AcademicChatter group

“one of the most frustrating kinds of AI hype is when people who are actually in a position to use their own expertise to push back instead give in to the FOMO and do the hype for tech companies. Today's case in point is a recent article in The Chronicle of Higher Education”

@emilymbender 🎯 on #AI #hype @academicchatter

https://buttondown.email/maiht3k/archive/doing-their-hype-for-them/

I said it before and I'll say it again: scientific journals have hardly any relevance any more, except for academic careers.

AI is just speeding up this evolution. We urgently need to rethink scientific communication!

@academicchatter #academia #ugent #Science #academicchatter
https://garymarcus.substack.com/p/the-exponential-enshittification

"Colonial statues in post-colonial Africa: a multidimentional heritage" by Sophia Labadi (2023).

"Is history being destroyed when colonial statues are removed from public space? This paper has explained that history is often being made when they are removed. Indeed, the hidden motivations for the construction and/or upkeep of these statues can then be revealed, along with their entangled colonial or racist legacies. Besides, their removals can aid in rectifying history, exposing in some cases the Eurocentrism of public spaces, and European epistemic domination. Such removal makes space for the erection of memorials for local heroes, who might have played more significant roles than colonial or racist figures".

#Colonialism #Heritage #CulturalHeritage #History #Africa #SophiaLabadi #HeritageStudies #OpenAccess

@academicchatter
@histodons
@histodon
@anthropology
@culturalheritage
@archaedons

https://doi.org/10.1080/13527258.2023.2294738

1957: Soviet Union launches Sputnik 1, and there's concern of the U.S.' shortage of Russian speakers to monitor Soviet activity

1958: Congress authorizes funding to strengthen education in foreign language

2023: A new report shows the study of languages other than English experienced an unprecedented drop of 16.6% since 2016

“This creates greater risks for national security,” explains a professor:
https://theconversation.com/fewer-u-s-college-students-are-studying-a-foreign-language-and-that-spells-trouble-for-national-security-198135

@academicchatter #academicchatter #HigherEd #ForeignPolicy

"Museums, Heritage, Culture: Into the Conflict Zone" by Kavita Singh (2015).

"But think for a moment of the history of museums. Think of the way their collections have been built, and the purposes they have served. Think of the violent encounters that often lay behind the collecting of curiosities in the age of exploration; or think of the museums built by missionaries to display pagan gods wrenched away from natives. Think of the vast collections built (and the ways these were built) during the age of colonialism, with entire monuments transported across the seas and re-erected in museum galleries. Think of the nations transformed by revolutions, where treasures were violently wrested away from the church and presented as desacralized avatars in museums".

#KavitaSingh #Museum #Heritage #CulturalHeritage #Culture #Colonialism #Conflict #Book

@academicchatter
@archaedons
@bookstodon
@anthropology
@histodons
@culturalheritage

https://www.academia.edu/15989299/Museums_Heritage_Culture_Into_the_Conflict_Zone

Is academia hostile to families?

"As is the case for many parents in academia, parental leave has played a major part in the trajectories of our lives and scientific careers". In contrast to Canada, "the United States has no federally mandated paid parental leave."

Early career academics are often poorly paid and are required to relocate frequently, causing obvious major challenges for young families.

@academicchatter #AcademicChatter #Science
https://sites.google.com/view/parental-leave-in-academia
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-02544-2