John Warner
@biblioracle.bsky.social
Writer, speaker, consultant. Chicago Tribune columnist, blogging at Inside Higher Ed. Coming soon, More Than Words: How to Think About Writing in the Age of AI. Previously: Why They Can't Write and The Writer's Practice. biblioracle.substack.com
Reposted by John Warner
For those working on next semester's syllabi: www.aaup.org/about/progra...
Academic Freedom Syllabus Language
Academic Freedom Syllabus LanguageOne way to develop a greater understanding of academic freedom is to introduce the concept into our classes. That is, to explain to students what academic freedom mea...
www.aaup.org
December 15, 2025 at 9:23 PM
For those working on next semester's syllabi: www.aaup.org/about/progra...
Legislatures and boards are actively working against the principles and practices of academic freedom. These places should no longer be considered universities in the traditional sense. academicfreedomontheline.substack.com/p/you-cant-c...
December 15, 2025 at 2:36 PM
Legislatures and boards are actively working against the principles and practices of academic freedom. These places should no longer be considered universities in the traditional sense. academicfreedomontheline.substack.com/p/you-cant-c...
Rather than giving nonsense a sober, reasonable hearing, we should treat it as nonsense. The higher ed "reform" proposal from a troika of right wing groups is nonsense and @isaackamola.bsky.social's annotations of the proposal itself show us why. academicfreedomontheline.substack.com/p/isaacs-ann...
Isaac's Annotations: "American Higher Education Restoration Act"
A new series getting underneath the nonsense of the right wing noise machine.
academicfreedomontheline.substack.com
December 15, 2025 at 2:30 PM
Rather than giving nonsense a sober, reasonable hearing, we should treat it as nonsense. The higher ed "reform" proposal from a troika of right wing groups is nonsense and @isaackamola.bsky.social's annotations of the proposal itself show us why. academicfreedomontheline.substack.com/p/isaacs-ann...
Reposted by John Warner
“I’m not convinced this is about serving students or cleaning up syllabi,” said Chris Gilliard, co-director of the Critical Internet Studies Institute. “This looks like a project to control education and remove it from professors and put it into the hands of administrators and legislatures.”
Texas universities deploy AI for course audits
Records obtained by The Texas Tribune show how universities are using the technology to reshape curriculum under political pressure, raising concerns about academic freedom.
www.texastribune.org
December 15, 2025 at 2:23 PM
“I’m not convinced this is about serving students or cleaning up syllabi,” said Chris Gilliard, co-director of the Critical Internet Studies Institute. “This looks like a project to control education and remove it from professors and put it into the hands of administrators and legislatures.”
My newsletter audience is heavily populated with people who buy and read books and according to my unscientific (but interesting!) survey, only 1 in 5 knew who Olivia Nuzzi is prior to her book's rollout. Of course this thing tanked. biblioracle.substack.com/p/spectacle-...
December 15, 2025 at 2:17 PM
My newsletter audience is heavily populated with people who buy and read books and according to my unscientific (but interesting!) survey, only 1 in 5 knew who Olivia Nuzzi is prior to her book's rollout. Of course this thing tanked. biblioracle.substack.com/p/spectacle-...
A huge proportion of the instructional college faculty doesn't have access to employer health insurance, let alone a special faculty lounge.
i am once again asking who the "leftist extremists in the faculty lounge" shaping democratic party priorities are, and what policies it is that they are instituting
December 14, 2025 at 8:37 PM
A huge proportion of the instructional college faculty doesn't have access to employer health insurance, let alone a special faculty lounge.
Reposted by John Warner
Best take I’ve read on Nuzzigate is from @biblioracle.bsky.social :
“Pardon me for saying the obvious, but for a book to sell, it must please readers in some tangible way that induces those readers to tell others that this is a book they should read”
“Pardon me for saying the obvious, but for a book to sell, it must please readers in some tangible way that induces those readers to tell others that this is a book they should read”
I know why Olivia Nuzzi's American Canto didn't sell. It starts with the fact that outside of spaces like this one, Olivia Nuzzi isn't famous, but it also stems from publishers seemingly not understanding why people buy books. biblioracle.substack.com/p/spectacle-...
Spectacle Alone Does Not Sell Books
Why American Canto stiffed.
biblioracle.substack.com
December 14, 2025 at 7:45 PM
Best take I’ve read on Nuzzigate is from @biblioracle.bsky.social :
“Pardon me for saying the obvious, but for a book to sell, it must please readers in some tangible way that induces those readers to tell others that this is a book they should read”
“Pardon me for saying the obvious, but for a book to sell, it must please readers in some tangible way that induces those readers to tell others that this is a book they should read”
Reposted by John Warner
This is nothing but a handout. Nobody cares what the curricular implementation looks like, because the sole purpose is lock-in contracts for EdTech companies (all AI companies are EdTech companies now).
It's hard to overstate how impossible this demand is from Purdue's administration to implement these AI requirements by next fall. We are nowhere close to understanding what AI proficiency means or what it looks like in education.
www.forbes.com/sites/michae...
www.forbes.com/sites/michae...
