James Dunbar
@jamesad.bsky.social
architect, phd student (Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL), traveler, photographer, future architectural historian, part-time punk (semi-retired), critiques of ISM
Reposted by James Dunbar
"I think refusing is actually the more hopeful, expansive vision of the future than the one that is telling us that the future is already settled and decided. That's my daring idea. Just say no."
"This promise of an AI future, is really just a collective anxiety that wealthy people have about how well they're gonna be able to control us in the future."
- @tressiemcphd.bsky.social with an absolute mic drop moment about AI bullshit.
Incredible words.
Listen to all of it!
- @tressiemcphd.bsky.social with an absolute mic drop moment about AI bullshit.
Incredible words.
Listen to all of it!
December 21, 2025 at 4:08 PM
"I think refusing is actually the more hopeful, expansive vision of the future than the one that is telling us that the future is already settled and decided. That's my daring idea. Just say no."
Reposted by James Dunbar
“It turns out that banishing the slur from public discourse was, in fact, important. Because now it’s back and it turns out that it does matter when subtext becomes actual text, when terrible people enable open hatred and bigotry, encouraging others to emulate them, degrading us all.”
Perry: The return of the r-word
"These days, the r-word slur has become a staple of the American right wing, uttered with few professional or social consequences," David M. Perry writes.
www.startribune.com
December 22, 2025 at 2:00 PM
“It turns out that banishing the slur from public discourse was, in fact, important. Because now it’s back and it turns out that it does matter when subtext becomes actual text, when terrible people enable open hatred and bigotry, encouraging others to emulate them, degrading us all.”
Reposted by James Dunbar
Further down thread it says 170 fac have been given offers (buyouts, retirements). If not enough take them there will be “involuntary separations.” 170! Think of the collective yrs of training, specialization, teaching, the number of students taught, advised, mentored, the wealth of KNOWLEDGE.
New School “administrators have started to implement a plan to close, overhaul or merge about 30 academic programs or majors; pause nearly all admissions to doctoral programs; and offer buyouts or early retirement to what professors say is about 40 percent of the full-time faculty.”
Falling Enrollment, Money Woes: The New School Seeks a Path to Survival
www.nytimes.com
December 19, 2025 at 1:35 PM
Further down thread it says 170 fac have been given offers (buyouts, retirements). If not enough take them there will be “involuntary separations.” 170! Think of the collective yrs of training, specialization, teaching, the number of students taught, advised, mentored, the wealth of KNOWLEDGE.
Reposted by James Dunbar
Obviously this is being done without congressional approval.
December 19, 2025 at 4:11 PM
Obviously this is being done without congressional approval.
Reposted by James Dunbar
There’s still no clear plan for where these programs or scientists go, how the work continues, or how disruptions are avoided. Congress could intervene but for now, this is a deliberate move to dismantle core public-safety science under the banner of ideology.
December 19, 2025 at 3:22 AM
There’s still no clear plan for where these programs or scientists go, how the work continues, or how disruptions are avoided. Congress could intervene but for now, this is a deliberate move to dismantle core public-safety science under the banner of ideology.
Reposted by James Dunbar
Unbelievable. This would be a terrible blow to American science, writ large. It would decimate not only climate research, but also the kind of weather, wildfire, and disaster research that has underpinned half a century of progress in prediction, early warning, and increased resilience.
Exclusive: The Trump administration is moving to dismantle the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Colorado, according to a senior White House official, taking aim at one of the world's leading climate research labs.
Trump moves to dismantle major US climate research center in Colorado
The Trump administration is breaking up the National Center for Atmospheric Research, taking aim at one of the world's leading climate research labs.
bit.ly
December 17, 2025 at 2:49 AM
Unbelievable. This would be a terrible blow to American science, writ large. It would decimate not only climate research, but also the kind of weather, wildfire, and disaster research that has underpinned half a century of progress in prediction, early warning, and increased resilience.
Reposted by James Dunbar
As a person who has been studying extreme far right ideologies for the last decade (and did a PhD on immigration) I find the entrance of “remigration” into the mainstream American political lexicon so profoundly disturbing
December 16, 2025 at 1:03 PM
As a person who has been studying extreme far right ideologies for the last decade (and did a PhD on immigration) I find the entrance of “remigration” into the mainstream American political lexicon so profoundly disturbing
Reposted by James Dunbar
"We envision a resistance that is...a repudiation of the efficiencies that automated algorithmic education falsely promises: a resistance comprising the collective force of small acts of friction."
"How to Resist AI in Education" by me & @cnygren.bsky.social
www.publicbooks.org/four-frictio...
