Cara Marta Messina
@caramartamessina.com
💖Assistant prof of English
💜fan studies & digital rhetoric
💙keeper of Team Rhetoric feed
💖Alliance for Refusing Generative AI Discord https://discord.gg/fPpdr2fkBp
💜writing a book on fanfiction
💙”your silence will not protect you “
💜fan studies & digital rhetoric
💙keeper of Team Rhetoric feed
💖Alliance for Refusing Generative AI Discord https://discord.gg/fPpdr2fkBp
💜writing a book on fanfiction
💙”your silence will not protect you “
Pinned
Cara Marta Messina
@caramartamessina.com
· Nov 11
Team Rhetoric & Composition Bluesky Feed
Find all the rhetoric, composition, and writing studies scholars in the vast blue sky. Fill out the form to be added to the feed. And make sure to follow the Team Rhetoric feed to see what everyone is...
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Join the Team Rhetoric feed! Like and pin it to your main feeds. And fill out this form to be added to the feed: bit.ly/bsky-rhetoric
Find the Rhetoric & Writing Studies starter pack by @katjathieme.bsky.social at go.bsky.app/SCyxbJN
Find the Rhetoric & Writing Studies starter pack by @katjathieme.bsky.social at go.bsky.app/SCyxbJN
Reposted by Cara Marta Messina
From an email to one of our faculty members....
Not even Plato can escape censorship at Texas A&M!
Not even Plato can escape censorship at Texas A&M!
January 6, 2026 at 8:15 PM
From an email to one of our faculty members....
Not even Plato can escape censorship at Texas A&M!
Not even Plato can escape censorship at Texas A&M!
Reposted by Cara Marta Messina
Increasingly convinced that ChatGPT should be shut down and its CEO should be charged as an accessory to many, many crimes.
January 6, 2026 at 3:09 AM
Increasingly convinced that ChatGPT should be shut down and its CEO should be charged as an accessory to many, many crimes.
Reposted by Cara Marta Messina
Happening next week!! Get ready for the Spring semester with our third CCCC Reading Circle on Land, Labor, Water and Writing: The Costs of Generative AI in the Writing Classroom, Mon 1/12 at 4–5 PM Eastern.
Register here: my.ncte.org/event-inform...
Register here: my.ncte.org/event-inform...
Also mark your calendar for the third reading circle as @nobugsnous.bsky.social, @vymanivannan.bsky.social, & Travis Margoni will facilitate a workshop on applying these conversations to the teaching of writing.
Happening on Monday, Jan 12, 4–5 PM ET! my.ncte.org/event-inform...
Happening on Monday, Jan 12, 4–5 PM ET! my.ncte.org/event-inform...
January 5, 2026 at 5:37 PM
Happening next week!! Get ready for the Spring semester with our third CCCC Reading Circle on Land, Labor, Water and Writing: The Costs of Generative AI in the Writing Classroom, Mon 1/12 at 4–5 PM Eastern.
Register here: my.ncte.org/event-inform...
Register here: my.ncte.org/event-inform...
Reposted by Cara Marta Messina
As @jbakcoleman.bsky.social and I wrote, “Every time a scientist abdicates their work to an AI tool, that is a tacit admission that the work is not worth being done by the scientist.”
Same goes for instructors.
Same goes for instructors.
You’ll have to read for the what happens next part, but I can tell you what will happen when parents and students realize profs have handed over expertise and teaching to chatbots.
NYU professor tested students with AI oral exams, here's what happened next
When student work looked like McKinsey memos, an NYU business school professor used AI oral exams to test real learning.
www.businessinsider.com
January 5, 2026 at 5:14 PM
As @jbakcoleman.bsky.social and I wrote, “Every time a scientist abdicates their work to an AI tool, that is a tacit admission that the work is not worth being done by the scientist.”
Same goes for instructors.
Same goes for instructors.
Reposted by Cara Marta Messina
"Fanfiction allows people to explore identity, sexuality, trauma and love through characters they already trust. For many queer readers and writers, it was the first place they saw themselves represented."