December 14, 2025 at 3:43 PM
This is nothing but a handout. Nobody cares what the curricular implementation looks like, because the sole purpose is lock-in contracts for EdTech companies (all AI companies are EdTech companies now).
I have seen what progress looks like in figuring out how to teach in a world with AI and it's nothing like what Purdue or Ohio St. are proposing. It's careful, collaborative, and appropriately resourced. www.insidehighered.com/opinion/colu...
We Don’t Need to Retreat From the Challenge of AI in Schools
Some common traits at institutions successfully meeting the challenge of teaching in today’s world.
www.insidehighered.com
December 14, 2025 at 4:00 PM
I have seen what progress looks like in figuring out how to teach in a world with AI and it's nothing like what Purdue or Ohio St. are proposing. It's careful, collaborative, and appropriately resourced. www.insidehighered.com/opinion/colu...
Reposted by John Warner
CHARLIE BROWN: I'm depressed.
LUCY: It’s because of mainstream media cowardice. In an age of lies, telling the truth is a huge risk. Are you afraid of being silenced because of your “privilege”? How ’bout for the crime of listening to a diversity of opinions?
LUCY: It’s because of mainstream media cowardice. In an age of lies, telling the truth is a huge risk. Are you afraid of being silenced because of your “privilege”? How ’bout for the crime of listening to a diversity of opinions?
Bari Weiss’s A Charlie Brown Christmas
Sixty years ago, A Charlie Brown Christmas made its debut on CBS. Today, as part of CBS’s new initiative to modernize content, CBS Editor-in-Chief ...
buff.ly
December 14, 2025 at 3:30 PM
CHARLIE BROWN: I'm depressed.
LUCY: It’s because of mainstream media cowardice. In an age of lies, telling the truth is a huge risk. Are you afraid of being silenced because of your “privilege”? How ’bout for the crime of listening to a diversity of opinions?
LUCY: It’s because of mainstream media cowardice. In an age of lies, telling the truth is a huge risk. Are you afraid of being silenced because of your “privilege”? How ’bout for the crime of listening to a diversity of opinions?
It's hard to overstate how impossible this demand is from Purdue's administration to implement these AI requirements by next fall. We are nowhere close to understanding what AI proficiency means or what it looks like in education.
www.forbes.com/sites/michae...
www.forbes.com/sites/michae...
December 14, 2025 at 2:28 PM
It's hard to overstate how impossible this demand is from Purdue's administration to implement these AI requirements by next fall. We are nowhere close to understanding what AI proficiency means or what it looks like in education.
www.forbes.com/sites/michae...
www.forbes.com/sites/michae...
Reposted by John Warner
I wrote about @somers.bsky.social's The Ten Year Affair, which is not only one of the funniest novels I've read in a long time, but one of the most thought provoking: patricknathan.substack.com/p/the-horror...
The Horror of the Husband
Anna novels, Emma novels, and the original romantasy: fiction about affairs
patricknathan.substack.com
December 13, 2025 at 5:56 PM
I wrote about @somers.bsky.social's The Ten Year Affair, which is not only one of the funniest novels I've read in a long time, but one of the most thought provoking: patricknathan.substack.com/p/the-horror...
Reposted by John Warner
I don’t know if I have always believed this, but John’s diagnosis of the AmerCant debacle is pretty convincing.
biblioracle.substack.com/p/spectacle-...
biblioracle.substack.com/p/spectacle-...
December 14, 2025 at 1:29 PM
I don’t know if I have always believed this, but John’s diagnosis of the AmerCant debacle is pretty convincing.
biblioracle.substack.com/p/spectacle-...
biblioracle.substack.com/p/spectacle-...
I think this is a pretty fun way to point out the absurdity of these right wing plans for higher education "reform." Rather than taking it seriously - because we're looking at propaganda - @isaackamola.bsky.social annotates the nonsense. academicfreedomontheline.substack.com/p/isaacs-ann...
Isaac's Annotations: "American Higher Education Restoration Act"
A new series getting underneath the nonsense of the right wing noise machine.
academicfreedomontheline.substack.com
December 14, 2025 at 1:38 PM
I think this is a pretty fun way to point out the absurdity of these right wing plans for higher education "reform." Rather than taking it seriously - because we're looking at propaganda - @isaackamola.bsky.social annotates the nonsense. academicfreedomontheline.substack.com/p/isaacs-ann...
I know why Olivia Nuzzi's American Canto didn't sell. It starts with the fact that outside of spaces like this one, Olivia Nuzzi isn't famous, but it also stems from publishers seemingly not understanding why people buy books. biblioracle.substack.com/p/spectacle-...
Spectacle Alone Does Not Sell Books
Why American Canto stiffed.
biblioracle.substack.com
December 14, 2025 at 1:18 PM
I know why Olivia Nuzzi's American Canto didn't sell. It starts with the fact that outside of spaces like this one, Olivia Nuzzi isn't famous, but it also stems from publishers seemingly not understanding why people buy books. biblioracle.substack.com/p/spectacle-...
These universities are making it clear how they see students, future meat widgets to serve the needs of employers. Maybe some students want this, but I question how forward looking this truly is.
