[ #VeilleESR ] Au CNRS, une coupe budgétaire inédite fragilise un peu plus la recherche : « On va dans le mur »

Via social.sciences.re/@justinmponcet/116436212...

Ironically, there’s what appears to be an 18th- century map of the Americas with the “Gulf of Mexico” written on it… Make America 18th century again! #MAECA 😅

English translation of a French essay by a former professor in the USA on the current attack on knowledge. Ironic to ban a book praising authoritarianism, but I get that they don’t want smart philosopher-kings to rule, only one burger-king. booksandideas.net/Plato-Banned...

Epistemic contextualism in action!

There’s a reason for that. And that’s the original name for this French invention.

“Tech” is, as the article writes, not AI. AI is a term used to describe a field of study, not an independent entity with agency. Tech is an industry creating products based on this field of study such as machine-learning LLMs that people can use via chat. These are, for short, AI-tools, not AI.

Why are so many academics in the Epstein files? It’s not just about money | Christopher Marquis In a university ecosystem that breeds hunger for status, Epstein made scholars feel like celebrities

I used to joke that we are in academia for power and money--fame and sex are just by-products. But it's not funny if it's true. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Who had the most contact with Jeffrey Epstein? YouTube video by The Economist

@economist.com has analysed 1.4m Epstein emails post-conviction and groupped and ranked them by the industry in which correspondents worked: #1 finance (19%); #2 academia (17%); then politics; then media/entertainment. Does that say something about the state of #academia? youtube.com/shorts/Bsv2S...

Seal of Excellence

My application for a MSCA-Postdoctoral Fellowship with Lund University received the score of 95,80%. There was a record number of applications, so my project could not be funded. However, it did get a Seal of Excellence.

The 2026 National Defense Strategy is a chilling read. Not just because the opening memorandum, signed by the now Secretary for the Departement of "War", starts with these lines: "Prev... The 2026 National Defense Strategy is a chilling read. Not just because the opening memorandum, signed by the now Secretary for the Departement of "War", starts with these lines: "Previous administra...

A most chilling weekend read The #USA #2026NDS #National #Defense #Strategy www.linkedin.com/posts/franke...

Découvrir l’humanisme juridique (XVe-XVIIe siècles) YouTube video by École nationale des chartes - PSL

youtu.be/sex5fVhkalk Video introducing in French a new textbook on legal humanism

Excellent.

Is there still doubt that USA Russia China have carved the world into spheres of influence and that the EU now faces a double territorial threat from Russia (obvious) and the USA (Greenland)?

#Medievalsky Want to present your work in Reykjavík where the sagas take place? There is still time to submit! #CFP
@mediumaevum.bsky.social @jaema.bsky.social We hope to read tour submissions soon! Deadline is December 8th!

Why does it say on the graph that inside “Europe and Central Asia” the most popular destination is “the USA 17%” followed by the UK and Germany? 🤔

Academics are already overworked and asked to perform specialised work of various sorts on top of teaching and research. So, get them proper training tailored to their specific needs and buy them a subscription to the proper AI-tools. Same for students. Or hire me! I’m an unemployed historian.

To be fair, I don’t want to blame anyone in particular, except the institutions that ask their employees to adopt the use of AI-tools and incorporate them in their work (here teaching and research), but do not offer any training and let them on their own to learn how to use them outside work hours.

a cartoon dog is sitting in front of a fire and saying i 'm fine this is fine everything is fine ALT: a cartoon dog is sitting in front of a fire and saying i 'm fine this is fine everything is fine

My guess is a daily positive self-affirmation: “We’re safe from AI”… the same way some deny climate change as an overhyped hoax. It feels safer to say “I looked outside and it was cold and rainy, ergo global warming is overhyped, we’re safe, let’s continue as before”.

two men are standing next to each other and one of them is saying `` hello , computer ? '' . ALT: two men are standing next to each other and one of them is saying `` hello , computer ? '' .

6. So, why are people still publishing these kinds of “I asked AI…” posts that are only embarrassingly broadcasting their ignorance of AI and lack of the most fundamental skills in 2025 that is prompting?

5. Why are the prompts used for this deep piece of scholarly enquiry not shared? Or were they? “Copilot then suggested”, “I asked Copilot to prepare a publication “…? Again, it’s undermining any credibility by showing ignorance of basic proper use of an LLM through prompting.

4. Of all the options, the choice is set on Copilot… Interesting choice. Why this one? Because it’s the only one that comes paid by the institution one works for as part of Office? Why on earth would one of the top universities in the world choose ChatGPT for its employees and students instead?

3. Only one AI-tool was used. So, how does that imply a general conclusion for all the other available options? This shows a lack of basic understanding of LLMs and how they vary depending on the training they received.

2. It’s best to shorten with “AI-tools” rather than “AI”. And like any tool, you have to build skills to use it properly, by understanding what it can do through rigorous, repeated and focused practice. It’s already undermining credibility to talk improperly about “AI”.

1. AI stands for artificial intelligence, which doesn’t mean an actual entity artificially constructed that has intelligence. It is a field of study. You may as well brandish a pencil and shout “I asked Fine Arts to draw the Vitruvian man and all I got was this lousy stick figure in a circle”.

I seriously wonder why people who are serious scholars keep posting this kind of “I asked AI…” followed by “and all I got was this lousy result” to draw the inevitable conclusion: “AI is overhyped”, “so let’s continue as before”.

The notion of an ailing body politic feels sadly relevant today. My November blogpost reflects on a workshop held in September that explored how the notion of the body politic was deployed by republican writers in the C17 and C18.
www.rachelhammersley.com/new-blog/2025/10/28/republican-bodies

After months of back-and-forth drafting, & over 10,000 words of dialogue, I am delighted that this discussion article co-authored with Quentin Skinner (@qmul.bsky.social) is now published @global-ih.bsky.social www.tandfonline.com/doi/epdf/10....

Many thanks to the editor @tomaashby.bsky.social and to the reviewer Laura André Lombard! It’s truly heartwarming to see years of work get noticed and read. Now, more than ever before, we live in dangerous times in great need of cosmopolitan republicanism.

Back in college: Daily life of students at European universities, 1200-1600 by Dr A. Willemsen FSA YouTube video by SocAntiquaries

Catch up on our lecture from today, all about medievial uni students from @amwillemsen.bsky.social. www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJ0D...

Excellent analysis of the state of 🇬🇧 HE. Same crisis in other countries. I think there is a need to regain public support and start engaging more and better in public debates, while embracing the changing role of HE. Question is how… Any suggestion welcome