Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Maria Damkjær

@mdamkjaer.bsky.social

1.3K followers 210 following 320 posts

Victorianist and knitter; Fiction on the Page in Nineteenth-Century Magazines (OUP) out now

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Pinned

Maria Damkjær @mdamkjaer.bsky.social · Jan 6

My book, Fiction on the Page in Nineteenth-Century Magazines, is out now with Oxford University Press!

academic.oup.com/book/58989

It’s a book about page fillers, product placement, and strange hybrid fiction. It asks how the page of the magazine became a spur for new, odd genres.

19 45 210

Reposted by Maria Damkjær

Sarah McAnulty, Ph.D. @sarahmackattack.bsky.social · 18h

"BUCKLE UP CHUCKEFUCKS, it's time to learn about SQUID in YOUR classroom

[insert various inappropriate emojis here]

That's right D-bags, we're back to school with the freaks of the deep. Come to our livestream next week to get weird with it"

7 6 140

Reposted by Maria Damkjær

Sarah McAnulty, Ph.D. @sarahmackattack.bsky.social · 18h

A teacher must have an email etiquette autoreplier bot set up.
I know I should NOT reply with:

"Dearest Kevin,

I am dreadfully sorry for the improper email I have burdened you with.

Kindly halt all lessons in email etiquette.

I am a grown ass woman with a PhD.

Auspiciously,

Sarah J. McAnulty"

a block of text from an email that reads "Hello,

I noticed your email is missing a polite greeting. Starting your email
with a greeting helps set a respectful tone.

Here are some examples of greetings you can use:
- Dear Mr./Ms. [Last Name],
- Hello [Teacher’s Name],
- Hi [Teacher’s Name],

Also, please remember to include a clear subject line in your emails.

Thank you!

Best regards,
[Your Name]"

47 33 420

Reposted by Maria Damkjær

dead manu walking @profchander.bsky.social · 13h

sometimes i think teaching literature is just teaching listening, attunement, becoming subject to the alterity of the text

1 4 21

Reposted by Maria Damkjær

Helen Kingstone @helenkingstone.bsky.social · 16h

I'm really proud of this: the latest issue of #VictorianStudies has an article of mine in it!
It's on #ageing and #generations, & the insightful ways that Victorian novelist Margaret Oliphant approaches these issues, with takeaways for us now.
doi.org/10.2979/vic....

1/

Cover of Victorian Studies journal, with lithograph of fairies!

1 4 25

Reposted by Maria Damkjær

Keith W. Dickinson @keithwdickinson.bsky.social · 21h

Today is a day when arts degrees are worthless, but the product of those degrees is so valuable it would kill an entire industry if they were made to pay for it.

The Verge @theverge.com · May 26

Nick Clegg says asking artists for use permission would ‘kill’ the AI industry

Paul McCartne, Elton John and others signed an open letter.

buff.ly

370 8.5K 22K

Reposted by Maria Damkjær

Dr Ian McCormick @wokestudies.bsky.social · 21h

I want this to be real.

2 9

Reposted by Maria Damkjær

Leon Jackson @drleonj.bsky.social · 1d

Archives!
Ah!-chives
Argh!-chives
Blah!-chives!

What was your last research day like?

Mine has been a lot of argh!, alas.

🗃️

5 5 26

Reposted by Maria Damkjær

Timothy @landbeforetim.bsky.social · 1d

Dolly Parton could’ve written Das Kapital, but Karl Marx couldn’t have written 9 to 5 and it shows

4 110 510

Maria Damkjær @mdamkjaer.bsky.social · 1d

Ooooo, can’t wait!

Amal El-Mohtar @amalelmohtar.com · May 7

Absolutely thrilled to share the cover to next year's short story collection coming out from @tordotcom.bsky.social! I'm obsessed with it!

Comes out March 24, 2026, but you can pre-order it now wherever you like getting your books! Here's Macmillan's link.

us.macmillan.com/books/978125...

On a gradient background that goes from blush-pink at the top to a muddy green at the bottom, a book cover. Super-imposed on a pastoral, oil-painting style image depicting a forested foreground and a hilly background beneath a soft champagne sky, is superimposed a 3-dimensional rhomboid-shape, the facets of which play with space. One facet shows a pale cloudy sky, and from it, a brown hare emerges chasing the hind legs and bushy tail of a wolf, the rest of which vanishes out of the rhomboid frame. The rhomboid's other facets -- which create the kind of infinity loop of an Escher painting -- are either blush-pink or covered in the greenery from the background. Above the rhomboid is the title, and the subtitle "Stories"; below it are the words New York Times Bestselling & Award-winning Author Amal El-Mohtar. My name and the word "Stories" are in the same blush-pink as the rhomboid's facets.

