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Stephen Chrisomalis

@schrisomalis.bsky.social

2.6K followers 2.3K following 2.3K posts

Linguistic anthropologist, Wayne State University. Numbers, cognition, writing and literacy, mathematics. Left, 🇨🇦, he/him. https://glossographia.com/ https://phrontistery.info

glossographia.com

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Stephen Chrisomalis @schrisomalis.bsky.social · Oct 22

Hey folks, good to see new people here! I mostly post academic stuff. I do research on numbers as cultural and cognitive things. mitpress.mit.edu/978026204463...
But for those of you less book-inclined, let me point you to some podcasts I've featured on, by some amazing Bluesky folks: 1/

Reckonings

Insights from the history of numerical notation suggest that how humans write numbers is an active choice involving cognitive and social factors.Over the pas...

mitpress.mit.edu

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Stephen Chrisomalis @schrisomalis.bsky.social · 12h

Look, MS Word; I'm happy enough to concede that 'timelier' is a word that doesn't sound too terrible, but can we agree that 'more timely' is perfectly ok and also more common?

screenshot of a phrase: "all agree is more timely than ever"; "more timely" is double-underlined by Word's grammar checker.

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Stephen Chrisomalis @schrisomalis.bsky.social · 1d

Apologies to all the Tigers fans I follow (I know there's a bunch), but I have very pricey tickets to @mulaney.bsky.social at the Fox next Thursday and if the Tigers win tonight, there'll be a cross-border home game vs. Toronto at Comerica; getting around the city will be insane. So: go Mariners!

Reposted by Stephen Chrisomalis

Society for Anthropological Sciences @anthrosciences.bsky.social · 1d

We are pleased to announce that the Society for Anthropological Sciences (SAS) is sponsoring a Student Awards competition, offering a prize for the best student paper that meets rigorous scientific criteria in anthropology. In addition, two awards will be given for outstanding presentations.

Fall 2025 H. Russell Bernard Student Paper Prize

We are pleased to announce that the Society for Anthropological Sciences (SAS) is sponsoring a Student Awards competition, offering a priz...

www.societyforanthropologicalsciences.org

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Reposted by Stephen Chrisomalis

Michigan Advance @michiganadvance.com · 2d

The prestigious MacArthur Fellowship, which comes with an $800,000 prize to support ongoing research, will be granted this year to Jason McLellan, a Wayne State University graduate, for his pioneering vaccine research.

Story from @bensolis1.bsky.social

Wayne State alum gets ‘genius grant’ for groundbreaking viral proteins, vaccine research • Michigan Advance

michiganadvance.com

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Stephen Chrisomalis @schrisomalis.bsky.social · 2d

Next Mon-Tue is our fall break, but a lot of employers use this as an excuse to schedule students for extra shifts. So I advise them: 1) don't tell your boss about fall break; 2) I'll back them if they say 'sorry, can't, nasty old Dr. Chrisomalis is an asshole who gives us extra work during break.'

Reposted by Stephen Chrisomalis

Pride Source @pridesource.com · 4d

After 25 years of speaking on 250-plus campuses, the Wayne State philosophy professor is learning to advocate in new ways.

LGBTQ+ Advocate John Corvino Faces a Rare Disease That’s Taking His Voice — But Not His Message

John Corvino has always known how to use his words.For 25 years, the Wayne State University philosophy professor traveled to more than 250 college

pridesource.com

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Stephen Chrisomalis @schrisomalis.bsky.social · 4d

I am never reminded of the Emerson quotation, "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds" so much as I am when arguing with a university webmaster.

Reposted by Stephen Chrisomalis

KOJAMF🤘🖤🤘 @kojamf.bsky.social · 6d

Dr. Jane Goodall filmed an interview with Netflix in March 2025 that she understood would only be released after her death.

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Stephen Chrisomalis @schrisomalis.bsky.social · 7d

Thought I was familiar with the genre of pop-ling books about profanity; ran into Bozzimacoo by Mary Marshall (1975) at the local church book sale for $2 in great condition. Never heard of it but seems to be a fun if dated collection of essays and a glossary. To the shelf! @stronglang.bsky.social

A hardback book "Bozzimacoo: Origins and Meanings of Oaths and Swearwords"; the dust jacket is black at top, white at bottom, with the title in a red speech bubble and a cartoon image of a priest holding a "swear box" out to two men in old style clothing.

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Stephen Chrisomalis @schrisomalis.bsky.social · 8d

One of the real joys of being the interdisciplinary weirdo that I am is that, in the cause of research, I get to do things like look up wire gauge measurement terminology. The relevant Wikipedia page has a whole section on reading numbers: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/America...

American wire gauge - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Stephen Chrisomalis @schrisomalis.bsky.social · 10d

It was super easy to find on archive.org, borrow it, and get a couple of sections of appropriate text. Thanks!

