Steph Brown
@stephjayb.bsky.social
Author | Watching Women: Militant Suffragists Write the British Surveillance State | U Toronto Press, 2024
Assoc Prof of English in Tucson | Surveillance | C20/21 Caribbean and British Lit | GWS
rock scrambler | hawk enthusiast | she/her
Assoc Prof of English in Tucson | Surveillance | C20/21 Caribbean and British Lit | GWS
rock scrambler | hawk enthusiast | she/her
Reposted by Steph Brown
The fight against surveillance must include infrastructure that enables it. We can’t just oppose collection we must also fight storage, analysis, corporate relationships…
As someone writing a book on the history of government data storage and its harms, I’ll say that people in the past knew this!
As someone writing a book on the history of government data storage and its harms, I’ll say that people in the past knew this!
November 25, 2025 at 4:59 PM
The fight against surveillance must include infrastructure that enables it. We can’t just oppose collection we must also fight storage, analysis, corporate relationships…
As someone writing a book on the history of government data storage and its harms, I’ll say that people in the past knew this!
As someone writing a book on the history of government data storage and its harms, I’ll say that people in the past knew this!
Reposted by Steph Brown
Same for literary studies. Non-tenure-track lit studies scholars I know you're out there and publishing articles and books. And if you're tenure-track and know NTT authors, let me know about their work! I can reach out and confirm that they're cool with being listed.
Haven't received as many contributions as usual for this year's lists--could be many things, but one aspect is surely that our ability to get this in front of people is much diminished. If you know folks whose stuff should be on here, please suggest it! contingentmagazine.org/yearly-pub-l...
Publications by Non-Tenure-Track Historians
Since we began publishing in 2019, Contingent has published end-of-year lists of books and articles by non-tenure-track historians released in the past calendar year. To submit something for inclusion...
contingentmagazine.org
November 25, 2025 at 2:36 PM
Same for literary studies. Non-tenure-track lit studies scholars I know you're out there and publishing articles and books. And if you're tenure-track and know NTT authors, let me know about their work! I can reach out and confirm that they're cool with being listed.
Reposted by Steph Brown
Haven't received as many contributions as usual for this year's lists--could be many things, but one aspect is surely that our ability to get this in front of people is much diminished. If you know folks whose stuff should be on here, please suggest it! contingentmagazine.org/yearly-pub-l...
Publications by Non-Tenure-Track Historians
Since we began publishing in 2019, Contingent has published end-of-year lists of books and articles by non-tenure-track historians released in the past calendar year. To submit something for inclusion...
contingentmagazine.org
November 24, 2025 at 3:39 PM
Haven't received as many contributions as usual for this year's lists--could be many things, but one aspect is surely that our ability to get this in front of people is much diminished. If you know folks whose stuff should be on here, please suggest it! contingentmagazine.org/yearly-pub-l...
Reposted by Steph Brown
I think it’s pretty clear at this point that one of the main impacts of LLMs is to disrupt thinking: to make it so that far too many people never properly learn how to do it, and then to control the output so there are thoughts that people never learn how to think.
November 24, 2025 at 5:18 PM
I think it’s pretty clear at this point that one of the main impacts of LLMs is to disrupt thinking: to make it so that far too many people never properly learn how to do it, and then to control the output so there are thoughts that people never learn how to think.
!!! This is a big deal. Between this and Lena Khan, 🤩🤩🤩
If you’re looking for signals of good tech policy from the Mamdani administration look no further than his transition team including @alondra.bsky.social and @ruha9.bsky.social
Honored to serve on Mayor-elect @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social Transition Committee on Technology. For too long, too many New Yorkers have been left behind. NYC deserves governance that centers affordability, equity, and the public good-looking forward to the work ahead. www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news...
November 24, 2025 at 11:22 PM
!!! This is a big deal. Between this and Lena Khan, 🤩🤩🤩
Keep thinking about the research showing AI is have negative impacts on students' trust in their teachers, and pieces like this really validate that distrust.
www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/set-tr...
www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/set-tr...
I Set A Trap To Catch Students Cheating With AI. The Result Was Deflating
"I am no stranger to students trying to cut corners by copying and pasting from Wikipedia, but the introduction of generative AI has enabled them to cheat in startling new ways."
www.huffingtonpost.co.uk
November 24, 2025 at 5:22 PM
Keep thinking about the research showing AI is have negative impacts on students' trust in their teachers, and pieces like this really validate that distrust.
www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/set-tr...
www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/set-tr...
Reposted by Steph Brown
A few weeks ago Tracy K. Smith was here and read aloud her erasure poem from the Declaration of Independence
www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/147468...
www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/147468...
November 22, 2025 at 7:52 PM
A few weeks ago Tracy K. Smith was here and read aloud her erasure poem from the Declaration of Independence
www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/147468...
www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/147468...