The hill I will die on: Fan fiction is real literature, whatever the snobs say | Urooj Ashfaq
Yes, it’s messy, derivative and occasionally incomprehensible – but so is life, says comedian Urooj Ashfaq
www.theguardian.com
January 5, 2026 at 3:07 PM
"Fanfiction allows people to explore identity, sexuality, trauma and love through characters they already trust. For many queer readers and writers, it was the first place they saw themselves represented."
Reposted by Cara Marta Messina
Stickers! I'll be bringing these to the #MLA26 panel @caramartamessina.com & I put together on Making Space for GenAI Refusal.
Credit to @betterimagesofai.bsky.social (Jamillah Knowles & Digit / Clarote & AI4Media) for the two images, to Bonnie Lenore Kyburz for inspiring mansplAIning, +
Credit to @betterimagesofai.bsky.social (Jamillah Knowles & Digit / Clarote & AI4Media) for the two images, to Bonnie Lenore Kyburz for inspiring mansplAIning, +
December 29, 2025 at 10:28 PM
Stickers! I'll be bringing these to the #MLA26 panel @caramartamessina.com & I put together on Making Space for GenAI Refusal.
Credit to @betterimagesofai.bsky.social (Jamillah Knowles & Digit / Clarote & AI4Media) for the two images, to Bonnie Lenore Kyburz for inspiring mansplAIning, +
Credit to @betterimagesofai.bsky.social (Jamillah Knowles & Digit / Clarote & AI4Media) for the two images, to Bonnie Lenore Kyburz for inspiring mansplAIning, +
Reposted by Cara Marta Messina
This is MTG'w bill. She personally authored. It's happening now, not in the past.
Spare me her redemption arc.
Spare me her redemption arc.
December 29, 2025 at 6:37 PM
This is MTG'w bill. She personally authored. It's happening now, not in the past.
Spare me her redemption arc.
Spare me her redemption arc.
Reposted by Cara Marta Messina
The AI bubble* and the fascist Trump regime are deeply intertwined, fueling each other.
If the bubble pops, it'll make the regime easier to deal with.
If the regime falls, the bubble likely goes with it.
*Bubble doesn't mean nothing of value. It means severely overinflated value and exuberance.
If the bubble pops, it'll make the regime easier to deal with.
If the regime falls, the bubble likely goes with it.
*Bubble doesn't mean nothing of value. It means severely overinflated value and exuberance.
Chasing an Economic Boom, White House Dismisses Risks of A.I.
www.nytimes.com
December 24, 2025 at 2:46 PM
The AI bubble* and the fascist Trump regime are deeply intertwined, fueling each other.
If the bubble pops, it'll make the regime easier to deal with.
If the regime falls, the bubble likely goes with it.
*Bubble doesn't mean nothing of value. It means severely overinflated value and exuberance.
If the bubble pops, it'll make the regime easier to deal with.
If the regime falls, the bubble likely goes with it.
*Bubble doesn't mean nothing of value. It means severely overinflated value and exuberance.
GenAI refusal is a boycott. It’s really weird how many people in writing studies have decided to publicly denounce, misrepresent, and misinterpret a boycott…
December 22, 2025 at 5:14 PM
GenAI refusal is a boycott. It’s really weird how many people in writing studies have decided to publicly denounce, misrepresent, and misinterpret a boycott…
Reposted by Cara Marta Messina
The article is indebted to brilliant scholars such as @rcmeg.bsky.social, @nobugsnous.bsky.social, @jsanofranchini.bsky.social, & @ruha9.bsky.social who dare to ask us to imagine alternative, more hopeful versions of the world.
December 20, 2025 at 1:41 PM
The article is indebted to brilliant scholars such as @rcmeg.bsky.social, @nobugsnous.bsky.social, @jsanofranchini.bsky.social, & @ruha9.bsky.social who dare to ask us to imagine alternative, more hopeful versions of the world.
