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Emmanuel Valax

@evalax.bsky.social

3.9K followers 660 following 82 posts

PhD researcher focusing on hydropolitics 💧 unpacking expert discourses, colonialities, and agency in West African water governance 🌍 while grappling with ethics, positionality, and reflexivity quandaries 💭 (views mine) he/him 🏳️‍🌈

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Emmanuel Valax @evalax.bsky.social · 1d

A thoughtful thread that really resonates with me — especially as I'm being compelled to incorporate and encourage the use of AI entities in a graduate course this semester.

Ted McCormick @tedmccormick.bsky.social · 2d

A striking thing about articles I’ve read claiming to “study the effects” of generative AI on student writing skills and consumption of information is that (1) they nearly always find the effects are negative and (2) most “conclusions” are still written assuming that we must use AI, for some reason.

Emmanuel Valax @evalax.bsky.social · 1d

Didn't she also spend much of the past two decades lobbying both parties in Washington for harsher sanctions and trying to build support for U.S. military intervention in her own country? Oh well, at least they didn’t give it to the other guy.

The Guardian @theguardian.com · 1d

Venezuelan politician María Corina Machado wins Nobel peace prize

Venezuelan politician María Corina Machado wins Nobel peace prize

Leader of country’s opposition receives award after intense public and private campaign by Donald Trump

www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Emmanuel Valax

folukeifejola @folukeifejola.bsky.social · 17d

We must accept that there are certain people and ideas that we cannot be in conversation with if our goal is human dignity, freedom, and flourishing futures.

Emmanuel Valax @evalax.bsky.social · 16d

Many of the supposed stewards of these institutions seem ready to capitulate and invite the demise of independent, critical thinking in knowledge transmission. Without any opposition, there is little doubt that universities and colleges will be hollowed out. 5/5

Emmanuel Valax @evalax.bsky.social · 16d

Preposterous deals like “OpenAI Education” (RIP Oxford) aren’t really about supporting students — they’re Trojan horses designed to erode higher learning institutions. You really think these corporate titans won’t roll out their own “learning platforms” to replace us? 4/5

Emmanuel Valax @evalax.bsky.social · 16d

The speed at which pro-AI discourse is gaining dominance is staggering. I’m willing to bet the same folks buying into the AI hype today will be sorry tomorrow when their own governments move to further slash budgets in academia in favour of shiny tech “partnerships.” 3/5

Emmanuel Valax @evalax.bsky.social · 16d

It’s wild how quickly some instructors seem to be embracing AI in their classrooms. Are we also supposed to endorse specific “tools”? ChatGPT? Grok? Deep/Seek? Should we advise students to get premium accounts even when most can’t afford it? 2/5

Emmanuel Valax @evalax.bsky.social · 16d

🧵 The other day, someone tried to explain to me that AI is just a tool, like a calculator, and it’s our responsibility to teach students how to use it wisely. I didn’t know how to respond at the time, so here are some delayed thoughts for no reason. 1/5

Emmanuel Valax @evalax.bsky.social · 16d

Emmanuel Valax @evalax.bsky.social · 24d

Only one week into the semester here, and I’m already accepting thoughts, prayers, and setting up an emergency GoFundMe to finance my green tea supply in this tariff-ridden economy.

Emmanuel Valax @evalax.bsky.social · Sep 8

Emmanuel Valax @evalax.bsky.social · Sep 2

I wonder if there’s any peer-reviewed work that questions how academic institutions are normalising generative AI as mere “tools” instead of treating them as non-sentient, privately-owned digital entities with social, political, and economic agendas.

Reposted by Emmanuel Valax

David Ho @davidho.bsky.social · Aug 29

Posts about scientific research on Bluesky receive substantially more attention than similar posts on Twitter. More importantly, you're far less likely to get sexist or racist replies.

Research posts on Bluesky are more original — and get better engagement

Bluesky posts about science garner more likes and reposts than similar ones on X.

