Cedar Riener
@criener.bsky.social
College professor, cognitive psychologist, textbook author. Also interested in science writing, social justice, politics and anti-racism. Proud member of AAUP & AFT Local 6741. Personal account. Views are my own and do not represent RMC, AAAS or SCHEV
Reposted by Cedar Riener
what follows immediately after the birthright clause? the privileges and immunities and due process clauses? and what follows them? the equal protection clause. all of this is explicitly to say, "the declaration is the constitutional law of the land"
December 6, 2025 at 6:03 PM
what follows immediately after the birthright clause? the privileges and immunities and due process clauses? and what follows them? the equal protection clause. all of this is explicitly to say, "the declaration is the constitutional law of the land"
Reposted by Cedar Riener
the birthright clause was not just written to wipe dred scott off of the books, it was written to repudiate the *idea* behind dred scott, you might say the larger *ideological project* of dred scott. and the whole of section 1 of the 14th amendment is a constitutional statement of political equality
December 6, 2025 at 6:03 PM
the birthright clause was not just written to wipe dred scott off of the books, it was written to repudiate the *idea* behind dred scott, you might say the larger *ideological project* of dred scott. and the whole of section 1 of the 14th amendment is a constitutional statement of political equality
Reposted by Cedar Riener
These are really good doughnuts but I need them to calm down
December 5, 2025 at 11:36 PM
These are really good doughnuts but I need them to calm down
Reposted by Cedar Riener
The non-bolded part of this quote is overstated (and a bit offensive, honestly). But the bolded part is right.
Relatedly, I hope to see a bunch of friends at the Washtenaw County Democratic Party meeting this morning!
Relatedly, I hope to see a bunch of friends at the Washtenaw County Democratic Party meeting this morning!
from a state party director
December 6, 2025 at 1:51 PM
The non-bolded part of this quote is overstated (and a bit offensive, honestly). But the bolded part is right.
Relatedly, I hope to see a bunch of friends at the Washtenaw County Democratic Party meeting this morning!
Relatedly, I hope to see a bunch of friends at the Washtenaw County Democratic Party meeting this morning!
Reposted by Cedar Riener
In brain scans of around 1,400 people, the cognitive scientist Ev Fedorenko has identified a sort of digestive system for language. Fedorenko spoke with Quanta about the system’s workings and how they might be compared to an LLM or the digestive system. www.quantamagazine.org/the-polyglot...
The Polyglot Neuroscientist Resolving How the Brain Parses Language | Quanta Magazine
Is language core to thought, or a separate process? For 15 years, the neuroscientist Ev Fedorenko has gathered evidence of a language network in the human brain — and has found some similarities to LL...
www.quantamagazine.org
December 5, 2025 at 2:33 PM
In brain scans of around 1,400 people, the cognitive scientist Ev Fedorenko has identified a sort of digestive system for language. Fedorenko spoke with Quanta about the system’s workings and how they might be compared to an LLM or the digestive system. www.quantamagazine.org/the-polyglot...
Reposted by Cedar Riener
The idea that they want only legal immigration was a lie from the start.
Routine naturalization ceremonies scheduled for this month in Putnam, Dutchess and Ulster counties to welcome new U.S. citizens were abruptly canceled last week by the federal government, surprising local officials. buff.ly/8emFeDU
Citizen Ceremonies Canceled
Dutchess, Putnam clerks say they have new dates for next year
buff.ly
December 6, 2025 at 1:35 PM
The idea that they want only legal immigration was a lie from the start.
Reposted by Cedar Riener
Yes, I didn't know that women made up 65% of The Black Panther Party.
"Comrade sisters" ran community schools, free medical clinics, voter registration sites , community nutrition programs, and elder care centers across the country.
The photos are from north, south, east & west coast, mid-west.
"Comrade sisters" ran community schools, free medical clinics, voter registration sites , community nutrition programs, and elder care centers across the country.
The photos are from north, south, east & west coast, mid-west.
January 27, 2024 at 3:28 PM
Yes, I didn't know that women made up 65% of The Black Panther Party.
"Comrade sisters" ran community schools, free medical clinics, voter registration sites , community nutrition programs, and elder care centers across the country.
The photos are from north, south, east & west coast, mid-west.
"Comrade sisters" ran community schools, free medical clinics, voter registration sites , community nutrition programs, and elder care centers across the country.
The photos are from north, south, east & west coast, mid-west.
Reposted by Cedar Riener
Berkeley, California: Sons and
daughters of members of the
Black Panther Party march in
front of the office, 1971
Photo by Stephen Shames.
Between 1967 and 1973, Shames, then a young white man from Cambridge, MA, was asked by Bobby Seales to be official photographer of the Black Panther Party.
daughters of members of the
Black Panther Party march in
front of the office, 1971
Photo by Stephen Shames.
