Jason Protass
@protass.bsky.social
Assoc. Prof. of Religious Studies at Brown Univeristy; Chinese Buddhist stuff
Pinned
Jason Protass
@protass.bsky.social
· Nov 27
First copies just arrived:
COUNTLESS SANDS: MEDIEVAL BUDDHISTS AND THEIR ENVIRONMENTS (2025)
The publisher’s website is shipping now
go.hawaii.edu/bXG
COUNTLESS SANDS: MEDIEVAL BUDDHISTS AND THEIR ENVIRONMENTS (2025)
The publisher’s website is shipping now
go.hawaii.edu/bXG
Reposted by Jason Protass
Job Opportunity! We're looking for a Graduate Trainee Archivist.
#archives
www.trin.cam.ac.uk/vacancies/gr...
#archives
www.trin.cam.ac.uk/vacancies/gr...
Graduate Trainee Archivist
One-year fixed term contract, full-time Trinity College Library wishes to appoint an enthusiastic Graduate Trainee Archivist for one year from September 2026. The post offers an ideal opportunity to g...
www.trin.cam.ac.uk
January 7, 2026 at 11:34 AM
Job Opportunity! We're looking for a Graduate Trainee Archivist.
#archives
www.trin.cam.ac.uk/vacancies/gr...
#archives
www.trin.cam.ac.uk/vacancies/gr...
Reposted by Jason Protass
We've got ISSUES. Literally.
We scraped >100k special issues & over 1 million articles to bring you a PISS-poor paper. We quantify just how many excess papers are published by guest editors abusing special issues to boost their CVs. How bad is it & what can we do?
arxiv.org/abs/2601.07563
A 🧵 1/n
We scraped >100k special issues & over 1 million articles to bring you a PISS-poor paper. We quantify just how many excess papers are published by guest editors abusing special issues to boost their CVs. How bad is it & what can we do?
arxiv.org/abs/2601.07563
A 🧵 1/n
January 13, 2026 at 8:27 AM
We've got ISSUES. Literally.
We scraped >100k special issues & over 1 million articles to bring you a PISS-poor paper. We quantify just how many excess papers are published by guest editors abusing special issues to boost their CVs. How bad is it & what can we do?
arxiv.org/abs/2601.07563
A 🧵 1/n
We scraped >100k special issues & over 1 million articles to bring you a PISS-poor paper. We quantify just how many excess papers are published by guest editors abusing special issues to boost their CVs. How bad is it & what can we do?
arxiv.org/abs/2601.07563
A 🧵 1/n
CBETA is a place on floor eight.
January 12, 2026 at 2:13 AM
CBETA is a place on floor eight.
Reposted by Jason Protass
Welcoming 2026 in Taipei
祝福馬年吉祥，諸事順遂，
祈國泰民安
祝福馬年吉祥，諸事順遂，
祈國泰民安
December 31, 2025 at 5:15 PM
Welcoming 2026 in Taipei
祝福馬年吉祥，諸事順遂，
祈國泰民安
祝福馬年吉祥，諸事順遂，
祈國泰民安
Reposted by Jason Protass
Yomama is a Christmas movie
December 24, 2025 at 11:13 PM
Yomama is a Christmas movie
Reposted by Jason Protass
all stilled.
Jane Hirshfield
Jane Hirshfield
December 20, 2025 at 8:00 PM
all stilled.
Jane Hirshfield
Jane Hirshfield
It’s been nice to hear from colleagues and friends.
One of the strange parts of this experience is noting the world slowly move on, get back to normal. Our world is frozen. Campus is a crime scene. Offices inaccessible. And the grief. The grief.
It’s good to not feel alone.
One of the strange parts of this experience is noting the world slowly move on, get back to normal. Our world is frozen. Campus is a crime scene. Offices inaccessible. And the grief. The grief.
It’s good to not feel alone.
December 16, 2025 at 3:18 AM
It’s been nice to hear from colleagues and friends.
One of the strange parts of this experience is noting the world slowly move on, get back to normal. Our world is frozen. Campus is a crime scene. Offices inaccessible. And the grief. The grief.
It’s good to not feel alone.
One of the strange parts of this experience is noting the world slowly move on, get back to normal. Our world is frozen. Campus is a crime scene. Offices inaccessible. And the grief. The grief.
It’s good to not feel alone.
Reposted by Jason Protass
Very rarely does a post warrant all caps, but: SEARCHABLE INTERIM MANUSCRIPTS CATALOGUE. At long last! searcharchives.bl.uk
British Library Archives and Manuscripts Catalogue
searcharchives.bl.uk
December 15, 2025 at 1:25 PM
Very rarely does a post warrant all caps, but: SEARCHABLE INTERIM MANUSCRIPTS CATALOGUE. At long last! searcharchives.bl.uk
Reposted by Jason Protass
"Friedberg visited Rhode Island Hospital on Saturday night, where she said she spoke with her teaching assistant, who had traveled there to support several of their injured students." Wow, the TA was present at the shooting and then went with students in the class to hospital to support.
