My monthly post to say I am still searching for lecturing roles & post-docs. Open to research collaborations and voluntary academic work. Times are tough out there but I’d appreciate any leads. 🏹

Postáil de chuid Muslim Sisters of Éire: We’ve spent the last 48 hours coordinating the logistics and prep work necessary to get our soup run stationed at the GPO. When we got to the top of O’Connell Street, the Guards wouldn’t allow us to go through, but after much persuasion, they escorted us with a patrol car up to the GPO. Given the current situation, we truly appreciate them assisting us despite having their hands full. We arrived and were surprised that the queue was not as large as expected. When we got there, a lot of people thought that we wouldn’t be able to get through. Soon the word got out and the queue became much longer. Everything went well; we had a lot of food and donations. A huge shout out to little Amelia who came to our office and donated €50 from her birthday money as well as her Easter eggs—such kindness and beauty in such a young child. A credit to her mammy and daddy. Tonight took a deeply upsetting turn. As we were finishing our service, we were approached by a group of five or six individuals carrying Irish flags. They began shouting xenophobic rhetoric, telling us this country is "only for the Irish," that we don't belong here, and that we should "go home."

In a beautiful show of solidarity, those around the GPO immediately spoke up, asserting that we are Irish. However, the situation turned hostile. Our Chairperson and founder was targeted with verbal abuse and told to "go back where she came from"—despite being from Coolock. It was clear that because she wears a hijab, her identity as an Irish woman was being questioned. In 11 years of service, we have never experienced such verbal abuse. It was difficult to maintain the peace, but the homeless community—truly amazing people—stepped up to protect us. We are grateful that the situation eventually de-escalated and the Gardaí arrived to disperse the group. Providing 300 meals to those in need only to be met with hate is sickening. But let it be known: we remain undeterred. We are united, and we will always be there for the less fortunate, regardless of their background. In Ireland, you don’t need an ID to receive a warm meal from a soup run. We can’t do this without your constant support. If you would like to help us or donate, please visit https://msoe.ie/donate/.

Is mar gheall ar ghrúpaí ar nós Muslim Sisters of Éire nach bhfuil cúrsaí níos measa fós sa tír. An dream sin a mhaíonn gur cheart "tús áite a thabhairt d'Éireannaigh", léiríonn siad arís is arís eile gur cuma leo dáiríre faoi dhaoine eile, níl sa mhaíomh sin ach iarracht an ciníochas a cheilt.

My monthly post to say I am still searching for lecturing roles & post-docs. Open to research collaborations and voluntary academic work. Times are tough out there but I’d appreciate any leads. 🏹

Me, please. I specialise in auteurs & emergent technologies.

Look what the Easter Bunny brought you!

doi.org/10.3167/proj...

Our paper with @cynthiacabanas.bsky.social et al. is part of PROJECTIONS' 'David Bordwell special issue,' in which "authors ... assembled ... [to] take up specific topics related to Bordwell's prodigious record of film scholarship"

Watching one of my favourite films of the past few years before it leaves Netflix.

A reminder you can read my latest open-access article 'TikTok Wes (AI)nderson: Fan Participation and the Auteur in the Age of Algorithmic Reproduction' in Makings Journal, as part of a special issue on the 'creative audience'. makingsjournal.com/tiktok-wes-a...

As the racist rapist Trump presides over apartheid Israel's genocide of Palestinians, the disgusting Board of Peace and the destruction of Lebanon and Iran, it is utterly shameful that Micheál Martin would shake the hand of this war criminal. Not in our name.
#FreePalestine

Habermas as an ethnic thinker Par Excellence: on critique, Palestine and the role of intellectuals Irfan Ahmad Taking Habermas’ 2023 statement on Palestinians-Israel as the point of entry, this article examines his concept of critique. Against the dominant view of him as a philosopher of ‘universalism’ and ‘critical rationality,’ my thesis is that Habermas is an ethnic thinker, for, his ideas of critique and universalism unidirectionally rest on ‘to all’ rather than ‘from all.’ Consequently, it is missionary and borders on Islamophobia, particularly after 9/11. I show how Habermas’ denial of Palestinians’ genocide and his unqualified support to ‘Israel's right to exist’ as integral to Germany's ‘democratic ethos’ is neither an ample departure from his participation in the Hitler Youth nor from his understanding of the Enlightenment-modernity but largely their offshoots. I also juxtapose Habermas’ role as a public intellectual with that of Imam Malik (d. 795) who chose to be flogged rather than parrot unjust language of power elites. I conclude with three broad implications this article has in the field of teaching in higher education.

