Dr. Katja Thieme (she/they)
@katjathieme.bsky.social
Into words, sentences, genres.
#writingstudies #teamrhetoric #cdnwrds #genai+writing
https://katjat.medium.com/
#writingstudies #teamrhetoric #cdnwrds #genai+writing
https://katjat.medium.com/
Pinned
Teaching Scores, Storied Averages, and Small Classes
University administrations are very keen on student evaluations. Behind the scenes, they are a managerial lever in employment decisions and…
katjat.medium.com
If you've ever found yourself in a position of inventing some sort of story that might explain uneven student evaluation scores—your own or someone else's—then this blog post is for you.
#writingstudies #cdnwrds #rhetcomp #teamrhetoric
#writingstudies #cdnwrds #rhetcomp #teamrhetoric
Reposted by Dr. Katja Thieme (she/they)
The Paediatric Society of NZ - representing the clinical field most relevant here - have released maybe the strongest statement of all the medical bodies: “puberty blockers are an established, safe, reversible, and
life-saving treatment option”
life-saving treatment option”
PSNZ responds to government announcement on puberty blockers
www.paediatrics.org.nz
December 3, 2025 at 1:21 AM
The Paediatric Society of NZ - representing the clinical field most relevant here - have released maybe the strongest statement of all the medical bodies: “puberty blockers are an established, safe, reversible, and
life-saving treatment option”
life-saving treatment option”
„CSU—US’s largest public uni system—went all-in with a $17mill partnership with OpenAI. . .CSU unveiled its grand technological gesture just as it proposed slashing $375mill from its budget. While admin cut ribbons on AI, they were cutting faculty positions, academic programs, student services.“
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 3, 2025 at 5:43 AM
„CSU—US’s largest public uni system—went all-in with a $17mill partnership with OpenAI. . .CSU unveiled its grand technological gesture just as it proposed slashing $375mill from its budget. While admin cut ribbons on AI, they were cutting faculty positions, academic programs, student services.“
Reposted by Dr. Katja Thieme (she/they)
Not sure if any single part of academia felt more like a weird cheat code than Interlibrary Loan. Like, I just say a book I want, basically any book, and this crack team of experts just *get it*????
December 3, 2025 at 3:05 AM
Not sure if any single part of academia felt more like a weird cheat code than Interlibrary Loan. Like, I just say a book I want, basically any book, and this crack team of experts just *get it*????
Reposted by Dr. Katja Thieme (she/they)
Rejected by the couch, JD has moved on to fucking tables, confirmed by the NYT
December 3, 2025 at 4:51 AM
Rejected by the couch, JD has moved on to fucking tables, confirmed by the NYT
Gah.
Your universe is a photocopy of a photocopy of a…
on.ft.com/4ahkNKa
on.ft.com/4ahkNKa
December 3, 2025 at 4:58 AM
Gah.
Reposted by Dr. Katja Thieme (she/they)
„This is a standard playbook. We are now all arguing about the details of a grading rubric, while the practical outcome on the ground will be to continue the project of giving conservative students & activists veto power over educational institutions & curricula.“
Don’t. Argue. About. The. Grade.
Don’t. Argue. About. The. Grade.
I wrote much of this several months ago, about Ezra Klein's response to the Kirk assassination, and then never ended up publishing it, but I think this UO "controversy" is a such a perfect example of how TPUSA et al actually advance conservative power that I decided to revive and rewrite it.
What Liberals Can Learn from Charlie Kirk
Over the last few days, if you’re active on political media, you have probably seen references to the “controversy” over a student’s failing grade on an essay at Oklahoma Un…
nathangoldwag.wordpress.com
December 2, 2025 at 2:17 PM
„This is a standard playbook. We are now all arguing about the details of a grading rubric, while the practical outcome on the ground will be to continue the project of giving conservative students & activists veto power over educational institutions & curricula.“
Don’t. Argue. About. The. Grade.
Don’t. Argue. About. The. Grade.
Reposted by Dr. Katja Thieme (she/they)
„Curth—who received an Outstanding Grad Teaching Award from OU’s Dept of Psychology—is now on admin leave. The uni emphasized its commitment to ‘protecting every student’s right to express sincerely held religious beliefs,‘ which is a fascinating way to describe giving a bad grade to a bad essay.“
December 3, 2025 at 12:41 AM
„Curth—who received an Outstanding Grad Teaching Award from OU’s Dept of Psychology—is now on admin leave. The uni emphasized its commitment to ‘protecting every student’s right to express sincerely held religious beliefs,‘ which is a fascinating way to describe giving a bad grade to a bad essay.“
Reposted by Dr. Katja Thieme (she/they)
„Fulnecky’s demand for better grades, and the mobilization of con media to achieve it, is far from extraordinary. In Sep, after a Texas A&M student recorded a prof discussing gender, the school fired the prof. A&M has now a policy banning profs from talking about ‘race or gender ideology‘ in class.“
What Liberals Can Learn from Charlie Kirk
Over the last few days, if you’re active on political media, you have probably seen references to the “controversy” over a student’s failing grade on an essay at Oklahoma Un…
nathangoldwag.wordpress.com
December 3, 2025 at 12:20 AM
„Fulnecky’s demand for better grades, and the mobilization of con media to achieve it, is far from extraordinary. In Sep, after a Texas A&M student recorded a prof discussing gender, the school fired the prof. A&M has now a policy banning profs from talking about ‘race or gender ideology‘ in class.“
Reposted by Dr. Katja Thieme (she/they)
“This essay was originally published in The Free Press” Haidt I’m gonna stop you right there
December 2, 2025 at 3:16 AM
“This essay was originally published in The Free Press” Haidt I’m gonna stop you right there
Reposted by Dr. Katja Thieme (she/they)
"I am *unsettled* that ChatGPT, fed on the plethora of articles I and others have written on the subject as well as my own chat history has reproduced a rough sketch of our arguments back to me, this is *chilling*!"
This guy has massive influence on tech policy. Wonderful.
This guy has massive influence on tech policy. Wonderful.
December 2, 2025 at 3:13 AM
"I am *unsettled* that ChatGPT, fed on the plethora of articles I and others have written on the subject as well as my own chat history has reproduced a rough sketch of our arguments back to me, this is *chilling*!"
This guy has massive influence on tech policy. Wonderful.
This guy has massive influence on tech policy. Wonderful.
Reposted by Dr. Katja Thieme (she/they)
Oliver Traldi has richly Koch-funded thoughts on how many unhinged Bible reflections he's used to seeing in a psychology course he's never taught and will never teach.
December 2, 2025 at 5:54 PM
Oliver Traldi has richly Koch-funded thoughts on how many unhinged Bible reflections he's used to seeing in a psychology course he's never taught and will never teach.
Reposted by Dr. Katja Thieme (she/they)
I ended up drafting an email that didn't really lean on research specific to grade school education, but expressed my concerns in the most basic terms.
I removed the personal details and have shared it as a template here for folks who might find it useful:
bit.ly/TeacherEmail...
I removed the personal details and have shared it as a template here for folks who might find it useful:
bit.ly/TeacherEmail...
![Dear [TEACHER],
I want to make sure we're on the same page for the rest of the year, because I was surprised and disappointed to hear that you uploaded student projects to ChatGPT.
We have always found [SCHOOL] to be a place that encourages students to express themselves creatively, to be responsible and aware of how their actions affect others, and to be intellectually honest – doing their own work, rather than copying from others.
I know ChatGPT has been heavily marketed as an educational tool, but everything about it is the opposite of those values. AI tools are built by training models on stolen work. They have huge and terrible environmental costs, because their data centers generate enormous amounts of pollution and are cooled with drinking water. They're also incredibly dangerous: tools like ChatGPT have taught children how to start fires and even encouraged them to commit suicide.
And in a classroom setting, it teaches students that a machine can express their ideas better than they can. I told [ CHILD ] I was interested in seeing what they had to draw, and my heart sank when they told me "but I can't draw that pretty." Children deserve to draw what they imagine.
These environmental, ethical, and pedagogical concerns are why I don't want [ CHILD ] to use AI tools (or for you to use them on their behalf). For the same reasons, I respectfully ask that you stop using them in your classroom.
If you do plan to use AI this year, please send home a permission slip requesting consent. There are important privacy concerns when you upload student work into a for-profit service like ChatGPT.