Seeing this graphic a a lot, so added a visual reminder about the Roberts court's role in all this (in red).
November 22, 2025 at 4:17 PM
Seeing this graphic a a lot, so added a visual reminder about the Roberts court's role in all this (in red).
Always going to be The Black Jacobins for me
November 22, 2025 at 3:44 PM
Always going to be The Black Jacobins for me
Reposted by Steph Brown
re: roblox dude's interview crashout. the thing he wants to say but can't is "at scale, kids are gonna get hurt. that is the price for scale." the thing nobody wants to say out loud is "maybe scaling to a level where harm isn't manageable is bad, and scale should be contained"
November 21, 2025 at 6:35 PM
re: roblox dude's interview crashout. the thing he wants to say but can't is "at scale, kids are gonna get hurt. that is the price for scale." the thing nobody wants to say out loud is "maybe scaling to a level where harm isn't manageable is bad, and scale should be contained"
Reposted by Steph Brown
The Florence Project does great work. I highly recommend them for your charitable giving this season. Especially if you’re an AZ resident and are looking for an organization to provide for this year’s Charitable Tax Credit (1:1 tax reduction up to $495/$987 for those filing single/joint this year).
On any given day, thousands of adults are detained in remote facilities in Arizona solely because of their immigration status. The vast majority don’t have an attorney and are forced to represent themselves in immigration court, severely impacting their chances to win their case.
November 22, 2025 at 12:58 AM
The Florence Project does great work. I highly recommend them for your charitable giving this season. Especially if you’re an AZ resident and are looking for an organization to provide for this year’s Charitable Tax Credit (1:1 tax reduction up to $495/$987 for those filing single/joint this year).
Reposted by Steph Brown
Since this article and its perspectives are generating a bit of buzz, I'd like to dig into what I find distasteful and, frankly, disingenous about it, particularly the ethical values it proclaims. 1/8
www.huffpost.com/entry/histor...
www.huffpost.com/entry/histor...
I Set A Trap To Catch My Students Cheating With AI. The Results Were Shocking.
"Students are not just undermining their ability to learn, but to someday lead."
www.huffpost.com
November 21, 2025 at 1:14 PM
Since this article and its perspectives are generating a bit of buzz, I'd like to dig into what I find distasteful and, frankly, disingenous about it, particularly the ethical values it proclaims. 1/8
www.huffpost.com/entry/histor...
www.huffpost.com/entry/histor...
Seeing an uptick in emails from prospective students looking to do a PhD with me because they deeply admire my work on [topic well outside my expertise that I don't write about].
Are students just asking chatgpt for "scholars in..."? And is it telling them that I (for example) am a Milton scholar?
Are students just asking chatgpt for "scholars in..."? And is it telling them that I (for example) am a Milton scholar?
November 21, 2025 at 5:03 PM
Seeing an uptick in emails from prospective students looking to do a PhD with me because they deeply admire my work on [topic well outside my expertise that I don't write about].
Are students just asking chatgpt for "scholars in..."? And is it telling them that I (for example) am a Milton scholar?
Are students just asking chatgpt for "scholars in..."? And is it telling them that I (for example) am a Milton scholar?
“Never trust a professor who makes their grad students pay for their own food or coffee.” -the immortal Chris Krueger, sending me off to grad school
What’s the most significant advice you received from a teacher?
I had a Geology prof who always said “have strong opinions, loosely held”
Be passionate, assess alternatives with conviction, take sides. But don’t fall so in love with your opinions that you can’t change them with better data.
I had a Geology prof who always said “have strong opinions, loosely held”
Be passionate, assess alternatives with conviction, take sides. But don’t fall so in love with your opinions that you can’t change them with better data.
November 21, 2025 at 1:37 AM
“Never trust a professor who makes their grad students pay for their own food or coffee.” -the immortal Chris Krueger, sending me off to grad school
Reposted by Steph Brown
the reason you don’t chase reactionaries is they’ll demand you make your platform worse and then vote for someone even worse than that anyway, the best you can ask is that they stay home
the people who want to leave the cult, those you can give a cookie and a trans rights manifesto
the people who want to leave the cult, those you can give a cookie and a trans rights manifesto
November 16, 2025 at 5:47 AM
the reason you don’t chase reactionaries is they’ll demand you make your platform worse and then vote for someone even worse than that anyway, the best you can ask is that they stay home
the people who want to leave the cult, those you can give a cookie and a trans rights manifesto
the people who want to leave the cult, those you can give a cookie and a trans rights manifesto
Reposted by Steph Brown
Grades are not accountability. Grades are a quantitative mystification of the qualitative. Letter grades were developed to create the illusion of rationalization in an industrial society & then, as now, exaggerate the potential for automating assessment & other labor by educators.
If high schools and elite colleges are holding students and teachers accountable for AP test results, you have a strong incentive to fix this problem.