It’s been fun while it lasted: “Purdue University will begin requiring that all of its undergraduate students demonstrate basic competency in artificial intelligence starting with freshmen who enter the university in 2026.”
www.forbes.com/sites/michae...
www.forbes.com/sites/michae...
Purdue University Approves New AI Requirement For All Undergrads
Purdue University will begin requiring that all of its undergraduate students meet an AI competency requirement starting with freshmen who enter the university in 2026.
www.forbes.com
December 14, 2025 at 1:06 PM
These universities are making it clear how they see students, future meat widgets to serve the needs of employers. Maybe some students want this, but I question how forward looking this truly is.
Reposted by John Warner
Conservatives rebranded bigotry and every time the media uses “wokeness” as a euphemism they are helping a movement that it quite literally erasing the history marginalized people’s role in American life.
December 14, 2025 at 12:20 PM
Conservatives rebranded bigotry and every time the media uses “wokeness” as a euphemism they are helping a movement that it quite literally erasing the history marginalized people’s role in American life.
I read this quote and thought, that sounds about right, and then realized it was me from a couple weeks ago.
"At some point, we’re going to have to admit that these entities that call themselves universities and cloak themselves in a tradition of high-minded ideals around values and mission have simply become something else entirely.” www.insidehighered.com/opinion/colu... #highered #edusky
Universities Abandoning Values Aren’t Universities Anymore
A roundup of recent head-scratching actions at various universities.
www.insidehighered.com
December 14, 2025 at 12:59 PM
I read this quote and thought, that sounds about right, and then realized it was me from a couple weeks ago.
Buccigross has to stop doing play by play. He’s brutal. He calls Connor Bedard, “Berard” half the time.
December 13, 2025 at 1:27 AM
Buccigross has to stop doing play by play. He’s brutal. He calls Connor Bedard, “Berard” half the time.
Reposted by John Warner
There isn't a single problem "solved" by edtech that couldn't be fixed with smaller classes led by well-paid teachers given real academic freedom
December 12, 2025 at 6:23 PM
There isn't a single problem "solved" by edtech that couldn't be fixed with smaller classes led by well-paid teachers given real academic freedom
Reposted by John Warner
Learning management systems also of course lock in institutitions to multi-year budget-raiding subscription contracts, enforce templates that restrict pedagogic autonomy, and claim extra value from turning usage data into feature upgrades, *in addition* to being major time and labour drains
This recent study found learning management systems sold to schools since the 2010s as time-savers (e.g. Google Classroom, Canvas) tend to be burdensome and contribute to burnout.
December 12, 2025 at 11:09 PM
Learning management systems also of course lock in institutitions to multi-year budget-raiding subscription contracts, enforce templates that restrict pedagogic autonomy, and claim extra value from turning usage data into feature upgrades, *in addition* to being major time and labour drains
I will never understand the choice to publish a book where you cannot articulate a reason why the people who buy and read books will want to read THIS book and then tell OTHER PEOPLE that they should read it. Spectacle alone does not sell books.
“American Canto,” one of the most hyped political books of the year, flopped in bookstores.
Olivia Nuzzi’s ‘Canto’ Sells Just 1,200 Print Copies In First Week
“American Canto,” one of the most hyped political books of the year, flopped in bookstores.
www.forbes.com
December 12, 2025 at 2:18 PM
I will never understand the choice to publish a book where you cannot articulate a reason why the people who buy and read books will want to read THIS book and then tell OTHER PEOPLE that they should read it. Spectacle alone does not sell books.
This is a perfect example of something I articulated at Academic Freedom on the Line. This is a fight where legislature and administrators cannot be counted on to defend non-negotiable freedoms. academicfreedomontheline.substack.com/p/you-cant-c...
December 12, 2025 at 1:59 PM
This is a perfect example of something I articulated at Academic Freedom on the Line. This is a fight where legislature and administrators cannot be counted on to defend non-negotiable freedoms. academicfreedomontheline.substack.com/p/you-cant-c...
Trump lackeys tried to gin up evidence against UCLA. UC system honchos were too afraid to put up full resistance. The @aaup.org stepped in and filed a suit that had the judge come down on the Trump lackeys like a ton of bricks. www.chronicle.com/article/the-...
December 12, 2025 at 1:58 PM
Trump lackeys tried to gin up evidence against UCLA. UC system honchos were too afraid to put up full resistance. The @aaup.org stepped in and filed a suit that had the judge come down on the Trump lackeys like a ton of bricks. www.chronicle.com/article/the-...
Reposted by John Warner
For the AM crowd, I wrote about a human-centered technology course I teach at Lehigh. The class focuses on finding your purpose in a time of automation and AI, and it's probably the most important class I teach nowadays.
Teaching the soul of AI
There’s a sentence I’ve been staring at all week in a student’s final paper:
jeremylittau.substack.com
December 12, 2025 at 1:26 PM
For the AM crowd, I wrote about a human-centered technology course I teach at Lehigh. The class focuses on finding your purpose in a time of automation and AI, and it's probably the most important class I teach nowadays.