Reposted by Cara Marta Messina
It's pretty easy to define two arguments as a binary and claim you're in an unsettled middle that hasn't yet been explored when you just lie about what one of those arguments is saying
December 20, 2025 at 9:32 PM
It's pretty easy to define two arguments as a binary and claim you're in an unsettled middle that hasn't yet been explored when you just lie about what one of those arguments is saying
Reposted by Cara Marta Messina
if you’re an academic who uses AI to crank out research, you should have to give up your position to one of the more worthy candidates who didn’t get a TT job
I am not sorry. This is simply true. Academics should be able to write fluently and express themselves clearly and academics should do their own work. It’s literally our job. It’s what we trained until 22nd grade to do. This is a simple observation that should require no explanation or defense.
I’m sorry, but it is disgraceful to be an academic who uses this technology to conduct research. It should be prohibited in all of our scholarly institutions, including universities and journals.
December 20, 2025 at 6:02 PM
if you’re an academic who uses AI to crank out research, you should have to give up your position to one of the more worthy candidates who didn’t get a TT job
Reposted by Cara Marta Messina
the slow death of legitimate, verifiable, reliable knowledge systems
I’m sorry, but it is disgraceful to be an academic who uses this technology to conduct research. It should be prohibited in all of our scholarly institutions, including universities and journals.
December 20, 2025 at 1:58 PM
the slow death of legitimate, verifiable, reliable knowledge systems
Reposted by Cara Marta Messina
The House passed legislation today that would charge doctors with a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison for providing transition-related care to minors.
Rep. Sarah McBride strongly condemned the legislation in rare personal remarks ahead of the vote.
www.nbcnews.com/politics/tru...
Rep. Sarah McBride strongly condemned the legislation in rare personal remarks ahead of the vote.
www.nbcnews.com/politics/tru...
House passes bill to criminalize transition care for minors
The House passed legislation today that would charge doctors with a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison for providing transition-related medical care
www.nbcnews.com
December 18, 2025 at 12:09 AM
The House passed legislation today that would charge doctors with a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison for providing transition-related care to minors.
Rep. Sarah McBride strongly condemned the legislation in rare personal remarks ahead of the vote.
www.nbcnews.com/politics/tru...
Rep. Sarah McBride strongly condemned the legislation in rare personal remarks ahead of the vote.
www.nbcnews.com/politics/tru...
Reposted by Cara Marta Messina
Are these the same companies that told us the robot could do it?
December 17, 2025 at 1:31 PM
Are these the same companies that told us the robot could do it?
Reposted by Cara Marta Messina
The same companies that fired all their writers, artists and the creative staff who write and make stories?
The same companies whose managers went 100% into "AI or bust"?
The same companies who have supported the current US administration as it attacks universities and the humanities?
YA DON'T SAY
The same companies whose managers went 100% into "AI or bust"?
The same companies who have supported the current US administration as it attacks universities and the humanities?
YA DON'T SAY
Are these the same companies that told us the robot could do it?
December 17, 2025 at 4:54 PM
The same companies that fired all their writers, artists and the creative staff who write and make stories?
The same companies whose managers went 100% into "AI or bust"?
The same companies who have supported the current US administration as it attacks universities and the humanities?
YA DON'T SAY
The same companies whose managers went 100% into "AI or bust"?
The same companies who have supported the current US administration as it attacks universities and the humanities?
YA DON'T SAY
Reposted by Cara Marta Messina
Tomorrow, the House of Representatives will vote on a bill that bans gender-affirming medical care for any transgender person under 18, and threatens any medical professional providing this care to youth with 10 years in prison.
Tell Congress to protect trans youth and vote NO.
Tell Congress to protect trans youth and vote NO.
Protect Trans Care Now
As wave after wave of extreme measures to criminalize and strip trans people of rights and safety continue, tell Congress to act.
action.aclu.org
December 16, 2025 at 8:16 PM
Tomorrow, the House of Representatives will vote on a bill that bans gender-affirming medical care for any transgender person under 18, and threatens any medical professional providing this care to youth with 10 years in prison.
