Mark Masterson
@markjmasterson.bsky.social
Byzantinist. Flutist. Author of Between Byzantine Men (Routledge 2022) and Man to Man (Ohio 2014) Former Associate Professor of Classics, Victoria University, New Zealand (now retired).
Orcid: 0000-0001-9964-8672
Orcid: 0000-0001-9964-8672
It's here! @edinburghup.bsky.social
More about the book here: edinburghuniversitypress.com/book-derrida...
More about the book here: edinburghuniversitypress.com/book-derrida...
January 30, 2026 at 8:48 AM
Reposted by Mark Masterson
friend of mine is an undocumented immigrant and has been hiding in Melania theaters bc he knows people assume no one is in there
January 29, 2026 at 9:34 PM
friend of mine is an undocumented immigrant and has been hiding in Melania theaters bc he knows people assume no one is in there
Reposted by Mark Masterson
Slashing all Marsden grants to social science and humanities another Judith Collins legacy www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...
Government's Marsden Fund cuts: All humanities, social sciences research funding slashed
Cutting all research funding for the fields is a massive step backwards, critics say.
www.rnz.co.nz
January 28, 2026 at 1:32 AM
Slashing all Marsden grants to social science and humanities another Judith Collins legacy www.rnz.co.nz/news/nationa...
Reposted by Mark Masterson
good riddance to Minister Judith Collins, who orchestrated the present gutting of New Zealand's science funding establishment
I've not seen or heard any coverage today that mentions this tiny detail, affecting 100s of millions of public dollars and endangering NZ's entire intellectual community
I've not seen or heard any coverage today that mentions this tiny detail, affecting 100s of millions of public dollars and endangering NZ's entire intellectual community
Judith Collins resigns after a near quarter century in politics
She has been in Parliament for more than 20 years, as the MP for Clevedon, and then Papakura.
www.stuff.co.nz
January 28, 2026 at 1:05 AM
good riddance to Minister Judith Collins, who orchestrated the present gutting of New Zealand's science funding establishment
I've not seen or heard any coverage today that mentions this tiny detail, affecting 100s of millions of public dollars and endangering NZ's entire intellectual community
I've not seen or heard any coverage today that mentions this tiny detail, affecting 100s of millions of public dollars and endangering NZ's entire intellectual community
Reposted by Mark Masterson
In solidarity with today's ICE OUT OF MINNESOTA blackout, MinnMax is donating $1 to the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota for every share of this Bluesky post for the next hour.
January 23, 2026 at 4:01 PM
In solidarity with today's ICE OUT OF MINNESOTA blackout, MinnMax is donating $1 to the Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota for every share of this Bluesky post for the next hour.
Reposted by Mark Masterson
Reposted by Mark Masterson
Last week on Ancient Office Hours, Dr. @egarcmol.bsky.social, an Assistant Professor of Classics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, discussed specializing in the Seleucid Empire, challenges of working with limited historical records, and his course on gaming and ancient history.
January 13, 2026 at 10:56 PM
Last week on Ancient Office Hours, Dr. @egarcmol.bsky.social, an Assistant Professor of Classics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, discussed specializing in the Seleucid Empire, challenges of working with limited historical records, and his course on gaming and ancient history.
Reposted by Mark Masterson
Defund, unmask, indict.
January 13, 2026 at 5:34 PM
Defund, unmask, indict.
Reposted by Mark Masterson
Reposted by Mark Masterson
My (free) website for learning to read from Greek manuscripts is available. Still some tweaks to be made but it’s ready with 12 lessons, tips and hints, downloadable reports if you use it for a class, and links to lots of resources.
Please share and give feedback!
xeirographa.com
Please share and give feedback!
xeirographa.com
Xeirographa
A guided learning platform for reading Greek manuscripts with interactive transcription exercises.
xeirographa.com
December 27, 2025 at 3:59 PM
My (free) website for learning to read from Greek manuscripts is available. Still some tweaks to be made but it’s ready with 12 lessons, tips and hints, downloadable reports if you use it for a class, and links to lots of resources.
Please share and give feedback!
xeirographa.com
Please share and give feedback!
xeirographa.com
Reposted by Mark Masterson
"This promise of an AI future, is really just a collective anxiety that wealthy people have about how well they're gonna be able to control us in the future."
- @tressiemcphd.bsky.social with an absolute mic drop moment about AI bullshit.
