Elsa Devienne
@elsadevienne.bsky.social
Historian | Made in 🇫🇷 Lives in 🇬🇧 Writes about 🇺🇲 | Envtal Justice, Beaches, Cities, Plastics | 📘 SAND RUSH: THE REVIVAL OF THE BEACH IN 20TH-CENTURY LA 🏖️ | 🚲 +🚶🏻♂️ advocate | Here for work but also random stuff
Pinned
Elsa Devienne
@elsadevienne.bsky.social
· Sep 19
👩 Meet Linda Maraniss
⭐ In 1986, she visited Padre Island National Seashore, in Texas.
🏖️ She expected a beach.
🤢 She found a landfill.
▶️ Listen to ep 2 of our "Early Heroines of Plastic Pollution" series to find out what happened afterwards
tinyurl.com/4xsvnbv3
#InternationalCoastalCleanup
⭐ In 1986, she visited Padre Island National Seashore, in Texas.
🏖️ She expected a beach.
🤢 She found a landfill.
▶️ Listen to ep 2 of our "Early Heroines of Plastic Pollution" series to find out what happened afterwards
tinyurl.com/4xsvnbv3
#InternationalCoastalCleanup
Reposted by Elsa Devienne
"While other universities report that the humanities are shrinking, at Berkeley, the opposite is true. The music major is the fastest-growing major on campus. We are finding bigger classrooms because film is exploding. English is back to the numbers we saw 15 years ago. We are hiring" bit.ly/4ohKuOe
"The humanities really are a resource — a confidence for living in our times.” Dean Sara Guyer on the modern utility of humanities degrees
This interview originally appeared on the Division of Arts
bit.ly
November 23, 2025 at 3:38 PM
"While other universities report that the humanities are shrinking, at Berkeley, the opposite is true. The music major is the fastest-growing major on campus. We are finding bigger classrooms because film is exploding. English is back to the numbers we saw 15 years ago. We are hiring" bit.ly/4ohKuOe
Pétition à signer pour empêcher la diffusion d'idées d'extrême droite en France sous la vitrine soi-disant apolitique de "Nuit du Bien Commun".
Derrière le projet un milliardaire vivant en Belgique qui veut voir le RN gagner du terrain (voir explications sur la page)
www.change.org/p/non-%C3%A0...
Derrière le projet un milliardaire vivant en Belgique qui veut voir le RN gagner du terrain (voir explications sur la page)
www.change.org/p/non-%C3%A0...
Signez la pétition
NON à la Nuit du Bien Commun à Bordeaux
www.change.org
November 24, 2025 at 9:18 AM
Pétition à signer pour empêcher la diffusion d'idées d'extrême droite en France sous la vitrine soi-disant apolitique de "Nuit du Bien Commun".
Derrière le projet un milliardaire vivant en Belgique qui veut voir le RN gagner du terrain (voir explications sur la page)
www.change.org/p/non-%C3%A0...
Derrière le projet un milliardaire vivant en Belgique qui veut voir le RN gagner du terrain (voir explications sur la page)
www.change.org/p/non-%C3%A0...
Maybe when this happens in the global north we'll have an actual carbon emission binding treaty? 🤔
Half a decade ago Indonesia made the decision to move its capital because Jakarta is sinking. Tehran, a city of 10 million, is moving becaust it is running out of water. (And sinking, too.)
'Iran’s capital must be moved because the country “no longer has a choice,” President Masoud Pezeshkian said on Thursday in remarks carried by state media, warning that severe ecological strain has made Tehran impossible to sustain'
#Iran 🇮🇷
#Iran 🇮🇷
November 21, 2025 at 12:08 PM
Maybe when this happens in the global north we'll have an actual carbon emission binding treaty? 🤔
Reposted by Elsa Devienne
To “my students and to anyone who might listen, I say: Don’t surrender to AI your ability to read, write and think when others once risked their lives and died for the freedom to do so.”
www.huffpost.com/entry/histor...
www.huffpost.com/entry/histor...
I Set A Trap To Catch My Students Cheating With AI. The Results Were Shocking.
