Christopher Nygren
@cnygren.bsky.social
Art historian of the early modern world. Lover of wine and cats.
If you are attending @historians.org #aha2026 please join us at 330 this afternoon when we discuss our project, “Transforming Humanities Education in a Time of Gun Violence.” We discuss various approaches to tracing the long history of guns, gun control, and legislation.
January 9, 2026 at 4:59 PM
If you are attending @historians.org #aha2026 please join us at 330 this afternoon when we discuss our project, “Transforming Humanities Education in a Time of Gun Violence.” We discuss various approaches to tracing the long history of guns, gun control, and legislation.
Really not sure what to make of this as a prediction for 2026…
January 1, 2026 at 6:08 PM
Really not sure what to make of this as a prediction for 2026…
For any early modernists who are upset by the Compact piece, this is a great thread. And the point about Celenza’s “Lost Renaissance” is spot on. Some people saw changes to the field coming a mile away. Others got bitter
The politics here are reprehensible but also really sad. He was a great scholar once. He had philological skills that no one has anymore. There are very few people who could produce that kind of work today. And to some extent, that's what this is about. He's mad that our field lost its former status
The reason this Harvard history professor decided he was done with one of the best and most privileged jobs in the world was, in his own words, because he was forced to lecture in a mask during peak Covid.
I’m not making this up.
I’m not making this up.
December 31, 2025 at 4:25 PM
For any early modernists who are upset by the Compact piece, this is a great thread. And the point about Celenza’s “Lost Renaissance” is spot on. Some people saw changes to the field coming a mile away. Others got bitter
What we see in the last paragraph is striking wrt some discourse on here in the last few days re: AI. 10 children _claimed_ to have been killed by COVID vaccine, and now the whole of Gov is moving to pull the hand break.
Democratic erosion, but for public health. People will die.
December 30, 2025 at 2:56 PM
What we see in the last paragraph is striking wrt some discourse on here in the last few days re: AI. 10 children _claimed_ to have been killed by COVID vaccine, and now the whole of Gov is moving to pull the hand break.
Take a few to read this. it is fire. “The humanities are not in crisis. The humanities are in the vanguard. The project of public education, perhaps the closest thing there is to a lasting success authored amid the broader failure of Reconstruction, is in danger.”
Happy to see this, written with the excellent @mattseybold.bsky.social , out in the world. Solidarity to everyone fighting for education and civil society!
www.chronicle.com/article/the-...
www.chronicle.com/article/the-...
The ‘Crisis of the Humanities’ Is Over. That’s Not a Good Thing.
All of higher ed now suffers the attacks of politics and technology.
www.chronicle.com
December 29, 2025 at 4:08 PM
Take a few to read this. it is fire. “The humanities are not in crisis. The humanities are in the vanguard. The project of public education, perhaps the closest thing there is to a lasting success authored amid the broader failure of Reconstruction, is in danger.”
Reposted by Christopher Nygren
Closing out my year with a journal editor shocker 🧵
Checking new manuscripts today I reviewed a paper attributing 2 papers to me I did not write. A daft thing for an author to do of course. But intrigued I web searched up one of the titles and that's when it got real weird...
Checking new manuscripts today I reviewed a paper attributing 2 papers to me I did not write. A daft thing for an author to do of course. But intrigued I web searched up one of the titles and that's when it got real weird...
December 19, 2025 at 5:20 PM
Closing out my year with a journal editor shocker 🧵
Checking new manuscripts today I reviewed a paper attributing 2 papers to me I did not write. A daft thing for an author to do of course. But intrigued I web searched up one of the titles and that's when it got real weird...
Checking new manuscripts today I reviewed a paper attributing 2 papers to me I did not write. A daft thing for an author to do of course. But intrigued I web searched up one of the titles and that's when it got real weird...
I’m very pleased to announce the latest from me and the inimitable @sonjadrimmer.bsky.social. In it, we lay out vision for why and how faculty and students should be resisting the AI in education. Please share.
