Joshua Shaw
@joshuashaw.bsky.social
Assistant Professor, #USask College of Law | Legal theory and history | Medical law, ownership and use of bodies and biomaterials | He/him
Saskatoon ᓵᐢᑿᑑᐣ
https://linktr.ee/jdmshaw
Saskatoon ᓵᐢᑿᑑᐣ
https://linktr.ee/jdmshaw
Pinned
The legal somatics of body bequests before the Anatomy Act 1832
Without the authority of legislation in the United Kingdom, some bequeathed their bodies to physicians, surgeons and apothecaries to dissect and create anatomical specimens in the eighteenth and ea...
doi.org
My latest article, “The Legal Somatics of Body Bequests Before the Anatomy Act 1832”, is published in Mortality, an interdisciplinary journal on death and dying. In the article, I analyze the medico-legal history of 18th- and 19th-century body bequests in England and Ireland. doi.org/10.1080/1357...
Reposted by Joshua Shaw
This is very good and goes in front of my MA students next term for sure. It's a lot better than the various medium posts I've written but it's reassuring to see so many people arrive at the same answer after checking. No, AI is not capable of "replacing" historians. Not even close, wrong timezone.
If anyone remembers that list which said historians were second in line to be replaced by AI, I've had some thoughts about it... and how it relates to some aspects of public history and the current climate facing historians.
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
The Historian in the Age of AI | Transactions of the Royal Historical Society | Cambridge Core
The Historian in the Age of AI
www.cambridge.org
December 10, 2025 at 12:02 PM
This is very good and goes in front of my MA students next term for sure. It's a lot better than the various medium posts I've written but it's reassuring to see so many people arrive at the same answer after checking. No, AI is not capable of "replacing" historians. Not even close, wrong timezone.
Reposted by Joshua Shaw
My latest article, “The Legal Somatics of Body Bequests Before the Anatomy Act 1832”, is published in Mortality, an interdisciplinary journal on death and dying. In the article, I analyze the medico-legal history of 18th- and 19th-century body bequests in England and Ireland. doi.org/10.1080/1357...
The legal somatics of body bequests before the Anatomy Act 1832
Without the authority of legislation in the United Kingdom, some bequeathed their bodies to physicians, surgeons and apothecaries to dissect and create anatomical specimens in the eighteenth and ea...
doi.org
November 25, 2025 at 12:18 AM
My latest article, “The Legal Somatics of Body Bequests Before the Anatomy Act 1832”, is published in Mortality, an interdisciplinary journal on death and dying. In the article, I analyze the medico-legal history of 18th- and 19th-century body bequests in England and Ireland. doi.org/10.1080/1357...
Reposted by Joshua Shaw
discussed this in seminar yesterday, albeit with reference to “race science” generally. If you understand science as a historical phenomenon then the question is what was science then, not whether it would count as science now, and the implication is that what science is now is not forever, either
1. Historically, eugenics was not a pseudoscience. It was *science* Almost every scientist, social scientist, academic, etc. believed in the validity of eugenics. You would have to search far & wide to find a scientist that didn't believe in some form of it. They taught it in college!
December 4, 2025 at 1:24 PM
discussed this in seminar yesterday, albeit with reference to “race science” generally. If you understand science as a historical phenomenon then the question is what was science then, not whether it would count as science now, and the implication is that what science is now is not forever, either
Reposted by Joshua Shaw
"When participants used ChatGPT to draft essays, brain scans revealed a 47 percent drop in neural connectivity... their brains worked less, but they felt just as engaged—a kind of metacognitive mirage. Eighty-three percent of heavy AI users couldn’t recall key points from what they’d “written"...
"It’s classic neoliberal jiu-jitsu: reframe the erosion of institutional norms as a character-building opportunity."
www.currentaffairs.org/news/ai-is-d...
www.currentaffairs.org/news/ai-is-d...
AI is Destroying the University and Learning Itself
Students use AI to write papers, professors use AI to grade them, degrees become meaningless, and tech companies make fortunes. Welcome to the death of higher education.
www.currentaffairs.org
December 7, 2025 at 9:53 PM
"When participants used ChatGPT to draft essays, brain scans revealed a 47 percent drop in neural connectivity... their brains worked less, but they felt just as engaged—a kind of metacognitive mirage. Eighty-three percent of heavy AI users couldn’t recall key points from what they’d “written"...
