guarantees

No paywall
ICE Offers Up to $280 Million to Immigrant-Tracking ‘Bounty Hunter’ Firms
Immigration and Customs Enforcement lifted a $180 million cap on a proposed immigrant-tracking program while guaranteeing multimillion-dollar payouts for private surveillance firms.
www.wired.com

Reposted by Linda J. Skitka, Cathy N. Davidson

rbreich.bsky.social
Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 1d
Average electricity cost increase since Jan:

Missouri ⬆️ 37%
Iowa ⬆️ 30%
North Dakota ⬆️ 30%
Oklahoma ⬆️ 30%
New Jersey ⬆️ 27%
Nebraska ⬆️ 25%
Montana ⬆️ 25%
Wyoming ⬆️ 23%

NATIONWIDE ⬆️ 11%

Instead of working to lower costs, Trump is boosting power-hungry AI data centers.

cathyndavidson.bsky.social
Cathy Davidson @cathyndavidson.bsky.social · 1d
Definition and probing of words like "teach," "learn," "train," "model," "supervise," and "foundation," "category," "class" etc key to deep understanding of knowledge, cognitive science, learning science, higher education reform, pedagogy: glossed right over for "machine learning."

cathyndavidson.bsky.social
Cathy Davidson @cathyndavidson.bsky.social · 1d
Yes, I've done this. I've also done workshops where I have students work in teams to come up with interesting or biased ways of asking ChatGPT the same question (setting the boundaries differently) and then having them compare the kind of answer they receive. It's eye-opening. Always.

Reposted by Cathy N. Davidson

paulsgundlach.bsky.social
Paul Gundlach @paulsgundlach.bsky.social · 2d
Happy Tuesday! We had an amazing sky this morning 15 minutes before the sun came up before everything quickly dissipated into gray. It was a tough choice in coffee shop voting but this one took it. Tap for full size. I hope you have a great day!

Reposted by Kori Schake, Suresh Venkatasubramanian, Fabián Muniesa , and 3 more

reckless.bsky.social
nilay patel @reckless.bsky.social · 2d
I’ve been running around asking tech execs and academics if language was the same as intelligence for over a year now - and, well, it isn’t. @benjaminjriley.bsky.social explains how the bubble is built on ignoring cutting-edge research into the science of thought www.theverge.com/ai-artificia...

cathyndavidson.bsky.social
Cathy Davidson @cathyndavidson.bsky.social · 2d
Congratulations @alondra.bsky.social and New York City! Fantastic choice!

Reposted by Lesley A. Hall, Cathy N. Davidson, R. M. Wilson

prisonculture.bsky.social
Prisonculture @prisonculture.bsky.social · 2d
95% of authors are not making a living through book publishing. The public needs to understand this.

Reposted by Cathy N. Davidson, Nathan P. Kalmoe

davidjbier.bsky.social
David Bier @davidjbier.bsky.social · 2d
NEW data I've received: Just 5% of people detained by ICE since October 1 have had violent criminal convictions, 3/4 had no criminal convictions at all. Most "criminals" had immigration, traffic, and vice offenses. Not the "worst of the worst"...

Reposted by Cathy N. Davidson

motherjones.com
Mother Jones @motherjones.com · 2d
If Trump doesn’t sign legislation before December 15 to extend ACA tax credits, millions of Americans will be forced to pay far more for health insurance, or forgo it altogether.
Even Trump wants to extend Obamacare—but Republicans stopped him
Tick, tock: the GOP is desperately trying to run out the clock on ACA subsidies.
www.motherjones.com

Reposted by Suresh Venkatasubramanian, Jean Burgess, Philip N. Cohen , and 11 more

alondra.bsky.social
Alondra Nelson @alondra.bsky.social · 2d
Honored to serve on Mayor-elect @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social Transition Committee on Technology. For too long, too many New Yorkers have been left behind. NYC deserves governance that centers affordability, equity, and the public good-looking forward to the work ahead. www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news...
NYC Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani announces transition committees
New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani​ announced Monday the creation of 17 transition advisory committees made up of more than 400 people.
www.cbsnews.com

cathyndavidson.bsky.social
Cathy Davidson @cathyndavidson.bsky.social · 2d
Yes …and also DEI, Black and gender studies, climate change, the humanities, critical thinking, Pell grants, international students . Etc. They basically hate anything that might cast light on their exploitation.