"We envision a resistance that is...a repudiation of the efficiencies that automated algorithmic education falsely promises: a resistance comprising the collective force of small acts of friction."
"How to Resist AI in Education" by me & @cnygren.bsky.social
www.publicbooks.org/four-frictio...
"How to Resist AI in Education" by me & @cnygren.bsky.social
www.publicbooks.org/four-frictio...
Four Frictions: or, How to Resist AI in Education - Public Books
We are calling for resistance to the AI industry’s ongoing capture of higher education.
www.publicbooks.org
December 16, 2025 at 7:49 PM
I’m very pleased to announce the latest from me and the inimitable @sonjadrimmer.bsky.social. In it, we lay out vision for why and how faculty and students should be resisting the AI in education. Please share.
Reposted by Christopher Nygren
My department is hiring a tenure track assistant professor in in the visual arts, architecture, and/or material culture of the Islamic world. Please circulate!
careers.umass.edu/amherst/en-u...
careers.umass.edu/amherst/en-u...
Details - Assistant Professor - History of Art & Architecture | Human Resources | UMass Amherst
careers.umass.edu
November 19, 2025 at 1:19 AM
My department is hiring a tenure track assistant professor in in the visual arts, architecture, and/or material culture of the Islamic world. Please circulate!
careers.umass.edu/amherst/en-u...
careers.umass.edu/amherst/en-u...
Reposted by Christopher Nygren
Six people died from tampered Tylenol and the company pulled 30 million bottles off the market. ChatGPT is accused of urging seven people towards suicide, and OpenAI just assures us they’re still working out the kinks. Billions in investment, zero accountability.
OpenAI faces 7 lawsuits claiming ChatGPT drove people to suicide, delusions
OpenAI is facing seven lawsuits claiming ChatGPT drove people to suicide and harmful delusions even when they had no prior mental health issues.
apnews.com
November 8, 2025 at 2:46 PM
Six people died from tampered Tylenol and the company pulled 30 million bottles off the market. ChatGPT is accused of urging seven people towards suicide, and OpenAI just assures us they’re still working out the kinks. Billions in investment, zero accountability.
More exciting news coming out of Pittsburgh! My department is searching for a Teaching Assistant Professor of Architectural Studies. This is a permanent position in the Appointment Stream (i.e. non-tenure-track). networks.h-net.org/jobs/69451/u...
University of Pittsburgh - Teaching Assistant Professor in Architectural Studies | H-Net
networks.h-net.org
November 8, 2025 at 3:35 PM
More exciting news coming out of Pittsburgh! My department is searching for a Teaching Assistant Professor of Architectural Studies. This is a permanent position in the Appointment Stream (i.e. non-tenure-track). networks.h-net.org/jobs/69451/u...
🚨🚨🚨 Major announcement!!!
I am extremely pleased to announce that HAA is searching for a senior, endowed position in premodern art or architecture. The subfield is wide open. Please spread the word and encourage curious scholars to write to me with questions! 🚨🚨🚨
cfopitt.taleo.net/careersectio...
I am extremely pleased to announce that HAA is searching for a senior, endowed position in premodern art or architecture. The subfield is wide open. Please spread the word and encourage curious scholars to write to me with questions! 🚨🚨🚨
cfopitt.taleo.net/careersectio...
William S. Dietrich II Professor of Premodern Arts and/or Architecture
Click the link provided to see the complete job description.
cfopitt.taleo.net
October 30, 2025 at 9:30 PM
🚨🚨🚨 Major announcement!!!
I am extremely pleased to announce that HAA is searching for a senior, endowed position in premodern art or architecture. The subfield is wide open. Please spread the word and encourage curious scholars to write to me with questions! 🚨🚨🚨
cfopitt.taleo.net/careersectio...
