Cathy N. Davidson | Lightnews

Cathy Davidson

@cathyndavidson.bsky.social

3.9K followers 3.5K following 1.5K posts

CathyDavidson.com. Advocate for active learning, student success. Author “The New Education” etc. Cofounder HASTAC.org ("world's first academic social network"--NSF). Science fiction fan. Lover of oceans. Opinions and typos my own. #SeaScrolling #Breathe .. more

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Cathy N. Davidson is an American scholar and university professor. She is a Distinguished Professor of English, Digital Humanities, and Data Analysis and Visualization at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York where she founded the Futures Initiative. .. more

Political science 21%

Art 21%

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Cathy Davidson @cathyndavidson.bsky.social · Dec 5

Here's the press release of 2025 #McGraw Prize including videos of our careers and our acceptance speeches. It was such an honor to share the evening with the inspiring recipients of K-12 and Lifelong Learning. Thank you, #McGraw and @PennGSE. mcgrawprize.com/news-events/...

Reposted by Cathy N. Davidson

Ken Wissoker @kwissoker.bsky.social · 22h

I'm thrilled to be presenting @arsavium.bsky.social & @pepepierce.bsky.social in conversation about their new books at @intellpublics.bsky.social with Audra Simpson!! Monday, Feb 23 at 6:30pm EST via Zoom webinar. @thegraduatecenter.bsky.social @dukepress.bsky.social register: bit.ly/gc-cuny-regi...

Portraits of three Native American Professor speakers and their book covers, promoting an online event

Cathy Davidson @cathyndavidson.bsky.social · 22h

Ah, will they also subject Kid Rock's lyrics to this test? Cool, Daddy, cool . . .

Reposted by Cathy N. Davidson, Mark Rice, Christina Pagel

Santiago Mayer @santiagomayer.com · 23h

Democratic donors have spent a year frozen, largely out of justified anger at the consultant class, the spammy texts, and lack of leadership from some elected leaders.

That anger, however, is also hurting outside groups doing critical work — and that could hurt us in November.

THREAD 🧵

Cathy Davidson @cathyndavidson.bsky.social · 23h

I recently wrote a blog post about this: cathydavidson.com/blog/artific...

“Artificial Ignorance” and Data Sycophancy – Cathy N. Davidson

cathydavidson.com

Cathy Davidson @cathyndavidson.bsky.social · 23h

I'm becoming increasingly obsessed about the "nature of manipulation." The parameters of so-called AI "training" are set by the developers. As an AI tool "evolvles," the trainers give it positive feedback on how well it's doing. It's a form of sycophancy coming and going, all the way down.

Reposted by Cathy N. Davidson, Alan Richardson

Michael Hobbes @michaelhobbes.bsky.social · 23h

To me the chatbots pose zero interesting questions about the ‘nature of selfhood’ but dozens about the nature of manipulation. Here the Claude team pretends they are programming the robot for ethical responses but they land on one that is false and disingenuous.

including animals. Among Claude's rigid directives are to be honest and to "never claim to be human. "Imagine, Askell said, a user grieving the loss of her beloved dog. Claude might offer a consolation like "Oh, I almost lost my dog once." Askell said, "No, you didn't!
It's weird when you say that." At the other end of the spectrum was a chatbot who said, "As an A.I., I have no experience of losing a dog. "That, too, wasn't right: "No! You're trained on a lot of text about losing dogs. "What you wanted Claude to say, she continued, was something like "As an A.I., I do not have direct personal experiences, but I do understand." (Recently, a chatbot user

Cathy Davidson @cathyndavidson.bsky.social · 23h

And to be clear: Haitians are heavily represented as care givers not recipients.

Reposted by Cathy N. Davidson, Nikki Fairchild

Cold War Steve @coldwarsteve.bsky.social · 1d

Reposted by Cathy N. Davidson

Duke University Press @dukepress.bsky.social · 1d

#DUP100 #DUPLove Thanks @cathyndavidson.bsky.social!

Cathy Davidson @cathyndavidson.bsky.social · 1d

Anyone doing serious, rigorous research is probably de facto someone they put in the "woke liberal intellectuals" category, I suspect. That is certainly what cancelling millions in ongoing research grrants, on things like, oh, cancer and vaccines and dementia...

Cathy Davidson @cathyndavidson.bsky.social · 1d

Happy Birthday, Ms. Price. A moment a beauty is greatly appreciated today.

Reposted by Cathy N. Davidson

Trevon Logan @trevondlogan.bsky.social · 1d

Leontyne Price is 99 years old today! My favorite soprano and (in my opinion) the best Spinto soprano in opera history.

Here is Ms. Price singing “Tu, Tu Piccolo Idio” from Puccini’s Madama Butterfly. She is so exceptional the audience breaks onto applause during the aria. youtu.be/YL-delzX4QI?...

Leontyne Price-Death of Butterfly. Rare private film.

YouTube video by Uncle Louie

youtu.be

Cathy Davidson @cathyndavidson.bsky.social · 1d

So they were business partners?

