Ainur Elmgren
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aelmgren.bsky.social
Ainur Elmgren
@aelmgren.bsky.social
520 followers 470 following 280 posts
Docent in Nordic history, university lecturer in history and social studies (University of Oulu). Draws comics. Interests: History education, 1910s/1920s politics & culture, Tatars, Avars, Late Antiquity-Early Middle Ages.
Suomi/Svenska/English/Deutsch
Posts Replies Media Videos
Reposted by Ainur Elmgren
sarahebond.bsky.social
Since it’s official. Thanks 🙏 @newyorker.com. This feels pretty surreal.
THE NEW YORKER Best Books of 2025 LABOR, UNIONS, AND RESISTANCE IN THE ROMAN EMPIRE SARAH E. BOND
December 23, 2025 at 2:34 PM
Reposted by Ainur Elmgren
outilansman.bsky.social
"Historian Ystäväin Liitto on myöntänyt vuoden 2025 historiateos -palkinnon Oulun yliopiston saamelaisen kulttuurin emeritusprofessorin Veli-Pekka Lehtolan teokselle Kenen maa, kenen ääni? Saamelaisten ja suomalaisten suhteet esihistoriasta nykypäivään."

yle.fi/a/74-2020037...
Saamelaisten ja suomalaisten välisestä historiasta kertova kirja valittiin Vuoden historiateokseksi
Veli-Pekka Lehtolan teos käsittelee Suomen historiaa kolonialismin näkökulmasta, mitä palkinnon myöntäjä pitää perusteltuna.
yle.fi
December 23, 2025 at 10:05 AM
Reposted by Ainur Elmgren
antiquity.ac.uk
Can't wait for Christmas? Here's an early present from Antiquity! 🏺
Our collection of contemporary #archaeology and theory covers topics from the ongoing impact of past conflicts to the future of research in a more divided world.

Access it completely free:
Contemporary Archaeology and Theory
A special collection of articles from Antiquity on Contemporary Archaeology and Theory
www.cambridge.org
December 23, 2025 at 10:22 AM
Reposted by Ainur Elmgren
chakarchinggis.bsky.social
📆🎁
21. JALĀL AD-DĪN MENGBURUNI KHẈĀRAZMSHĀH

Prince à la destinée contrariée, Jalāl ad-Dīn Mengburuni s'éleva dans la tourmente causée par l'invasion de son royaume pour devenir l'un des adversaires les plus résolus de Chinggis Khan et des Mongols. 1/44

#MongolAdvent #mongolsky #calavhist
Jalāl ad-Dīn Mengburuni Khẉārazmshāh (supposément) à la bataille de Bolnisi (1227) contre les Géorgiens. Miniature persane (détail) tirée du ms. BNF Supplément persan 206, fol. 67r., XVe s.
December 21, 2025 at 11:40 PM
aelmgren.bsky.social
Oulun yliopistossa on otettu käyttöön "liikennevalomalli" ohjeistamaan generatiivisen (huom.) tekoälyn käyttöä opintojaksoilla. Malli on kehittynyt versio tästä: arene.fi/ammattikorke...

Mallin "valoja" voi lisätä Moodleen. Mielestäni se on epätarkka. Yleensä lupa koskee tietyn sovelluksen käyttöä.
Arenen liikennevalomalli havainnollistaa generatiivisen tekoälyn käytön tapoja opintojaksolla. Liikennevaloissa on neljä väriä: Sininen = Tekoälyn käyttö vaadittu; Punainen = Tekoälyn käyttö kielletty; Oranssi = Tekoälyn käytöstä kerrottava; Vihreä = tekoälyn käyttö sallittu.
December 22, 2025 at 3:06 PM
Reposted by Ainur Elmgren
erinbartram.bsky.social
When we say "no, everything hasn't been digitized," I need you to understand that we really mean is that virtually nothing has been digitized. This is because the realm of primary sources that historians use is incomprehensibly large.
December 22, 2025 at 1:40 AM
Reposted by Ainur Elmgren
histgrove.bsky.social
Thanks @uk.theconversation.com for disseminating some of the results of our project "Unlocking Upcycled medieval data" (an Anglo-German collaboration between the @ihr.bsky.social and the #UniversityofBamberg).
December 22, 2025 at 11:08 AM
Reposted by Ainur Elmgren
olivia.science
Some examples of decolonial automata/computations, apropos of giving a mini talk on this tomorrow:

Towards Critical Artificial Intelligence Literacies doi.org/10.5281/zeno...

