Signy Lynch
@signylynch.bsky.social
Theatre nerd, she/her | Contemporary intercultural, intermedial, diasporic & Black theatres in Canada; audience research; theatre criticism | Asst Prof at UofT (Mississauga and CDTPS)
Reposted by Signy Lynch
"Academics literally cannot make genAI go away" we also can't make underage drinking go away and we're not advocating for installing bar carts in every classroom.
December 27, 2025 at 11:46 PM
"Academics literally cannot make genAI go away" we also can't make underage drinking go away and we're not advocating for installing bar carts in every classroom.
Reposted by Signy Lynch
NEW: York University Censored Exhibition at Goldfarb Gallery then Fired the Curator
Artist Amy Ching-Yan Lam was forced to change her 'Acceptable Protest' animation, removing a 'Free Palestine' sign and reference to a university president character. By @rdassaly.bsky.social.
Artist Amy Ching-Yan Lam was forced to change her 'Acceptable Protest' animation, removing a 'Free Palestine' sign and reference to a university president character. By @rdassaly.bsky.social.
York University Censored Exhibition at Goldfarb Gallery then Fired the Curator
Artist Amy Ching-Yan Lam says York demanded changes to her exhibition critiquing university repression of pro-Palestine protest. Then the admin fired the curator, a decision dozens of faculty members…
www.thegrindmag.ca
December 17, 2025 at 11:23 PM
NEW: York University Censored Exhibition at Goldfarb Gallery then Fired the Curator
Artist Amy Ching-Yan Lam was forced to change her 'Acceptable Protest' animation, removing a 'Free Palestine' sign and reference to a university president character. By @rdassaly.bsky.social.
Artist Amy Ching-Yan Lam was forced to change her 'Acceptable Protest' animation, removing a 'Free Palestine' sign and reference to a university president character. By @rdassaly.bsky.social.
Reposted by Signy Lynch
My humanities dept was relevant. Majors were up. Courses were 100% enrolled. Revenue positive, GE serving, etc etc. We were still eliminated.
The problem is ideological administrative destruction. Couldn’t write a report, a self study, or a spreadsheet against that.
The problem is ideological administrative destruction. Couldn’t write a report, a self study, or a spreadsheet against that.
'For humanities departments to continue to matter, they must challenge the modern world rather than accommodate it. Indeed, the most useful lesson the humanities have to offer today is a profoundly countercultural one: Difficulty is good, an end in its own right.' 2/2
December 15, 2025 at 1:24 PM
My humanities dept was relevant. Majors were up. Courses were 100% enrolled. Revenue positive, GE serving, etc etc. We were still eliminated.
The problem is ideological administrative destruction. Couldn’t write a report, a self study, or a spreadsheet against that.
The problem is ideological administrative destruction. Couldn’t write a report, a self study, or a spreadsheet against that.
"with the daily barrage of news stories from the U.S., the assault on democracy in [Canada] is going largely unnoticed by both the media and the public."
Democratic backsliding is not inevitable and it is preventable, writes @journodale.bsky.social.
2025 brought the democratic backslide to Canada | Xtra Magazine
Mark Carney’s government needs to stand up for our rights or we’re headed in the direction of the U.S.
xtramagazine.com
December 12, 2025 at 12:21 AM
"with the daily barrage of news stories from the U.S., the assault on democracy in [Canada] is going largely unnoticed by both the media and the public."
This one wins! (But also, no thank you - I would prefer Ellen, Anna, and Barbara)
You will be visited by three spirits
December 10, 2025 at 3:44 AM
This one wins! (But also, no thank you - I would prefer Ellen, Anna, and Barbara)
Reposted by Signy Lynch
Canadian products being used to commit war crimes in Gaza, Sudan, and the Caribbean, but stopping this apparently wrong because it would hurt the arms industry and relations with the fascists south of the border. We are governed by ghouls. www.readthemaple.com/liberals-fea...
Liberals Fear Closing Arms Export Loophole Would Anger U.S.
A leaked briefing document gives the full picture behind the government’s talking points.
www.readthemaple.com
December 4, 2025 at 7:46 PM
Canadian products being used to commit war crimes in Gaza, Sudan, and the Caribbean, but stopping this apparently wrong because it would hurt the arms industry and relations with the fascists south of the border. We are governed by ghouls. www.readthemaple.com/liberals-fea...
Reposted by Signy Lynch
Become a monthly donor today and help us keep producing journalism like this: ricochet.media/donate/
Our new RJO status means that donors can almost double their donation at practically the same cost.