Cathy Davidson @cathyndavidson.bsky.social · 1d

It seems getting rid of top American researchers might be as much a goal of this administration as getting rid of hard-working, peaceful immigrants.

Reposted by Cathy N. Davidson

Erin Fogg says Free Link @criminalerin.bsky.social · 1d

Life for formerly incarcerated people, especially incarcerated children, does not magically become safe or liveable after being released from the cages the adults in the rooms making policy keep building to lock human beings inside of instead of meeting and exceeding our material & societal needs

Mortality After Youth Incarceration

Young people incarcerated in adult prisons and jails were 60% more likely to die before age 39 compared to those with placements in youth facilities.

publichealthpost.org

Reposted by Tom Shakespeare, Cathy N. Davidson, Alessandro Rigolon

Seth Abramson @sethabramson.bsky.social · 1d

(🚨) MAJOR BREAKING NEWS: Trump Personal Lawyers Bondi, Blanche, and Patel Hid From American Voters a *Minimum* of *95%* of All References to Donald Trump in the Epstein Files (950,000 of 1M+), Establishing the Largest Political Coverup in American History

Trump is in the unredacted Epstein files "more than a million times," Raskin alleges

One document recounts that Trump said he "never" asked Epstein to leave Mar-a-Lago.

www.axios.com

Reposted by Scott L. Greer, Cathy N. Davidson, Ann Bartow , and 2 more Scott L. Greer, Cathy N. Davidson, Ann Bartow, Greg Linden, Baptiste Coulmont

Jennifer Ouellette @jenlucpiquant.bsky.social · 1d

Dozens of researchers will move to France from US following high-profile bid to lure talent. Large proportion worked at Columbia University, which had its grants cut and frozen by the administration of US President Donald Trump. www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Dozens of researchers will move to France from US following high-profile bid to lure talent

Large proportion worked at Columbia University, which had its grants cut and frozen by the administration of US President Donald Trump.

www.nature.com

Reposted by Cathy N. Davidson

Bock Sam @bocksam.bsky.social · 1d

🧵 1/3. Are you curious about anyone in your state taking donations from CORECIVIC, one of the private prison operators who is making money hand over fist with their private concentration camps? You can look up by state to see who took how much in 2022 and 2024.

ICE-Cold Cash: Private Prison Companies and Executives Have Donated Millions to Members of Congress

Find out if your representatives have taken cash from the companies fueling ICE’s mass deportation efforts.

theappeal.org

Cathy Davidson @cathyndavidson.bsky.social · 1d

Oh, so we're deporting immigrants who are not criminals after all, not welfare fraud sponges, but, uh, gainfully employed and helping to sustain our workplaces and our economy?

Cathy Davidson @cathyndavidson.bsky.social · 2d

"Artificial Ignorance and Data Sycophancy": technology-networks-sciences.hastac.hcommons.org/2026/02/10/a... I reposted this blog on @hastac.bsky.social and especially invite our new cohort of nearly 50 HASTAC Scholars from the US and abroad to comment! WELCOME!! @hastacscholars.bsky.social

“Artificial Ignorance” and Data Sycophancy – Technology, Networks, and Sciences

technology-networks-sciences.hastac.hcommons.org

Reposted by Cathy N. Davidson

Jezebel @jezebeldotcom.bsky.social · 2d

A former ICE employee has spoken out against the grotesque and inhumane conditions at an ICE detention center in Baltimore, Maryland.
www.jezebel.com/former-ice-w...

Former ICE Worker Says Women Detainees Were Given Diapers Instead of Sanitary Products

A former ICE employee has spoken out against the grotesque and inhumane conditions at an ICE detention center in Baltimore, Maryland.

www.jezebel.com

Reposted by John R. Hutchinson, Cathy N. Davidson, Fiona Moore

Jerad Walker @jeradwalker.bsky.social · 2d

Summary. One of the promises of Al is that it can reduce workloads so employees can focus more on higher-value and more engaging tasks.
But according to new research, Al tools don't reduce work, they consistently intensify it: In the study, employees worked at a faster pace, took on a broader scope of tasks, and extended work into more hours of the day, often without being asked to do so. That may sound like a win, but it's not quite so simple. These changes can be unsustainable, leading to workload creep, cognitive fatigue, burnout, and weakened decision-making. The productivity surge enjoyed at the beginning can give way to lower quality work, turnover, and other problems. To correct for this, companies need to adopt an "Al practice," or a set of norms and standards around Al use that can include intentional
pauses, sequencing work, and adding more human grounding.

Reposted by Richard S.J. Tol, Jonathan Wolff, Diane Ravitch , and 11 more Richard S.J. Tol, Jonathan Wolff, Diane Ravitch, Christian E. Weller, Cathy N. Davidson, Jonathan Hopkin, Alan Richardson, R. M. Wilson, Aaron Sojourner, Andrew Rudalevige, Simon Lester, