William Thomas | Lightnews

William G. Thomas III

@wgthomas3.bsky.social

Historian of the early U.S. | Dean of the College of Letters and Science and Professor of History, Montana State University

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History 31%

Political science 24%

Posts Replies Media Videos

Reposted by William Thomas

Laura Ansley @lmansley.bsky.social · 4d

And we're extra lucky that there will be another workshop for writers tomorrow at 1:30pm: the Nonfiction Trade Book Proposal Workshop, chaired by @lollardfish.bsky.social. #AHA26 🗃️

Reposted by Philip N. Cohen, Bruce D. Baker, Martin van Gelderen , and 2 more Philip N. Cohen, Bruce D. Baker, Martin van Gelderen, William Thomas, Melinda Baldwin

Holly Brewer @earlymodjustice.bsky.social · 14d

“This article urges a fresh view on [AI large language model] hallucinations by arguing that, rather than being errors in any conventional sense, they are evidence of a probabilistic system incapable of dealing with questions of knowledge.”

Rethinking Error: “Hallucinations” and Epistemological Indifference | Critical AI | Duke University Press

read.dukeupress.edu

William G. Thomas III @wgthomas3.bsky.social · 17d

"Under the Big Sky: The Montana Writers Retreat"
June 12-15, 2026 at B Bar Ranch

Historians and nonfiction writers! Join us for a retreat will offer you space to think deeply, gain insight from colleagues and facilitators, and move your writing project forward.

www.montana.edu/lettersandsc...

Writers Retreat - College of Letters & Science | Montana State University

www.montana.edu

William G. Thomas III @wgthomas3.bsky.social · 21d

Very well deserved. Congratulations!!

William G. Thomas III @wgthomas3.bsky.social · 21d

"Under the Big Sky: The Montana Writers Retreat"
June 12-15, 2026 at B Bar Ranch
Sponsored by the College of Letters and Science, Montana State University.
Open to all nonfiction and history writers.
Join us and apply:
www.montana.edu/lettersandsc...

Reposted by Aviel Roshwald, William Thomas

American Historical Association @historians.org · 22d

Today, the AHA & CREW filed an amicus brief in support of Harvard University’s lawsuit against the federal government over the university’s ability to host foreign scholars and students. The brief conveys the importance of international scholars and students to American higher education. 🗃️

AHA Files Amicus Brief in Support of Foreign Scholars - AHA

The American Historical Association (AHA), in collaboration with Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), has filed an amicus brief in support of Harvard University’s lawsuit again...

www.historians.org

Reposted by William Thomas

American Historical Association @historians.org · Sep 16

The American Historical Association promotes the critical role of historical thinking in public life, defends academic freedom, develops professional standards, and supports scholarship and teaching. Learn about our recent advocacy actions on our website. 🗃️

AHA Advocacy | American Historical Association

The American Historical Association is unique among history organizations with the breadth and depth of our advocacy efforts.

www.historians.org

William G. Thomas III @wgthomas3.bsky.social · Sep 8

We are pleased to announce a search for The Wallace Stegner Chair of Western American Studies in the Department of History at Montana State University-Bozeman. This is an exciting moment at MSU. Join us.

jobs.montana.edu/postings/48151

Associate or Full Professor of History and The Wallace Stegner Chair of Western American Studies

The Department of History and Philosophy at Montana State University invites applications for a tenure-track position at the level of Associate or Full Professor with expertise in the history of the N...

jobs.montana.edu

William G. Thomas III @wgthomas3.bsky.social · Sep 5

10.) Rather than prompt our historical imagination about the full record of American history and its drama, the Founders Museum presents viewers with what we might call looking glass history--flattened, narcissistic, and ultimately uninteresting.

William G. Thomas III @wgthomas3.bsky.social · Sep 5

9.) I think historians are excited to celebrate and commemorate the 250th and we need creative approaches to history and storytelling, including animation and film, and possibly AI.

William G. Thomas III @wgthomas3.bsky.social · Sep 5

8.) The founders of the United States included enslaved people who formed and shaped the nation too. Men and women like the Bell family who among many other actions they took before, during, and after the Rev. attempted to hold the nation accountable to its ideals.

William G. Thomas III @wgthomas3.bsky.social · Sep 5

7.) The idea that Thomas Jefferson, Charles Carrol of Carrolton, the Lees would say nothing about slavery or use the term is preposterous. Their own writings made constant reference to slavery and enslaved people.