Tell Congress to protect trans youth and vote NO.
Tell Congress to protect trans youth and vote NO.
Reposted by Cara Marta Messina
Merriam-Webster’s human editors have chosen ‘slop’ as the 2025 Word of the Year.
December 15, 2025 at 2:07 PM
Merriam-Webster’s human editors have chosen ‘slop’ as the 2025 Word of the Year.
Reposted by Cara Marta Messina
Journal of Fandom Studies 13.2 is out now! Book Reviews include:
Fandom, Now in Color: A Collection of Voices, Rukmini Pande (2020)
By Sarah Breyfogle
doi.org/10.1386/jfs_...
Fandom, Now in Color: A Collection of Voices, Rukmini Pande (2020)
By Sarah Breyfogle
doi.org/10.1386/jfs_...
Fandom, Now in Color: A Collection of Voices, Rukmini Pande (2020) | Intellect
Review of: Fandom, Now in Color: A Collection of Voices, Rukmini Pande (2020)
Iowa City, IA: University of Iowa Press, 247 pp.,
ISBN 978-1-60938-728-0, p/bk, USD 75
doi.org
December 1, 2025 at 11:10 PM
Journal of Fandom Studies 13.2 is out now! Book Reviews include:
Fandom, Now in Color: A Collection of Voices, Rukmini Pande (2020)
By Sarah Breyfogle
doi.org/10.1386/jfs_...
Fandom, Now in Color: A Collection of Voices, Rukmini Pande (2020)
By Sarah Breyfogle
doi.org/10.1386/jfs_...
Reposted by Cara Marta Messina
I mean we are absolutely in a place now where the only solution to this information disorder is for everyone to constantly evaluate the source of information. Never trust a chatbot, but also don't believe a video unless you know and trust where it comes from.
Unfortunately... that's a lot of work.
Unfortunately... that's a lot of work.
December 5, 2025 at 11:18 PM
I mean we are absolutely in a place now where the only solution to this information disorder is for everyone to constantly evaluate the source of information. Never trust a chatbot, but also don't believe a video unless you know and trust where it comes from.
Unfortunately... that's a lot of work.
Unfortunately... that's a lot of work.
Reposted by Cara Marta Messina
Here's the reality this example illustrates:
It's not even just about people blindly trusting what ChatGPT tells them. LLMs are poisoning the entire information ecosystem. You can't even necessarily trust that the citations in a published paper are real (or a search engine's descriptions of them).
It's not even just about people blindly trusting what ChatGPT tells them. LLMs are poisoning the entire information ecosystem. You can't even necessarily trust that the citations in a published paper are real (or a search engine's descriptions of them).
December 5, 2025 at 11:15 PM
Here's the reality this example illustrates:
It's not even just about people blindly trusting what ChatGPT tells them. LLMs are poisoning the entire information ecosystem. You can't even necessarily trust that the citations in a published paper are real (or a search engine's descriptions of them).
It's not even just about people blindly trusting what ChatGPT tells them. LLMs are poisoning the entire information ecosystem. You can't even necessarily trust that the citations in a published paper are real (or a search engine's descriptions of them).
Reposted by Cara Marta Messina
“School officials have created a Microsoft Copilot prompt to review course descriptions with an eye toward avoiding ‘advocacy-oriented or prescriptive terms.’”
Terms: “dismantling, decolonizing, interrogating, challenging, centering, combating, liberation, resistance, activism, justice oriented”
Terms: “dismantling, decolonizing, interrogating, challenging, centering, combating, liberation, resistance, activism, justice oriented”
To Root Out Wokeness in the Course Catalog, This Texas University Is Turning to AI
“The AI was upset with my use of the phrase ‘women's rights movement.’”
www.texasmonthly.com
December 6, 2025 at 2:42 PM
“School officials have created a Microsoft Copilot prompt to review course descriptions with an eye toward avoiding ‘advocacy-oriented or prescriptive terms.’”