This piece goes so hard:

First bit of research post-PhD. Working on something cool for Routledge.

Classrooms of children in Iran. Hundreds of people in Lebanon. The ongoing genocide in Gaza.

The message from our political and media class is clear: their lives are less valuable than others.

Every human being matters, and every human being deserves a life of peace.

I have officially completed my PhD and submitted the final hardbound thesis to Trinity Library. It has been a privilege to study here for 8 consecutive years. My thesis is the first major scholarship on the subject of Alexandre Astruc’s theory in the digital age.

Some examples of the 80+ screenshots in the whole thesis.

The experiences of undergoing the viva in December and then making minor corrections to the manuscript were reassuring and very positive, thanks to my examiners. I want to thank my supervisor, Dr. Jennifer O’Meara of the Film Department, for her invaluable support over these 4 years.

I have officially completed my PhD and submitted the final hardbound thesis to Trinity Library. It has been a privilege to study here for 8 consecutive years. My thesis is the first major scholarship on the subject of Alexandre Astruc’s theory in the digital age.

I'm happy to announce you can now read my article 'Wes (AI)nderson: Fan Participation and the Auteur in the Age of Algorithmic Reproduction'. makingsjournal.com/tiktok-wes-a...

1908: the Lancet, one of the most respected scientific journals, calls for 18 age limit on reading in bed amidst a moral panic surrounding children becoming "addicted" to novels, which were "designed to keep kids hooked" and destroy their attention/mental health

Iran, Pakistan, Kabul? Grok Maps 3 Different 'Facts' For The Same Viral Video | BOOM Grok hallucinated three conflicting 'facts' about viral video of an Iranian school attack, failing to find its location.

People are now using Grok to «verify» videos of attacks, and as expected, each time Grok delivers different, mutually exclusive but plausibly sounding versions of the «facts.»
And yes, this is essentially the same AI model now being used by the US military in classified operations
#WildForensis

Abstract:

The special issue covers Noël Carroll's concept of the 'creative audience' (2014). My article would be of special interest to fan scholars @fanstudies.bsky.social and those who study 'new cinephilia' in the digital age (as well as Anderson and auteur scholars). I also cover AI.

I'm happy to announce you can now read my article 'Wes (AI)nderson: Fan Participation and the Auteur in the Age of Algorithmic Reproduction'. makingsjournal.com/tiktok-wes-a...

Many in academia feel so gaslit by the higher ed institutions that claim to be progressive and inclusive while peddling the gimmicky toys of racist tech bros. No, I don’t think AI can help me grade essays or design modules. Leave me alone.

“The purpose behind the release of herbicide on the villages remains unclear.”

Israel has been dumping herbicides throughout southern Lebanon as part of a concerted ecocide campaign to render the region uninhabitable. This has been going on for months with Lebanese journalists & environmentalists regularly reporting on it.

The BBC: we don’t know why the Israelis are doing it

Computer-vision research powers surveillance technology - Nature An analysis of research papers and citing patents indicates the extensive ties between computer-vision research and surveillance.

New paper hot off the press www.nature.com/articles/s41...

We analysed over 40,000 computer vision papers from CVPR (the longest standing CV conf) & associated patents tracing pathways from research to application. We found that 90% of papers & 86% of downstream patents power surveillance

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Gaza death toll in early part of war far higher than reported, says Lancet study Research suggests more than 75,000 killed in the first 16 months of conflict, 25,000 more than announced at the time

Gaza death toll in early part of war far higher than reported, says Lancet study.

There are no excuses.

It was obvious at the time that Israel was engaged in the mass slaughter of civilians.

The guilty men and women will pay the price.

Wiseman’s stance on meat production is not didactic, but it reads that the assembly line — whether for electronics or livestock — has utterly altered the phenomenology of human consumption. When life is calculated in cents for both humans and non-human animals, the line between them is thin.

Today I am thinking about Wiseman and among his many films — Meat (1979) — which I have only been able to watch once. Its genealogy starts with Franju and recently Andrea Arnold’s Cow (2022).