Melissa Johnson, PhD
@ladyhistorian.bsky.social
Historian. Associate Professor. Community College enthusiast. Researching 17th-c gossip. Weighs more than a duck. Employed by George and Gracie. She/her.
Reposted by Melissa Johnson, PhD
Majors in applied AI and cybersecurity will be able to finish their bachelor's degrees in 3 years by skipping general education courses. Getting degrees in applied AI or cycbersecurity without studying ethics or history, etc.? What could possibly go wrong?
www.oudaily.com/news/ou-acad...
www.oudaily.com/news/ou-acad...
OU Academic Programs Council to consider changing 8 bachelor’s degrees to 3-year programs
OU’s Academic Programs Council will consider adjusting eight degree programs to become 90-credit hour speciality degrees Friday.
www.oudaily.com
December 7, 2025 at 6:50 PM
Majors in applied AI and cybersecurity will be able to finish their bachelor's degrees in 3 years by skipping general education courses. Getting degrees in applied AI or cycbersecurity without studying ethics or history, etc.? What could possibly go wrong?
www.oudaily.com/news/ou-acad...
www.oudaily.com/news/ou-acad...
Reposted by Melissa Johnson, PhD
The first school I worked at started calculating profits and losses for departments. They quickly dropped it when they discovered that history (etc.) were highly "profitable" (cheap profs, little overhead, and huge classes) whereas STEM degrees were not.
December 7, 2025 at 2:52 PM
The first school I worked at started calculating profits and losses for departments. They quickly dropped it when they discovered that history (etc.) were highly "profitable" (cheap profs, little overhead, and huge classes) whereas STEM degrees were not.
Reposted by Melissa Johnson, PhD
This branch of the culture has totally lost the idea of masculine virtue being defined against vices that are also masculine
Something that just occurred to me is for all Hegseth's machismo prostrating it's like a classically cowardly thing to kill defenseless men in war. Like by millennia-old standards of honor.
December 7, 2025 at 3:13 PM
This branch of the culture has totally lost the idea of masculine virtue being defined against vices that are also masculine
Reposted by Melissa Johnson, PhD
If they pretend they haven’t heard about the story of the day, end the interview right there.
“I’m sorry, Senator, we wanted to get your perspective on this story, but it seems you’re not fully aware of what’s going on.”
“I’m sorry, Senator, we wanted to get your perspective on this story, but it seems you’re not fully aware of what’s going on.”
December 7, 2025 at 3:15 PM
If they pretend they haven’t heard about the story of the day, end the interview right there.
“I’m sorry, Senator, we wanted to get your perspective on this story, but it seems you’re not fully aware of what’s going on.”
“I’m sorry, Senator, we wanted to get your perspective on this story, but it seems you’re not fully aware of what’s going on.”
Reposted by Melissa Johnson, PhD
Me when I cite myself:
December 7, 2025 at 2:46 PM
Me when I cite myself:
Reposted by Melissa Johnson, PhD
Someone please pitch @contingent-mag.bsky.social on this. We need a mailbag that people can share with friends and family who believe the university spokesperson line that this is about costs or low student demand. It’s not true in this case and it hasn’t been true with the humanities either.
“The Daily Nebraskan found in the leaked spreadsheet that every program eliminated appeared to be profitable…every program that the chancellor proposed eliminating generated more money from tuition dollars than the department costs to run”
December 7, 2025 at 2:47 PM
Someone please pitch @contingent-mag.bsky.social on this. We need a mailbag that people can share with friends and family who believe the university spokesperson line that this is about costs or low student demand. It’s not true in this case and it hasn’t been true with the humanities either.
Reposted by Melissa Johnson, PhD
By the way this is why I know they’re lying when they say they knew who was on the boats and they’re all on a military list. The US military had somehow built a dossier on Robert Sanchez, the boat pilot living in a cinderblock house and earning $100 a month? He was next on the kill list after Osama?
Everyone seems to have forgotten but the AP actually went to Venezuela and found some of these men. They aren’t terminator-like cartel warriors, ready to give their life to ship kilos. They’re random dudes from small towns - bus drivers, fishermen - recruited for a payday. apnews.com/article/trum...
Trump has accused boat crews of being narco-terrorists. The truth, AP found, is more nuanced
One was a fisherman struggling to eke out a living on $100 a month. Another was a career criminal. A third was a former military cadet.
apnews.com
December 7, 2025 at 3:48 PM
By the way this is why I know they’re lying when they say they knew who was on the boats and they’re all on a military list. The US military had somehow built a dossier on Robert Sanchez, the boat pilot living in a cinderblock house and earning $100 a month? He was next on the kill list after Osama?
Reposted by Melissa Johnson, PhD
To propose that GenAI can compensate for "archival silences" perverts Trouillot's work. It's is a contradiction to say that a product whose logic exacerbates power imbalances--creating a most-likely guess based on the existing record--can restore absences that are the product of those imbalances.
