Dr. Moira McDermott
@mmcdermo.bsky.social
Mathematician, educator, recovering procrastinator, she/her, posts and opinions are my own, follow \neq endorse
Reposted by Dr. Moira McDermott
Fantastic essay by Roxane Gay: Civility Is a Fantasy. “Calling for civility is about exerting power. It is a way of reminding the powerless that they exist at the will of those in power and should act accordingly. It is a demand for control.” [nytimes.com]
Opinion | Civility Is a Fantasy
Calling for civility is a way of reminding the powerless that they exist at the will of those in power and should act accordingly.
www.nytimes.com
September 25, 2025 at 2:04 PM
Fantastic essay by Roxane Gay: Civility Is a Fantasy. “Calling for civility is about exerting power. It is a way of reminding the powerless that they exist at the will of those in power and should act accordingly. It is a demand for control.” [nytimes.com]
Reposted by Dr. Moira McDermott
And now it’s been hijacked by Oracle where every single American is separated from the rest of the world, with our own special algorithm.
Wonder what they’ll do with it now! I bet it’s all for the greater good.
Wonder what they’ll do with it now! I bet it’s all for the greater good.
An exclusive excerpt from Every Screen On The Planet reveals how the social media app’s powerful recommendation engine was shaped by a bunch of ordinary, twentysomething curators—including a guy named Jorge.
The Humble Origins Of TikTok’s Almighty Algorithm
An exclusive excerpt from Every Screen On The Planet reveals how the social media app’s powerful recommendation engine was shaped by a bunch of ordinary, twentysomething curators—including a guy named Jorge.
www.forbes.com
September 28, 2025 at 7:39 AM
And now it’s been hijacked by Oracle where every single American is separated from the rest of the world, with our own special algorithm.
Wonder what they’ll do with it now! I bet it’s all for the greater good.
Wonder what they’ll do with it now! I bet it’s all for the greater good.
Reposted by Dr. Moira McDermott
I know a lot of people won’t click through to read about “med beds” so here’s the crucial quote to explain how fucking crazy this is.
Trump just posted an AI video of himself promising every American access to this.
Trump just posted an AI video of himself promising every American access to this.
September 28, 2025 at 3:46 AM
I know a lot of people won’t click through to read about “med beds” so here’s the crucial quote to explain how fucking crazy this is.
Trump just posted an AI video of himself promising every American access to this.
Trump just posted an AI video of himself promising every American access to this.
Reposted by Dr. Moira McDermott
@nhannahjones.bsky.social: Through gossamer tributes, Kirk’s cruel condemnation of transgender people & racist throwback views about Black Americans were no longer anathema but instead treated as just another political view to be respectfully debated. Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2025/09/28/m...
www.nytimes.com
September 28, 2025 at 11:58 AM
@nhannahjones.bsky.social: Through gossamer tributes, Kirk’s cruel condemnation of transgender people & racist throwback views about Black Americans were no longer anathema but instead treated as just another political view to be respectfully debated. Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2025/09/28/m...
Reposted by Dr. Moira McDermott
"What are we to make of a man who called for the execution of the American president, and then was executed himself? What are we to make of an NFL that, on one hand, encourages us to “End Racism,” and, on the other, urges us to commemorate an unreconstructed white supremacist?'
Charlie Kirk, Redeemed: A Political Class Finds Its Lost Cause
By ignoring the rhetoric and actions of the Turning Point USA founder, pundits and politicians are sanitizing his legacy.
www.vanityfair.com
September 17, 2025 at 12:04 PM
"What are we to make of a man who called for the execution of the American president, and then was executed himself? What are we to make of an NFL that, on one hand, encourages us to “End Racism,” and, on the other, urges us to commemorate an unreconstructed white supremacist?'
Reposted by Dr. Moira McDermott
New video about a piece by the modern artist Sol LeWitt, and the group theory behind it.
youtu.be/_BrFKp-U8GI
youtu.be/_BrFKp-U8GI
September 7, 2025 at 12:39 PM
New video about a piece by the modern artist Sol LeWitt, and the group theory behind it.
youtu.be/_BrFKp-U8GI
youtu.be/_BrFKp-U8GI
Reposted by Dr. Moira McDermott
The only thing I can say about this paragraph is read it. Sit with it. Read it again. @michaelharriot.bsky.social
August 22, 2025 at 4:20 AM
The only thing I can say about this paragraph is read it. Sit with it. Read it again. @michaelharriot.bsky.social
Reposted by Dr. Moira McDermott
Even accepting the premise that AI produces useful writing (which no one should), using AI in education is like using a forklift at the gym. The weights do not actually need to be moved from place to place. That is not the work. The work is what happens within you.
