Joyce Havstad
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philosofir.bsky.social
Joyce Havstad
@philosofir.bsky.social
760 followers 420 following 36 posts
Philosopher of science 🌲🏔️🌈
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Reposted by Joyce Havstad
devezer.bsky.social
these emails infuriated me way more than i expected. here's us losing sleep over doing right by students, colleagues, community, losing our health, breaking our brains to do our best. there's them, these elite assholes ingratiating themselves with the most depraved, failing their way up as they go.
November 14, 2025 at 4:50 AM
Reposted by Joyce Havstad
annehelen.bsky.social
My old pal Pete Coviello — one of the best writers and thinkers I've ever known — wrote the piece of the moment

lithub.com/maybe-dont-t...
Maybe Don’t Talk to the New York Times About Zohran Mamdani
It’s remarkable, the people you’ll hear from. Teach for even a little while at an expensive institution—the term they tend to prefer is “elite”—and odds are that eventually someone who was a studen…
lithub.com
November 9, 2025 at 3:17 AM
Reposted by Joyce Havstad
clancyny.bsky.social
A Nature poll found that 75% of U.S. researchers are considering leaving the country.

Guyz, even the *historians* are leaving or contemplating / likely to go. Including, at least 3 historians that I know of in my subfield. 😢
Top researchers consider leaving U.S. amid funding cuts: 'The science world is ending'
A poll from the journal Nature found that 75% of researchers in the U.S. are considering leaving the country. That includes a man who’s been dubbed the "Mozart of Math." Stephanie Sy examines what’s b...
www.pbs.org
October 31, 2025 at 7:50 PM
philosofir.bsky.social
it’s never too late to post your paper ✨
philsci-archive.bsky.social PhilSci-Archive @philsci-archive.bsky.social · 24d
New on the Archive:

Gunderson, Keith, ed. (1975) Language, mind, and knowledge. Minnesota Studies in the Philosophy of Science, 7 . Univ. of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis.

https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/27022/
October 25, 2025 at 3:27 PM
Reposted by Joyce Havstad
alisabokulich.bsky.social
Huzzah! The PhilSci preprint archive for #philsci papers is finally on Bsky! Give them a follow to keep up with latest work in field ⬇️
@philsci-archive.bsky.social
October 25, 2025 at 1:46 PM
Reposted by Joyce Havstad
gelliottmorris.com
Good evening. We estimate that between 4.2 and 7.6 million people turned out for the No Kings Day demonstrations held around the country on Saturday. This makes Oct 18 very likely the biggest single-day U.S. protest event since 1970. www.gelliottmorris.com/p/second-no-...
Second "No Kings Day" protests likely the largest single-day political demonstration since 1970, with 4.2-7.6 million participants
Here are the initial results from our crowdsourced crowd-counting estimates
www.gelliottmorris.com
October 19, 2025 at 3:17 AM
philosofir.bsky.social
if these numbers are right that’s about 2% of the US population of around 340 million
jbendery.bsky.social Jen Bendery @jbendery.bsky.social · Oct 18
Today's official crowd count estimate from #NoKings coalition:

7 million people turned out nationwide

That's 2 million more than the #NoKings peaceful protests in June
October 18, 2025 at 10:11 PM
Reposted by Joyce Havstad
chenoweth.bsky.social
My team at the Crowd Counting Consortium (@djpressman.bsky.social, Hammam, & Chris Shay) has a new piece, whose title speaks for itself. A 🧵 with some key descriptive takeaways:
The resistance reaches into Trump country
As organizers for No Kings 2 seek historic turnout on Oct. 18, the broader pro-democracy movement has already broken new ground.
wagingnonviolence.org
October 16, 2025 at 8:11 PM
Reposted by Joyce Havstad
kathleenclark.bsky.social
A master class from MIT in responding to authoritarian overreach:

