Christina Laffin
@christinalaffin.bsky.social
Associate Professor in Premodern Japanese Literature and Culture, University of British Columbia. She/her.
Pinned
After 7 years of meeting weekly, collaborating with 31 contributors, editing alongside multiple translators & research assistants, seeking advice, hunting sources, rethinking, & learning, learning, learning, 2 colleagues (now bosom buds) & I sent a 1000-page manuscript to press for review today. 1/
Reposted by Christina Laffin
When I was under 1, my dad was arrested in the UK. As was the standard procedure, he had the beating of his life and was left on a cell floor to reflect on the errors of his ways. He got 3 years in a max security jail. One of the men arrested with him died on hunger strike.
🐦🔎The University of British Columbia hosts talk on excavation conducted next to Israeli torture camp: Megiddo is the site of one of the largest torture camps for Palestinians; the dig is right next to the prison
sparrows4palestine.substack.com/p/ubc-hosts-...
sparrows4palestine.substack.com/p/ubc-hosts-...
UBC hosts talk on excavation conducted next to Israeli torture camp
Megiddo is the site of one of the largest torture camps for Palestinians; the dig is right next to the prison
sparrows4palestine.substack.com
November 20, 2025 at 12:42 PM
When I was under 1, my dad was arrested in the UK. As was the standard procedure, he had the beating of his life and was left on a cell floor to reflect on the errors of his ways. He got 3 years in a max security jail. One of the men arrested with him died on hunger strike.
Reposted by Christina Laffin
🐦🔎The University of British Columbia hosts talk on excavation conducted next to Israeli torture camp: Megiddo is the site of one of the largest torture camps for Palestinians; the dig is right next to the prison
sparrows4palestine.substack.com/p/ubc-hosts-...
sparrows4palestine.substack.com/p/ubc-hosts-...
UBC hosts talk on excavation conducted next to Israeli torture camp
Megiddo is the site of one of the largest torture camps for Palestinians; the dig is right next to the prison
sparrows4palestine.substack.com
November 20, 2025 at 12:17 PM
🐦🔎The University of British Columbia hosts talk on excavation conducted next to Israeli torture camp: Megiddo is the site of one of the largest torture camps for Palestinians; the dig is right next to the prison
sparrows4palestine.substack.com/p/ubc-hosts-...
sparrows4palestine.substack.com/p/ubc-hosts-...
Reposted by Christina Laffin
"To The World" is a comic zine by Jehad Abu Dayya and Esraa El-Banna, who wrote and drew the comic from their tents in Deir Al-Balah. Edited by Deena Mohamed, it tells the story of a fictional student named Farah, who shares her experience during the genocide in Gaza.
October 15, 2025 at 2:57 PM
"To The World" is a comic zine by Jehad Abu Dayya and Esraa El-Banna, who wrote and drew the comic from their tents in Deir Al-Balah. Edited by Deena Mohamed, it tells the story of a fictional student named Farah, who shares her experience during the genocide in Gaza.
Reposted by Christina Laffin
NEW: No Arms In The Arts launches boycott of the Scotiabank Photo Award.
70 artists, curators and photographers, including many past winners and nominees, are withdrawing their work ahead of the 2025 nominations.
boycottphotoaward.org
70 artists, curators and photographers, including many past winners and nominees, are withdrawing their work ahead of the 2025 nominations.
boycottphotoaward.org
November 10, 2025 at 1:56 PM
NEW: No Arms In The Arts launches boycott of the Scotiabank Photo Award.
70 artists, curators and photographers, including many past winners and nominees, are withdrawing their work ahead of the 2025 nominations.
boycottphotoaward.org
70 artists, curators and photographers, including many past winners and nominees, are withdrawing their work ahead of the 2025 nominations.
boycottphotoaward.org
Reposted by Christina Laffin
- Will it account for its leadership harassing pro-Palestinian authors publicly and privately?
November 17, 2025 at 11:56 PM
- Will it account for its leadership harassing pro-Palestinian authors publicly and privately?
Reposted by Christina Laffin
Questions it needs to answer:
- Who are its "anonymous funders?"
- Will the Giller finally end its partnership the Azrieli Foundation, set to renew this year?
- Will it confirm whether it has terminated its Indigo sponsorship?
- Who are its "anonymous funders?"
- Will the Giller finally end its partnership the Azrieli Foundation, set to renew this year?
- Will it confirm whether it has terminated its Indigo sponsorship?
November 17, 2025 at 11:53 PM
Questions it needs to answer:
- Who are its "anonymous funders?"
- Will the Giller finally end its partnership the Azrieli Foundation, set to renew this year?
- Will it confirm whether it has terminated its Indigo sponsorship?
- Who are its "anonymous funders?"
- Will the Giller finally end its partnership the Azrieli Foundation, set to renew this year?