April 15, 2025 at 2:56 AM
Even accepting the premise that AI produces useful writing (which no one should), using AI in education is like using a forklift at the gym. The weights do not actually need to be moved from place to place. That is not the work. The work is what happens within you.
Reposted by Dr. Moira McDermott
Really liked this @monicalewinsky.bsky.social interview with John Oliver, gets at some of the actual human tone that a real conversation about these topics would hit. And I’m always here for telling Jay Leno to go fuck himself. youtu.be/yR-KTECQGxQ
John Oliver on The Ethics of Comedy, The Dalai Lama & Impacting Monica
YouTube video by Reclaiming with Monica Lewinsky
youtu.be
August 18, 2025 at 3:24 AM
Really liked this @monicalewinsky.bsky.social interview with John Oliver, gets at some of the actual human tone that a real conversation about these topics would hit. And I’m always here for telling Jay Leno to go fuck himself. youtu.be/yR-KTECQGxQ
Reposted by Dr. Moira McDermott
New blog post: "On Grief" in higher ed. catherinedenial.org/blog/uncateg...
August 5, 2025 at 11:38 AM
New blog post: "On Grief" in higher ed. catherinedenial.org/blog/uncateg...
Reposted by Dr. Moira McDermott
This is a fabulous piece of writing about the mythology of generative AI. www.techpolicy.press/challenging-...
Challenging The Myths of Generative AI | TechPolicy.Press
Eryk Salvaggio says we must dispense with myths if we are to think more clearly about what AI actually is and does.
www.techpolicy.press
August 6, 2025 at 2:08 AM
This is a fabulous piece of writing about the mythology of generative AI. www.techpolicy.press/challenging-...
Reposted by Dr. Moira McDermott
What a fantastic accomplishment -- and what a fantastic story! www.quantamagazine.org/at-17-hannah...
At 17, Hannah Cairo Solved a Major Math Mystery | Quanta Magazine
After finding the homeschooling life confining, the teen petitioned her way into a graduate class at Berkeley, where she ended up disproving a 40-year-old conjecture.
www.quantamagazine.org
August 3, 2025 at 12:13 PM
What a fantastic accomplishment -- and what a fantastic story! www.quantamagazine.org/at-17-hannah...
Reposted by Dr. Moira McDermott
When you strip away humanity
July 26, 2025 at 11:31 AM
When you strip away humanity
Reposted by Dr. Moira McDermott
In today's Tea for Teaching podcast, @geekypedagogy.bsky.social joins us to discuss her new book, Snafu Edu, which explores ways of addressing classroom issues and offers recommendations for proactive approaches to these issues. teaforteaching.podbean.com/e/snafu-edu/ @cyberthread.bsky.social
Snafu Edu | Tea for Teaching
Most books and resources devoted to professional development focus on strategies that faculty can use to create a positive learning environment for our students, but generally assume that everything w...
teaforteaching.podbean.com
July 2, 2025 at 11:06 AM
In today's Tea for Teaching podcast, @geekypedagogy.bsky.social joins us to discuss her new book, Snafu Edu, which explores ways of addressing classroom issues and offers recommendations for proactive approaches to these issues. teaforteaching.podbean.com/e/snafu-edu/ @cyberthread.bsky.social
Reposted by Dr. Moira McDermott
As Clay Shirky put it in a recent essay for the Chronicle of Higher Ed: “While the output of any given course is student assignments - papers, exams, research projects, and so on - the product of that course is student experience.”
www.chronicle.com/article/is-a...
www.chronicle.com/article/is-a...
Opinion | Is AI Enhancing Education or Replacing It?
Technology should facilitate learning, not substitute for it.
www.chronicle.com
May 5, 2025 at 3:30 PM
As Clay Shirky put it in a recent essay for the Chronicle of Higher Ed: “While the output of any given course is student assignments - papers, exams, research projects, and so on - the product of that course is student experience.”
www.chronicle.com/article/is-a...
www.chronicle.com/article/is-a...
