Cathy N. Davidson | Lightnews

Cathy Davidson

@cathyndavidson.bsky.social

3.9K followers 3.5K following 1.6K 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

Videos

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%

Posts Replies Media Videos

Pinned

Cathy Davidson @cathyndavidson.bsky.social · Dec 5

Here's the press release of 2025 #McGraw Prize including videos of our careers and our acceptance speeches. It was such an honor to share the evening with the inspiring recipients of K-12 and Lifelong Learning. Thank you, #McGraw and @PennGSE. mcgrawprize.com/news-events/...

Cathy Davidson @cathyndavidson.bsky.social · 15h

Genius example!

Cathy Davidson @cathyndavidson.bsky.social · 15h

I am collecting examples like this as potential classroom exercises so students can explore and find out the limits of AI for themselves. Did you do this ChatGPT prompt? May I reproduce it on a HASTAC blog and give you credit (unlike ChatGPT, I acknowledge what I learn from others!)

Reposted by Richard S.J. Tol, A. E. Dessler, Johan P. Olsen , and 6 more Richard S.J. Tol, A. E. Dessler, Johan P. Olsen, Cathy N. Davidson, R. M. Wilson, Stephen D. Murphy, Anders Sundnes Løvlie, Mauro Gatti, Olivier Jourdan

Marcus Hutchins @malwaretech.com · 19h

It’s so funny to think about the fact that there’s people out there deferring every life decision to this

Cathy Davidson @cathyndavidson.bsky.social · 1d

Agree! Or to make it the default to enroll us into monthly orders (and fees that require cancelling) for products one hasn’t even tried. (Goes for sketchy political fund raising too.)

Reposted by Cathy N. Davidson

Gravel Influencer @gravelinfluencer.bsky.social · 1d

MAHA: Eating a giant steak cooked in butter alongside beef tallow fries and washing it down with coffee spiked with butter

Not MAHA: Clean air, clean water, health insurance, vaccines, disease monitoring, scientific research, food assistance, food safety, bike lanes

Cathy Davidson @cathyndavidson.bsky.social · 1d

Ok, I am taking a break from reading books, articles, and blogs about AI to watch actual, real humans w real consciousness who have really trained (hard) to skate, sled, ski, and do other amazing things that I will never care to watch being done by a robot.

Reposted by Pierre Bataille, Cathy N. Davidson, Devon Greyson , and 10 more Pierre Bataille, Cathy N. Davidson, Devon Greyson, Alan Richardson, Lesley Bartlett, Matthew Kelly, Pauline Stafford, Nicole Guenther Discenza, Michelle Arrow, Nathan P. Kalmoe, Jeannette Sutton, David Darmofal, Búi K. Petersen

Jess Calarco @jessicacalarco.com · 1d

Eliminating gender studies courses helps to ensure that universities and other institutions will continue to protect men who benefit from the abuse of women and girls, either directly or through their connections to those who exploit girls and women for profit.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Gender studies courses are shutting down across the US. The Epstein files reveal why | Joan Wallach Scott

Texas A&M University is the latest school to end women’s and gender studies programs and teaching race. We know why

www.theguardian.com

Cathy Davidson @cathyndavidson.bsky.social · 1d

Thanks for posting this, @anildash.com Full of helpful insights and even some remedies!

Cathy Davidson @cathyndavidson.bsky.social · 1d

Welcome new @hastacscholars.bsky.social --and welcome everyone to the Spring 2026 @hastac.bsky.social Newsletter--info and events and a great vibrant new class of HASTAC Scholars--by students, for students (but, yes, faculty and general public welcome too!)
mailchi.mp/hastac/upcom...

HASTAC Newsletter – Welcoming the Spring 2026 Semester

mailchi.mp

Reposted by Cathy N. Davidson

Anil Dash @anildash.com · 1d

This, from @aredridel.dinhe.net, is excellent. aredridel.dinhe.net/2026/02/12/t...

The AI hater's guide to code with LLMs (The Overview) | All Confirmation Bias, All The Time

aredridel.dinhe.net

Reposted by Steve Peers, Cathy N. Davidson, Manisha Sinha

Chris Murphy @chrismurphyct.bsky.social · 1d

DHS is shutting down. Why? Because Democrats took an oath of office to uphold the Constitution and ICE is lawless and out of control. We cannot fund an agency that is murdering our citizens, tear gassing school zones, and disappearing legal immigrants.

Reposted by Cathy N. Davidson, Nathan P. Kalmoe

Steve Rattner @steverattner.bsky.social · 1d

Trump justifies his brutal immigration tactics by painting illegal immigrants as criminals. But in reality, they commit fewer crimes than native-born Americans.

My @morningjoe-msnow.bsky.social Chart

Cathy Davidson @cathyndavidson.bsky.social · 1d

Not conscious . . . but potentially omnipotent if they allow them access to all our data (including banking, social security, everything) and we end all laws about monopolies and, in fact, allow full collusion of corrupt governments (worldwide) and technology billionaires.

Cathy Davidson @cathyndavidson.bsky.social · 1d

Appalling. Sole funder in the humanities because, uh, the Feds in effect shut down the NEH, slashed museum funding, library funding, arts funding. . . and universities are cutting humanities of all kinds, even the so-called traditional kinds he likes.

Cathy Davidson @cathyndavidson.bsky.social · 1d

I could not agree more. The woo-woo talk is designed to baffle us and to obscure the fact that the Broligarchy is spending millions, maybe billions, worldwide to prevent or undo sane regulation and guardrails. If it half as omnipotent as they say, then we need more not less regulation!