Your “premise … is inconsistent with our core belief that scientific funding should be based on scientific merit alone.
… America’s leadership in science & innovation depends on independent thinking & open competition for excellence.
Dear Madam Secretary, I write in response to your letter of October 1, inviting MIT to review a "Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education." I acknowledge the vital importance of these matters. I appreciated the chance to meet with you earlier this year to discuss the priorities we share for American higher education. As we discussed, the Institute's mission of service to the nation directs us to advance knowledge, educate students and bring knowledge to bear on the world's great challenges. We do that in line with a clear set of values, with excellence above all. Some practical examples: • MIT prides itself on rewarding merit. Students, faculty and staff succeed here based on the strength of their talent, ideas and hard work. For instance, the Institute was the first to reinstate the SAT/ACT requirement after the pandemic. And MIT has never had legacy preferences in admissions. • MIT opens its doors to the most talented students regardless of their family's finances. Admissions are need-blind. Incoming undergraduates whose families earn less than $200,000 a year pay no tuition. Nearly 88% of our last graduating class left MIT with no debt for their education. We make a wealth of free courses and low-cost certificates available to any American with an internet connection. Of the undergraduate degrees we award, 94% are in STEM fields. And in service to the nation, we cap enrollment of international undergraduates at roughly 10%. source: https://orgchart.mit.edu/letters/regarding-compact • We value free expression, as clearly described in the MIT Statement on Freedom of Expression and Academic Freedom. We must hear facts and opinions we don't like - and engage respectfully with those with whom we disagree. These values and other MIT practices meet or exceed many standards outlined in the document you sent. We freely choose these values because they're right, and we live by them because they support our mission - work of immense value to the prosperity, competitiveness, health and security of the United States. And of course, MIT abides by the law. The document also includes principles with which we disagree, including those that would restrict freedom of expression and our independence as an institution. And fundamentally, the premise of the document is inconsistent with our core belief that scientific funding should be based on scientific merit alone. In our view, America's leadership in science and innovation depends on independent thinking and open competition for excellence. In that free marketplace of ideas, the people of MIT gladly compete with the very best, without preferences. Therefore, with respect, we cannot support the proposed approach to addressing the issues facing higher education. As you know, MIT's record of service to the nation is long and enduring. Eight decades ago, MIT leaders helped invent a scientific partnership between America's research universities and the U.S. government that has delivered extraordinary benefits for the American people. We continue to believe in the power of this partnership to serve the nation. Sincerely, Sally Kornbluth
October 10, 2025 at 2:47 PM
Reposted by Joyce Havstad
antlervel.vet
WHEN THERE’S TREASURE BEHIND THE WATERFALL: Oh wow. Yes, very clever! Waterfall treasure! No one’s ever done that before. Lazy jackass

WHEN THERE’S NO TREASURE BEHIND THE WATERFALL: Wow. Too stuck-up to put treasure there huh? Too much of a fucking ICONOCLAST for that? Piece of shit. FUCK you
October 15, 2025 at 1:04 AM
Reposted by Joyce Havstad
victorerikray.bsky.social
This is an excellent piece from @georgianndavis.bsky.social on the wave of anti-scientific censorship sweeping the country and what it means to teach honestly in the moment.
Contributor: I'm an intersex professor. Am I supposed to lie by teaching 'only male and female'?
A campaign against teachers who acknowledge realities of human biology forces a choice: Teach truth and risk your job, or lie and maybe keep it.
www.latimes.com
October 2, 2025 at 2:25 PM
Reposted by Joyce Havstad
nathankhensley.bsky.social
The thing regular people don’t often grasp about ‘academic freedom’ is that if you don’t allow experts to research & teach in their fields of expertise, guided by their professional judgment & decades of training, you have effectively given up on the concept of knowledge & shut down your university
bestonetx.bsky.social Bryan Edward Stone (שָׁלוֹם) @bestonetx.bsky.social · Sep 27
Universities are moving rapidly to comply with laws that don't exist.
texasaaup.bsky.social Texas Conference of the AAUP @texasaaup.bsky.social · Sep 26
“I’m emotionally shellshocked right now,” said one professor in the Texas Tech system. “What does it say about academic freedom? It says we don’t have it.” The professor spoke by phone from the inside of a car to avoid being overheard by colleagues.

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/26/u...
September 27, 2025 at 11:41 AM
Reposted by Joyce Havstad
anthonymoser.com
i made a helpful reference
top right: a fractured black rectangle where one half is labeled "autism is bad" and the other side is labeled "FACT CHECK: autistic people are productive members of society". top left: WRONG -negating their frame reinforces it -starts with what it isn't instead of what it is - your argument is shaped like their argument bottom right: large image of Kirby, a pink blob inhaling and the "autism is bad" fragment, labeled THEY'RE DOING EUGENICS bottom left: RIGHT - you eat their frame -starts with what's actually happening -contains and explains what they're doing -your argument is shaped like kirby
September 24, 2025 at 3:23 PM
Reposted by Joyce Havstad
hkandersen.bsky.social
We're coming up on philosophy PhD application season. In case it is helpful for you or your students, I have a guide to this process, developed over the years of working with SFU MA students. Let me know if you have questions or suggestions
#philsky #philsci