"How to Resist AI in Education" by me & @cnygren.bsky.social
www.publicbooks.org/four-frictio...
Four Frictions: or, How to Resist AI in Education - Public Books
We are calling for resistance to the AI industry’s ongoing capture of higher education.
www.publicbooks.org
December 16, 2025 at 5:27 PM
"We envision a resistance that is...a repudiation of the efficiencies that automated algorithmic education falsely promises: a resistance comprising the collective force of small acts of friction."
"How to Resist AI in Education" by me & @cnygren.bsky.social
www.publicbooks.org/four-frictio...
"How to Resist AI in Education" by me & @cnygren.bsky.social
www.publicbooks.org/four-frictio...
Reposted by James Dunbar
Well, this is an utter disaster for science.
This gutting of peer review is very likely driven by Project 2025/OMB/Vought, very likely is about funding junk science, and very likely is coming for #NIH and biomedical research next.
🧪
This gutting of peer review is very likely driven by Project 2025/OMB/Vought, very likely is about funding junk science, and very likely is coming for #NIH and biomedical research next.
🧪
December 16, 2025 at 4:10 AM
Well, this is an utter disaster for science.
This gutting of peer review is very likely driven by Project 2025/OMB/Vought, very likely is about funding junk science, and very likely is coming for #NIH and biomedical research next.
🧪
This gutting of peer review is very likely driven by Project 2025/OMB/Vought, very likely is about funding junk science, and very likely is coming for #NIH and biomedical research next.
🧪
Reposted by James Dunbar
Last week, the New School issued voluntary separation & early retirement offers to 40% of the full-time faculty & the majority of non-union staff. These cuts to the bone are an ideological attempt to decimate historic spaces of critical inquiry & social justice. Share our statement tr.ee/qQBIDCpIuj
OFFICIAL Statement from AAUP-TNS on Cuts to Faculty and Staff 12-9-25
The New School - Austerity Cuts to the Bone A Statement from the Leadership Council of AAUP-TNS On December 3, 2025, New School President Joel Towers and Provost Richard Kessler issued voluntary sep...
tr.ee
December 14, 2025 at 1:05 AM
Last week, the New School issued voluntary separation & early retirement offers to 40% of the full-time faculty & the majority of non-union staff. These cuts to the bone are an ideological attempt to decimate historic spaces of critical inquiry & social justice. Share our statement tr.ee/qQBIDCpIuj
Reposted by James Dunbar
‘While Stalin and Hitler wanted to remake artists into “domestic servants of the regime”, Breton and Trotsky held that “true art is unable not to be revolutionary, not to aspire to a complete and radical reconstruction of society.”’
Hal Foster on the Surrealists.
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Hal Foster on the Surrealists.
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Hal Foster · Tightrope of Hope: Surrealism v. Fascism
The Surrealists saw colonialism and imperialism as intrinsic to fascism, and from start to finish they campaigned...
www.lrb.co.uk
December 15, 2025 at 3:40 PM
‘While Stalin and Hitler wanted to remake artists into “domestic servants of the regime”, Breton and Trotsky held that “true art is unable not to be revolutionary, not to aspire to a complete and radical reconstruction of society.”’
Hal Foster on the Surrealists.
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Hal Foster on the Surrealists.
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
S.L.O.P. - word of the year
youtu.be/BFSq_FTatxE?...
youtu.be/BFSq_FTatxE?...
December 15, 2025 at 3:22 PM
S.L.O.P. - word of the year
youtu.be/BFSq_FTatxE?...
youtu.be/BFSq_FTatxE?...
Reposted by James Dunbar
we occupied the new school over and over again back in the day, demanding a new provost, cheaper tuition and the abolition of time, sorry we didn’t go far enough
December 14, 2025 at 2:44 PM
we occupied the new school over and over again back in the day, demanding a new provost, cheaper tuition and the abolition of time, sorry we didn’t go far enough
Reposted by James Dunbar
Caring is an act of resistance in a system that thrives on indifference.
December 13, 2025 at 5:23 PM
Caring is an act of resistance in a system that thrives on indifference.
Reposted by James Dunbar
I guess i can always count on the Danish comrades to hype my book 🥹
And it just so happens that @versobooks.bsky.social is having their end of year sale! 🎄
And it just so happens that @versobooks.bsky.social is having their end of year sale! 🎄
December 12, 2025 at 4:06 PM
I guess i can always count on the Danish comrades to hype my book 🥹
And it just so happens that @versobooks.bsky.social is having their end of year sale! 🎄
And it just so happens that @versobooks.bsky.social is having their end of year sale! 🎄
Reposted by James Dunbar
"It says here on page 62 that the task of Danish Marxism is to abolish itself", said Toad cheerfully.