Reposted by Joshua Shaw
Geneviève Bergeron, 21
Hélène Colgan, 23
Nathalie Croteau, 23
Barbara Daigneault, 22
Anne-Marie Edward, 21
Maud Haviernick, 29
Barbara Klucznik-Widajewicz, 31
Maryse Laganière, 25
Maryse Leclair, 23
Anne-Marie Lemay, 22
Sonia Pelletier, 28
Michèle Richard, 21
Annie St-Arneault, 23
Annie Turcotte, 20
Hélène Colgan, 23
Nathalie Croteau, 23
Barbara Daigneault, 22
Anne-Marie Edward, 21
Maud Haviernick, 29
Barbara Klucznik-Widajewicz, 31
Maryse Laganière, 25
Maryse Leclair, 23
Anne-Marie Lemay, 22
Sonia Pelletier, 28
Michèle Richard, 21
Annie St-Arneault, 23
Annie Turcotte, 20
December 6, 2025 at 9:39 AM
Geneviève Bergeron, 21
Hélène Colgan, 23
Nathalie Croteau, 23
Barbara Daigneault, 22
Anne-Marie Edward, 21
Maud Haviernick, 29
Barbara Klucznik-Widajewicz, 31
Maryse Laganière, 25
Maryse Leclair, 23
Anne-Marie Lemay, 22
Sonia Pelletier, 28
Michèle Richard, 21
Annie St-Arneault, 23
Annie Turcotte, 20
Hélène Colgan, 23
Nathalie Croteau, 23
Barbara Daigneault, 22
Anne-Marie Edward, 21
Maud Haviernick, 29
Barbara Klucznik-Widajewicz, 31
Maryse Laganière, 25
Maryse Leclair, 23
Anne-Marie Lemay, 22
Sonia Pelletier, 28
Michèle Richard, 21
Annie St-Arneault, 23
Annie Turcotte, 20
On first glance, Bill 48 seems both open to exploitation by peace officers, because of its over broad definitions, and ineffective. I have a hard time imagining how involuntary treatment would have saved my younger brother’s life. I think he still would have died from an overdose, as he did in 2023.
Saskatchewan's government tabled a bill Friday to force treatment on those battling drug addictions, a plan a mother of two dead sons says would have helped them. www.thecanadianpressnews.ca/politics/mot... #skpoli
Mother says Saskatchewan's involuntary drug treatment bill would have helped her sons
REGINA - Saskatchewan's government tabled a bill Friday to force treatment on those battling drug addictions, a plan a mother of two dead sons says would have helped them.
www.thecanadianpressnews.ca
December 6, 2025 at 5:45 AM
On first glance, Bill 48 seems both open to exploitation by peace officers, because of its over broad definitions, and ineffective. I have a hard time imagining how involuntary treatment would have saved my younger brother’s life. I think he still would have died from an overdose, as he did in 2023.
Reposted by Joshua Shaw
Watch: Sask. introduces involuntary treatment legislation as fall sitting ends
youtu.be/jAHUQZpzYKQ?...
youtu.be/jAHUQZpzYKQ?...
Sask. introduces involuntary treatment legislation
YouTube video by CBC News Saskatchewan
youtu.be
December 6, 2025 at 1:18 AM
Watch: Sask. introduces involuntary treatment legislation as fall sitting ends
youtu.be/jAHUQZpzYKQ?...
youtu.be/jAHUQZpzYKQ?...
Reposted by Joshua Shaw
Canada’s international enrollment has fallen nearly twice as sharply as in the U.S.
We have an unprecedented opportunity to poach some of the best emerging talent across a range of dynamic fields, and our government is just choosing not to, and kneecapping our universities in the process.
We have an unprecedented opportunity to poach some of the best emerging talent across a range of dynamic fields, and our government is just choosing not to, and kneecapping our universities in the process.
"A new global survey shows a 35% fall in intl graduate enrolment in Canada and 19% in the United States compared with last year, with 90% and 85% of institutions in Canada and the US, respectively, saying that restrictive government policies are to blame." www.universityworldnews.com/page.php?pag...
Global Edition
The Global Window on Higher Education
www.universityworldnews.com
December 6, 2025 at 2:45 AM
Canada’s international enrollment has fallen nearly twice as sharply as in the U.S.
We have an unprecedented opportunity to poach some of the best emerging talent across a range of dynamic fields, and our government is just choosing not to, and kneecapping our universities in the process.
We have an unprecedented opportunity to poach some of the best emerging talent across a range of dynamic fields, and our government is just choosing not to, and kneecapping our universities in the process.
Reposted by Joshua Shaw
Historian of eugenics here. I don't normally like to retweet bad arguments, but this is such a fundamental misunderstanding of eugenics, I think it's important to point out. I don't have time to debunk all of the ways this is inaccurate, but I'll highlight a few things and then recommend some books🧵
December 4, 2025 at 12:44 PM
Historian of eugenics here. I don't normally like to retweet bad arguments, but this is such a fundamental misunderstanding of eugenics, I think it's important to point out. I don't have time to debunk all of the ways this is inaccurate, but I'll highlight a few things and then recommend some books🧵
Reposted by Joshua Shaw
This is Mr. Paworotti. His favorite Christmas song is Howl-lelujah. If you'll excuse him, his solo is coming up. 13/10 (TT: therealpaworotti)
December 2, 2025 at 11:36 PM
This is Mr. Paworotti. His favorite Christmas song is Howl-lelujah. If you'll excuse him, his solo is coming up. 13/10 (TT: therealpaworotti)
Reposted by Joshua Shaw
There is growing consensus that so-called 'conversion therapy' practices are harmful and must be banned.