"Students are not just undermining their ability to learn, but to someday lead."
www.huffpost.com
November 21, 2025 at 12:22 AM
To “my students and to anyone who might listen, I say: Don’t surrender to AI your ability to read, write and think when others once risked their lives and died for the freedom to do so.”
www.huffpost.com/entry/histor...
www.huffpost.com/entry/histor...
Reposted by Elsa Devienne
If you use GMail, AI (Gemini) was turned on yesterday by default and now scans all of your content for machine learning. To turn off, go to Settings>General and scroll down. Uncheck the box for "Smart features."
There's other "Smart" add-ons as well, but that's the one that reads your content.
There's other "Smart" add-ons as well, but that's the one that reads your content.
November 20, 2025 at 5:32 PM
If you use GMail, AI (Gemini) was turned on yesterday by default and now scans all of your content for machine learning. To turn off, go to Settings>General and scroll down. Uncheck the box for "Smart features."
There's other "Smart" add-ons as well, but that's the one that reads your content.
There's other "Smart" add-ons as well, but that's the one that reads your content.
Question for people who've received payments from French unis:
A French university owes me money. How do I get paid as someone who pays taxes in the UK? I used to be able to get paid as a French tax-payer (micro-entrepreneur status) but obv not an option now. Anyone with experience with this?
A French university owes me money. How do I get paid as someone who pays taxes in the UK? I used to be able to get paid as a French tax-payer (micro-entrepreneur status) but obv not an option now. Anyone with experience with this?
November 18, 2025 at 11:49 AM
Question for people who've received payments from French unis:
A French university owes me money. How do I get paid as someone who pays taxes in the UK? I used to be able to get paid as a French tax-payer (micro-entrepreneur status) but obv not an option now. Anyone with experience with this?
A French university owes me money. How do I get paid as someone who pays taxes in the UK? I used to be able to get paid as a French tax-payer (micro-entrepreneur status) but obv not an option now. Anyone with experience with this?
Reposted by Elsa Devienne
Assigned this @envirohistory.bsky.social article for a class on "Critical Histories of the Present." Very good seminar discussion ensued.
Recommending colleagues consider this for syllabi across a range of subjects!
Recommending colleagues consider this for syllabi across a range of subjects!
Here is non-paywalled link to my Environmental History article on plastics. Use it (and if it expires, do email me if you'd like a copy): www.journals.uchicago.edu/eprint/TPZUM...
University of Chicago Press Journals: Cookie absent
www.journals.uchicago.edu
November 18, 2025 at 7:53 AM
Assigned this @envirohistory.bsky.social article for a class on "Critical Histories of the Present." Very good seminar discussion ensued.
Recommending colleagues consider this for syllabi across a range of subjects!
Recommending colleagues consider this for syllabi across a range of subjects!
Reposted by Elsa Devienne
Still feels unreal, but on Tuesday I passed my PhD viva with no corrections 🎉
Can’t thank my supervisors Ben Hickman and Will Norman enough for all their support. Also very grateful to my examiners @drmattwhittle.bsky.social and @davidhering.bsky.social for an enjoyable and thought provoking viva:)
Can’t thank my supervisors Ben Hickman and Will Norman enough for all their support. Also very grateful to my examiners @drmattwhittle.bsky.social and @davidhering.bsky.social for an enjoyable and thought provoking viva:)
November 7, 2025 at 8:20 AM
Still feels unreal, but on Tuesday I passed my PhD viva with no corrections 🎉
Can’t thank my supervisors Ben Hickman and Will Norman enough for all their support. Also very grateful to my examiners @drmattwhittle.bsky.social and @davidhering.bsky.social for an enjoyable and thought provoking viva:)
Can’t thank my supervisors Ben Hickman and Will Norman enough for all their support. Also very grateful to my examiners @drmattwhittle.bsky.social and @davidhering.bsky.social for an enjoyable and thought provoking viva:)
Someone posted recently about a new book or a book about to be published by a historian on Trump. Anyone knows what it could be? it looked really good and every year one of my dissertation students wants to write on Trump, sooo....
November 12, 2025 at 10:13 AM
Someone posted recently about a new book or a book about to be published by a historian on Trump. Anyone knows what it could be? it looked really good and every year one of my dissertation students wants to write on Trump, sooo....