Our new RJO status means that donors can almost double their donation at practically the same cost.
The billionaire loophole: While ordinary Canadians struggle, the top one per cent hide billions in offshore tax havens — a colonial system engineered to protect wealth and starve public services.
New from @readtheorchard.org:
ricochet.media/labour/class...
#cdnpoli #taxtherich #budget2025
New from @readtheorchard.org:
ricochet.media/labour/class...
#cdnpoli #taxtherich #budget2025
The billionaire loophole: How Canada’s tax system fuels inequality
While ordinary Canadians struggle, the top one per cent hide billions in offshore tax havens — a colonial system engineered to protect wealth and starve public services
ricochet.media
November 26, 2025 at 3:59 PM
Become a monthly donor today and help us keep producing journalism like this: ricochet.media/donate/
Our new RJO status means that donors can almost double their donation at practically the same cost.
Our new RJO status means that donors can almost double their donation at practically the same cost.
Reposted by Signy Lynch
International lawyers are calling on Canadian police to investigate and arrest two participants in tonight's Munk Debate for possible war crimes for their roles in the 2008-2009 Gaza Massacre when Israel killed over 1,100 Palestinians.
By @rdassaly.bsky.social.
By @rdassaly.bsky.social.
Lawyers Urge RCMP to Arrest Former Israeli Politicians Ahead of Munk Debates
International lawyers are calling on Canadian police to investigate and arrest former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and former Foreign Affairs Minister of Israel Tzipi Livni for their alleged…
www.thegrindmag.ca
December 3, 2025 at 9:54 PM
International lawyers are calling on Canadian police to investigate and arrest two participants in tonight's Munk Debate for possible war crimes for their roles in the 2008-2009 Gaza Massacre when Israel killed over 1,100 Palestinians.
By @rdassaly.bsky.social.
By @rdassaly.bsky.social.
Reposted by Signy Lynch
This is the most prominent case, but not the only one. I worry a lot about already precarious institutions whose admins are bedazzled by the shiny promises and magical thinking surrounding AI and mortgage themselves to it. And all it will do is make them circle the drain faster.
„CSU—US’s largest public uni system—went all-in with a $17mill partnership with OpenAI. . .CSU unveiled its grand technological gesture just as it proposed slashing $375mill from its budget. While admin cut ribbons on AI, they were cutting faculty positions, academic programs, student services.“
AI is Destroying the University and Learning Itself
Students use AI to write papers, professors use AI to grade them, degrees become meaningless, and tech companies make fortunes. Welcome to the death of higher education.
www.currentaffairs.org
December 3, 2025 at 4:34 PM
This is the most prominent case, but not the only one. I worry a lot about already precarious institutions whose admins are bedazzled by the shiny promises and magical thinking surrounding AI and mortgage themselves to it. And all it will do is make them circle the drain faster.
Reposted by Signy Lynch
Looking to stave off the winter blues with some theatre?
Here are 9 local plays to check out in the coming weeks, as picked by The Grind's theatre critic Robyn Grant-Moran.
Here are 9 local plays to check out in the coming weeks, as picked by The Grind's theatre critic Robyn Grant-Moran.
Theatre Preview: What to See This Winter
The Grind’s theatre critic highlights local productions to check out in the coming months…
www.thegrindmag.ca
December 2, 2025 at 5:40 PM
Looking to stave off the winter blues with some theatre?
Here are 9 local plays to check out in the coming weeks, as picked by The Grind's theatre critic Robyn Grant-Moran.
Here are 9 local plays to check out in the coming weeks, as picked by The Grind's theatre critic Robyn Grant-Moran.
Reposted by Signy Lynch
I hope someone draws this wonderful story about Tom Stoppard's Arcadia and the power of the arts to help us see things differently, to the attention of our Education Secretary. Do read it, it will lift your spirits.
December 2, 2025 at 10:59 AM
I hope someone draws this wonderful story about Tom Stoppard's Arcadia and the power of the arts to help us see things differently, to the attention of our Education Secretary. Do read it, it will lift your spirits.
Reposted by Signy Lynch
Students reading by “candlelight” in my Book History and Materiality course.
December 1, 2025 at 7:20 PM
Students reading by “candlelight” in my Book History and Materiality course.
Reposted by Signy Lynch
Robyn Maynard, Ismail Adam (VP of the Darfur Diaspora Association) and I wrote this op-ed about Canada's complicity in Sudan, calling among other things for the loophole to be closed that allows Can. weapons to get to the RSF through the US + UAE.
breachmedia.ca/in-the-genoc...
breachmedia.ca/in-the-genoc...
