CK Watts
@ckwatts.bsky.social
Archaeology PhD Candidate & CRM (she/they)
microscopic usewear, raw material sourcing, experimental archaeology, landscapes, provenance, geochemistry, & crystallography • ground stone tools 🇪🇸 & megaliths 🇮🇩
🏺⚒️🧪
microscopic usewear, raw material sourcing, experimental archaeology, landscapes, provenance, geochemistry, & crystallography • ground stone tools 🇪🇸 & megaliths 🇮🇩
🏺⚒️🧪
Pinned
CK Watts
@ckwatts.bsky.social
· Nov 16
Figured it was time for an introduction! I’m Corinne, a PhD candidate at the University of Iowa. My research broadly focuses on how humans collect and use rocks/minerals in the past and the present, particularly how environmental and cultural changes influence these practices.
Reposted by CK Watts
If you run across a gen A.I. slop 🤖💩 diagram in an academic journal, I’d love to know about it! Please fill out this form:
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
Slop in journals is illuminating about journals’ quality control. And journals would like you to forget their mistakes.
#AcademicChatter
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
Slop in journals is illuminating about journals’ quality control. And journals would like you to forget their mistakes.
#AcademicChatter
Slop graphics in academic journals
Use this form to share graphics (e.g., figures, covers, graphical abstracts) made using generative A.I. that have appeared in academic journals.
The plan is to compile these slop graphics in an ope...
docs.google.com
December 1, 2025 at 6:36 PM
If you run across a gen A.I. slop 🤖💩 diagram in an academic journal, I’d love to know about it! Please fill out this form:
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
Slop in journals is illuminating about journals’ quality control. And journals would like you to forget their mistakes.
#AcademicChatter
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...
Slop in journals is illuminating about journals’ quality control. And journals would like you to forget their mistakes.
#AcademicChatter
Reposted by CK Watts
The author is a GREAT example of someone who should have taken (and learned from) anthropology classes rather than reading Jared Diamond. Happily, @michaelhobbes.bsky.social and @notalawyer.bsky.social learn from anthropologists and historians and then rip this bullshit to shreds.
Episode 46: Sapiens
It's an ambitious goal to write the entire history of humanity in just 400 pages. It's even more ambitious to do it without reading any research.
It's an ambitious goal to write the entire history of humanity in just 400 pages. It's even more ambitious to do it without reading any research.
Sapiens
Podcast Episode · If Books Could Kill · 11/20/2025 · 1h 38m
podcasts.apple.com
November 20, 2025 at 10:40 PM
The author is a GREAT example of someone who should have taken (and learned from) anthropology classes rather than reading Jared Diamond. Happily, @michaelhobbes.bsky.social and @notalawyer.bsky.social learn from anthropologists and historians and then rip this bullshit to shreds.
Reposted by CK Watts
straight to jail www.404media.co/a-researcher...
(I'm joking, but god what another horrible stake to the heart for the future of science.)
(I'm joking, but god what another horrible stake to the heart for the future of science.)
A Researcher Made an AI That Completely Breaks the Online Surveys Scientists Rely On
We can no longer trust that survey responses are coming from real people.”
www.404media.co
November 18, 2025 at 3:39 PM
straight to jail www.404media.co/a-researcher...
(I'm joking, but god what another horrible stake to the heart for the future of science.)
(I'm joking, but god what another horrible stake to the heart for the future of science.)
Reposted by CK Watts
Moqui marbles - concretions from the Navajo Sandstone in Utah (images created from a photo taken in the field) 🧪⚒️
November 16, 2025 at 2:15 PM
Moqui marbles - concretions from the Navajo Sandstone in Utah (images created from a photo taken in the field) 🧪⚒️
Excellent to see the aurora here in Iowa
November 12, 2025 at 4:14 AM
Excellent to see the aurora here in Iowa
What a week to be lecturing on monuments as propaganda 🏺
October 20, 2025 at 9:00 PM
What a week to be lecturing on monuments as propaganda 🏺
Filing this away for the next time I teach my Monuments class 🏺
Conservative-leaning tech investors are racing to build a new American colossus, and they want something much, much bigger than the Statue of Liberty. Meet the new monuments men of the tech right and their plans for statue-maxing:
www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...
www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...
America’s Tech Right Is Obsessed With Building Giant Statues
With proposals for a 450-foot statue of Prometheus on Alcatraz and a 650-foot George Washington, MAGA adherents are racing to build America’s largest statue.
www.bloomberg.com
October 17, 2025 at 3:23 PM
Filing this away for the next time I teach my Monuments class 🏺
Reposted by CK Watts
Here I am. Once again. I'm out of archaeologists.
We matched 576 groups w/archaeologists, leaving 13 groups unmatched. This brings me pain! We've never run out of scientists like this before. 598 requests for one category is A LOT. But still.
