Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

SCMedievalist @scmedievalist.bsky.social · 3d

Thanks to those who have reposted! She's at 248 responses now - up 50 in past 12 hours!
Full disclosure: I misunderstood - grade tracks % of responses she gets, so she's now up to an 85% even if she doesn't get to 300. Phew!

SCMedievalist @scmedievalist.bsky.social · 4d

Child 1 has a marketing project about restaurants and needs 300 survey responses. She can't earn higher than 70% if she doesn't reach the target. Seems unfair - some kids just don't have as many friends/family! Could you take 2 min to take the survey? Due in 2 days and she needs 100 more. Thanks!

Restaurant Survey

In one of my classes at school we are creating a restaurant as part of a marketing plan. The purpose of this survey is to gather data on what is popular in the community. The survey helps determine wh...

forms.gle

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SCMedievalist @scmedievalist.bsky.social · 4d

Child 1 has a marketing project about restaurants and needs 300 survey responses. She can't earn higher than 70% if she doesn't reach the target. Seems unfair - some kids just don't have as many friends/family! Could you take 2 min to take the survey? Due in 2 days and she needs 100 more. Thanks!

Restaurant Survey

In one of my classes at school we are creating a restaurant as part of a marketing plan. The purpose of this survey is to gather data on what is popular in the community. The survey helps determine wh...

forms.gle

5 1

SCMedievalist @scmedievalist.bsky.social · 25d

Why have I never thought of that? Genius!

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Gert-Jan Bartelds @gertjanbartelds.nl · 29d

Do not skip the ALT texts

Surprised Eel Historian, PhD @greenleejw.bsky.social · 29d

Jesus, take the (wh)eel!

Did you know that there were eels on the table at the Last Supper? Da Vinci's famous painting has a plate of grilled eel & oranges -- a popular local dish that Leonardo himself probably enjoyed.

The ingredients show up on one of his shopping lists! 1/2

Closeup of the plate of eel and oranges from Da Vinci's Last Supper. The eel is sitting on a plate, cut up into 4 pieces. Little eel nuggets, if you will. There is a glass next to the plate with what we should probably assume is wine, but which could also be Mountain Dew Code Red. Wine makes more sense canonically. Mountain Dew makes more sense comedically. You decide.

There are several rolls on the table that look a bit like potatoes but can't possibly be, and a small bowl behind the eels. You can see a hand behind the bowl; it belongs to James the Greater. He seems like he's telling the eels to slow down, and use their walking feet. Which, is just silly, tbh.

One wonders if you could read his future from the lines on that hand: early martyrdom, a post-death sail to Spain, a pilgrimage by Shirley MacLaine...it's probably all right there.

I suspect that James the Greater probably wanted his friends to call him Big Jake, but it never happened. Life is full of such little tragedies.

Da Vinci's Last supper, with the plate of eels and oranges highlighted. You know this painting, and I don't feel the need to describe it. If nothing else, "The DaVinci Code" made it famous, but not for eel-related reasons. More's the pity. I do think it's interesting to extend the DaVinci Code hypothesis and presume that *every* figure in the painting besides Jesus is secretly Mary. Did Jesus travel around with a harem of hairy women? We can infer it from the painting. And...you know...it worked for Jerome. So why not?

FYI: you should have known that the much decried* performance at the opening of the Paris Olympics wasn't about the Last Supper. There were no eels. IFKYK.

* There are people in the world who seem to build most of their lives around feeling personally attacked, and who live to decry All The Things. They are almost never the people whom the world is actually besieging, and you can tell because they have the time for performative public martyrdom. They suck.

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Kalani Craig, PhD @kalanicraig.bsky.social · Sep 11

THE article that traces the years-long dev of Net.Create w @jdanish.bsky.social is out! "Design Based History Research” blends iterative traditions of Design Based Research educational methods w historiography and digital-history tool-design practices. journalofdigitalhistory.org/en/notebook-...