Terms: “dismantling, decolonizing, interrogating, challenging, centering, combating, liberation, resistance, activism, justice oriented”
Terms: “dismantling, decolonizing, interrogating, challenging, centering, combating, liberation, resistance, activism, justice oriented”
Reposted by Cara Marta Messina
I ended up drafting an email that didn't really lean on research specific to grade school education, but expressed my concerns in the most basic terms.
I removed the personal details and have shared it as a template here for folks who might find it useful:
bit.ly/TeacherEmail...
I removed the personal details and have shared it as a template here for folks who might find it useful:
bit.ly/TeacherEmail...
![Dear [TEACHER],
I want to make sure we're on the same page for the rest of the year, because I was surprised and disappointed to hear that you uploaded student projects to ChatGPT.
We have always found [SCHOOL] to be a place that encourages students to express themselves creatively, to be responsible and aware of how their actions affect others, and to be intellectually honest – doing their own work, rather than copying from others.
I know ChatGPT has been heavily marketed as an educational tool, but everything about it is the opposite of those values. AI tools are built by training models on stolen work. They have huge and terrible environmental costs, because their data centers generate enormous amounts of pollution and are cooled with drinking water. They're also incredibly dangerous: tools like ChatGPT have taught children how to start fires and even encouraged them to commit suicide.
And in a classroom setting, it teaches students that a machine can express their ideas better than they can. I told [ CHILD ] I was interested in seeing what they had to draw, and my heart sank when they told me "but I can't draw that pretty." Children deserve to draw what they imagine.
These environmental, ethical, and pedagogical concerns are why I don't want [ CHILD ] to use AI tools (or for you to use them on their behalf). For the same reasons, I respectfully ask that you stop using them in your classroom.
If you do plan to use AI this year, please send home a permission slip requesting consent. There are important privacy concerns when you upload student work into a for-profit service like ChatGPT.
Thank you,
[ PARENT ]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:c2xl6zaxo623jzbjb43urymd/bafkreiesldew7oebm4hg2gymd4cftvwmrpbdw6m7eil2buiphw7db4ror4@jpeg)
December 2, 2025 at 4:39 PM
I ended up drafting an email that didn't really lean on research specific to grade school education, but expressed my concerns in the most basic terms.
I removed the personal details and have shared it as a template here for folks who might find it useful:
bit.ly/TeacherEmail...
I removed the personal details and have shared it as a template here for folks who might find it useful:
bit.ly/TeacherEmail...
Reposted by Cara Marta Messina
"the issue isn’t that we need more 'boy-friendly' reforms. It’s that boys are socialized to compete only with boys and to read girls’ success as illegitimate or emasculating. The result is dissonance, resentment, and disengagement for boys—and hostile climates for girls."
time.com/7335723/auto...
time.com/7335723/auto...
The Real Way Schools are Failing Boys
“If we really want boys to succeed, we need to ensure that they know how to both beat—and lose— to girls."
time.com
December 2, 2025 at 11:21 AM
"the issue isn’t that we need more 'boy-friendly' reforms. It’s that boys are socialized to compete only with boys and to read girls’ success as illegitimate or emasculating. The result is dissonance, resentment, and disengagement for boys—and hostile climates for girls."
time.com/7335723/auto...
time.com/7335723/auto...
Reposted by Cara Marta Messina
I'm so unbelievably proud to be part of this committee and able to contribute to this work on responding to GenAI in college writing classrooms.
The CCCC Special Committee on Generative AI in College Composition & Writing Studies is pleased to share two docs that have been in the works since this past summer:
Academic Integrity, Plagiarism, & Generative AI: Guidelines for Postsecondary Writing Teachers docs.google.com/document/d/1...
Academic Integrity, Plagiarism, & Generative AI: Guidelines for Postsecondary Writing Teachers docs.google.com/document/d/1...
December 1, 2025 at 9:00 PM
I'm so unbelievably proud to be part of this committee and able to contribute to this work on responding to GenAI in college writing classrooms.