Thank you,
[ PARENT ]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:c2xl6zaxo623jzbjb43urymd/bafkreiesldew7oebm4hg2gymd4cftvwmrpbdw6m7eil2buiphw7db4ror4@jpeg)
December 2, 2025 at 4:39 PM
I ended up drafting an email that didn't really lean on research specific to grade school education, but expressed my concerns in the most basic terms.
I removed the personal details and have shared it as a template here for folks who might find it useful:
bit.ly/TeacherEmail...
I removed the personal details and have shared it as a template here for folks who might find it useful:
bit.ly/TeacherEmail...
Reposted by Dr. Katja Thieme (she/they)
If youre equivocating about the actual fairness of the numbers of the grade of a paper that you managed 2 read because it was shared by the stochastic nazi terror org whose mission is to make colleges places unsafe for queers and POC might I suggest you've lost the fucking plot
December 2, 2025 at 5:30 PM
WTF. And I say this sincerely. WTF.
December 2, 2025 at 5:57 PM
WTF. And I say this sincerely. WTF.
Oliver Traldi quoted as an alleged expert in instruction in the field of psychology. Please.
@chronicle.com, what please is this? How to miss the entire story.
December 2, 2025 at 5:38 PM
Oliver Traldi quoted as an alleged expert in instruction in the field of psychology. Please.
Reposted by Dr. Katja Thieme (she/they)
i refuse to call the slop that these flawed correlation models output “hallucinations”, that is an insult to anyone who has ever actually experienced hallucinating.
December 1, 2025 at 9:29 PM
i refuse to call the slop that these flawed correlation models output “hallucinations”, that is an insult to anyone who has ever actually experienced hallucinating.
„This is a standard playbook. We are now all arguing about the details of a grading rubric, while the practical outcome on the ground will be to continue the project of giving conservative students & activists veto power over educational institutions & curricula.“
Don’t. Argue. About. The. Grade.
Don’t. Argue. About. The. Grade.
I wrote much of this several months ago, about Ezra Klein's response to the Kirk assassination, and then never ended up publishing it, but I think this UO "controversy" is a such a perfect example of how TPUSA et al actually advance conservative power that I decided to revive and rewrite it.
What Liberals Can Learn from Charlie Kirk
Over the last few days, if you’re active on political media, you have probably seen references to the “controversy” over a student’s failing grade on an essay at Oklahoma Un…
nathangoldwag.wordpress.com
December 2, 2025 at 2:17 PM
„This is a standard playbook. We are now all arguing about the details of a grading rubric, while the practical outcome on the ground will be to continue the project of giving conservative students & activists veto power over educational institutions & curricula.“
Don’t. Argue. About. The. Grade.
Don’t. Argue. About. The. Grade.
Reposted by Dr. Katja Thieme (she/they)
Recent grizzly attacks in B.C. and Alberta have some calling for the provinces to re-open grizzly hunting. But experts say there is scant evidence that hunting reduces conflicts between bears and humans, writes freelance journalist @camfenton.bsky.social. thenarwhal.ca/grizzly-atta...
Grizzly hunting won’t reduce attacks, experts say | The Narwhal
After recent attacks in B.C. and Alberta, some are calling to re-open the grizzly hunt — but experts say there’s no evidence it would reduce conflicts
thenarwhal.ca
December 2, 2025 at 1:49 PM
Recent grizzly attacks in B.C. and Alberta have some calling for the provinces to re-open grizzly hunting. But experts say there is scant evidence that hunting reduces conflicts between bears and humans, writes freelance journalist @camfenton.bsky.social. thenarwhal.ca/grizzly-atta...
Reposted by Dr. Katja Thieme (she/they)
Why is the media consistently saying "energy," when they actually mean "oil and gas"?
"Alberta energy deal" rather than "Alberta oil and gas deal" etc.
This is obfuscation.
It serves to present these agreements as beneficial to all, rather than specifically beneficial to the oil and gas industry.
"Alberta energy deal" rather than "Alberta oil and gas deal" etc.
This is obfuscation.
It serves to present these agreements as beneficial to all, rather than specifically beneficial to the oil and gas industry.
December 1, 2025 at 11:49 PM
Why is the media consistently saying "energy," when they actually mean "oil and gas"?
"Alberta energy deal" rather than "Alberta oil and gas deal" etc.