Reposted by Cathy N. Davidson

sharonk.bsky.social
Sharon @sharonk.bsky.social · 2d
www.axios.com/2025/11/24/p...
Most Latinos say they're worse off under Trump's second term, per Pew
Latino pessimism is at its worst in nearly 20 years, Pew says.
www.axios.com

Reposted by Anders Nilsson, Cathy N. Davidson, Lindsay M. Tedds

parkermolloy.com
Parker Molloy @parkermolloy.com · 2d
And Carville had the audacity to invoke Mamdani's win to make his point? Mamdani didn't go "anti-woke" to win. Quite the opposite! www.readtpa.com/p/a-politici...
A Politician Actually Defended Trans People. It Shouldn't Be This Rare.
Many Democrats are treating trans people as politically toxic. NYC mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani released a two-minute video proving there's another way.
www.readtpa.com

Reposted by Cathy N. Davidson

prismreports.org
Prism @prismreports.org · 2d
“[Movement journalism is] not in ‘business’ to funnel advertising dollars to the pockets of billionaires; we’re here to perform liberatory work” write @femmfeministe.bsky.social & @mayaschenwar.bsky.social. It’s time for progressive philanthropy to commit to funding journalism.
Progressive philanthropy needs to commit to funding journalism
Marginalized voices are facing new pressures amid industry cutbacks and increasing attacks from the Trump administration
prismreports.org

Reposted by Cathy N. Davidson

lexmcmenamin.com
Lex McMenamin (they/them) @lexmcmenamin.com · 2d
ironically they also ran a piece 4 days after I pubbed this one, just before the election was called, making this very point!
Zohran Mamdani's Establishment-Fighting Campaign Built Community for Young People
“What Mamdani has done is not only inspire and mobilize young people, but he has exposed the establishment and some of their calcified views of participation and inclusion.”
www.teenvogue.com

cathyndavidson.bsky.social
Cathy Davidson @cathyndavidson.bsky.social · 2d
Yep.

cathyndavidson.bsky.social
Cathy Davidson @cathyndavidson.bsky.social · 2d
The NYT of all places is writing this silliness? Despite NYT doing everything in its power to prevent his election, President Elect Mamdani won in large part because of 100,000+ volunteers, led by young people.

cathyndavidson.bsky.social
Cathy Davidson @cathyndavidson.bsky.social · 2d
I guess the richest person in the world is allowed to be the stupidest? Is that the algorithm?

cathyndavidson.bsky.social
Cathy Davidson @cathyndavidson.bsky.social · 2d
More and more of the undergraduates I interact with @cuny.edu are reaching this conclusion, even assuming that the same folks who say "higher education isn't worth it" are urging them to use AI and for the same reason: to shrink the middle class and have even more wealth/greed for the .0001%

cathyndavidson.bsky.social
Cathy Davidson @cathyndavidson.bsky.social · 2d
How big exactly is a trillion? Here's an analogy from the brilliant computer scientist Pat Hayes: "A million seconds is about 11 and a half days, but a billion seconds is 31 years and 8 months....A trillion seconds is over 31,000 years."
medium.com/@patrickjohn...
Medium
Member-only
medium.com

Reposted by Juan Cole, Cathy N. Davidson, McKenzie Wark , and 3 more

courtneymilan.com
Courtney Milan @courtneymilan.com · 2d
I think it’s pretty clear at this point that one of the main impacts of LLMs is to disrupt thinking: to make it so that far too many people never properly learn how to do it, and then to control the output so there are thoughts that people never learn how to think.

Reposted by Cathy N. Davidson

atrupar.com
Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 2d
Reposting this clip of Harry Enten talking about inflation to make clear that the numbers he cites comes from a poll about how Americans *feel* prices are going up, not percentages of prices increases themselves. It's still not good news for Trump politically.

Reposted by Robert W. Wallace, Cathy N. Davidson

rebeccasolnit.bsky.social
Rebecca Solnit @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social · 2d
If there's one thing the mainstream news media love to overlook, it's the impact of the mainstream news media. The petite Tea Party in all its elite-backed astroturfiness was hailed like a sacred comet; the historically huge No Kings was played down by the NY Times, among other publications.
The absence of young people in protests against Mr. Trump’s authoritarianism matters, and not just for crowd counts. The No Kings protesters look like, and in many cases are, the same people who protested during Mr. Trump’s first term in office. But older people with signs are old news in the attention economy. As a result, the No Kings protests have had less effect on our politics than, say, the smaller Tea Party protests during Barack Obama’s first months as president, which helped spark a backlash before the 2010 midterm elections. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/24/opinion/boomers-protest-trump-gen-z.html?unlocked_article_code=1.3k8.ui6r.Ag1dMthOacrp&smid=url-share

cathyndavidson.bsky.social
Cathy Davidson @cathyndavidson.bsky.social · 3d
"A million seconds is about 11 and a half days, but a billion seconds is 31 years and 8 months....A trillion seconds is over 31,000 years.) Pat Hayes Medium gives us insights into wealth of today's improbable, immoral oligarchs: medium.com/@patrickjohn...
Avogadro’s Number
An essay about impossibly small things and impossibly large numbers.
medium.com