🐯 Tipu's tiger is amazing; sadly stolen & now in the V&A, created in India & depicting a tiger mauling an English man.

1/n
On the flip side, we can include positive examples in our teaching on the history of AI: Tipu’s tiger from late 18th century India, featuring the eponymous robotic cat mauling a European man (Karp et al. 2013); the Antikythera Mechanism from ancient Greece, which was a clockwork astro- logical calender; and the Mayans’ calendrical system that was highly precise and directly translat- able to a system of gears. We can also explain the origin of ‘algorithm’ and ‘algebra’, conceptually developed during the Islamic Golden Age. These serve not only to properly contextualise the his- tory of AI (Mayor 2018), but to reimagine with students what could be done differently. Regardless of AI, science has always been intertwined with domination, extraction, binary thinking, and the imposition of hierarchies (Tacheva et al. 2023). For example, the Cartesian dualist idea that the mind can be separated from the body is at the core of AI hype. Corporate discourses around AI feature preposterous claims, such that ‘ChatGPT has PhD level cognition capacities’, and they will be able to surpass human intelligence in the near future (Welt 2025), implying that technologies are human-like. However, far from LLMs having cognitive capacities, companies ob- fuscate the labour that is extracted from data workers (Miceli et al. 2020). In the classroom, we should question the mind and body binary and render visible its eugenical and colonial legacies. While we refute corporate claims, we also take them seriously as dehumanising workers, women, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tipu%27s_Tiger Tipu's Tiger, Tippu's Tiger or Tipoo’s Tiger is an 18th-century automaton created for Tipu Sultan, the ruler of the Kingdom of Mysore (present day Karnataka) in India. The carved and painted wood casing represents a tiger mauling a near life-size European man. Mechanisms inside the tiger and the man's body make one hand of the man move, emit a wailing sound from his mouth and grunts from the tiger. In addition a flap on the side of the tiger folds down to reveal the keyboard of a small pipe organ with 18 notes.[1] zoomed in to the tiger biting the man's neck Tipu's Tiger with the organ keyboard visible
December 14, 2025 at 7:45 PM
aelmgren.bsky.social
You've been kidnapped. The characters from the last TV show you watched are trying to rescue you.

Who's coming to save you?
Cast of 1670, a mockumentary about the Adamczewski noble family in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth during the late 17th century. They are experienced rescuers!
December 21, 2025 at 5:25 PM
Reposted by Ainur Elmgren
hollylalarebel.bsky.social
Ei yhtään yllätä, että Suomi on Euroopan pahnanpohjimmainen, paitsi tunnetusti rasismissa ja väkivallassa naisia kohtaan. Yritysjohtajat haikailevat autoritarismia demokratian sijaan, vapautta ja hyvinvointia ei sallittaisi kuin omille. Hyvässä seurassa muuten nämä sankarit, check keskirivin eka😅
December 21, 2025 at 2:10 PM
Reposted by Ainur Elmgren
jiipuuusitalo.bsky.social
"Feimit", the old roofing felt factory, now demolished, Tampere, 2018

#tampere #blackandwhitephotography #monochrome
December 20, 2025 at 5:09 PM
aelmgren.bsky.social
"Suomi oli heille jo sinänsä mielenkiintoinen asia, ja sijoittajat kyselivät siitä, mutta he tarttuivat tosi voimakkaasti tataaritaustaani. Moni ei tiedä, mikä tataari on."