Between 1967 and 1973, Shames, then a young white man from Cambridge, MA, was asked by Bobby Seales to be official photographer of the Black Panther Party.
January 27, 2024 at 2:35 PM
Berkeley, California: Sons and
daughters of members of the
Black Panther Party march in
front of the office, 1971
Photo by Stephen Shames.
Between 1967 and 1973, Shames, then a young white man from Cambridge, MA, was asked by Bobby Seales to be official photographer of the Black Panther Party.
daughters of members of the
Black Panther Party march in
front of the office, 1971
Photo by Stephen Shames.
Between 1967 and 1973, Shames, then a young white man from Cambridge, MA, was asked by Bobby Seales to be official photographer of the Black Panther Party.
Reposted by Cedar Riener
It's the 160th anniversary of the United States' refounding, the ratification of the 13th Amendment.
December 6, 2025 at 12:38 PM
It's the 160th anniversary of the United States' refounding, the ratification of the 13th Amendment.
Reposted by Cedar Riener
wtf is a FIFA peace prize? that's like being an NFL laureate in physics
December 5, 2025 at 7:21 PM
wtf is a FIFA peace prize? that's like being an NFL laureate in physics
Reposted by Cedar Riener
worth saying that some portion of the freed slaves were themselves illegal aliens having been brought illegally into the united states by smugglers. if the birthright clause applies to them, it applies to undocumented immigrants
Here is the question presented. It's a relatively clean vehicle for the Supreme Court to finally decide whether it is lawful for the president to deny birthright citizenship to the children of immigrants. www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/25...
December 5, 2025 at 7:03 PM
worth saying that some portion of the freed slaves were themselves illegal aliens having been brought illegally into the united states by smugglers. if the birthright clause applies to them, it applies to undocumented immigrants
Reposted by Cedar Riener
We need better ways of capturing the reality of research funding - Colin’s thread shows one desperate situation where a thriving lab has been strangled, but won’t show up in counts of officially terminated projects
We started building Verena in 2019. Three years into being an NSF Center, we are/were a preposterously productive research team; the open science organization for pandemic prevention; a training hub that was creating new paths into the field; and a community that means a lot to all of us. /2
December 5, 2025 at 3:39 PM
We need better ways of capturing the reality of research funding - Colin’s thread shows one desperate situation where a thriving lab has been strangled, but won’t show up in counts of officially terminated projects
Reposted by Cedar Riener
I wish I could say "the work, at least, will continue" with a straight face. But the people driving this project are (mostly early-career) researchers who U.S. face funding shortages across the board. In-progress work will be lost on fundamental bio, climate change, and pandemic risk assessment /4
December 5, 2025 at 3:10 PM
I wish I could say "the work, at least, will continue" with a straight face. But the people driving this project are (mostly early-career) researchers who U.S. face funding shortages across the board. In-progress work will be lost on fundamental bio, climate change, and pandemic risk assessment /4
Reposted by Cedar Riener
I'm devastated by what the field has lost in terms of pandemic prevention research and infrastructure, but even more for the (to date, 60+) PhD students and postdocs on the project, many of whom face an immediate funding cliff at the end of the year. NSF had the funds for them and just didn't pay /3
December 5, 2025 at 2:57 PM
I'm devastated by what the field has lost in terms of pandemic prevention research and infrastructure, but even more for the (to date, 60+) PhD students and postdocs on the project, many of whom face an immediate funding cliff at the end of the year. NSF had the funds for them and just didn't pay /3
Reposted by Cedar Riener
We started building Verena in 2019. Three years into being an NSF Center, we are/were a preposterously productive research team; the open science organization for pandemic prevention; a training hub that was creating new paths into the field; and a community that means a lot to all of us. /2
December 5, 2025 at 2:40 PM
We started building Verena in 2019. Three years into being an NSF Center, we are/were a preposterously productive research team; the open science organization for pandemic prevention; a training hub that was creating new paths into the field; and a community that means a lot to all of us. /2
Reposted by Cedar Riener
I think it’s ok to admit that the Nazis borrowed from US white supremacy and current US white supremacy is borrowing from their innovations and previous US white supremacy
Both can be true at once
Both can be true at once
December 5, 2025 at 2:41 PM
I think it’s ok to admit that the Nazis borrowed from US white supremacy and current US white supremacy is borrowing from their innovations and previous US white supremacy
Both can be true at once
Both can be true at once
Reposted by Cedar Riener
I think one of the reasons the Nazi takeover of Germany is a helpful parallel for what’s happening in academia specifically is that unlike the Jim Crow US where integration hadn’t happened (not even during reconstruction), Jews were integrated into the German academy and had to be forced out
Also
Also
December 5, 2025 at 2:39 PM
I think one of the reasons the Nazi takeover of Germany is a helpful parallel for what’s happening in academia specifically is that unlike the Jim Crow US where integration hadn’t happened (not even during reconstruction), Jews were integrated into the German academy and had to be forced out
Also
Also
Reposted by Cedar Riener
Higher ed institutions are filled with faculty with diverse perspectives on generative AI, from excited, to cautious, to hard no. There are many reasons people are cautious or opposed, like environmental, socio-political, cognitive, and IP impacts. +
December 5, 2025 at 3:29 PM
Higher ed institutions are filled with faculty with diverse perspectives on generative AI, from excited, to cautious, to hard no. There are many reasons people are cautious or opposed, like environmental, socio-political, cognitive, and IP impacts. +
Reposted by Cedar Riener
Please know, there are people on the "AI Leadership Group," including me, whose research relates to harms of generative AI, AI literacy in the sense of negative impacts & critical media studies. We spend tremendous amounts of time pushing back and advocating for faculty & students who are concerned.