Archaeologists 🥺
www.skypeascientist.com/sign-up.html
We matched 576 groups w/archaeologists, leaving 13 groups unmatched. This brings me pain! We've never run out of scientists like this before. 598 requests for one category is A LOT. But still.
Archaeologists 🥺
www.skypeascientist.com/sign-up.html
Sign Up
Skype a Scientist gives you the opportunity to connect with students and the public around the world.
www.skypeascientist.com
October 10, 2025 at 3:51 PM
Here I am. Once again. I'm out of archaeologists.
We matched 576 groups w/archaeologists, leaving 13 groups unmatched. This brings me pain! We've never run out of scientists like this before. 598 requests for one category is A LOT. But still.
Archaeologists 🥺
www.skypeascientist.com/sign-up.html
We matched 576 groups w/archaeologists, leaving 13 groups unmatched. This brings me pain! We've never run out of scientists like this before. 598 requests for one category is A LOT. But still.
Archaeologists 🥺
www.skypeascientist.com/sign-up.html
Reposted by CK Watts
Happy International Geodiversity Day! ⚒️ 🧪 #PhiGeo
@geodiversityday.bsky.social
youtu.be/LtFzkDMsYtI?...
www.geodiversityday.org/what-is-geod...
@geodiversityday.bsky.social
youtu.be/LtFzkDMsYtI?...
www.geodiversityday.org/what-is-geod...
Geodiversity: Biodiversity's Silent Partner
YouTube video by Oxford Geoheritage Virtual Conference
youtu.be
October 6, 2025 at 1:22 PM
Happy International Geodiversity Day! ⚒️ 🧪 #PhiGeo
@geodiversityday.bsky.social
youtu.be/LtFzkDMsYtI?...
www.geodiversityday.org/what-is-geod...
@geodiversityday.bsky.social
youtu.be/LtFzkDMsYtI?...
www.geodiversityday.org/what-is-geod...
Reposted by CK Watts
262 of #365Minerals 🧪⚒️
Sillimanite:
- An aluminosilicate mineral
- A polymorph of both of kyanite and andalusite; same formula (Al2SiO5) but different structure
- Forms in high grade metamorphic rocks
- Named after Benjamin Silliman (1779-1864), a chemistry/geology professor #minerals
Sillimanite:
- An aluminosilicate mineral
- A polymorph of both of kyanite and andalusite; same formula (Al2SiO5) but different structure
- Forms in high grade metamorphic rocks
- Named after Benjamin Silliman (1779-1864), a chemistry/geology professor #minerals
September 19, 2025 at 2:48 PM
262 of #365Minerals 🧪⚒️
Sillimanite:
- An aluminosilicate mineral
- A polymorph of both of kyanite and andalusite; same formula (Al2SiO5) but different structure
- Forms in high grade metamorphic rocks
- Named after Benjamin Silliman (1779-1864), a chemistry/geology professor #minerals
Sillimanite:
- An aluminosilicate mineral
- A polymorph of both of kyanite and andalusite; same formula (Al2SiO5) but different structure
- Forms in high grade metamorphic rocks
- Named after Benjamin Silliman (1779-1864), a chemistry/geology professor #minerals
Reposted by CK Watts
September 24, 2025 at 6:41 PM
Reposted by CK Watts
The professor has been fired and senior administrators removed from their post. No mention of this in the New York Times, The Free Press, The Atlantic or other outlets who drove the campus speech moral panic.
Texas A&M University System orders audit of all courses after gender identity lesson goes viral
Details: bit.ly/42jauQZ
Details: bit.ly/42jauQZ
September 10, 2025 at 11:59 AM
The professor has been fired and senior administrators removed from their post. No mention of this in the New York Times, The Free Press, The Atlantic or other outlets who drove the campus speech moral panic.
Reposted by CK Watts
🏺 For #EAA members (past and present!) still looking to sign the call for an emergency meeting following the events of #EAA2025 - here’s the new link. ⬇️
📣 EAA Members 📣
If you haven't signed yet or have been trying to sign today, the original Google form was removed (all data saved, thankfully!)
🍉✊🏼🍉
Here is the NEW LINK: saco.csic.es/apps/forms/s...
If you haven't signed yet or have been trying to sign today, the original Google form was removed (all data saved, thankfully!)
🍉✊🏼🍉
Here is the NEW LINK: saco.csic.es/apps/forms/s...