December 6, 2025 at 8:59 PM
To propose that GenAI can compensate for "archival silences" perverts Trouillot's work. It's is a contradiction to say that a product whose logic exacerbates power imbalances--creating a most-likely guess based on the existing record--can restore absences that are the product of those imbalances.
"He thinks of the many signals
flying in the air around him
the syllables fluttering,
saying please love me,
from continent to continent
over the curve of the earth."
-Joseph Millar, "Telephone Repairman"
flying in the air around him
the syllables fluttering,
saying please love me,
from continent to continent
over the curve of the earth."
-Joseph Millar, "Telephone Repairman"
Which lines of poetry live rent-free in your head?
December 7, 2025 at 3:29 AM
"He thinks of the many signals
flying in the air around him
the syllables fluttering,
saying please love me,
from continent to continent
over the curve of the earth."
-Joseph Millar, "Telephone Repairman"
flying in the air around him
the syllables fluttering,
saying please love me,
from continent to continent
over the curve of the earth."
-Joseph Millar, "Telephone Repairman"
Reposted by Melissa Johnson, PhD
It’s women deciding that since they no longer need men financially they don’t want to babysit
I'm starting to wonder how much "the male loneliness epidemic" is just straight and bisexual women identifying low-effort, mean, and incompetent men and choosing not to date, marry, and tolerate them anymore
December 7, 2025 at 3:03 AM
It’s women deciding that since they no longer need men financially they don’t want to babysit
Reposted by Melissa Johnson, PhD
At a dance class I complimented a woman on her grippy-bottomed socks. “I love the psych ward socks,” I said. And she goes “I call them Pilates socks.” And those, my friends, are the two types of people.
December 7, 2025 at 12:51 AM
At a dance class I complimented a woman on her grippy-bottomed socks. “I love the psych ward socks,” I said. And she goes “I call them Pilates socks.” And those, my friends, are the two types of people.
Reposted by Melissa Johnson, PhD
If on Christmas Eve the stockings belonging to the women (any of them) are empty, you have failed the assignment. You've got 17 days.
December 7, 2025 at 2:07 AM
If on Christmas Eve the stockings belonging to the women (any of them) are empty, you have failed the assignment. You've got 17 days.
Reposted by Melissa Johnson, PhD
Anniversary of halifax explosion so obligatory
"Hold up the train. Ammunition ship afire in harbour making for Pier 6 and will explode. Guess this will be my last message. Good-bye boys."
- Vincent Coleman
saved like 300 people on a train, and started the emergency response. Died for it
"Hold up the train. Ammunition ship afire in harbour making for Pier 6 and will explode. Guess this will be my last message. Good-bye boys."
- Vincent Coleman
saved like 300 people on a train, and started the emergency response. Died for it
December 6, 2025 at 11:12 PM
Anniversary of halifax explosion so obligatory
"Hold up the train. Ammunition ship afire in harbour making for Pier 6 and will explode. Guess this will be my last message. Good-bye boys."
- Vincent Coleman
saved like 300 people on a train, and started the emergency response. Died for it
"Hold up the train. Ammunition ship afire in harbour making for Pier 6 and will explode. Guess this will be my last message. Good-bye boys."
- Vincent Coleman
saved like 300 people on a train, and started the emergency response. Died for it
Reposted by Melissa Johnson, PhD
the birthright clause was not just written to wipe dred scott off of the books, it was written to repudiate the *idea* behind dred scott, you might say the larger *ideological project* of dred scott. and the whole of section 1 of the 14th amendment is a constitutional statement of political equality
December 6, 2025 at 6:03 PM
the birthright clause was not just written to wipe dred scott off of the books, it was written to repudiate the *idea* behind dred scott, you might say the larger *ideological project* of dred scott. and the whole of section 1 of the 14th amendment is a constitutional statement of political equality
Reposted by Melissa Johnson, PhD
i think to understand the meaning of the birthright citizenship clause to the framers of the 14th amendment, you have to understand significance of dred scott to the civil war republican party. dred scott wasn't just a bad ruling, it was understood as a rejection of the declaration itself.
December 6, 2025 at 6:03 PM
i think to understand the meaning of the birthright citizenship clause to the framers of the 14th amendment, you have to understand significance of dred scott to the civil war republican party. dred scott wasn't just a bad ruling, it was understood as a rejection of the declaration itself.
Reposted by Melissa Johnson, PhD
14th amendment ruled a "quaint but outdated local custom" in 6-3 decision, with dissent from Kagan saying it actually is in the constitution, did you even check, and concurring opinion by Thomas arguing that calling it quaint is far too generous
December 6, 2025 at 5:30 PM
14th amendment ruled a "quaint but outdated local custom" in 6-3 decision, with dissent from Kagan saying it actually is in the constitution, did you even check, and concurring opinion by Thomas arguing that calling it quaint is far too generous
Reposted by Melissa Johnson, PhD
People crying about being allowed to make AI slop are not interested in making art, they want to be able to demand an audience using regurgitated slop made of other people’s art.