Äfärin, Ildar-abzı! Arvasin otsikosta heti, kenestä juttu kertoo 🌷✨

yle.fi/a/74-20198111
Suomalainen esitteli sijoittajille korujaan salaisessa tilaisuudessa Pariisissa
Kulttuurivieras Ildar Wafin tunnetaan veistosmaisista koruistaan. Muotoilija on ylpeä tataarijuuristaan ja kaipaa Milanossa mummoaan.
yle.fi
December 21, 2025 at 8:49 AM
Reposted by Ainur Elmgren
drnwillburger.bsky.social
Astronomical #winter starts today. It's the shortest day of the year in terms of daylight with the sun starting to set later each day until Summer Solstice.
The mosaic depicts the dancing Genii (protective spirits) of the four seasons. The Genius of winter is wrapped in a heavy cloak.🧵1/2

#Solstice
Roman mosaic showing four youthful Genii of the seasons dancing around a draped central object, each in different clothing and seasonal attributes, with the winter figure at upper right wrapped in a heavy hooded cloak.
December 21, 2025 at 8:06 AM
aelmgren.bsky.social
Intressant reportage om situationen i Madagaskar. #strawhatspotting

"På torgen vajade svarta flaggor med vit dödskalle – en symbol inspirerad av mangaserien One Piece."

yle.fi/a/7-10088393
Donah Falia såg sin vän dö då Madagaskars president störtades: ”Ge dig inte förrän vi får frihet”
På Madagaskar fyller unga gatorna med krav på rättvisa. Kampen bottnade i lokala missnöjen, men är en del av en global rörelse av unga som vägrar tiga om orättvisor.
yle.fi
December 21, 2025 at 8:37 AM
Reposted by Ainur Elmgren
hsack121.bsky.social
US quietly removes sanctions from firms accused of supplying Russia’s military

euromaidanpress.com/2025/12/19/u...
US quietly removes sanctions from firms accused of supplying Russia's military - Euromaidan Press
Treasury dropped sanctions on Cyprus, Dubai, Turkish, and Finnish firms tied to Russian military supplies - without explanation.
euromaidanpress.com
December 20, 2025 at 6:48 PM
Reposted by Ainur Elmgren
mathiasced.bsky.social
Alltså...
toebias.bsky.social Tobias @toebias.bsky.social · 4d
"Isramila ska utvisas till Turkiet,
ett land hon aldrig varit i, inte behärskar språket i och där hon saknar både nätverk och skydd"

– Jag menar att detta är en konsekvens av en allt mer restriktiv migrationspolitik säger hennes advokat

www.vlt.se/2025-12-20/i...
Isramila, 20, utvisas – familj och vänner i chock
”Jag kan inte andas när jag tänker på vad hon går genom”
www.vlt.se
December 20, 2025 at 7:30 PM
Reposted by Ainur Elmgren
archaeomather.bsky.social
Don’t talk to me or my son ever again

(portrait of Don Mañuel Garcia de la Prada, ca. 1805 - 1808 by Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes, seen at the Des Moines Art Center earlier this month).
“Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes Spanish, 1746 - 1828 DON MAÑUEL GARCIA DE LA PRADA ca. 1805 - 1808 Oil on canvas Purchased with funds from the Coffin Fine Arts Trust; Nathan Emory Coffin Collection of the Des Moines Art Center, 1953.15 Goya is widely acknowledged to be the most important Spanish artist of his era. By the time this portrait was created, he was the court painter to King Charles IV (who ruled from 1788-1808), the highest position available to an artist in Spain. In this capacity, Goya painted the portraits of the King and Queen, as well as the Spanish aristocracy and important government officials. In these pictures, the artist used each subject's demeanor and clothing to convey their position in society. When Goya painted this portrait, Don Mañuel Garcia de la Prada was a banker with many connections to the royal court. Although he was middle-class, the easy confidence of his pose, his slight smile, and the clear refinement of his clothes all indicate his position of authority in Spanish society.”
September 29, 2025 at 5:11 PM
Reposted by Ainur Elmgren
jmkorhonen.fi
Joku oli löytänyt nykyaikanakin kurantin kuvan. Historia toistaa itseään.
December 20, 2025 at 7:50 PM
Reposted by Ainur Elmgren
j11h11.bsky.social
Arvottaako?