Journal of Digital History

The Journal of Digital History (JDH) is an international, academic, peer-reviewed and open-access journal. JDH will set new standards in history publishing based on the principle of multi-layered arti...

journalofdigitalhistory.org

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Heather Paterson @heatherpaterson.co.uk · Sep 8

New Banksy artwork appears on court building showing judge attacking protester

Banksy's mural shows a protester on the ground holding a blood-spattered placard, while the judge, in a wig and gown, looms over them wielding a gavel.

news.sky.com

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Merriam-Webster @merriam-webster.com · Sep 3

enshittification | noun | when a digital platform is made worse for users, in order to increase profits

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Katie McDonough @kmcdono.bsky.social · Aug 28

1. Modeling data does not a historical argument make.

2. Lefebvre might have written an early classic, but his sources are not the complete 'archive' of Great Fear rumors.

1/n

Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · Aug 28

Historians may have words to say about this.

An abiding mystery of the French Revolution is solved — by epidemiology

The period of panic and unrest called the Great Fear was triggered by deliberately spread rumours, according to methods borrowed from pandemic playbooks.

www.nature.com

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Anna Grzymala-Busse @annagbusse.bsky.social · Aug 22

To punish critics and to intimidate dissidents, the communist parties in the Soviet bloc would conduct raids on their apartments, searching for more pretexts to put them on show trials.

The Associated Press @apnews.com · Aug 22

BREAKING: FBI searches the home of ex-Trump national security adviser John Bolton as part of classified documents investigation, an AP source says.

Live updates: FBI searches home of ex-Trump national security adviser John Bolton, AP source says

The FBI is searching the home of President Donald Trump's former national security adviser John Bolton over the the handling of classified documents, per a person familiar with the matter.

bit.ly

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SCMedievalist @scmedievalist.bsky.social · Aug 13

What did Medieval Ladies-in-Waiting do all day?

cambridgeblog.org/2025/08/what...

A medieval noblewoman holding a baby, with other elite women following in a procession. Book cover image for Caroline Dunn's new book "Ladies-in-Waiting in Medieval England"

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SCMedievalist @scmedievalist.bsky.social · Aug 12

I am so sorry about this

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Liz Renner @lrrenner.bsky.social · Aug 12

This is maybe the worst part about being an educator in the AI era.

AI companies are *stealing your time* by making you work around it/find it/adjudicate it. Time that, 4 years ago, you would have used to improve your materials, or stay up-to-date on some area of research.

Dr. Katja Thieme (she/they) @katjathieme.bsky.social · Aug 12

“Educators now spend a significant amount of their time detecting AI-generated work and seeking ways to assess whether students are developing essential skills.”

Yes. Everywhere.

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The New Yorker @newyorker.com · Aug 8

Israelis are starting to acknowledge that the hunger in Gaza is real—yet it remains unclear whether the recognition of the crisis marks a real tipping point or merely an occasion for momentary concessions.

Israelis Are Starting to Talk About Famine in Gaza

After nearly two years of war, the public rhetoric has suddenly shifted. Will it lead to real changes on the ground?

www.newyorker.com

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People For the American Way @peoplefor.bsky.social · Aug 8

Pete Hegseth shares a clip saying women shouldn’t have the right to vote, the 19th Amendment should be “repealed,” and women should “submit” to their husbands: “All of Christ for All of Life”

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Dr. Jeremy Swist @metalclassicist.bsky.social · Aug 6

Another one for the Latin 1 final. Should be Ararum Subversor. But musically this is high-caliber raw black metal from Florida.

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Rebecca Fishbein @bfishbfish.bsky.social · Aug 6

I believe one of the new mRNA vaccines was expected to treat colon cancer, and another had the potential to keep pancreatic cancer from recurring. That’s what they’re taking away.

Laura Weiss @lauralew105.bsky.social · Aug 5

WHAT, WHAT, WHAT ARE WE DOING!!!
“Vaccine experts and people steeped in pandemic preparedness expressed horror at the news.” www.statnews.com/2025/08/05/m...

Health secretary RFK Jr. shuts door on U.S. investment in mRNA vaccine research

Vaccine experts and people steeped in pandemic preparedness expressed horror at the news that RFK Jr. has shut the door in U.S. investment in mRNA vaccine research.

www.statnews.com

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SCMedievalist @scmedievalist.bsky.social · Aug 3

Wow! Amazing grace and skill. Also kudos to the choreographer

JazzReads📚 @jazzreads.bsky.social · Aug 2

Skyline cleanse.. his name is Emmanuel Savary…🔥🔥🔥

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JHH @shqippy.bsky.social · Aug 2

Thanks to @dianabutlerbass.bsky.social for this crucial reminder about serenity, courage, and wisdom, as the entire US is in the same boat now: dianabutlerbass.substack.com/p/serenityar...