www.hkandersen.com/applying-for...
Applying for Ph.d. programs
​These notes were developed over the years for the annual "Applying to a PhD program" session for Simon Fraser University Philosophy MA students. This offers a perspective on how to prioritize your...
www.hkandersen.com
September 27, 2025 at 3:32 PM
Reposted by Joyce Havstad
bradlander.bsky.social
I was back at 26 Federal Plaza today, where an ICE agent violently threw this bereft woman to the ground in front of her kids. She had not touched him. She did not pose any threat. She had to be taken to the hospital. (🎥: Elias Eliahu)
September 25, 2025 at 6:03 PM
philosofir.bsky.social
Been waiting to get paid for some work I did in April on an NIH funded grant held at UCLA. Maybe I’ll finally get compensated for my labor as contracted
blakeprof.bsky.social Blake Emerson @blakeprof.bsky.social · Sep 24
UCLA’s funds reinstated after yesterday’s court order! Thanks to the brave researchers and their amazing counsel, including Dean Chemerinsky, who brought suit. This is just another turn in the ongoing fight, but a great result for now.
September 25, 2025 at 1:21 AM
Reposted by Joyce Havstad
adrian-currie.bsky.social
Book launch for “Methods in the Philosophy of Science: a user’s guide”. Ftf in Exeter and online on the 29th of Sept feat Sophie Veigl, Kerry McKenzie, Hasok Chang, and me. It should be fun! (the book will be open access in July, contact me in the meantime) www.exeter.ac.uk/events/detai... #philsci
September 22, 2025 at 1:33 PM
Reposted by Joyce Havstad
dailynous.com
The Philosophy of Science Association makes experts on various topics available for conversation with graduate students anywhere with its "Office Hour" program. Other associations should consider doing this.
The PSA’s “Office Hour” Returns - Daily Nous
The Philosophy of Science Association (PSA) is continuing its excellent expert "office hour" series this semester---a program other academic associations should consider adopting. "The PSA Office Hour aims to facilitate interactions between our graduate student membership and prominent philosophers of science, and in a more controlled, accessible, and carbon-conscious setting than is provided by our
dailynous.com
September 16, 2025 at 2:11 PM
Reposted by Joyce Havstad
sltrib.com
The University of Utah announced a new scheduling plan to spread classes out more over the week. In a social media, the school touted one of the benefits as improving parking congestion — and students had something to say about that.
‘The worst possible solution’: University of Utah students furious over major scheduling changes
The University of Utah announced a new scheduling plan to spread classes out more over the week. In a social media, the school touted one of the benefits as improving parking congestion — and students had something to say about that.
www.sltrib.com
September 3, 2025 at 1:24 PM
Reposted by Joyce Havstad
jeremymberg.bsky.social
Yes, it was carefully hidden in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine (www.nejm.org/doi/pdf/10.1... )

1/2
A graph comparing COVID incidence after the Pfizer vaccine compared to placebo
September 1, 2025 at 4:08 PM
Reposted by Joyce Havstad
zackbeauchamp.bsky.social
Reading an article titled "Why didn't Brazilian democracy die?" and a key part of the story is a Supreme Court that actually did its job
August 25, 2025 at 5:43 PM
Reposted by Joyce Havstad
wihorne.bsky.social
I keep saying this but it remains true: Dems have not learned the central lesson of Reconstruction, that multiracial democracy cannot survive when those working to overthrow the rule of law & fair elections are allowed to operate with impunity.
nberlat.bsky.social Noah Berlatsky @nberlat.bsky.social · Aug 23
the problem for Ds right now is not winning elections. they are doing fine at winning elections.

the problem is what happens *between elections.* as in, if you don't fight fascism between elections, election outcomes start not to matter. 1
August 23, 2025 at 8:04 PM
Reposted by Joyce Havstad
alisabokulich.bsky.social
Philosophy Dept @ U of Toronto invites applications for 7 #philjobs incl

Asst Prof – Metaphysics & Epistemology, St. George Campus (deadline: Nov 3): jobs.utoronto.ca/job/Toronto-...

Asst Prof – Philosophy & Statistics, St. George Campus (deadline: Nov 4): jobs.utoronto.ca/job/Toronto-...
#philsci
Assistant Professor - Metaphysics and Epistemology
Assistant Professor - Metaphysics and Epistemology
jobs.utoronto.ca
August 21, 2025 at 5:33 PM
Reposted by Joyce Havstad
extinctblog.bsky.social
So... I have a new paper on the problem of classifying the Ediacaran biota, which includes a (very selective) historical narrative and some philosophical reflections, as well as a comparison with the problem of Burgess problematica
www.extinctblog.org/palaeonews/2...
Max's new Ediacaran paper — Extinct
Hey, so I wrote a paper about the problem of classifying Ediacaran organisms, which I worked shopped in an old blog post. You can read it here. https://rdcu.be/exKL3
www.extinctblog.org
August 19, 2025 at 3:22 PM
philosofir.bsky.social
I work at the University of Utah. My dean mentioned the U’s partnership with Ariel at our faculty retreat on Thursday, but I didn’t know much about it. I learned more about the arrangement, timing, and reception via the article below:
After crushing dissent, U.S. universities deepen ties with Israeli academia
Israeli universities regularly collaborate with the military, which has destroyed all academic life in Gaza. That's done nothing to slow U.S.-Israeli partnerships.
www.972mag.com
August 16, 2025 at 3:42 PM