#medievalsky

Using AI for tasks may erode intellect in just 10 minutes, study shows Participants who used AI to solve basic math and reading comprehension questions did worse than their peers who did not rely on the technology, a new study found.

Those in the AI group were more likely to solve problems correctly at first, but when AI was removed, they got more questions wrong or skipped them entirely. The participants were also less likely to persist with finishing the problems, which is one of the most important ways to acquire a skill.

I'm disappointed in you, Philadelphia.

Exploring the Prize Papers, a global early modern archive Using language skills, examine previously unknown records from the Prize Papers collection and produce descriptions to support digitisation.

Dream positions: 3 (!!) PhD placements at the Prize Papers with emphasis on finding students with the following language skills: French, Spanish, Dutch, and Scandinavian languages. (Of course, I emphasize the Dutch language!)
www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/professional...

Mrs. Thompson telling me to "cut the shit" (yes, those exact words) and do what I was capable of in 8th grade had an indelible impact. I promise you that Dorothea Thompson did not have infinite patience. Her 40 years of teaching were probably made possible by NOT having infinite patience.

Congratulations!!!

France passed a law requiring solar panels on every parking lot with more than 80 spaces.

Equals 10 nuclear reactors
Reduces heat island, shades cars

The US -- 800 million parking spaces. Most of them are uncovered asphalt sitting in direct sunlight.

Why aren't we doing this?

The Truth About Last Words: What Really Happens at the End of Life | Michael Erard | End Well 2025 YouTube video by End Well

@mitpress.bsky.social author @michaelerard.bsky.social talks about what inspired his 2025 book BYE BYE I LOVE YOU: THE STORY OF OUR FIRST AND LAST WORDS.

youtu.be/GiIh2NAZwD4?...

I hear that OAH is in Philly! historians, come say hi at the American Philosophical Society’s publishing salon on 4/15 at 5:30! We’re talking about publishing difficult books.

www.instagram.com/p/DVtVXa0lD5...

I think I'm going to start a support group for kids who had to go to chapel 3x a week in elementary school and hear about the second coming and the antichrist. Any other recovering SBC convention school kids out there?

74% turnout for a 2/3 parliamentary majority. So let's figure out how to get US participation at that rate!

Cover of the book True Color: The Strange and Spectacular Quest to Define Color--from Azure to Zinc Pink, by Kory Stamper (Knopf, 2026). The cover features twelve color swatches.

Ready for my autograph, @korystamper.bsky.social !

🎉🎉🎉

Black Sun is amazing!

TCNJ Day of Giving logo with chalk drawing of Roscoe, TCNJ's mascot

Today is the Day of Giving for #TCNJ! dayofgiving.tcnj.edu/campaigns/en...
Please support English Department initiatives.

Perfect homework, blank stares: Why colleges are turning to oral exams to combat AI A growing number of U.S. college instructors are turning to oral exams to help combat an AI crisis in higher education.

A growing number of U.S. college instructors are turning to oral exams to help combat an AI crisis in higher education.

You need to read this -- for a dozen reasons, but most importantly because broken hearts can carry the rage to demand change in the world. And this will break your heart.

The life of an academic approaching April: it's midnight and I'm still up prepping for tomorrow.

So here is where I am confused: once upon a time, Airline CEOs, flight attendant unions, and mayors and governors of cities and states with major airports would be lobbying Congress and the White House to stop this and fund TSA. So what the hell gives?

With AI finishing your sentences, what will happen to your unique voice on the page? Chatbots tend to produce solid writing, but their prose largely reflects a single, uniform voice.

You know how your phone finishes your sentences?

“I love…” → “you,” “coffee,” or a full email sign-off.

Now AI tools do it everywhere. And because they predict the most common phrasing, more writing is starting to sound the same.

One thing that AI evangelists seem to assume, particularly legal AI evangelists assume, is that the thinking and analysis is quick, and the writing is just tedious busywork that slows us down.

But the writing IS the thinking and analysis. You work out the thinking and analysis by writing it down.

This is a plot of Jennifer Egan's The Candy House.

Congratulations!

If we need clearer evidence of what happens when someone fails to internalize the value of the humanities, this is it.

This weekend, read a book. Any book. A serious book. A frivolous book. A cozy book. A bodice ripper. A fantasy escape. An old favorite. A new release. Go to a library or bookstore, pick five that seem interesting, read all the first pages, then take the one that grabs your interest the most.

I think we have an early #WOTY2026 candidate.

Cornell University told her Ōlelo Hawaiʻi did not meet language requirements to graduate. She pushed back, and won. Cultivating Culture Q&A Kaylah Toves spoke with Cultivating Culture about her work in language revitalization and what she's learned living between cultural and academic settings. Kaylah Toves took…

Kayla Toves, who is Kanaka‘ Oiwi and Acoma Pueblo, needed a language credit to graduate from Cornell. She fought to have her Indigenous language of Ōlelo Hawaiʻi count and won!

We warned you about putting fundamentally leaky and insecure "AI" systems into the research and education environment, bro! We fucken told you bro!

English - TCNJ Day of Giving The School of Humanities and Social Sciences comprises 11 programs, making it the largest school on campus. Your gift to the school, School of Humanities and Social Sciences Scholars project, and/or t...

March 26, 2026, is TCNJ's day of giving. Please mark your calendars to support initiatives from the Department of English. As we get closer to the day, I'll share what we have been doing. dayofgiving.tcnj.edu/campaigns/en...

star's car because the man was under 18, never had pocket money, and, therefore, never tipped. My grand-dad got one weekend off a month. /2