December 14, 2025 at 4:07 AM
"Friedberg visited Rhode Island Hospital on Saturday night, where she said she spoke with her teaching assistant, who had traveled there to support several of their injured students." Wow, the TA was present at the shooting and then went with students in the class to hospital to support.
Everyone in Religious Studies checked in as safe.
If student reporting at BDH holds up, it sounds like it was a section of the big freshman econ course, folks gathered for a review session before the final.
So so sad.
If student reporting at BDH holds up, it sounds like it was a section of the big freshman econ course, folks gathered for a review session before the final.
So so sad.
December 14, 2025 at 2:46 AM
Everyone in Religious Studies checked in as safe.
If student reporting at BDH holds up, it sounds like it was a section of the big freshman econ course, folks gathered for a review session before the final.
So so sad.
If student reporting at BDH holds up, it sounds like it was a section of the big freshman econ course, folks gathered for a review session before the final.
So so sad.
I am safe. All my grad students are safe.
December 13, 2025 at 11:33 PM
I am safe. All my grad students are safe.
Reposted by Jason Protass
I want to be sad, but who has the time?
Xin Qiji, tr. Jon Hansen
Xin Qiji, tr. Jon Hansen
December 13, 2025 at 12:02 AM
I want to be sad, but who has the time?
Xin Qiji, tr. Jon Hansen
Xin Qiji, tr. Jon Hansen
Reposted by Jason Protass
Are you an environmental humanist? Do you like hanging out with other smart environmental humanists? Would you like to do so for a week this summer in Maine? Then I highly recommend Colby's Summer Institute in the Environmental Humanities! (app due 2/6/26) cah.colby.edu/initiatives/...
December 9, 2025 at 12:27 PM
Are you an environmental humanist? Do you like hanging out with other smart environmental humanists? Would you like to do so for a week this summer in Maine? Then I highly recommend Colby's Summer Institute in the Environmental Humanities! (app due 2/6/26) cah.colby.edu/initiatives/...
Reposted by Jason Protass
"ChatGPT is Bullshit" has now been viewed one million times!
@hikemix.bsky.social
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
#PhilTech #PhilSky #ChatGPT #Bullshit
@hikemix.bsky.social
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
#PhilTech #PhilSky #ChatGPT #Bullshit
ChatGPT is bullshit - Ethics and Information Technology
Recently, there has been considerable interest in large language models: machine learning systems which produce human-like text and dialogue. Applications of these systems have been plagued by persist...
link.springer.com
November 19, 2025 at 4:19 PM
"ChatGPT is Bullshit" has now been viewed one million times!
@hikemix.bsky.social
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
#PhilTech #PhilSky #ChatGPT #Bullshit
@hikemix.bsky.social
link.springer.com/article/10.1...
#PhilTech #PhilSky #ChatGPT #Bullshit
Rots on Vietnam whale worship:
“how it is possible that residents of an island choking in plastic engage in ritualized littering. Why do animists who worship deities residing in nature pollute the very environment that they—according to the academic theory, at least—should perceive as sacred?”
“how it is possible that residents of an island choking in plastic engage in ritualized littering. Why do animists who worship deities residing in nature pollute the very environment that they—according to the academic theory, at least—should perceive as sacred?”
When Gods Drown in Plastic | Environmental Humanities | Duke University Press
doi.org
December 6, 2025 at 4:03 AM
Rots on Vietnam whale worship:
“how it is possible that residents of an island choking in plastic engage in ritualized littering. Why do animists who worship deities residing in nature pollute the very environment that they—according to the academic theory, at least—should perceive as sacred?”
“how it is possible that residents of an island choking in plastic engage in ritualized littering. Why do animists who worship deities residing in nature pollute the very environment that they—according to the academic theory, at least—should perceive as sacred?”
Richard Davis’ memoir is spicy.
December 3, 2025 at 6:05 AM
Richard Davis’ memoir is spicy.
Reposted by Jason Protass
'we write the best history when the specificity, the novelty, the awe-fulness, of what our sources render up bowls us over with its complexity & its significance. Our research is better when we move only cautiously to understanding...' CWB 'Wonder' AHR 1997. Thanks to @hagenilda.bsky.social
November 27, 2025 at 10:47 PM
'we write the best history when the specificity, the novelty, the awe-fulness, of what our sources render up bowls us over with its complexity & its significance. Our research is better when we move only cautiously to understanding...' CWB 'Wonder' AHR 1997. Thanks to @hagenilda.bsky.social
Reposted by Jason Protass
This is powerful.
An Autobiographical Essay by Caroline Walker Bynum.
'That very summer, with unpacked boxes all around me, I wrote the article that became the title essay of Jesus as Mother and I filed papers to adopt a child as a single parent.'
www.ias.edu/sites/defaul...
An Autobiographical Essay by Caroline Walker Bynum.