In the genocide in Sudan, Canada has a hand in the violence ⋆ The Breach
The massacres of civilians in Sudan are being fuelled by Canadian weapons, mining interests, and refugee restrictions. It’s time for Canada to end its complicity
breachmedia.ca
November 28, 2025 at 6:01 PM
Robyn Maynard, Ismail Adam (VP of the Darfur Diaspora Association) and I wrote this op-ed about Canada's complicity in Sudan, calling among other things for the loophole to be closed that allows Can. weapons to get to the RSF through the US + UAE.
breachmedia.ca/in-the-genoc...
breachmedia.ca/in-the-genoc...
Reposted by Signy Lynch
Who, pray tell, is worshipping the liberal arts? Where is the mythical university alluded to here where STEM and business courses are criticized and somehow disincentivized by those in power?
It’s time to stop worshipping the liberal arts | Letters
Letters: While such institutions have intrinsic value, that doesn’t mean they are entitled to be socially favoured or economically exceptional for ever, says Jianyang Geng
www.theguardian.com
November 27, 2025 at 1:07 AM
Who, pray tell, is worshipping the liberal arts? Where is the mythical university alluded to here where STEM and business courses are criticized and somehow disincentivized by those in power?
Reposted by Signy Lynch
I fear the future when the students use the LLM to write the thing and the prof uses the LLM to grade the thing, and the prof uses an LLM to write their tenure narrative, and the external reviewer uses an LLM to write their letter, and higher ed is just a bunch of LLMs talking to each other.
November 26, 2025 at 1:29 AM
I fear the future when the students use the LLM to write the thing and the prof uses the LLM to grade the thing, and the prof uses an LLM to write their tenure narrative, and the external reviewer uses an LLM to write their letter, and higher ed is just a bunch of LLMs talking to each other.
Reposted by Signy Lynch
Human Rights Watch says Israel forcibly displaced 32,000 Palestinians from three camps in the occupied West Bank during “Operation Iron Wall”, calling it a war crime and urging investigations into senior officials, including PM Benjamin Netanyahu.
🔗: aje.io/w2wwey | #Infograph
🔗: aje.io/w2wwey | #Infograph
November 20, 2025 at 6:10 PM
Human Rights Watch says Israel forcibly displaced 32,000 Palestinians from three camps in the occupied West Bank during “Operation Iron Wall”, calling it a war crime and urging investigations into senior officials, including PM Benjamin Netanyahu.
🔗: aje.io/w2wwey | #Infograph
🔗: aje.io/w2wwey | #Infograph
Just absolutely horrific and staggering.
One analytical model shows that, as of November 5th, the dismantling of U.S.A.I.D. has already caused the deaths of 600,000 people, two-thirds of them children. https://newyorkermag.visitlink.me/jUzNSc
The Shutdown of U.S.A.I.D. Has Already Killed Hundreds of Thousands
The short documentary “Rovina’s Choice” tells the story of what goes when aid goes.
newyorkermag.visitlink.me
November 7, 2025 at 7:52 PM
Just absolutely horrific and staggering.
Reposted by Signy Lynch
This is not at all a dig at OP but many children of color learn this before they hit puberty.
I myself almost got expelled because I said some angry, “dangerous” words at a couple of meathead bullies in 7th grade.
I myself almost got expelled because I said some angry, “dangerous” words at a couple of meathead bullies in 7th grade.
One thing the NYC mayoral race underscored for me is how easily the phrase "I don't feel safe" can be weaponized. It's an argument I would hesitate ever to use again, even for a good cause. I hope we can all agree that we have the right to BE safe. Maybe we should leave it at that.
November 7, 2025 at 4:47 PM
This is not at all a dig at OP but many children of color learn this before they hit puberty.
I myself almost got expelled because I said some angry, “dangerous” words at a couple of meathead bullies in 7th grade.
I myself almost got expelled because I said some angry, “dangerous” words at a couple of meathead bullies in 7th grade.
Reposted by Signy Lynch
This slide only contains one of the highlights the Canadian Arts Coalition cites, but does anyone else not feel like GREAT NEWS CELEBRATE NO NEW CUTS is something only we would do? ($6 mill over 3 years does not cover inflation on a $325M annual budget so actually it is a cut.)
November 7, 2025 at 1:40 AM
This slide only contains one of the highlights the Canadian Arts Coalition cites, but does anyone else not feel like GREAT NEWS CELEBRATE NO NEW CUTS is something only we would do? ($6 mill over 3 years does not cover inflation on a $325M annual budget so actually it is a cut.)