SACO
saco.csic.es
September 10, 2025 at 1:59 PM
Reposted by CK Watts
September 7, 2025 at 3:21 PM
Reposted by CK Watts
your periodic reminder that “archaeology isn’t political” is a political statement
September 3, 2025 at 12:10 PM
your periodic reminder that “archaeology isn’t political” is a political statement
Reposted by CK Watts
"What mattered, I realized, was not to be some imaginary perfect mentor with all the answers, but to get to know my mentee ... and offer whatever guidance and support I could based on my own experiences." #ScienceWorkingLife https://scim.ag/3URUdys
September 1, 2025 at 2:49 PM
"What mattered, I realized, was not to be some imaginary perfect mentor with all the answers, but to get to know my mentee ... and offer whatever guidance and support I could based on my own experiences." #ScienceWorkingLife https://scim.ag/3URUdys
Finishing up my Monuments and Megaliths syllabus and I only wish I could add in more fun projects for the semester! But unfortunately there is only so much time 🗿
August 15, 2025 at 9:58 PM
Finishing up my Monuments and Megaliths syllabus and I only wish I could add in more fun projects for the semester! But unfortunately there is only so much time 🗿
Reposted by CK Watts
Something that I have been thinking about with attribution of "PhD level intelligence" or "PhD level expertise" to a machine is that it reflects an increasing trend among these AI bros and their sycophants to want the products of highly skilled training without actually doing any of the work.
August 9, 2025 at 8:52 AM
Something that I have been thinking about with attribution of "PhD level intelligence" or "PhD level expertise" to a machine is that it reflects an increasing trend among these AI bros and their sycophants to want the products of highly skilled training without actually doing any of the work.
Reposted by CK Watts
There’s an active shooter at a building ancross the street from the main CDC HQ in Atlanta.
I just received a photo from inside a CDC office building of a window full of bulletholes.
I just received a photo from inside a CDC office building of a window full of bulletholes.
August 8, 2025 at 9:17 PM
There’s an active shooter at a building ancross the street from the main CDC HQ in Atlanta.
I just received a photo from inside a CDC office building of a window full of bulletholes.
I just received a photo from inside a CDC office building of a window full of bulletholes.
Reposted by CK Watts
CALL FOR PRESENTERS 🏺♿🧵
Overcoming Access Barriers in Archaeology
A Lightning Round session at the 2026 Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology #saa2026
April 29–May 3, 2026
San Francisco, CA
Overcoming Access Barriers in Archaeology
A Lightning Round session at the 2026 Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology #saa2026
April 29–May 3, 2026
San Francisco, CA
Call for Presenters: "Overcoming Access Barriers in Archaeology" Lightning Round, SAA 2026, San Francisco
Title: Overcoming Access Barriers in Archaeology
Participants:
Moderators: Joshua Vallejos & Sarah Surface-Evans
Chairs: Tara Larson, Jaimie Adams, Laura Heath-Stout (pending space)
Up to 15 Panelist...
docs.google.com
August 4, 2025 at 5:53 PM
CALL FOR PRESENTERS 🏺♿🧵
Overcoming Access Barriers in Archaeology
A Lightning Round session at the 2026 Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology #saa2026
April 29–May 3, 2026
San Francisco, CA
Overcoming Access Barriers in Archaeology
A Lightning Round session at the 2026 Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology #saa2026
April 29–May 3, 2026
San Francisco, CA
Reposted by CK Watts
My University has opened a virtual scholar scheme for scholars from Gaza. Please share widely and help stop scholasticide. www.exeter.ac.uk/faculties/ha...
August 3, 2025 at 7:45 AM
My University has opened a virtual scholar scheme for scholars from Gaza. Please share widely and help stop scholasticide. www.exeter.ac.uk/faculties/ha...
Summer this year looks like syllabus prepping, writing fellowship applications, and harvesting about 10 lbs of tomatoes a day
August 2, 2025 at 10:31 PM
Summer this year looks like syllabus prepping, writing fellowship applications, and harvesting about 10 lbs of tomatoes a day
Reposted by CK Watts
🧵
No one disputes that students deserve to learn. But there is literally decades of research on learning that shows that students aren’t able to assess if they have learned within the time span of a course. Using testing over time to show if students retain knowledge. 1/
August 1, 2025 at 12:22 AM
🧵
Reposted by CK Watts
“Some of us aren’t creative enough to brainstorm without ChatGPT!” Well then maybe you should sit this one out.
July 31, 2025 at 11:22 PM
“Some of us aren’t creative enough to brainstorm without ChatGPT!” Well then maybe you should sit this one out.
We’ve had some absolutely disastrous flooding in parts of Iowa this week & while the area I live in is largely unscathed (thankfully) the house I live in is not. Our basement flooded Friday and contractors had to remove all the flooring Saturday morning with no idea of when it will be replaced 🥲
July 13, 2025 at 11:29 PM
We’ve had some absolutely disastrous flooding in parts of Iowa this week & while the area I live in is largely unscathed (thankfully) the house I live in is not. Our basement flooded Friday and contractors had to remove all the flooring Saturday morning with no idea of when it will be replaced 🥲