Miller Wright
@millerswright.bsky.social
1.2K followers 720 following 30 posts
Asst Professor of History, UMBC: Native Slavery in Brazil and Carolina, Matrilineages, Atlantic. Itinerant.
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millerswright.bsky.social
Excited to share I will be joining the history department at UMBC in the Fall. Looking forward to meeting new students and colleagues and getting back in the classroom.
millerswright.bsky.social
In intro courses we read our primary sources in class together and group discussion afterwards. Only way I can get some students to read a page or two.
kevinmkruse.bsky.social
I've been teaching at Princeton over the same period and the drop-off in reading stamina has been staggering.

I'm not sure of the cause -- some blame K-12 shifts to "chunk reading" while others pin it on COVID -- but it's undeniable.
carlosfnorena.bsky.social
I'm entering my 25th year in the job, having taught for 4 years at Yale and 20 at Berkeley.

The clearest trendline in my experience (fwiw) is the *dramatically* diminished willingness or capacity of undergrads to read. I used to assign 150 pp./week. Closer to 40 now—and even that is aspirational.
Reposted by Miller Wright
thetattooedprof.bsky.social
Yeah this is the thing I'm told me and all my students need to uncritically embrace so they can get a job after college
Reposted by Miller Wright
millerswright.bsky.social
Excited to share I will be joining the history department at UMBC in the Fall. Looking forward to meeting new students and colleagues and getting back in the classroom.
millerswright.bsky.social
Excited to share I will be joining the history department at UMBC in the Fall. Looking forward to meeting new students and colleagues and getting back in the classroom.
Reposted by Miller Wright
carlygoodman.bsky.social
the White House's erasure of slavery (except for as something the founders sought to curb, which is weird since it didn't otherwise exist and wasn't otherwise bad) from its 250 materials is pretty bleak, a rewrite more reactionary than the 1876, 1926, or 1976 centennials.
Reposted by Miller Wright
ddmeringolo.bsky.social
Historic Places are the cornerstone of the National Park Service mission, and they (almost) always have been.
Reposted by Miller Wright
xlenc.bsky.social
Every time I have tried to have an open mind and use chatgpt for academic research (finding new articles, etc), it has been entirely useless. The vast majority of citations are fake. Literally every single quote is made up. It's just a lie machine! I can't fathom how people have come to rely on it.
millerswright.bsky.social
Gotta start calling it
Reposted by Miller Wright
propublica.org
NEW: A nearly 90% funding cut proposed by the Trump administration would likely shut down and devastate the 37 tribal colleges and universities created to serve the students disadvantaged by the nation’s historic mistreatment of Indigenous communities.

By @mattkrupnick.bsky.social
Trump Wants to Cut Tribal College Funding by Nearly 90%, Putting Them at Risk of Closing
ProPublica found that Congress was underfunding tribal colleges by a quarter-billion dollars per year. Rather than fixing the problem, proposed federal funding cuts unveiled this week would devastate ...
www.propublica.org
Reposted by Miller Wright
nytimes.com
Breaking News: The Trump administration has dealt a sharp blow to work on HIV vaccines, terminating a $258 million program critical to the research.
Trump Administration Ends Program Critical to Search for an H.I.V. Vaccine
www.nytimes.com
millerswright.bsky.social
It and the bots are getting worse
millerswright.bsky.social
Cause if no one receives their evaluation reports is that because the reports were never done??
millerswright.bsky.social
I know that the NEH Summer Stipend is being canceled but did anyone receive one this year? And did anyone receive their submission evaluations?
Reposted by Miller Wright
peterhotezmdphd.bsky.social
It’s not medical advice to advocate for vaccines when you head the nation’s largest public health agency and it’s your charge.

Arguably, however it is (very bad) medical advice when you promote useless interventions such as budesonide, vitamin A, clarithromycin as a false equivalent to vaccines
solnatamd.medsky.social
RFK Jr, Secretary of HHS: "I don't think that people should take medical advice from me".
Reposted by Miller Wright
kevinmkruse.bsky.social
The president has covered the Oval Office in gold, is planning a massive military parade for his birthday, and is now accepting $400,000,000 luxury planes from foreign powers as personal presents.

What the fuck are we doing here?
Reposted by Miller Wright
nktpnd.bsky.social
Major airspace closures for civil aviation announced by both Pakistan (all airspace) and India (along the border with Pakistan) in the last few hours. We're possibly about to witness the start of the most intense and broad-spectrum direct conflict between two nuclear-armed states ever.
millerswright.bsky.social
Have not heard of any winners so far
millerswright.bsky.social
Got the notification that I did not win an NEH summer stipend, which I assumed with the gutting of the NEH. But did anyone?

Understanding the human experience is paramount in times like these. Humanities funding opportunities were already comically low, but the work must go on. Keep writing!
Reposted by Miller Wright
tedmccormick.bsky.social
Framing the adoption of AI as an historical inevitability, rather than a way to do a thing you want or need done, gives the game away.

Nobody selling it this hard cares whether it helps; they want it to be the thing you have to deal with, like it or not. Problems, solutions, what’s the difference?
keithwilson.eu
Bizarrely framed article about the people (all women) who ‘refuse to use AI’. And a #philosophy professor who says “The moment to opt out of #AI has already passed”. Oh well. That’s that then. 🤷‍♂️ #AIEthics www.bbc.com/news/article...
The people refusing to use AI
Worried about the environment and the loss of skills, some people are resisting the rise of AI.
www.bbc.com