Reposted by Elsa Devienne
Leading medical publication the British Medical Journal recognises SUVs as a danger to public health in a new editorial co-authored by T&E’s James Nix: bit.ly/4hVDlBC
Large SUVs are a danger to pedestrians, cyclists & other drivers.
It's time to take action to reduce their presence in urban areas.
Large SUVs are a danger to pedestrians, cyclists & other drivers.
It's time to take action to reduce their presence in urban areas.
November 12, 2025 at 9:23 AM
Leading medical publication the British Medical Journal recognises SUVs as a danger to public health in a new editorial co-authored by T&E’s James Nix: bit.ly/4hVDlBC
Large SUVs are a danger to pedestrians, cyclists & other drivers.
It's time to take action to reduce their presence in urban areas.
Large SUVs are a danger to pedestrians, cyclists & other drivers.
It's time to take action to reduce their presence in urban areas.
Reposted by Elsa Devienne
How things are going
Northumbria University attempts to move employees to cheaper pension scheme to bring down sky-high contribution rates
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/northumbria-freeze-staff-pay-if-they-refuse-switch-pensions
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/northumbria-freeze-staff-pay-if-they-refuse-switch-pensions
November 10, 2025 at 9:34 AM
How things are going
When your mum is proper old school but there's a cake to bake
November 8, 2025 at 5:18 PM
When your mum is proper old school but there's a cake to bake
Reposted by Elsa Devienne
Appreciate the work we do to get environmental history and humanities into public spaces? Help us continue to do this work by supporting our November fundraising campaign!
fundrazr.com/niche2025?re...
#envhist #envhum #cdnhist #histgeog
fundrazr.com/niche2025?re...
#envhist #envhum #cdnhist #histgeog
Help NiCHE Write the Next Chapter of Environmental History: 2025 Campaign
The Network in Canadian History and Environment is a not-for-profit public history organization dedicated to the dissemination of environmental history research in Canada and building a network of res...
fundrazr.com
November 3, 2025 at 5:09 PM
Appreciate the work we do to get environmental history and humanities into public spaces? Help us continue to do this work by supporting our November fundraising campaign!
fundrazr.com/niche2025?re...
#envhist #envhum #cdnhist #histgeog
fundrazr.com/niche2025?re...
#envhist #envhum #cdnhist #histgeog
Reposted by Elsa Devienne
Bit late to this but it's such a clever piece of AI criticism, developing a literary critique of Sam Altman's auto-metafiction story as a way to explore the grave threats to the "intellectual infrastructure" of the humanities - and HE more broadly - posed by AI lareviewofbooks.org/article/lite...
Literature Is Not a Vibe: On ChatGPT and the Humanities | Los Angeles Review of Books
Rachele Dini discusses OpenAI’s “A Machine-Shaped Hand” and an academic sector in crisis.
lareviewofbooks.org
November 7, 2025 at 10:52 AM
Bit late to this but it's such a clever piece of AI criticism, developing a literary critique of Sam Altman's auto-metafiction story as a way to explore the grave threats to the "intellectual infrastructure" of the humanities - and HE more broadly - posed by AI lareviewofbooks.org/article/lite...
Reposted by Elsa Devienne
Devastated to share the news that was broken to colleagues in Music (and other departments) at the University of Nottingham yesterday. This is obviously a very difficult time for us and our students.
Please contact us on [email protected] if you would like to be involved.
Please contact us on [email protected] if you would like to be involved.
November 6, 2025 at 12:28 PM
Devastated to share the news that was broken to colleagues in Music (and other departments) at the University of Nottingham yesterday. This is obviously a very difficult time for us and our students.
Please contact us on [email protected] if you would like to be involved.
Please contact us on [email protected] if you would like to be involved.
Reposted by Elsa Devienne
One of my unsupported hot takes is that the loneliness crisis is caused in part by people not being bored enough. In most of my classes the students all stare at their phones until class begins. We’ve lost the precious boredom of eventually actually being bored enough to engage with others.
November 5, 2025 at 2:54 PM
One of my unsupported hot takes is that the loneliness crisis is caused in part by people not being bored enough. In most of my classes the students all stare at their phones until class begins. We’ve lost the precious boredom of eventually actually being bored enough to engage with others.