- Will it confirm whether it has terminated its Indigo sponsorship?
Reposted by Christina Laffin
Right now, protesters are outside the pre-taped 2025 Giller Prize ceremony with a puppet of David Fingold (the asset manager at Scotiabank responsible for the bank's Elbit Systems investment) asking:
Who funds the Giller Prize?
Who funds the Giller Prize?
November 17, 2025 at 11:52 PM
Right now, protesters are outside the pre-taped 2025 Giller Prize ceremony with a puppet of David Fingold (the asset manager at Scotiabank responsible for the bank's Elbit Systems investment) asking:
Who funds the Giller Prize?
Who funds the Giller Prize?
Reposted by Christina Laffin
Yet again: can we accept that the current technology of generative AI is an inherently fascistic product, and should be treated as such?
Just as fascism is not inevitable, neither is the invasion of genAI into every aspect of society - especially education and academia.
Just as fascism is not inevitable, neither is the invasion of genAI into every aspect of society - especially education and academia.
“While the AI industry claims its models can “think,” “reason,” and “learn,” their supposed achievements rest on marketing hype and stolen intellectual labor. In reality, AI erodes academic freedom, weakens critical reading, and subordinates the pursuit of knowledge to corporate interests.”
AI Is Hollowing Out Higher Education
Olivia Guest & Iris van Rooij urge teachers and scholars to reject tools that commodify learning, deskill students, and promote illiteracy.
www.project-syndicate.org
November 18, 2025 at 12:11 AM
Yet again: can we accept that the current technology of generative AI is an inherently fascistic product, and should be treated as such?
Just as fascism is not inevitable, neither is the invasion of genAI into every aspect of society - especially education and academia.
Just as fascism is not inevitable, neither is the invasion of genAI into every aspect of society - especially education and academia.
Reposted by Christina Laffin
Health Care Workers Spoke Out for Their Peers in Gaza. Then Came Backlash. truthout.org/articles/the...
Health Care Workers Spoke Out for Their Peers in Gaza. Then Came Backlash.
Medical institutions are silencing their staff and impeding efforts to build solidarity with medical workers in Gaza.
truthout.org
November 18, 2025 at 4:53 AM
Health Care Workers Spoke Out for Their Peers in Gaza. Then Came Backlash. truthout.org/articles/the...
Reposted by Christina Laffin
Jaw dropped. Trump Administration Removes Report on Missing and Murdered Native Americans, Calling It DEI Content
Trump Administration Removes Report on Missing and Murdered Native Americans, Calling It DEI Content - Oklahoma Watch
The Trump administration removed a congressionally mandated report on missing and murdered Native Americans from the DOJ website, citing compliance with an executive order against DEI. Senators who ch...
oklahomawatch.org
November 17, 2025 at 3:22 PM
Jaw dropped. Trump Administration Removes Report on Missing and Murdered Native Americans, Calling It DEI Content
Reposted by Christina Laffin
It’s the universities encouraging students to use AI that really gets me. All this “we need to accept it’s here and teach them to use it” does not help students learn to think. Writing is for thinking and communicating, not just producing words.
I spent a lot of time this semester explaining why it produces bad work but at the end of the day, they're being asked to do a thing they find difficult, and this makes it easy for them, without any meaningful consequence. And the university encourages them to use it.
November 18, 2025 at 3:46 AM
It’s the universities encouraging students to use AI that really gets me. All this “we need to accept it’s here and teach them to use it” does not help students learn to think. Writing is for thinking and communicating, not just producing words.
Reposted by Christina Laffin
Finally got to the "I want to burn it all down" portion of the gen AI-era semester, where I realize they're all using some sort of LLM to "help" organize their thoughts and it's just spitting out raw sewage onto the screen.
November 17, 2025 at 10:04 PM
Finally got to the "I want to burn it all down" portion of the gen AI-era semester, where I realize they're all using some sort of LLM to "help" organize their thoughts and it's just spitting out raw sewage onto the screen.
Reposted by Christina Laffin
『国宝 熊野御幸記と藤原定家の書』三井記念美術館で開催 開館20周年を記念し、定家筆の名宝を翻刻文付きで全巻展示｜ニフティニュース news.nifty.com/article/enta...
『国宝 熊野御幸記と藤原定家の書』三井記念美術館で開催 開館20周年を記念し、定家筆の名宝を翻刻文付きで全巻展示｜ニフティニュース
2025年12月6日（土）より、中央区日本橋室町にある三井記念美術館で『国宝 熊野御幸記と藤原定家の書―茶道具・かるた・歌仙絵とともに―』が開催される。開館20周年を記念して、藤原定家筆《国宝 熊野御…
news.nifty.com
November 17, 2025 at 11:50 PM
『国宝 熊野御幸記と藤原定家の書』三井記念美術館で開催 開館20周年を記念し、定家筆の名宝を翻刻文付きで全巻展示｜ニフティニュース news.nifty.com/article/enta...