Serenity....Are You Kidding?

Everything is worse than expected. Hearts are breaking; many are confused and afraid. A late night reflection.

dianabutlerbass.substack.com

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Jake Grumbach @jakemgrumbach.bsky.social · Aug 1

The DOJ says it will investigate a US citizen for saying “fuck Isr**l” to a guy in an IDF shirt.

Absolutely the most anti-free speech admin of my lifetime. Probably since the Red Scare, if not earlier.

Attorney General Pamela B... &
@AGPamBondi
Follow
Thank you@PresMcCullough for your leadership and prompt action. Anti-Semitism will not be tolerated in Florida or anywhere else.
@AAGDhillon@CivilRights@LeoTerrellDOJ and
my US Attorney Jack Heekin (@NDFLNews) are investigating this.
FSU
Florida State University
@FloridaState • 23h
FSU -
FSU
FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY STATEMENT
Updated 6:15 p.m. Thursday, July 31, 2025
Florida State University strongly condemns antisemitism
lorida State University is actively addressing an
n all forms and follows Florida law, which protects ewish students and employees from discrimination
Iteration between two students that has been widely
motivated by antisemitism, harassment, intimidation,
nared on social media. The FSU Police Department has and violence.
nterviewed the students shown in the video. The matter being reviewed for potential criminal charges and for support services have been offered to the victim on an
harges under the FSU Student Code of Conduct. While mmediate and ongoing basis. Other students who need
his process is underway, the student shown prominently supportive resources are encouraged to reach out to the
n the video has been prohibited from returning to
university's Counseling and Psychological Services
ampus.
Department (counseling.fsu.edu) or to the Department of Student Support and Transitions (dsst.fsu.edu).
ur commitment to swiftly and effectively responding to ncidents of hate is unwavering. We appreciate the promp eport of this incident, which allowed us to address this stance of antisemitism without delay.
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2 of 7
3:38 PM • 7/31/25 • 3.1M Views

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Steve Campbell @stevecampbell.bsky.social · Aug 1

Was watching @hcrichardson.bsky.social and @jbf1755.bsky.social for a few minutes and their comments got me to thinking about the responsibilities of citizenship, comparisons to other countries, and the typical response of the Trumpian right.

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Jonathan Gilligan @jgilligan.org · Jul 31

Indeed, there is evidence from randomized controlled trials of large introductory classes, that student course evaluations are negatively correlated with how well students learned the material.

maa.org/math-values/...

One study in particular showed that student evaluations are good predictors of learning. But there’s a twist. The correlation between student evaluations and quality of learning is negative. The higher the instructor’s score in the student evaluations, the worse the learning; and the lower the evaluation score, the better the learning. (Feel free to read that again. There is no typo.)

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SCMedievalist @scmedievalist.bsky.social · Jul 31

I got a Bayeux face mask for Covid. It's put away though, so no photo

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Hell-issa Johnson, PhD 🎃 @ladyhistorian.bsky.social · Jul 30

Another teaching prompt for historians:

What are the guiding principles of your survey courses? Not "outcomes." What ideas, approaches, orientations to the material do you want them to keep in mind during the term?

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Jay Rubenstein @medievaljay.bsky.social · Jul 26

Medieval History Job Alert! University of Tennessee, where I used to work. Unbelievably strong medieval studies. Unbelievable that they are hiring in this climate! Please share this post. jobs.chronicle.com/job/37862790...

Assistant/Associate Professor of Medieval History (1100-1500) - University of Tenn, Knoxville job with University of Tennessee Department of History | 37862790

The Department of History at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville invites applications for a tenure-track professor of medieval history (1100-1500).

jobs.chronicle.com

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michelle⁷ @poisonivy47.bsky.social · Jul 25

i have updated my anti-ai resource list to include a tab full of memes and social posts people can share (including ai fails, posts with analysis and framing) as well as a tab about taking action. i'm open to suggestions if people have ideas for things i should add: docs.google.com/document/d/1...

Questioning AI Resource List

Excellent summary of major problems with companies’ focus on AI written by expert in machine learning: https://ludic.mataroa.blog/blog/i-will-fucking-piledrive-you-if-you-mention-ai-again/ Another g...

docs.google.com

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