'That very summer, with unpacked boxes all around me, I wrote the article that became the title essay of Jesus as Mother and I filed papers to adopt a child as a single parent.'
www.ias.edu/sites/defaul...
November 27, 2025 at 10:28 PM
This is powerful.
An Autobiographical Essay by Caroline Walker Bynum.
'That very summer, with unpacked boxes all around me, I wrote the article that became the title essay of Jesus as Mother and I filed papers to adopt a child as a single parent.'
www.ias.edu/sites/defaul...
An Autobiographical Essay by Caroline Walker Bynum.
'That very summer, with unpacked boxes all around me, I wrote the article that became the title essay of Jesus as Mother and I filed papers to adopt a child as a single parent.'
www.ias.edu/sites/defaul...
Reposted by Jason Protass
🚨 journo job! 🚨
Replace me! - after 13 years at the Guardian and six years on the incredible China team, including five in Taiwan, I’m leaving at the end of this year. I’ll get sentimental about it later but for now: Here’s the job ad. I recommend it!
workwithus.theguardian.com/job-search/e...
Replace me! - after 13 years at the Guardian and six years on the incredible China team, including five in Taiwan, I’m leaving at the end of this year. I’ll get sentimental about it later but for now: Here’s the job ad. I recommend it!
workwithus.theguardian.com/job-search/e...
China Correspondent
Join our team at the Guardian and be a part of a diverse and inclusive global organisation that delivers award-winning, investigative journalism, and holds power to account. Our team of journalists, c...
workwithus.theguardian.com
November 27, 2025 at 12:37 AM
🚨 journo job! 🚨
Replace me! - after 13 years at the Guardian and six years on the incredible China team, including five in Taiwan, I’m leaving at the end of this year. I’ll get sentimental about it later but for now: Here’s the job ad. I recommend it!
workwithus.theguardian.com/job-search/e...
Replace me! - after 13 years at the Guardian and six years on the incredible China team, including five in Taiwan, I’m leaving at the end of this year. I’ll get sentimental about it later but for now: Here’s the job ad. I recommend it!
workwithus.theguardian.com/job-search/e...
Reposted by Jason Protass
Handing back student work that’s been written by ChatGPT with a 0 followed by the comment “This essay will never stand in authentic wonder before the Beauty of God’s creation.”
Pope Leo XIV told students not to use artificial intelligence for homework, saying that AI ‘won’t stand in authentic wonder before the beauty of God’s creation.’
Even God Is Worried About ChatGPT
Pope Leo XIV told students not to use artificial intelligence for homework, saying that AI ‘won’t stand in authentic wonder before the beauty of God’s creation.’
www.vulture.com
November 26, 2025 at 3:35 PM
Handing back student work that’s been written by ChatGPT with a 0 followed by the comment “This essay will never stand in authentic wonder before the Beauty of God’s creation.”
Reposted by Jason Protass
Looks like they have created a roadmap to reboot the NRC/FLAS/Hays grants? Makes the wave of layoffs that is currently flowing through area studies and language education programs seem especially meaningless: www.state.gov/releases/off...
State Department to Lead Additional International Education Programs Under New Interagency Partnership - United States Department of State
The U.S. Department of State today announced that, under a new interagency partnership, the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) will lead several programs previously managed by the Depart...
www.state.gov
November 20, 2025 at 6:16 PM
Looks like they have created a roadmap to reboot the NRC/FLAS/Hays grants? Makes the wave of layoffs that is currently flowing through area studies and language education programs seem especially meaningless: www.state.gov/releases/off...
Reposted by Jason Protass
ACLS is now accepting applications for Graduate Internships on the Spiritual Infrastructure of the Future: summer 2026 opportunities for PhD students studying religion to work with leading nonprofits and apply their research beyond the academy.
Apply by Jan 14, 9 PM ET: https://www.acls.org/GISI
Apply by Jan 14, 9 PM ET: https://www.acls.org/GISI
November 20, 2025 at 7:13 PM
ACLS is now accepting applications for Graduate Internships on the Spiritual Infrastructure of the Future: summer 2026 opportunities for PhD students studying religion to work with leading nonprofits and apply their research beyond the academy.
Apply by Jan 14, 9 PM ET: https://www.acls.org/GISI
Apply by Jan 14, 9 PM ET: https://www.acls.org/GISI
Reposted by Jason Protass
Remember: they used thousands of academic books too! If you’re a scholar, check for your books too. This isn’t just novelists and pop writers, it’s academic books too!
AI advocates have warned that if every author in the class action filed a claim, it would "financially ruin" the entire industry.
Authors celebrate “historic” settlement coming soon in Anthropic class action
Advocates fear such settlements will “financially ruin” the AI industry.
arstechnica.com
November 18, 2025 at 6:32 AM
Remember: they used thousands of academic books too! If you’re a scholar, check for your books too. This isn’t just novelists and pop writers, it’s academic books too!