"Lovely", Frog replied.
"Lovely", Frog replied.
December 12, 2025 at 10:46 AM
"It says here on page 62 that the task of Danish Marxism is to abolish itself", said Toad cheerfully.
"Lovely", Frog replied.
"Lovely", Frog replied.
Reposted by James Dunbar
My advice to the New School grad students is that it's time to get fucking weird. Don't let the DSA or your Union stop you. Occupy some buildings, chase university Presidents down Fifth Ave. Bring in allies from CUNY, NYU, Columbia, Pratt, SVA, the anarchist community, go hard.
December 10, 2025 at 4:15 PM
My advice to the New School grad students is that it's time to get fucking weird. Don't let the DSA or your Union stop you. Occupy some buildings, chase university Presidents down Fifth Ave. Bring in allies from CUNY, NYU, Columbia, Pratt, SVA, the anarchist community, go hard.
I first learned of Frank Gehry in 1991, in my 2nd year design studio at Cal Poly. He has intrigued me over the last 34 years and his buildings more often than not have been a delight to experience. Some views from my camera:
December 5, 2025 at 8:57 PM
I first learned of Frank Gehry in 1991, in my 2nd year design studio at Cal Poly. He has intrigued me over the last 34 years and his buildings more often than not have been a delight to experience. Some views from my camera:
Reposted by James Dunbar
Back when I-35 first sliced through Austin, Texas, in the 1950s, no visual archive was kept of the people whom the highway displaced. Now, as TxDOT annexes properties along I-35 to expand the interstate, documentary photographer Liz Moskowitz records some of the people and businesses being upended.
Along a Path of Impermanence
A documentary photographer records some of the people and places being disrupted by an expansion of Interstate 35 through the center of Austin, Texas.
placesjournal.org
December 4, 2025 at 10:34 PM
Back when I-35 first sliced through Austin, Texas, in the 1950s, no visual archive was kept of the people whom the highway displaced. Now, as TxDOT annexes properties along I-35 to expand the interstate, documentary photographer Liz Moskowitz records some of the people and businesses being upended.
Reposted by James Dunbar
Maybe instead of committing atrocities, we could just make the rich pay their fair share and have universal healthcare and affordable housing instead.
Idk, just spitballing here.
Idk, just spitballing here.
Palantir CEO Says Making War Crimes Constitutional Would Be Good for Business
Palantir CEO Says Making War Crimes Constitutional Would Be Good for Business
Alex Karp vows to use his "whole influence" on immigration and defense policy.
gizmodo.com
December 4, 2025 at 4:31 AM
Maybe instead of committing atrocities, we could just make the rich pay their fair share and have universal healthcare and affordable housing instead.
Idk, just spitballing here.
Idk, just spitballing here.
Reposted by James Dunbar
“Asking drivers to pay a fair rate for using public land is just that: fair…. For decades, New York has charged the people in motion while subsidizing the people at rest. We can reverse that.”
December 3, 2025 at 2:05 PM
“Asking drivers to pay a fair rate for using public land is just that: fair…. For decades, New York has charged the people in motion while subsidizing the people at rest. We can reverse that.”
Reposted by James Dunbar
And so it begins. Please remember (just like in Chicago, LA, and Charlotte) get organized and protect your communities. We’re already hearing that people are traveling to New Orleans to help, just as many did in Charlotte.
December 3, 2025 at 3:00 PM
And so it begins. Please remember (just like in Chicago, LA, and Charlotte) get organized and protect your communities. We’re already hearing that people are traveling to New Orleans to help, just as many did in Charlotte.
Reposted by James Dunbar
This table from the new UK Biodiversity Indicators is particularly stark, bleak, and awful. Almost every major group of UK birds is doing badly in the long- and/or short-term. None are showing sustained recovery, most have been declining for 50 years. Awful. #ukbirding #ornithology
December 2, 2025 at 11:04 PM
This table from the new UK Biodiversity Indicators is particularly stark, bleak, and awful. Almost every major group of UK birds is doing badly in the long- and/or short-term. None are showing sustained recovery, most have been declining for 50 years. Awful. #ukbirding #ornithology
Reposted by James Dunbar
Realtors know that, in many parts of the country, if you educate people about climate risk, the housing market will collapse.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/30/c...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/30/c...
Zillow Removes Climate Risk Scores From Home Listings
www.nytimes.com
November 30, 2025 at 1:57 PM
Realtors know that, in many parts of the country, if you educate people about climate risk, the housing market will collapse.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/30/c...
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/30/c...