Reposted by Elsa Devienne
This is basically my explanation for everything that is wrong with everything today
Time Is a Bitch: On Cinematic Snore Core
Some recent films that try to bore us for the greater good
doctorwaffle.substack.com
November 5, 2025 at 11:59 PM
This is basically my explanation for everything that is wrong with everything today
Reposted by Elsa Devienne
The #1 lesson from yesterday’s blowout:
Humanities majors killed on the job market
1) Mamdani- Africana Studies
2) Spanberger -French
3) Sherill - Global History
Humanities majors killed on the job market
1) Mamdani- Africana Studies
2) Spanberger -French
3) Sherill - Global History
November 5, 2025 at 3:59 PM
The #1 lesson from yesterday’s blowout:
Humanities majors killed on the job market
1) Mamdani- Africana Studies
2) Spanberger -French
3) Sherill - Global History
Humanities majors killed on the job market
1) Mamdani- Africana Studies
2) Spanberger -French
3) Sherill - Global History
Reposted by Elsa Devienne
Not difficult. Not expensive. Not untried.
Your city's leaders don't even need to lead, just follow good models like this that have worked elsewhere. Sadly, this is too much to ask in many cases.
Your city's leaders don't even need to lead, just follow good models like this that have worked elsewhere. Sadly, this is too much to ask in many cases.
If you’re interested in making streets safer, check this video out. By simply adding modal filters, neighborhoods can eliminate rat-running traffic and make streets more peaceful. These streets can also act as safe thru-ways for people on bikes.
This is LIVE! And everyone needs to see the benefits of Low Traffic Neighborhoods from London! There is so little good documentation and this needs to be spread far & wide! Thanks for giving it a watch.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaRc...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaRc...
November 5, 2025 at 2:12 PM
Not difficult. Not expensive. Not untried.
Your city's leaders don't even need to lead, just follow good models like this that have worked elsewhere. Sadly, this is too much to ask in many cases.
Your city's leaders don't even need to lead, just follow good models like this that have worked elsewhere. Sadly, this is too much to ask in many cases.
Reposted by Elsa Devienne
Today’s #AutumnArrivalSpotlight shines on the Starling!
Forget fireworks...Autumn’s skies come alive with magnificent murmurations: vast, swirling clouds of Starlings dancing at dusk.
One of nature's greatest spectacles. 😍
Forget fireworks...Autumn’s skies come alive with magnificent murmurations: vast, swirling clouds of Starlings dancing at dusk.
One of nature's greatest spectacles. 😍
November 5, 2025 at 7:16 AM
Today’s #AutumnArrivalSpotlight shines on the Starling!
Forget fireworks...Autumn’s skies come alive with magnificent murmurations: vast, swirling clouds of Starlings dancing at dusk.
One of nature's greatest spectacles. 😍
Forget fireworks...Autumn’s skies come alive with magnificent murmurations: vast, swirling clouds of Starlings dancing at dusk.
One of nature's greatest spectacles. 😍
Reposted by Elsa Devienne
15 million Americans are going to lose their health care.
October 31, 2025 at 10:04 PM
15 million Americans are going to lose their health care.
Reposted by Elsa Devienne
Cheating with an LLM is the easiest thing in the world for a student to do, but it creates a massive, laborious headache for a prof, if you intend to take it seriously. There’s meetings, emails, discussions, moral dilemmas. It’s just incredibly burdensome, on top of everything else right now.
I had 9 meetings about students using Chat GPT/LLMs on their papers today.
If you want to know why professors burn out, ask anyone trying to teach critical thinking and writing skills to Freshmen....
If you want to know why professors burn out, ask anyone trying to teach critical thinking and writing skills to Freshmen....
October 28, 2025 at 12:55 PM
Cheating with an LLM is the easiest thing in the world for a student to do, but it creates a massive, laborious headache for a prof, if you intend to take it seriously. There’s meetings, emails, discussions, moral dilemmas. It’s just incredibly burdensome, on top of everything else right now.
Reposted by Elsa Devienne
An LLM-produced essay is tangible proof that a student doesn’t care, and yet responding to it properly requires hour upon hour of careful work. It’s asymmetrical and overwhelming.
October 28, 2025 at 12:57 PM
An LLM-produced essay is tangible proof that a student doesn’t care, and yet responding to it properly requires hour upon hour of careful work. It’s asymmetrical and overwhelming.