Reposted by Signy Lynch
The long-running ideological war on libraries, education, and government workers is not separate from AI boosterism. It is the same ideological war on human knowledge and expertise. In some cases AI is being used to directly supercharge this effort:
www.404media.co/ai-is-superc...
www.404media.co/ai-is-superc...
AI Is Supercharging the War on Libraries, Education, and Human Knowledge
"Fascism and AI, whether or not they have the same goals, they sure are working to accelerate one another."
www.404media.co
November 6, 2025 at 4:21 PM
The long-running ideological war on libraries, education, and government workers is not separate from AI boosterism. It is the same ideological war on human knowledge and expertise. In some cases AI is being used to directly supercharge this effort:
www.404media.co/ai-is-superc...
www.404media.co/ai-is-superc...
Reposted by Signy Lynch
Canadian artists are bracing for cuts as PM Mark Carney signals austerity ahead of Tuesday's federal budget.
Arts groups warn that slashing 15% could devastate a sector still recovering from the pandemic, @tombeedham.bsky.social reports.
www.thegrindmag.ca/canadian-art...
Arts groups warn that slashing 15% could devastate a sector still recovering from the pandemic, @tombeedham.bsky.social reports.
www.thegrindmag.ca/canadian-art...
Canadian Artists Brace for Austerity: ‘Cuts Will Hurt Everyone’
With ministers instructed to reduce spending, Canada’s arts sector fears a major rollback of promised cultural investments. Advocates say austerity could shutter venues, erase jobs — and silence…
www.thegrindmag.ca
November 1, 2025 at 4:15 PM
Canadian artists are bracing for cuts as PM Mark Carney signals austerity ahead of Tuesday's federal budget.
Arts groups warn that slashing 15% could devastate a sector still recovering from the pandemic, @tombeedham.bsky.social reports.
www.thegrindmag.ca/canadian-art...
Arts groups warn that slashing 15% could devastate a sector still recovering from the pandemic, @tombeedham.bsky.social reports.
www.thegrindmag.ca/canadian-art...
Among many other things to say here, I'm very curious what she means by this 'undeniable' harm. Who was harmed? How were they harmed? I suspect the answers range from 'got their feelings hurt' to 'faced consequences for racial discrimination or sexual harassment'
This is an absolutely incredible thing to say. As someone in Ivy-ish (Duke) classrooms from 2016-2022… I call bull.
Or she was saying offensive shit.
Or she was saying offensive shit.
October 31, 2025 at 8:03 PM
Among many other things to say here, I'm very curious what she means by this 'undeniable' harm. Who was harmed? How were they harmed? I suspect the answers range from 'got their feelings hurt' to 'faced consequences for racial discrimination or sexual harassment'
Reposted by Signy Lynch
Look, I'm not saying students are perfect. Like the rest of us, they're in the process of becoming, and sometimes unskillful. But in my experience, faculty who've embraced Lepore's stance are often those who said something shitty and/or stupid to their students and are now feeling the consequences.
October 31, 2025 at 7:49 PM
Look, I'm not saying students are perfect. Like the rest of us, they're in the process of becoming, and sometimes unskillful. But in my experience, faculty who've embraced Lepore's stance are often those who said something shitty and/or stupid to their students and are now feeling the consequences.
Reposted by Signy Lynch
Trump and his sniveling minions continue to fling their feces. They fear strong voices. Mediocrity at its most cliche. www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/10...
Trump administration strips Nigerian Nobel winner Wole Soyinka of US visa
The first African author to win the Nobel in literature, Soyinka has been an outspoken critic of governments worldwide.
www.aljazeera.com
October 29, 2025 at 9:03 PM
Trump and his sniveling minions continue to fling their feces. They fear strong voices. Mediocrity at its most cliche. www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/10...
Reposted by Signy Lynch
'If the ceasefire holds, this language is an augur of the future. One where there is no reckoning, no addressing of root causes. Only a hurtling into the imperatives of cleanings-up and workings-out. All the while illegal occupation continues'.
While the perpetrators of Gaza’s genocide pose as its saviours, survivors return home – to a wasteland | Nesrine Malik
Western leaders attending the Sharm el-Sheikh summit have enabled and sponsored this slaughter. They are in no position to build a Palestinian future, says Guardian columnist Nesrine Malik
www.theguardian.com
October 13, 2025 at 6:00 AM
'If the ceasefire holds, this language is an augur of the future. One where there is no reckoning, no addressing of root causes. Only a hurtling into the imperatives of cleanings-up and workings-out. All the while illegal occupation continues'.