Internet Archive: Digital Library of Free & Borrowable Texts, Movies, Music & Wayback Machine

archive.org

Stephen Chrisomalis @schrisomalis.bsky.social · 10d

Fantastic, thanks Mark! That's exactly what I need.

Stephen Chrisomalis @schrisomalis.bsky.social · 10d

That's a great idea if I can find the texts. Thanks!

Stephen Chrisomalis @schrisomalis.bsky.social · 10d

Yeah, I suppose that's true. I guess I was thinking of something not too Christian, but that's probably too much to hope for.

Stephen Chrisomalis @schrisomalis.bsky.social · 10d

Does anyone know of a short bit of text, other than the Lord's Prayer, that we have a good version of in both Old English and Middle English?

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Reposted by Stephen Chrisomalis

Human Relations Area Files at Yale University @hraf755.bsky.social · 10d

www.nbcnews.com/news/obituar...

Jane Goodall, renowned chimpanzee researcher and animal advocate, dies at 91

"Dr. Goodall's discoveries as an ethologist revolutionized science, and she was a tireless advocate for the protection and restoration of our natural world," the Jane Goodall Institute said in a Wedne...

www.nbcnews.com

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Reposted by Stephen Chrisomalis

Merriam-Webster @merriam-webster.com · 10d

We are thrilled to announce that our NEW Large Language Model will be released on 11.18.25.

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Stephen Chrisomalis @schrisomalis.bsky.social · 10d

Looks like there are a few folks in Texas with the appropriate level of appreciation for their northern neighbo(u)rs. 🇨🇦
(Seen recently locally in Detroit-Windsor)

A red and white Texas state license plate with TEXAS at the top and the vanity plate O C4NADA.

Stephen Chrisomalis @schrisomalis.bsky.social · 12d

Oops, I did it again: wrote a 2000+ word peer review of a really quite good paper. I'm really sure it's no one here, but if you ever get one of those from me, please understand I wouldn't have written a 2000+ word review of your crappy paper, so take it in that spirit?

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Reposted by Stephen Chrisomalis

Siobhán Cully 🇺🇸 🐱🥼🤓🩼 @siobhancully.bsky.social · 12d

Join our fantastic department at #Rutgers University. We are hiring an assistant professor in socio-cultural #anthropology who focuses on language and power. Ad here:

jobs.rutgers.edu/postings/260...

Assistant Professor in Sociocultural Anthropology, Tenure-Track

The Department of Anthropology seeks to hire a tenure-track Assistant Professor in sociocultural anthropology, with a particular emphasis on the dynamic intersections of Language, Culture, and Power. ...

jobs.rutgers.edu

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Reposted by Stephen Chrisomalis

Society for Anthropological Sciences @anthrosciences.bsky.social · 13d

Submissions are now open for the 2025 SAS Carol R. Ember Book Prize. This prize recognizes books whose significant theoretical, empirical, or methodological contributions to anthropology embody the mission of SAS to advance the scientific study of human societies.

Society for Anthropological Sciences Carol R. Ember Book Prize

Submissions are now open for the 2025 SAS Carol R. Ember Book Prize. This prize recognizes books whose significant theoretical, empirical, o...

www.societyforanthropologicalsciences.org

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Stephen Chrisomalis @schrisomalis.bsky.social · 15d

Apparently today is the day for bad personal and life news around my academic network. So, if that's you too, I'm thinking of you and my friends who are hurting.

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Stephen Chrisomalis @schrisomalis.bsky.social · 16d

Great new article by Katarzyna Mikulska, "Symmetry as a Cognitive Tool in Mesoamerican Divinatory Books" in the special issue of Topics in Cognitive Science, "Cognitive Technologies and their Histories", which I'm co-editing with @helenamiton.bsky.social
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Symmetry as a Cognitive Tool in Mesoamerican Divinatory Books

This article examines how pre-Hispanic codices from central Mexico employ various forms of symmetry as semiotic and cognitive devices for encoding meaning. Special attention is given to chiasmic (X-f....

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Stephen Chrisomalis @schrisomalis.bsky.social · 16d

Great new article by Conor Snoek, "Material Anchors in Language Learning" in the special issue of Topics in Cognitive Science, "Cognitive Technologies and their Histories", which I'm co-editing with @helenamiton.bsky.social
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Material Anchors in Language Learning

This article argues for the usefulness of Conceptual Blending theory in the analysis and development of language-learning materials. A chart is presented for learning verb structure in Blackfoot, a p....

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Stephen Chrisomalis @schrisomalis.bsky.social · 17d

Our Graduate Open House on Zoom is in just a couple of weeks, 10/06, 4pm Eastern, to learn more about our program / meet current faculty and students. wayne-edu.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

Welcome! You are invited to join a meeting: WSU Anthropology Graduate Open House. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the meeting.

wayne-edu.zoom.us