Reposted by Maria Damkjær

Erica Haugtvedt @ehaugtvedt.bsky.social · 1d

I need help finding scans of _Boys of England_ vol. 1, issues 1-? (early issues, 1866). If you are able to help, please message me. Thank you!

2 2

Reposted by Maria Damkjær

Squee @shessquee.bsky.social · 2d

I need this

Effin' Birds @effinbirds.com · 2d

Effin' Birds mugs are $10 until October 21st.
eatf.art/mug

A ceramic mug featuring an illustration of a bird beside the text "motherfucker you do not want to hear my actual opinion"

2 13 74

Reposted by Maria Damkjær

Cate Denial @cjdenial.bsky.social · 1d

This is a wonderful meditation on what AI cannot do.

Alex Shevrin Venet @asv.bsky.social · 1d

wowwww this is incredibly beautiful. tagging some friends who will love this: @ladyofsardines.bsky.social @heymrsbond.com @marcusluther.bsky.social

therumpus.net/2025/10/02/h...

Human Error Is the Point: On Teaching College During the Rise of AI - The Rumpus

My syllabus is a mess of half-remembered intentions. I re-use icebreakers that I know don’t work. I forget to grade the first assignment until Week Four. I write emails that begin with “So sorry for t...

therumpus.net

1 28 63

Reposted by Maria Damkjær

Jonathan Edward Durham @thisone0verhere.bsky.social · 1d

Calling my mom to have her come pick me up from 2025 early it’s being mean to me

4 44 550

Reposted by Maria Damkjær

Esther Schindler @estherschindler.bsky.social · 2d

I just saw someone use the abbreviation “AI;DR” and I’ll be laughing for a while.

26 2.3K 6.9K

Reposted by Maria Damkjær

Anna Kornbluh @annakornbluh.bsky.social · 2d

it me, lady admin, discharging a reprimanding missive to uncollegial misconductors

5 2 40

Reposted by Maria Damkjær

Johan Östling @johanostling.bsky.social · 3d

THE HISTORY OF KNOWLEDGE CONFERENCE

This week, on 8–10 October, LUCK is organizing The History of Knowledge Conference in Lund. I am delighted to be the host together with my dear colleagues.

The programme can be found here: newhistoryofknowledge.com/wp-content/u...

1 12 21

Reposted by Maria Damkjær

Mary L. Shannon @drmarylshannon.bsky.social · 3d

Excited to announce this gig I'm hosting at Cecil Sharp House Camden on Wednesday March 26.

Tickets on sale now: its going to be a fun night!

www.efdss.org/whats-on/26-...

Jump Billy!

A celebration of English folk's diverse history, through the life of celebrity Black Regency busker Billy Waters.

www.efdss.org

1 3

Reposted by Maria Damkjær

Dylan Lewis @iamdylanlewis.bsky.social · 3d

Babe wake up it’s brat autumn

1 7

Reposted by Maria Damkjær

Nick Sturm @nicksturm.bsky.social · 3d

A student in my publishing course is interested in researching book pulping and book recycling. Do we know any work or introductory material in this area?

(Work on remainders, print runs, supply chain, raw materials all relevant, too.)

15 21 48

Maria Damkjær @mdamkjaer.bsky.social · 3d

Yup

Susie Dent @susiedent.com · 3d

Word of the Day is ‘tandsmør’, from Danish. It describes bread that is buttered so thickly you can see tooth marks in it after every bite. Its literal translation? ‘Tooth butter’.

Maria Damkjær @mdamkjaer.bsky.social · 3d

If you want to know how Hades 2 is going, I just googled ‘Relationship status incantation’ with some urgency, so there it is.

I just want Nemesis to like me, is that too much to ask?

Reposted by Maria Damkjær

ianVisits @ianvisits.co.uk · 5d

In memoriam...

59 1.6K 5.5K

Reposted by Maria Damkjær

Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · 5d

🫡

How to Turn Off AI Tools Like Gemini, Apple Intelligence, Copilot, and More - Consumer Reports

AI features are crowding into Google search, Gmail, iPhones, Windows laptops, and other products. If you're suffering from AI overload, these settings can help.

www.consumerreports.org

48 5.4K 8.2K

Reposted by Maria Damkjær

Nathan K. Hensley @nathankhensley.bsky.social · 5d

this great point about the social character of knowledge —how knowing real things relies on others signaling when you’re wrong—is another way of highlighting the political importance of social shame. It also clarifies the fundamental nihilism of the AI-industrial complex

Gillian Branstetter @gbbranstetter.bsky.social · 6d

Memorizing this

1 20 57