Emmanuel Valax @evalax.bsky.social · Aug 28

A proper timeline cleanse after an evening spent admiring the works of Cézanne au Jas de Bouffan. I’ll miss these research trips to Aix! 🇫🇷

Colourful landscape painting by Paul Cézanne of his family's countryside home at Jas de Bouffan in southern France near Aix-en-Provence (c. 1874).

Painting by Paul Cézanne featuring the iconic Sainte-Victoire mountain on the horizon near Aix-en-Provence (c. 1897).

Painting by Paul Cézanne, depicting his family's countryside home and farm at Jas de Bouffan in southern France near Aix-en-Provence (c. 1885-1887).

Emmanuel Valax @evalax.bsky.social · Aug 28

Getting flagged as an AI bot by France's archival search systems was not on my bingo card today.

Reposted by Emmanuel Valax

ProPublica @propublica.org · Aug 24

The continents are rapidly drying out and the earth’s vast freshwater resources are under threat, according to a recently released study based on 20+ years of NASA satellite data.

Here are the report’s key findings and what they portend for humankind.

8 Things to Know About New Research on Earth’s Rapid Drying and the Loss of Its Groundwater

Decades of NASA satellite data reveal how quickly the planet’s underground stores of fresh water have been depleted and how their use is contributing to rising sea levels. Here are the key takeaways.

www.propublica.org

Emmanuel Valax @evalax.bsky.social · Aug 9

Struggling to come up with effective ways to AI-proof assignments for the graduate courses I'll be assisting this Fall. Haven't found much in the way of tried-and-true guidance so far. Any tips welcome!

Reposted by Emmanuel Valax

The Atlantic @theatlantic.com · Aug 5

The rapid decline of American science has few precedents in history, argues @rossandersen.bsky.social. We are witnessing an unparalleled act of self-sabotage: https://theatln.tc/d40fABTK

Emmanuel Valax @evalax.bsky.social · Aug 3

Off to somewhere e-mails won’t find me for the next few weeks.

Photo of a rugged mountain range at sunset in southwestern France.

Reposted by Emmanuel Valax

Olivier Simard-Casanova @o.simardcasanova.net · Aug 3

Is this what people from abroad felt when they watched the Nazis destroying Germany in the 1930s?

Emmanuel Valax @evalax.bsky.social · Aug 2

What do we say to the August scaries trying to kill the vibes for us late summer vacationers?

a man in a black sweater says " not today " in yellow letters

Alt: A man in a black sweater says “not today” in yellow letters.

media.tenor.com

Emmanuel Valax @evalax.bsky.social · Aug 1

I’m sorry—how is this not an article from @theonion.com?

Reuters @reuters.com · Aug 1

UN report finds United Nations reports are not widely read reut.rs/4oiJUAV

UN report finds United Nations reports are not widely read

A United Nations report seeking ways to improve efficiency and cut costs has revealed: U.N. reports are not widely read.

Reposted by Emmanuel Valax

Dónal Hassett @donalh.bsky.social · Jul 22

The genocide in Gaza has been so revealing of the narrow imagined geographies of past atrocities among some. The ignorance of how different forms of genocidal intent and practice were deployed across a whole range of colonial contexts has been central to the effort to dismiss the use of the term.

Emmanuel Valax @evalax.bsky.social · Jul 21

Spent two weeks reflecting on ways to embrace a more transformative water diplomacy and how to decolonise my own research. In these dark times, it was refreshing to find community among those committed to the cause. Grateful to IHE Delft for the opportunity! 💧🕊️

Façade of a building that reads IHE Delft Institute for Water Education, located in the Netherlands.

IHE Delft building courtyard with greenery and trees.

Historical façade of the main building of the IHE Delft Institute for Water Education, located in the Netherlands.

City landscape with buildings, a vintage tram, and a pedestrian walking in Delft, the Netherlands.

Reposted by Emmanuel Valax

Courrier international @courrierinter.bsky.social · Jul 19

💧Les plus grandes métropoles d’Asie, d’Europe, d’Amérique et d’Afrique sont confrontées au problème de la raréfaction de l’eau potable. Tour du monde des pistes évoquées dans la presse internationale pour faire face à la menace croissante d’un monde sans eau.