William G. Thomas III @wgthomas3.bsky.social · Sep 5

6.) The Founders Museum videos are like a parlor trick. They use AI to have the founders ventriloquize today’s political viewpoints.

William G. Thomas III @wgthomas3.bsky.social · Sep 5

5.) AI can be used to fabricate history, unmooring history from the evidence, the original sources historians use to write history.

William G. Thomas III @wgthomas3.bsky.social · Sep 5

4.) So AI is powerful. But it’s also dangerous. I feel like we’re playing with fire. One of the biggest dangers is to lose track of attribution—clearly and definitively marking what is being quoted and what is the source for a narrative.

William G. Thomas III @wgthomas3.bsky.social · Sep 5

3.) We used AI in the making of our Animating History film, The Bell Affair, about an enslaved family in Washington, DC, who sue for their freedom -- we automated the rotoscoping of hundreds of thousands of individual frames. Nearly impossible to do by hand. animatinghistory.unl.edu

Animating History

animatinghistory.unl.edu

William G. Thomas III @wgthomas3.bsky.social · Sep 5

2.) AI is an exceedingly powerful accelerant. It can automate historical research previously nearly impossible to do in a lifetime. see examples of historians using AI to make millions of handwritten index cards, such as medical or legal records, machine readable in a matter of minutes.

William G. Thomas III @wgthomas3.bsky.social · Sep 5

1.) AI makes it possible to dive into the entire corpus of human knowledge and return to the surface with a useful result. This will change the way historians work.

William G. Thomas III @wgthomas3.bsky.social · Sep 5

I'll add my thoughts and comments for the record here too!

Reposted by Laurent Dubois, William Thomas

James Neal @james3neal.bsky.social · Sep 3

"Black Patriots and Black Loyalists of the American Revolution exhibit" #America250 #VA250 va250.org/event-detail...

William G. Thomas III @wgthomas3.bsky.social · Aug 24

We always knew you would! Welcome to the sub sub librarians!

Reposted by William Thomas

American Historical Association @historians.org · Aug 22

The #AHR is seeking proposals for a special issue on methodological approaches to archival silences in early history. Visit our website to read the full call for proposals and learn more about the guidelines for submission. Proposals are due September 16.

Special Issue Submissions - AHA

Natural light and processed MSI images of the HMML Palimpsest Project Methods for Archival Silence in Early History The American Historical Review seeks proposals for a special issue illustrating a ra...

www.historians.org

William G. Thomas III @wgthomas3.bsky.social · Aug 19

Two of my favorite people! Wish I could be there Corey and Marcus!

William G. Thomas III @wgthomas3.bsky.social · Aug 19

We are really proud of EQUALITY BEFORE THE LAW. Thank you to the awesome team at Nebraska, our Mellon graduate fellows, contributors, and our students and advisory council members. Check it out at: teachinglegalhistory.unl.edu

Home

teachinglegalhistory.unl.edu

William G. Thomas III @wgthomas3.bsky.social · Aug 19

The collection features not only well-known cases like Scott v. Sandford but also and mainly hundreds of previously unpublished cases. These are stories of how ordinary Americans used the law.
teachinglegalhistory.unl.edu

William G. Thomas III @wgthomas3.bsky.social · Aug 19

Our team has been working on a major Open Education Resource (OER) about U.S. legal history for teaching and learning. If you are teaching U.S. legal history, we hope that EQUALITY BEFORE THE LAW will help you and your students. Check out our initial launch site at: teachinglegalhistory.unl.edu

Home

teachinglegalhistory.unl.edu

Reposted by Jason A. Heppler, William Thomas

American Historical Association @historians.org · Aug 19

Congratulations to AHA members Merle Eisenberg, James Illingworth, James P. McClure, Christopher F. Minty, Michael L. Satlow, and Jennifer Stertzer, as well as all the other historians who were awarded grants by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) for humanities projects in 2025. 🗃️

NEH Announces $34.79 Million for 97 Humanities Projects

www.neh.gov

Reposted by William Thomas

Marcus Rediker @marcusrediker.bsky.social · Aug 19

For anyone teaching the slave trade and slavery this fall: check out my documentary film, *Ghosts of Amistad*, about the memory of the 1839 uprising in contemporary Sierra Leone, w/ French, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish subtitles. Study guides for teachers and students too.

www.ghostsofamistad.com