Reposted by Christina Laffin
I have not wanted to believe this for the 30 min since announced. Alice Wong was at the top of a very short list of ppl who truly made the world a better place; a fierce oracle who inspired, rallied, personally supported in dark moments +spoke up for so many of us in the disabled community.
💔 RIP
💔 RIP
I’m heartsick to hear that the incomparable Alice Wong has passed. Her loss will be felt keenly, by many, and for a long time. She is a force, a generous leader and storyteller, and an oracle for disabled futures. Much love to Alice and to all our crip kin and comrades. ❤️🩹
November 15, 2025 at 6:05 AM
I have not wanted to believe this for the 30 min since announced. Alice Wong was at the top of a very short list of ppl who truly made the world a better place; a fierce oracle who inspired, rallied, personally supported in dark moments +spoke up for so many of us in the disabled community.
💔 RIP
💔 RIP
Reposted by Christina Laffin
One way I have found to mourn someone is to set up a monthly sustaining donation to a mutual aid effort they cared about. If you can join me in honoring Alice Wong, @sfdirewolf.bsky.social with a sustaining donation today, please do. Thank you Alice, and I will not let the bastards grind me down.
November 15, 2025 at 12:34 PM
One way I have found to mourn someone is to set up a monthly sustaining donation to a mutual aid effort they cared about. If you can join me in honoring Alice Wong, @sfdirewolf.bsky.social with a sustaining donation today, please do. Thank you Alice, and I will not let the bastards grind me down.
Reposted by Christina Laffin
I don’t want to formulate words yet, but my friend Alice Wong, @sfdirewolf.bsky.social of the Disability Visibility Project, has passed.
Here are the words she left behind:
www.instagram.com/p/DREMDNBjnq...
Here are the words she left behind:
www.instagram.com/p/DREMDNBjnq...
Alice Wong on Instagram: "ID: Yellow background with black text "This is Alice's friend Sandy Ho, posting. Per Alice's wishes, this message is being shared at the time of her passing. Hi everyone, it ...
423 likes, 73 comments - alicatsamurai on November 14, 2025: "ID: Yellow background with black text "This is Alice's friend Sandy Ho, posting. Per Alice's wishes, this message is being shared at the t...
www.instagram.com
November 15, 2025 at 5:57 AM
I don’t want to formulate words yet, but my friend Alice Wong, @sfdirewolf.bsky.social of the Disability Visibility Project, has passed.
Here are the words she left behind:
www.instagram.com/p/DREMDNBjnq...
Here are the words she left behind:
www.instagram.com/p/DREMDNBjnq...
Reposted by Christina Laffin
We're honored to have @jppinfo.bsky.social featured in the NDL's Current Awareness Portal! We hope many more colleagues based in Japan will sign up for Japan Scholar Search, our project opportunities, and more! 🥰
国立国会図書館の『カレントアウェアネス』最新号で、「ジャパン・パスト＆プレゼント」を紹介する文章を掲載させていただきました。JPP の概要や、研究者・図書館員・学生の皆さまへの活用については、ぜひ下記の記事をご覧ください。 current.ndl.go.jp/e2838
E2838 – 日本の人文学のためのハブ構築の試み：ジャパン・パスト＆プレゼント（Japan Past & Present）
カレントアウェアネス-ENo.512 2025.11.06E2838日本の人文学のためのハブ構築の試み：ジャパン・パスト＆プレゼント（Japan Past & Present）柳井イニシアティブ UCLA、早稲田大学・マイケル・エメリック柳...
current.ndl.go.jp
November 7, 2025 at 8:49 PM
We're honored to have @jppinfo.bsky.social featured in the NDL's Current Awareness Portal! We hope many more colleagues based in Japan will sign up for Japan Scholar Search, our project opportunities, and more! 🥰
Reposted by Christina Laffin
“The optics are, oh, the police get everything they want.”
Here’s my story on the Vancouver Police Department asking for a $50 million increase to their 2026 budget while others city departments are facing challenges — and how at least one board member seemed aware of the conflict it would create.
Here’s my story on the Vancouver Police Department asking for a $50 million increase to their 2026 budget while others city departments are facing challenges — and how at least one board member seemed aware of the conflict it would create.
November 4, 2025 at 5:20 AM
“The optics are, oh, the police get everything they want.”
Here’s my story on the Vancouver Police Department asking for a $50 million increase to their 2026 budget while others city departments are facing challenges — and how at least one board member seemed aware of the conflict it would create.
Here’s my story on the Vancouver Police Department asking for a $50 million increase to their 2026 budget while others city departments are facing challenges — and how at least one board member seemed aware of the conflict it would create.