December 6, 2025 at 4:50 PM
People crying about being allowed to make AI slop are not interested in making art, they want to be able to demand an audience using regurgitated slop made of other people’s art.
Reposted by Melissa Johnson, PhD
This is complete and utter bullshit. These individuals have been tested, vetted, and approved. They deserve the ceremony which is the literal last step to gain citizenship. Faneuil Hall has had these ceremonies almost non-stop for decades including through actual war.
www.wgbh.org/news/local/2...
www.wgbh.org/news/local/2...
Immigrants kept from Faneuil Hall citizenship ceremony as feds crackdown nationwide
Trump administration is pausing naturalizations for immigrants from 19 countries.
www.wgbh.org
December 6, 2025 at 3:31 PM
This is complete and utter bullshit. These individuals have been tested, vetted, and approved. They deserve the ceremony which is the literal last step to gain citizenship. Faneuil Hall has had these ceremonies almost non-stop for decades including through actual war.
www.wgbh.org/news/local/2...
www.wgbh.org/news/local/2...
Reposted by Melissa Johnson, PhD
"By using his then-full legal control of the movies (until he sold the franchise to Disney in 2012), he was able to not only alter the story, but also how we remember it—by denying access to the unaltered original cuts, Lucas has left us without critical cultural documents in a modern format."
From A Certain Point Of View
By denying access to the original cuts of the saga films, George Lucas has left us without the critical cultural documents needed for understanding the franchise's power.
contingentmagazine.org
December 6, 2025 at 5:22 AM
"By using his then-full legal control of the movies (until he sold the franchise to Disney in 2012), he was able to not only alter the story, but also how we remember it—by denying access to the unaltered original cuts, Lucas has left us without critical cultural documents in a modern format."
Reposted by Melissa Johnson, PhD
Also an "AI chatbot" cannot forensically examine an image. That's a nonsensical claim.
‘A BBC journalist ran the image through an AI chatbot which identified key spots that may have been manipulated.‘
Jesus Christ, if you’re a journalist, go and find out for yourself if the bridge was damaged. GenAI is making morons out of people.
Jesus Christ, if you’re a journalist, go and find out for yourself if the bridge was damaged. GenAI is making morons out of people.
First of many such incidents, I expect. Another ‘win’ for those ‘useful’ Gen AI tools.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
December 6, 2025 at 3:27 PM
Also an "AI chatbot" cannot forensically examine an image. That's a nonsensical claim.
Reposted by Melissa Johnson, PhD
Rick goes thru the potential specifics of the deal which are byzantine and designed to avoid paying taxes and we should also be talking about how bad these deals are for us as a citizenry when corps do massive deals that allow them to enrich a handful of already rich people at the cost to **us**
December 6, 2025 at 1:36 PM
Rick goes thru the potential specifics of the deal which are byzantine and designed to avoid paying taxes and we should also be talking about how bad these deals are for us as a citizenry when corps do massive deals that allow them to enrich a handful of already rich people at the cost to **us**
Reposted by Melissa Johnson, PhD
It's the 160th anniversary of the United States' refounding, the ratification of the 13th Amendment.
December 6, 2025 at 12:38 PM
It's the 160th anniversary of the United States' refounding, the ratification of the 13th Amendment.
Reposted by Melissa Johnson, PhD
I’m old enough to remember the strike that happened a whole year ago because companies like Netflix claimed they don’t have enough money to pay residuals to actors for their work. Netflix has $82 Billion to buy Warner Bros.
December 6, 2025 at 3:20 AM
I’m old enough to remember the strike that happened a whole year ago because companies like Netflix claimed they don’t have enough money to pay residuals to actors for their work. Netflix has $82 Billion to buy Warner Bros.
Reposted by Melissa Johnson, PhD
Love this new wrinkle on the “bread and circuses” theme where the authoritarian ruler is both the creator of the circus and its primary audience…meanwhile he and his family are consuming all the bread themselves.
There are well upwards of a BILLION dollars (of OUR money) this year funneled to projects designed specifically to make Trump feel Good about himself: www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...
Trumps private and public furious response to the onrush of media coverage about his mind, health, age, sleep…
Trumps private and public furious response to the onrush of media coverage about his mind, health, age, sleep…
December 6, 2025 at 3:03 PM
Love this new wrinkle on the “bread and circuses” theme where the authoritarian ruler is both the creator of the circus and its primary audience…meanwhile he and his family are consuming all the bread themselves.
Reposted by Melissa Johnson, PhD
Hey, @rweingarten.bsky.social and @aft.org, please immediately cancel your partnerships with "A.i." companies. You cannot morally and ethically justify pushing this kind of garbage on school kids.
This was just sent to me by an LAUSD parent. A 4th grader was assigned to design a book cover for Pippi Longstocking using Adobe for Education. Here is what the AI tool generated:
December 5, 2025 at 10:52 PM
Hey, @rweingarten.bsky.social and @aft.org, please immediately cancel your partnerships with "A.i." companies. You cannot morally and ethically justify pushing this kind of garbage on school kids.