I am extremely pleased to announce that HAA is searching for a senior, endowed position in premodern art or architecture. The subfield is wide open. Please spread the word and encourage curious scholars to write to me with questions! 🚨🚨🚨
cfopitt.taleo.net/careersectio...
If Chotiner calls, you’re not obliged to pick up the phone. My god… This man just continues to destroy people. By…. By simply asking follow up questions. Others could really take note.
October 28, 2025 at 4:20 AM
If Chotiner calls, you’re not obliged to pick up the phone. My god… This man just continues to destroy people. By…. By simply asking follow up questions. Others could really take note.
This is worth a read. As he says, this shouldn’t be on us. Companies do have agency, and that also implies culpability
Here’s where it gets personal for me. When I was 9, I started experiencing suicidal ideation … disinterested in living, and at least some of the time contemplating death and how it might happen … It’s easy to imagine how I would have used programs like these chatbots.
Perry: How can AI be used ethically when it’s been linked to suicide?
"It’s not on us, on you and me, to use AI ethically or responsibly. It’s on the companies to build safe, reliable, ethical products," David M. Perry writes.
www.startribune.com
October 26, 2025 at 5:50 PM
This is worth a read. As he says, this shouldn’t be on us. Companies do have agency, and that also implies culpability
Students never asked for this and done like it
go, student newspaper of Notre Dame and Saint Mary
"employ in-class essays, oral exams+ rigorous discussions — that are far more difficult to use AI tools to complete. a close reading of the text should constitute the bulk in any introductory humanities class."
www.ndsmcobserver.com/article/2025...
"employ in-class essays, oral exams+ rigorous discussions — that are far more difficult to use AI tools to complete. a close reading of the text should constitute the bulk in any introductory humanities class."
www.ndsmcobserver.com/article/2025...
Editorial: AI-proof the Core Curriculum
The Core Curriculum is an essential part of a Catholic education that must be saved from AI.
www.ndsmcobserver.com
October 19, 2025 at 4:30 PM
Students never asked for this and done like it
I mean…
"The US economy is "three AI data centers in a trench coat"
--Rusty Foster
--Rusty Foster
October 16, 2025 at 11:37 PM
I mean…
Attention early modernists! Now is a great moment for you to get a copy of Titian’s Icons. 60% discount on @psupress.bsky.social using code WHS25. It’s a beautiful book, and it won a major award, so it is worth having a copy on your shelf!
www.psupress.org/two_week_sal...
www.psupress.org/two_week_sal...
August 26, 2025 at 5:36 PM
Attention early modernists! Now is a great moment for you to get a copy of Titian’s Icons. 60% discount on @psupress.bsky.social using code WHS25. It’s a beautiful book, and it won a major award, so it is worth having a copy on your shelf!
www.psupress.org/two_week_sal...
www.psupress.org/two_week_sal...
Good luck to all those starting the academic year today. This is going to be a tough year for Higher Ed. I will try to remember why I got into this: to help students realize that art shows us how many different ways humanity has manifest itself across time. The future is not yet written.
August 25, 2025 at 12:09 PM
Good luck to all those starting the academic year today. This is going to be a tough year for Higher Ed. I will try to remember why I got into this: to help students realize that art shows us how many different ways humanity has manifest itself across time. The future is not yet written.
I do not know of a single public university president or chancellor who has even _tried_ making this point to the student body and their parents. It is such a pathetic abdication of leadership
Here is UW - Madison's budget. Our <largest> funder is the federal government. 25%. It used to be the state. Either way, the university in its current form ceases to exist if these federal cuts really happen. But The. Public. Doesn't. Know. This. And our leaders are absent from the public debate.