Some people saying they’d now never send a kid to Dartmouth. I’m dismayed by the local news, but AI in higher ed is horrifically pervasive. It’s a universal problem demanding broad action, not one that can be solved via careless brand curation.
My employer, Dartmouth College, today boasts it's 1st Ivy "to launch AI at an institutional scale." It is doing this by partnering--"more than a collaboration"--with Anthropic, a company that stole the books of many faculty, me included, which many of us are suing.
December 5, 2025 at 3:26 PM
Please know, there are people on the "AI Leadership Group," including me, whose research relates to harms of generative AI, AI literacy in the sense of negative impacts & critical media studies. We spend tremendous amounts of time pushing back and advocating for faculty & students who are concerned.
Reposted by Cedar Riener
Reposted by Cedar Riener
You may have heard that Trump’s extortion of University of California was defeated in court. But do you know who won this historic case? Spoiler: not a single UC administrator participated. It was all faculty members of the UC Faculty Associations and @aaup.org! Cc: @veenadubal.bsky.social
Behind the Scenes: How UC Faculty Beat Back Trump's Attacks
YouTube video by UC Faculty
youtu.be
December 5, 2025 at 7:15 AM
You may have heard that Trump’s extortion of University of California was defeated in court. But do you know who won this historic case? Spoiler: not a single UC administrator participated. It was all faculty members of the UC Faculty Associations and @aaup.org! Cc: @veenadubal.bsky.social
Reposted by Cedar Riener
My employer, Dartmouth College, today boasts it's 1st Ivy "to launch AI at an institutional scale." It is doing this by partnering--"more than a collaboration"--with Anthropic, a company that stole the books of many faculty, me included, which many of us are suing.
December 4, 2025 at 9:38 PM
My employer, Dartmouth College, today boasts it's 1st Ivy "to launch AI at an institutional scale." It is doing this by partnering--"more than a collaboration"--with Anthropic, a company that stole the books of many faculty, me included, which many of us are suing.
Reposted by Cedar Riener
It's not hypocrisy, it's power.
December 4, 2025 at 11:59 PM
It's not hypocrisy, it's power.
Reposted by Cedar Riener
“the Comet Ping Pong attack was nine years ago today—weeks after Trump’s 2016 win—and inspired by a conspiracy theory promoted by Jack Posobiec, who was recently invited to the White House, demands antifa be designated a terrorist group, and asked questions as “press” at the Pentagon this week”
something I wrote on in 2017 on how everything was becoming Pizzagate, after its promoters first appeared at the White House, leading up to Unite the Right and the murder of Heather Heyer thebaffler.com/latest/the-p...
December 4, 2025 at 1:39 PM
“the Comet Ping Pong attack was nine years ago today—weeks after Trump’s 2016 win—and inspired by a conspiracy theory promoted by Jack Posobiec, who was recently invited to the White House, demands antifa be designated a terrorist group, and asked questions as “press” at the Pentagon this week”
Reposted by Cedar Riener
With rising attacks on university teachers, have you checked out the toolkit the Joint Academic Freedom Committee created for members facing challenges to academic freedom on campus, in the classroom, and beyond?
Read and share with your colleagues: https://rutgersaaup.org/academic-freedom-toolkit/
Read and share with your colleagues: https://rutgersaaup.org/academic-freedom-toolkit/
December 4, 2025 at 2:35 PM
With rising attacks on university teachers, have you checked out the toolkit the Joint Academic Freedom Committee created for members facing challenges to academic freedom on campus, in the classroom, and beyond?
Read and share with your colleagues: https://rutgersaaup.org/academic-freedom-toolkit/
Read and share with your colleagues: https://rutgersaaup.org/academic-freedom-toolkit/