"Luontoarvojen lisäksi vaakalaudalla on Kukkalan mukaan paljon muitakin isoja asioita. Sellaisia kuin tutkijoiden riippumattomuus, tieteellisen tiedon puolueettomuus, hyvä hallinto ja tietopohjaisen päätöksenteon uskottavuus."

#luonto #politiikka

www.hs.fi/alueet/art-2...
Politiikka | Tutkijat lähtivät hankkeesta poliittisen sekaantumisen vuoksi – tieto vetäytymisestä haluttiin kätkeä
Tutkijat irtisanoutuivat ministeriön tilaamasta luontoraportista. He kokivat, että poliittisen ohjauksen sotkemalla raportilla voi olla ikäviä seurauksia luonnolle ja tieteen uskottavuudelle.
www.hs.fi
December 19, 2025 at 5:36 AM
Reposted by Ainur Elmgren
erinbartram.bsky.social
One argument I used to make to my students about why it was important to learn history (and historical thinking) is that someone was always going to be trying to tell you things were natural or had always been this way and that you needed to be able to see that as an exercise of power.
December 7, 2025 at 10:09 PM
Reposted by Ainur Elmgren
designyyssola.bsky.social
Olipa hyvää luettavaa tekoälyn "avusta" taiteilijan työssä:
- generaattorit antaa yleisiä ja tylsiä vastauksia
- työkaverit ja asiakkaat haluaa kerran näkemänsä yleisen ja tylsän
- taiteilija joutuu ylimääräisenä työnä kädestä pitäen näyttämään, ettei yleinen ja tylsä ole se, mitä ollaan tekemässä
thisweekinvideogames.com This Week in Videogames @thisweekinvideogames.com · 5d
We spoke to a dozen professional concept artists who are currently or have previously worked in game development about whether generative AI image tools have made their jobs any easier.

Zero said it did. Most said it made things harder.

thisweekinvideogames.com/feature/conc...
Concept Artists Say Generative AI References Only Make Their Jobs Harder
“The ‘early ideation stages’, when worlds are being fleshed out by writers and artists, are literally crucial to the development of a game’s vision,” said one artist.
thisweekinvideogames.com
December 19, 2025 at 5:43 AM
aelmgren.bsky.social
Haluaisin että historian tunneilla opetetaan uuden ajan alun yhteydessä Maria Sibylla Merianista. Tämän päivityksen alle kerään joitakin käyttökelpoisia viitteitä. Mutta nyt alkoikin kiinnostaa, missä vaiheessa peruskoulun ymppiä tai biologiaa opetetaan muodonvaihdoksesta.
Maria Sibylla Merian, Metamorphose des Seidenspinners. Aus Merians Studienbuch. Nach 1686, vor 1717. Aquarellfarben auf Pergament. Wikimedia Commons https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Maria_Sibylla_Merian_-_Metamorphose_des_Seidenspinners.jpg
December 17, 2025 at 3:11 PM
Reposted by Ainur Elmgren
marshslibrary.bsky.social
A break from Christmas content to enjoy this capybara eating a banana. From François Froger's 'A relation of a voyage ...' (London, 1698).
17th century engraving of a capybara under a palm tree eating a banana
December 17, 2025 at 9:49 AM
Reposted by Ainur Elmgren
ainosutinen.bsky.social
Kuti-lehden uudessa numerossa on tšekkiläistä sarjakuvaa 🇨🇿

Kutin voi lukea myös netissä, ja sen voi tilata ja tukea sarjakuvakulttuuria: linktr.ee/kutikuti
December 17, 2025 at 11:02 AM
Reposted by Ainur Elmgren
ninamarkl.bsky.social
i know this is hardly a new take but isn’t it WILD that wikimedia has to ask for donations to keep itself afloat when every LLM in the world has been trained on wikipedia data?
urocklive1.bsky.social Khashoggi's Ghost @urocklive1.bsky.social · 7d
This is my cyclical reminder that there's really only one consistently reliable source of info in the public record that isn't owned by right wing billionaires, who really want to put an end to it.

Please give at least the $2.75 minimum they request if you can.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
en.wikipedia.org
December 17, 2025 at 9:47 AM