But which legal mechanisms should be used to do this?
My article (with Stuart Goosey), Criminalising “Conversion Therapy”, published in the MLR, takes up this urgent question shorturl.at/AHkfb
But which legal mechanisms should be used to do this?
My article (with Stuart Goosey), Criminalising “Conversion Therapy”, published in the MLR, takes up this urgent question shorturl.at/AHkfb
Criminalising ‘Conversion Therapy’
An increasing number of jurisdictions have introduced legal bans on so-called ‘conversion therapy’ practices. Yet significant uncertainty and disagreement persist among legal scholars, policymakers a...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
December 1, 2025 at 1:39 PM
There is growing consensus that so-called 'conversion therapy' practices are harmful and must be banned.
But which legal mechanisms should be used to do this?
My article (with Stuart Goosey), Criminalising “Conversion Therapy”, published in the MLR, takes up this urgent question shorturl.at/AHkfb
But which legal mechanisms should be used to do this?
My article (with Stuart Goosey), Criminalising “Conversion Therapy”, published in the MLR, takes up this urgent question shorturl.at/AHkfb
Reposted by Joshua Shaw
American ALS patient died alone after paying $84K US in pursuit of healing at controversial Sask. facility www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
𝗠𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘄𝘀 ⇢ CanadaHealthwatch.ca 🍁
𝗠𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘄𝘀 ⇢ CanadaHealthwatch.ca 🍁
December 1, 2025 at 3:39 AM
American ALS patient died alone after paying $84K US in pursuit of healing at controversial Sask. facility www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
𝗠𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘄𝘀 ⇢ CanadaHealthwatch.ca 🍁
𝗠𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘄𝘀 ⇢ CanadaHealthwatch.ca 🍁
Pretty sure the Medical Profession Act 1981 does not authorize the College to discipline a non-member. The government needs to lay information and prosecute an offence under the Medical Profession Act 1981.
Cockrill says this clinic has no ties to the health care system. The college has the power to figure out discipline and we would encourage the college to do so. #skpoli
December 1, 2025 at 8:25 PM
Pretty sure the Medical Profession Act 1981 does not authorize the College to discipline a non-member. The government needs to lay information and prosecute an offence under the Medical Profession Act 1981.
Reposted by Joshua Shaw
Yes, in my classes I've shifted a lot to in-class writing (critical analyses, tests). The one 'take home' assignment I kept is the traditional research paper, but with added elements (including documenting step-by-step how research sources were found) to try to mitigate AI use.
My presumption has been this will all mean a shift to doing everything live (no take home). Is that happening? Impossible?
December 1, 2025 at 5:03 PM
Yes, in my classes I've shifted a lot to in-class writing (critical analyses, tests). The one 'take home' assignment I kept is the traditional research paper, but with added elements (including documenting step-by-step how research sources were found) to try to mitigate AI use.
Reposted by Joshua Shaw
I do not like that universities feel the need to “brand” themselves. Find your “identity” as a department, they say. Revise your “mission.” I believe our mission is advancing knowledge in all areas. That hasn’t changed in a thousand years.
November 30, 2025 at 4:14 PM
I do not like that universities feel the need to “brand” themselves. Find your “identity” as a department, they say. Revise your “mission.” I believe our mission is advancing knowledge in all areas. That hasn’t changed in a thousand years.
“The [Saskatchewan] government acknowledged to CBC that there seems to be some confusion on [the] point [of who prosecutes offences under the Medical Profession Act 1981], promising a review ‘to ensure there is clarity on who enforces the Act.’”
The Crown. Pretty sure the Crown prosecutes offences.
The Crown. Pretty sure the Crown prosecutes offences.
Maddening more hasn't been done to stop this exploitive clinic that markets unproven BS.
American ALS patient died alone after paying $84K US in pursuit of healing at controversial Sask. facility www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
Supplements to cure ALS? Feels criminal.
American ALS patient died alone after paying $84K US in pursuit of healing at controversial Sask. facility www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
Supplements to cure ALS? Feels criminal.