Reposted by Dr. Moira McDermott
Clay Shirky on the impact of generative AI on learning: "As with calculators, there will be many tasks where automation is more important than user comprehension, but for student work, a tool that improves the output but degrades the experience is a bad tradeoff."
www.chronicle.com/article/is-a...
www.chronicle.com/article/is-a...
www.chronicle.com
May 11, 2025 at 12:33 AM
Clay Shirky on the impact of generative AI on learning: "As with calculators, there will be many tasks where automation is more important than user comprehension, but for student work, a tool that improves the output but degrades the experience is a bad tradeoff."
www.chronicle.com/article/is-a...
www.chronicle.com/article/is-a...
buttondown.com/yarntheory/a...
Horrified by what is happening all over, especially at NSF. I know at least one friend who got out in time. Knowing people affected in this way just makes it all the more heartbreaking.
Horrified by what is happening all over, especially at NSF. I know at least one friend who got out in time. Knowing people affected in this way just makes it all the more heartbreaking.
on approaching hard problems
Friends, colleagues, and lovers of words, I usually use this space to talk about books, but today I want to tell you about my friend Adriana Salerno. Like...
buttondown.com
February 23, 2025 at 2:33 PM
buttondown.com/yarntheory/a...
Horrified by what is happening all over, especially at NSF. I know at least one friend who got out in time. Knowing people affected in this way just makes it all the more heartbreaking.
Horrified by what is happening all over, especially at NSF. I know at least one friend who got out in time. Knowing people affected in this way just makes it all the more heartbreaking.
Reposted by Dr. Moira McDermott
My friend @mathyadriana.bsky.social lost her job last week, and I want you to know the story:
buttondown.com/yarntheory/a...
buttondown.com/yarntheory/a...
on approaching hard problems
Friends, colleagues, and lovers of words, I usually use this space to talk about books, but today I want to tell you about my friend Adriana Salerno. Like...
buttondown.com
February 22, 2025 at 8:18 PM
My friend @mathyadriana.bsky.social lost her job last week, and I want you to know the story:
buttondown.com/yarntheory/a...
buttondown.com/yarntheory/a...
Reposted by Dr. Moira McDermott
Do you want a big overview of NSF, explaining things like the fact that 24% of all federally funded academic fundamental research comes from NSF? And that 94% of its budget goes out the door in grants/awards? Here you go. nsf-gov-resources.nsf.gov/files/Factsh...
February 8, 2025 at 3:32 PM
Do you want a big overview of NSF, explaining things like the fact that 24% of all federally funded academic fundamental research comes from NSF? And that 94% of its budget goes out the door in grants/awards? Here you go. nsf-gov-resources.nsf.gov/files/Factsh...
Reposted by Dr. Moira McDermott
Y’all they cancelled the NSF MPS Ascend Program after encouraging underrepresented folks to only apply to it and not both the Ascend and the MSPRF. This is astronomically fucked up for many grad students and postdocs of color in math. #MathSky
February 8, 2025 at 6:14 PM
Y’all they cancelled the NSF MPS Ascend Program after encouraging underrepresented folks to only apply to it and not both the Ascend and the MSPRF. This is astronomically fucked up for many grad students and postdocs of color in math. #MathSky
I benefited immensely from participating in Syracuse University’s CHANCE grant which was funded by HHMI Inclusive Excellence. 😢
Extremely disappointed to see HHMI decide to kill their Inclusive Excellence program, including terminating the current IE3 awards to over a hundred institutions effective this year in the middle of a 6-year grant. I was hoping HHMI (and other private funders) would continue to lead the way.
February 6, 2025 at 1:09 PM
I benefited immensely from participating in Syracuse University’s CHANCE grant which was funded by HHMI Inclusive Excellence. 😢
Interesting post by @youtoobio.bsky.social Should homework count in a student's grade? Is using Multiple Grading Schemes more equitable?
open.substack.com/pub/jaymedye...
open.substack.com/pub/jaymedye...
Why I use Multiple Grading Schemes
It's about equity
open.substack.com
February 5, 2025 at 4:46 PM
Interesting post by @youtoobio.bsky.social Should homework count in a student's grade? Is using Multiple Grading Schemes more equitable?
open.substack.com/pub/jaymedye...
open.substack.com/pub/jaymedye...
Reposted by Dr. Moira McDermott
I'm learning a lot by being a student again. For example, THINKING TAKES TIME
open.substack.com/pub/jaymedye...
open.substack.com/pub/jaymedye...
Think-Pair-Share: A View from Both Sides
I'm learning how to teach better by being a student again
open.substack.com
January 22, 2025 at 9:22 PM
I'm learning a lot by being a student again. For example, THINKING TAKES TIME
open.substack.com/pub/jaymedye...
open.substack.com/pub/jaymedye...