August 14, 2025 at 2:09 AM
I do not know of a single public university president or chancellor who has even _tried_ making this point to the student body and their parents. It is such a pathetic abdication of leadership
I am giong to sound snooty, but if you can outsource your wine list to ChatGPT, you should not be running a place with a wine list.... and other stories from our dystopian present all wrapped up in one little article
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
21 Ways People Are Using A.I. at Work
Yes, it still makes plenty of mistakes, but it has become part of the job for many.
www.nytimes.com
August 11, 2025 at 9:16 PM
I am giong to sound snooty, but if you can outsource your wine list to ChatGPT, you should not be running a place with a wine list.... and other stories from our dystopian present all wrapped up in one little article
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Art Historians still live in the wake of Obama's derisive comment from 2014. Study after study shows that the humanities provide skills that are evergreen - the ability to critically assess sources and data far exceed the "skills' of any moment (see prompt engineering).
harpers.org/harpers-index
harpers.org/harpers-index
August 8, 2025 at 9:22 PM
Art Historians still live in the wake of Obama's derisive comment from 2014. Study after study shows that the humanities provide skills that are evergreen - the ability to critically assess sources and data far exceed the "skills' of any moment (see prompt engineering).
harpers.org/harpers-index
harpers.org/harpers-index
Reposted by Christopher Nygren
Oh please.
COLBERT: You warned everyone…he would prosecute political enemies, cut Medicaid, alienate our allies, give tax cuts to the rich. I know you're not here to say 'I told you so' but would you like to?
HARRIS: You're correct. I did predict a lot of that. But what I did not predict was the capitulation.
HARRIS: You're correct. I did predict a lot of that. But what I did not predict was the capitulation.
August 2, 2025 at 6:43 AM
Oh please.
Reposted by Christopher Nygren
“American Academy of Arts&Sciences reports 96.3% of humanities grads age 23-32 fully employed. Earnings in humanitiess comparable to social/life sciences, job satisfaction levels too. A serious mismatch bw actual employment for hum grads +general perception."
www.mellon.org/voices/human...
www.mellon.org/voices/human...
Mellon Foundation
The Mellon Foundation makes grants to actively unlock the power in the arts and humanities that helps connect us all.
www.mellon.org
August 1, 2025 at 3:20 PM
“American Academy of Arts&Sciences reports 96.3% of humanities grads age 23-32 fully employed. Earnings in humanitiess comparable to social/life sciences, job satisfaction levels too. A serious mismatch bw actual employment for hum grads +general perception."
www.mellon.org/voices/human...
www.mellon.org/voices/human...
One year ago today, we had to say goodbye to Zenzero, King of Cats and Loaf of Loafs.
Yesterday, we welcomed into our home Slinky. Like his name, he is long and squirmy. Z shall never be replaced, but I look forward to smothering this guy with love (the "cone of shame" will be off soon!)
Yesterday, we welcomed into our home Slinky. Like his name, he is long and squirmy. Z shall never be replaced, but I look forward to smothering this guy with love (the "cone of shame" will be off soon!)
August 1, 2025 at 2:18 PM
One year ago today, we had to say goodbye to Zenzero, King of Cats and Loaf of Loafs.
Yesterday, we welcomed into our home Slinky. Like his name, he is long and squirmy. Z shall never be replaced, but I look forward to smothering this guy with love (the "cone of shame" will be off soon!)
Yesterday, we welcomed into our home Slinky. Like his name, he is long and squirmy. Z shall never be replaced, but I look forward to smothering this guy with love (the "cone of shame" will be off soon!)
Very pleased to announce that my forthcoming book, Sedimentary Aesthetics: Painting on Stone and the Ecology of Early Modern Art, has been awarded a Millard Meiss Publication subvention. Get it from @yalepress.bsky.social in spring 2026!
www.collegeart.org/news/2025/07...
www.collegeart.org/news/2025/07...
July 31, 2025 at 5:27 PM
Very pleased to announce that my forthcoming book, Sedimentary Aesthetics: Painting on Stone and the Ecology of Early Modern Art, has been awarded a Millard Meiss Publication subvention. Get it from @yalepress.bsky.social in spring 2026!
www.collegeart.org/news/2025/07...
www.collegeart.org/news/2025/07...