This is obfuscation.
It serves to present these agreements as beneficial to all, rather than specifically beneficial to the oil and gas industry.
"Alberta energy deal" rather than "Alberta oil and gas deal" etc.
This is obfuscation.
It serves to present these agreements as beneficial to all, rather than specifically beneficial to the oil and gas industry.
Reposted by Dr. Katja Thieme (she/they)
There’s extensive public health research on this that shows that needles on vaccine stories contribute to lower vaccine uptake because people have phobias of needles. So unless your health journalism has no purpose, you kind of have to figure out an alternative. At least acknowledge the problem.
December 2, 2025 at 1:00 PM
There’s extensive public health research on this that shows that needles on vaccine stories contribute to lower vaccine uptake because people have phobias of needles. So unless your health journalism has no purpose, you kind of have to figure out an alternative. At least acknowledge the problem.
Reposted by Dr. Katja Thieme (she/they)
Fund the arts because they are a source of joy and human happiness and thought. Not just because a scientist may get an idea off a line in a play. (Though that's great too.)
December 2, 2025 at 1:47 PM
Fund the arts because they are a source of joy and human happiness and thought. Not just because a scientist may get an idea off a line in a play. (Though that's great too.)
Reposted by Dr. Katja Thieme (she/they)
Hey Team Rhetoric -- Bill Hart-Davidson Memorial Scholarship 2025 Giving Tuesday Campaign
The scholarship requires $50,000 to be fully funded and start supporting students. As of 11/30/25, approximately $40,000 has already been raised.
givingto.msu.edu/causes-to-su...
The scholarship requires $50,000 to be fully funded and start supporting students. As of 11/30/25, approximately $40,000 has already been raised.
givingto.msu.edu/causes-to-su...
* | Giving to Michigan State University | Michigan State University
givingto.msu.edu
December 2, 2025 at 11:01 AM
Hey Team Rhetoric -- Bill Hart-Davidson Memorial Scholarship 2025 Giving Tuesday Campaign
The scholarship requires $50,000 to be fully funded and start supporting students. As of 11/30/25, approximately $40,000 has already been raised.
givingto.msu.edu/causes-to-su...
The scholarship requires $50,000 to be fully funded and start supporting students. As of 11/30/25, approximately $40,000 has already been raised.
givingto.msu.edu/causes-to-su...
Reposted by Dr. Katja Thieme (she/they)
Adding alt text to this because this is fucking amazing and everyone deserves to read it.
December 2, 2025 at 9:28 AM
Adding alt text to this because this is fucking amazing and everyone deserves to read it.
„Damià Barceló is a hyper-prolific scientist, who publishes a new study every five days or even less. He has authored some 1,800 papers in his lifetime, more than 200 of them in Science of the Total Environment, his own journal. His name appears numerous times as editor of his own studies.“
The fall of a prolific science journal exposes the billion-dollar profits of scientific publishing
One of the 15 publications that put out the most studies globally has been expelled from the indexing system for irregularities. Its publisher, Elsevier, has a 38% profit margin that reached $1.5 bill...
english.elpais.com
December 2, 2025 at 11:35 AM
„Damià Barceló is a hyper-prolific scientist, who publishes a new study every five days or even less. He has authored some 1,800 papers in his lifetime, more than 200 of them in Science of the Total Environment, his own journal. His name appears numerous times as editor of his own studies.“
Reposted by Dr. Katja Thieme (she/they)
“We will not stand idly by while governments collude behind closed doors and come up with ludicrous notions of attempting to get yet another fossil fuel pipeline to coastal waters,” Grand Chief Stewart Philip said, calling the MOU “the most egregious dismissal of our constitutional & legal rights.”
Generations of Indigenous leaders brace for a new battle over another pipeline
Generations of Indigenous leaders brace for a new battle over another pipeline
For some First Nations leaders, the prospect of conflict with provincial and federal governments over plans to send another pipeline to the B.C. coast brings back vivid memories of years past.
bit.ly
December 2, 2025 at 7:08 AM
“We will not stand idly by while governments collude behind closed doors and come up with ludicrous notions of attempting to get yet another fossil fuel pipeline to coastal waters,” Grand Chief Stewart Philip said, calling the MOU “the most egregious dismissal of our constitutional & legal rights.”