Reposted by Christina Laffin
[ONLINE THIRD THURSDAY LECTURE - Networks of Violence and Trade: Premodern Piracy in Japanese Waters]
Date: Thursday 20 November, 2025
Time: 6:00pm GMT - 7:00pm GMT
Speaker: Dr Michelle Damian (University of Wisconsin-Whitewater)
Sign up here: us06web.zoom.us/webi...
Date: Thursday 20 November, 2025
Time: 6:00pm GMT - 7:00pm GMT
Speaker: Dr Michelle Damian (University of Wisconsin-Whitewater)
Sign up here: us06web.zoom.us/webi...
November 3, 2025 at 3:53 PM
[ONLINE THIRD THURSDAY LECTURE - Networks of Violence and Trade: Premodern Piracy in Japanese Waters]
Date: Thursday 20 November, 2025
Time: 6:00pm GMT - 7:00pm GMT
Speaker: Dr Michelle Damian (University of Wisconsin-Whitewater)
Sign up here: us06web.zoom.us/webi...
Date: Thursday 20 November, 2025
Time: 6:00pm GMT - 7:00pm GMT
Speaker: Dr Michelle Damian (University of Wisconsin-Whitewater)
Sign up here: us06web.zoom.us/webi...
Reposted by Christina Laffin
CfProposals, Radical Histories of Palestine and Palestinians.
"We seek papers that take up materialist histories of Palestinian societies, that re-index Palestine onto global and regional currents in ways that force reconsiderations of scale and time."
www.radicalhistoryreview.org/radical-hist...
"We seek papers that take up materialist histories of Palestinian societies, that re-index Palestine onto global and regional currents in ways that force reconsiderations of scale and time."
www.radicalhistoryreview.org/radical-hist...
Radical Histories of Palestine and Palestinians – Due November 30, 2025 – Radical History Review
www.radicalhistoryreview.org
November 3, 2025 at 6:50 PM
CfProposals, Radical Histories of Palestine and Palestinians.
"We seek papers that take up materialist histories of Palestinian societies, that re-index Palestine onto global and regional currents in ways that force reconsiderations of scale and time."
www.radicalhistoryreview.org/radical-hist...
"We seek papers that take up materialist histories of Palestinian societies, that re-index Palestine onto global and regional currents in ways that force reconsiderations of scale and time."
www.radicalhistoryreview.org/radical-hist...
Reposted by Christina Laffin
Eminently reasonable proposed principles for professors’ use of AI, from a student refusinggenai.wordpress.com/2025/08/29/a...
October 31, 2025 at 3:10 PM
Eminently reasonable proposed principles for professors’ use of AI, from a student refusinggenai.wordpress.com/2025/08/29/a...
Reposted by Christina Laffin
‘Study after study shows that students want to develop these critical thinking skills, are not lazy, and large numbers of them would be in favor of banning ChatGPT and similar tools in universities’, says @olivia.science www.ru.nl/en/research/...
‘Opposing the inevitability of AI at universities is possible and necessary’ | Radboud University
Since the widespread release of ChatGPT in December of 2022, AI has taken over much of the world by storm – including academia. Most of this happened with very little pushback, despite a myriad of iss...
www.ru.nl
November 1, 2025 at 10:26 PM
‘Study after study shows that students want to develop these critical thinking skills, are not lazy, and large numbers of them would be in favor of banning ChatGPT and similar tools in universities’, says @olivia.science www.ru.nl/en/research/...
Reposted by Christina Laffin
Please support Sudan Solidarity Collective’s work
The Sudan Solidarity Collective is doing a big fundraising push to support our partners in El Fashir to support food distribution, evacuation and medications.
Please help us boost our support. Please share and donate 👇🏾 .
sudansolidarity.com
Please help us boost our support. Please share and donate 👇🏾 .
sudansolidarity.com
Home - Sudan Solidarity Collective
Solidarity with Sudan! Support the Emergency Response Rooms doing life saving work in Sudan by donating to the Sudan Solidarity Fund. Workshops4Sudan is a new fundraising initiative of the Sudan Solid...
sudansolidarity.com
October 29, 2025 at 3:40 PM
Please support Sudan Solidarity Collective’s work
Reposted by Christina Laffin
Belgian AI scientists are advocating *against* the use of AI in academia. “If independent thinking is no longer encouraged at university, where would it?” apache.be/2025/10/24/b...
Belgian AI scientists resist the use of AI in academia
Several AI scientists have published an open letter calling for a ban on AI use by students.
apache.be
October 24, 2025 at 9:34 AM
Belgian AI scientists are advocating *against* the use of AI in academia. “If independent thinking is no longer encouraged at university, where would it?” apache.be/2025/10/24/b...