American ALS patient died alone after paying $84K US in pursuit of healing at controversial Sask. facility | CBC News
A 70-year-old American ALS patient came to Saskatchewan chasing the promise of healing offered by the Dr. Goodenowe Restorative Health Center in Moose Jaw, Sask. But former Goodenowe employees say tha...
www.cbc.ca
November 30, 2025 at 4:14 PM
“The [Saskatchewan] government acknowledged to CBC that there seems to be some confusion on [the] point [of who prosecutes offences under the Medical Profession Act 1981], promising a review ‘to ensure there is clarity on who enforces the Act.’”
The Crown. Pretty sure the Crown prosecutes offences.
The Crown. Pretty sure the Crown prosecutes offences.
Reposted by Joshua Shaw
Maddening more hasn't been done to stop this exploitive clinic that markets unproven BS.
American ALS patient died alone after paying $84K US in pursuit of healing at controversial Sask. facility www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
Supplements to cure ALS? Feels criminal.
American ALS patient died alone after paying $84K US in pursuit of healing at controversial Sask. facility www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
Supplements to cure ALS? Feels criminal.
American ALS patient died alone after paying $84K US in pursuit of healing at controversial Sask. facility | CBC News
A 70-year-old American ALS patient came to Saskatchewan chasing the promise of healing offered by the Dr. Goodenowe Restorative Health Center in Moose Jaw, Sask. But former Goodenowe employees say tha...
www.cbc.ca
November 30, 2025 at 3:45 PM
Maddening more hasn't been done to stop this exploitive clinic that markets unproven BS.
American ALS patient died alone after paying $84K US in pursuit of healing at controversial Sask. facility www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
Supplements to cure ALS? Feels criminal.
American ALS patient died alone after paying $84K US in pursuit of healing at controversial Sask. facility www.cbc.ca/news/canada/...
Supplements to cure ALS? Feels criminal.
Reposted by Joshua Shaw
Prudence is thrilled that I’m working from home today.
November 26, 2025 at 3:53 PM
Prudence is thrilled that I’m working from home today.
Reposted by Joshua Shaw
Check out the latest SLSA Blog post! ‘Law, Drugs, and the Moving Body’ by Kate Seear, Maria Federica Moscati, Sean Mulcahy, and Alejandra Zuluaga
www.slsa.ac.uk/post/law-dru...
www.slsa.ac.uk/post/law-dru...
Law, Drugs, and the Moving Body
By Kate Seear, Maria Federica Moscati, Sean Mulcahy, and Alejandra ZuluagaKeywords: drugs, movement, dance, socio-legal studies‘Law, Drugs, and the Moving Body’ was a seminar held as a satellite event...
www.slsa.ac.uk
November 26, 2025 at 12:56 PM
Check out the latest SLSA Blog post! ‘Law, Drugs, and the Moving Body’ by Kate Seear, Maria Federica Moscati, Sean Mulcahy, and Alejandra Zuluaga
www.slsa.ac.uk/post/law-dru...
www.slsa.ac.uk/post/law-dru...
Reposted by Joshua Shaw
If anyone has successfully explained to a STEM boss that, no actually humanities scholars don't need a team of postdocs to collect all the data for them & write their papers & it's completely normal to just... do all your work mostly by yourself with some peer insight & feedback, lmk what you said.
November 26, 2025 at 9:35 AM
If anyone has successfully explained to a STEM boss that, no actually humanities scholars don't need a team of postdocs to collect all the data for them & write their papers & it's completely normal to just... do all your work mostly by yourself with some peer insight & feedback, lmk what you said.
Reposted by Joshua Shaw
The @royalhistsoc.org is running a charitable donation campaign to fund the research of historians who lack support. The number of applications we're seeing is way up. I've been very lucky to have a career as a historian, I've donated, and I think this Christmas you should too. Pay it forward.
royalhistoricalsociety2.beaconforms.com
November 26, 2025 at 9:40 AM
The @royalhistsoc.org is running a charitable donation campaign to fund the research of historians who lack support. The number of applications we're seeing is way up. I've been very lucky to have a career as a historian, I've donated, and I think this Christmas you should too. Pay it forward.
Reposted by Joshua Shaw
one of the coolest things about ChatGPT is how you can actually just never use it. you can fill your whole entire life with simply not once using it. it's incredible.
November 25, 2025 at 4:15 PM
one of the coolest things about ChatGPT is how you can actually just never use it. you can fill your whole entire life with simply not once using it. it's incredible.
Reposted by Joshua Shaw
Oh coooool look @joshuashaw.bsky.social has published his piece on body bequests prior to the Anatomy Act of 1832 and I know from when he presented it at KLS that this is absolutely fascinating stuff www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
November 25, 2025 at 1:53 PM
Oh coooool look @joshuashaw.bsky.social has published his piece on body bequests prior to the Anatomy Act of 1832 and I know from when he presented it at KLS that this is absolutely fascinating stuff www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....