November 19, 2025 at 5:22 PM
Grades are not accountability. Grades are a quantitative mystification of the qualitative. Letter grades were developed to create the illusion of rationalization in an industrial society & then, as now, exaggerate the potential for automating assessment & other labor by educators.
Hearing @theferocity.bsky.social say "mystery is an invitation to community" on Vibe Check this morning was wisdom I needed to open the day.
November 19, 2025 at 5:31 PM
Hearing @theferocity.bsky.social say "mystery is an invitation to community" on Vibe Check this morning was wisdom I needed to open the day.
Reposted by Steph Brown
And we're back! Join us December 4–5, 2025 at Northeastern University in Boston for our 12th annual The Caribbean Digital Conference. Our schedule is packed with wonders and amazing colleagues. Check it out! As always, attendance is free, whether zoom or live. Hope to see you there!
#TCDXII
Our twelfth conference dedicated to Caribbean digital studies. Jamaica, 2025.
thecaribbeandigital.org
November 18, 2025 at 3:20 PM
And we're back! Join us December 4–5, 2025 at Northeastern University in Boston for our 12th annual The Caribbean Digital Conference. Our schedule is packed with wonders and amazing colleagues. Check it out! As always, attendance is free, whether zoom or live. Hope to see you there!
Reposted by Steph Brown
The alts to these my god 🤣
November 16, 2025 at 11:44 PM
The alts to these my god 🤣
Also feel for the people on two-person committees, because imagine being stuck in a hotel room for three days with your department's resident creeper.
Had one of these that was so bad that even though I was only a grad student I almost contacted the school to let them know how badly the cmte members behaved. Everyone's knees smashed against the giant bed made it physically awkward, but wasn't even in the top 5 worst parts of the experience.
If you are not in academia, you might not know this, but job interviews used to be held at conferences IN HOTEL ROOMS. Women candidates in a hotel room alone with often all-male committees. People sitting on beds! The horror stories I've heard.
November 16, 2025 at 10:14 PM
Also feel for the people on two-person committees, because imagine being stuck in a hotel room for three days with your department's resident creeper.
Had one of these that was so bad that even though I was only a grad student I almost contacted the school to let them know how badly the cmte members behaved. Everyone's knees smashed against the giant bed made it physically awkward, but wasn't even in the top 5 worst parts of the experience.
If you are not in academia, you might not know this, but job interviews used to be held at conferences IN HOTEL ROOMS. Women candidates in a hotel room alone with often all-male committees. People sitting on beds! The horror stories I've heard.
I thing I sometimes thing about is that university departments were still doing job interviews in hotel rooms in the mid aughts
November 16, 2025 at 10:00 PM
Had one of these that was so bad that even though I was only a grad student I almost contacted the school to let them know how badly the cmte members behaved. Everyone's knees smashed against the giant bed made it physically awkward, but wasn't even in the top 5 worst parts of the experience.
Seeing this graph a lot, and this framing seems off. As someone who moved out of the US in my late 20s, these results read like a referendum on how bad things are in the US (extremely bad!) and less like people seriously considering & choosing the realities of being a non-citizen in a new country.
"In 2025, 40% of women aged 15 to 44 say they would move abroad permanently if they had the opportunity. The current figure is four times higher than the 10% who shared this desire in 2014, when it was generally in line with other age and gender groups"
Something tells me it's more than wanderlust
Something tells me it's more than wanderlust
November 13, 2025 at 9:42 PM
Seeing this graph a lot, and this framing seems off. As someone who moved out of the US in my late 20s, these results read like a referendum on how bad things are in the US (extremely bad!) and less like people seriously considering & choosing the realities of being a non-citizen in a new country.
Reposted by Steph Brown
Every location has a picket line in front of it. Don’t cross the line.
As of this morning, Starbucks workers across the country are officially ON STRIKE. And we're prepared for this to become the biggest and longest ULP strike in Starbucks history.
Say #NoContractNoCoffee with us: DON'T BUY STARBUCKS for the duration of our open-ended ULP strike! $SBUX
Say #NoContractNoCoffee with us: DON'T BUY STARBUCKS for the duration of our open-ended ULP strike! $SBUX
November 13, 2025 at 2:55 PM
Every location has a picket line in front of it. Don’t cross the line.
Me, but hoping universities still exist when I get to be Mrs. Dalloway's age:
Lady Victorianist here, measuring out my career in teaching Great Expectations when younger than Miss H; and then still teaching it when I am older
November 12, 2025 at 10:04 PM
Me, but hoping universities still exist when I get to be Mrs. Dalloway's age:
Reposted by Steph Brown
Wow and I always thought the most damning citation of Larry Summers was the epigraph from *Slow Violence and the Environmentalism of the Poor* (2011)
November 12, 2025 at 7:02 PM
Wow and I always thought the most damning citation of Larry Summers was the epigraph from *Slow Violence and the Environmentalism of the Poor* (2011)