Cathy Davidson @cathyndavidson.bsky.social · 1d

They're all going to Mars--or, I guess, it's now the Moon . . .

Cathy Davidson @cathyndavidson.bsky.social · 1d

Last week I wrote a blog "Artificial Ignorance and Data Sycophancy." I'll add some comments about this New Yorker piece later--it adds to my cynicism about both how the data is cooked/coddled going on, then coddles the user coming out. technology-networks-sciences.hastac.hcommons.org/2026/02/10/a...

“Artificial Ignorance” and Data Sycophancy – Technology, Networks, and Sciences

technology-networks-sciences.hastac.hcommons.org

Cathy Davidson @cathyndavidson.bsky.social · 1d

I have many problems with this article but I liked it a lot for being one of the first major places that actually tells us the "actual" preprogramming in the "black box" and underscoring the extreme level of security designed to keep us from knowing what is pre-programmed. I'm more alarmed than ever

Cathy Davidson @cathyndavidson.bsky.social · 1d

"The hype being true" is a categorically false statement. I use AI wisely and well all the time, and I try to teach others to do so, but the hype is . . . hype. I's either false ("AI will be smarter than all humanity combined by 2030") or, if true, then terrifying without guardrails, regulation.

Reposted by Cathy N. Davidson, Ann Bartow, Michael Larkin

Mekka Okereke @mekka.mekka-tech.com · 1d

"Racist people are firing and laying off Black women at three times the rate of other women."

😬Yikes! It sounds bad when you say it like that!

"Black women are losing jobs at 3 times the rate."

Much better! Makes it sound like the Black women just need to be more careful or better at their jobs!

Black Women Are Losing Jobs At Three Times The Rate Of Other Women | Essence

New labor data shows Black women accounted for a disproportionate share of job losses across 2025, especially in federal, education, and care-sector roles.

www.essence.com

Reposted by Cathy N. Davidson

Lisa Laporte @lisalaporte.bsky.social · 2d

Amazon invests $61 billion in Anthropic as @leolaporte.me, @jeffjarvis.bsky.social, & @paris.nyc debate AI breakthroughs on Intelligent Machines, covering Google doubling capex to outspend Big Tech and AI agents violating ethics 30–50% of time! twit.tv/shows/intelligent-machines/episodes/857

Intelligent Machines: Taskrabbit Arbitrage | TWiT.TV

Leo Laporte and Paris Martineau go head-to-head over whether today’s AI breakthroughs are truly unprecedented or history repeating itself. Hear what happens when the show’s

twit.tv

Erica Chenoweth @chenoweth.bsky.social · 2d

The volume & geographic distribution of protest nationwide during year 1 of Trump's second term was extraordinary.

Map showing tens of thousands of protests across the US between Trump's inauguration last year and January 31, 2026.

Cathy Davidson @cathyndavidson.bsky.social · 2d

Several of the ones elected to office this year. Only a few in Congress.

Reposted by Cathy N. Davidson, Alan Richardson

17,273 words now (not including footnotes)! @legalminimum.bsky.social · 2d

Impossible to have predicted this outcome.

US businesses and consumers pay 90% of tariff costs, New York Fed says

Central bank’s research undercuts Trump’s claims that foreign companies will pay for levies

www.ft.com

Cathy Davidson @cathyndavidson.bsky.social · 2d

Yep that's their agenda. Erasure.

Reposted by Cathy N. Davidson

Mamaroneck Indivisible @mkindivisible.bsky.social · 2d

Organize and show up at council meetings to speak out against it! indivisible.org/get-involved...

Find a Group | Indivisible

indivisible.org

Reposted by Cathy N. Davidson

CUNY Graduate Center @thegraduatecenter.bsky.social · 2d

Just in time for Valentine’s Day, four Graduate Center couples reflect on how they found and deepened their love through their Ph.D. journeys www.gc.cuny.edu/news/graduat... @saraskin.bsky.social

Pictures of four couples in heart shapes

Cathy Davidson @cathyndavidson.bsky.social · 2d

#SeaScrolling #Breathe

Reposted by Cathy N. Davidson

Lake Superior! Live! @lake-superior.live · 2d

Current* conditions near Duluth, MN:

View looking NE from Lake Superior Maritime Visitor Center overlooking the Duluth Entry, the Duluth North Pier Lighthouse and Lake Superior beyond. // Image captured at: 2026-02-12 13:48:12 UTC (about 1 min. prior to this post) // Image sourced from: youtube.com/@DuluthHarborCam1 // Current Temp in Duluth: 13.52 F | -10.27 C // Precip: overcast clouds // Wind: SSW at 3.444 mph | 5.54 kph // Humidity: 92%

Reposted by Patrick Dunleavy, Cathy N. Davidson, Nicholas Birns , and 11 more Patrick Dunleavy, Cathy N. Davidson, Nicholas Birns, David S. Cohen, Patricia Owens, Karen Benjamin Guzzo, Jacob T. Levy, Michael D. McDonald, Joanna L. Grossman, Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò, Susan D. Amussen, Nathan P. Kalmoe, Dana Howard, Kristina McElheran

Melissa Gira Grant @melissagiragrant.com · 2d

Fuentes, yesterday: “Our #1 political enemy is women because women constrain everything, every conversation, every man, everything. They have to be imprisoned. They are the ones that are hurting the fertility rate. They're the ones making us sympathetic to poor people, which are also brown people.”

Nick Fuentes: “The number one political enemy in America is women. … They have to be imprisoned.”

Add to Home Screen

Light up
your news

Add to Home Screen

Light upyour news

Sign in to Lightnews

Sign up to start reading

Connect Bluesky

Connect with Bluesky

Light up
your news