Incredible words.
Listen to all of it!
- @tressiemcphd.bsky.social with an absolute mic drop moment about AI bullshit.
Incredible words.
Listen to all of it!
December 19, 2025 at 12:24 PM
"This promise of an AI future, is really just a collective anxiety that wealthy people have about how well they're gonna be able to control us in the future."
- @tressiemcphd.bsky.social with an absolute mic drop moment about AI bullshit.
Incredible words.
Listen to all of it!
- @tressiemcphd.bsky.social with an absolute mic drop moment about AI bullshit.
Incredible words.
Listen to all of it!
You can hear me (perhaps "uhm-ing ah-ing at bit more than I would like) talking about the bachelorhood of Basil II on the 1000 year anniversary of his death:
tinyurl.com/ynktprn6
tinyurl.com/ynktprn6
Episode 333 - The Bachelorhood of Basil II with Mark Masterson | The History of Byzantium
tinyurl.com
December 15, 2025 at 11:12 PM
You can hear me (perhaps "uhm-ing ah-ing at bit more than I would like) talking about the bachelorhood of Basil II on the 1000 year anniversary of his death:
tinyurl.com/ynktprn6
tinyurl.com/ynktprn6
Getting ready for some hardcore code switching!
November 26, 2025 at 6:27 PM
Getting ready for some hardcore code switching!
One would think this does not need to be said, but it sure does.
Reviewers are allowed to have their opinions about a text but they should not misrepresent what is and is not in the text
November 22, 2025 at 6:01 PM
One would think this does not need to be said, but it sure does.
Playing my bass flute in a concert yesterday.
November 16, 2025 at 11:01 PM
Playing my bass flute in a concert yesterday.
Reposted by Mark Masterson
So, Labour will fiddle around with how to spend 0.4% of the budget in 2027 (futures fund) and then get cracking on a capital gains tax that will increase revenue by around 0.6% by 2030. We could get maybe 20km of new road for that. 'The tranquilising drug of gradualism'.
October 28, 2025 at 2:24 AM
So, Labour will fiddle around with how to spend 0.4% of the budget in 2027 (futures fund) and then get cracking on a capital gains tax that will increase revenue by around 0.6% by 2030. We could get maybe 20km of new road for that. 'The tranquilising drug of gradualism'.
Reposted by Mark Masterson
Folks, I would like our research knowledge to get better, not worse. Our publications to become more intentionally structured and phrased, not less. And our experiences and perspectives to find more echoes in the academic language we use, not fewer.
AI slop is the opposite of all that.
AI slop is the opposite of all that.
October 28, 2025 at 4:45 PM
Folks, I would like our research knowledge to get better, not worse. Our publications to become more intentionally structured and phrased, not less. And our experiences and perspectives to find more echoes in the academic language we use, not fewer.
AI slop is the opposite of all that.
AI slop is the opposite of all that.
Reposted by Mark Masterson
In early Christian literature and art, the turtle was a symbol of heresy and evil.
Why?
Because of its lowness to the ground and its tendency to wallow in mud and filth.
Oh, shell yeah.
Why?
Because of its lowness to the ground and its tendency to wallow in mud and filth.
Oh, shell yeah.
October 22, 2025 at 7:03 PM
In early Christian literature and art, the turtle was a symbol of heresy and evil.
Why?
Because of its lowness to the ground and its tendency to wallow in mud and filth.
Oh, shell yeah.
Why?
Because of its lowness to the ground and its tendency to wallow in mud and filth.
Oh, shell yeah.
I wish people would stop posting old analyses of what's going on Washington. I don't need and most assuredly don't want an op ed from March presented as though it is current. Say it's old but it's relevant cuz x or y. Otherwise don't do it.
October 17, 2025 at 8:07 PM
I wish people would stop posting old analyses of what's going on Washington. I don't need and most assuredly don't want an op ed from March presented as though it is current. Say it's old but it's relevant cuz x or y. Otherwise don't do it.
Heading into a concert.
October 10, 2025 at 5:12 AM
Heading into a concert.
@analocking.bsky.social I hope you will post here, as I have long since left that other place.
October 5, 2025 at 4:52 PM
@analocking.bsky.social I hope you will post here, as I have long since left that other place.
FINALLY OMG
We are thrilled to announce that our NEW Large Language Model will be released on 11.18.25.
October 2, 2025 at 5:03 AM
FINALLY OMG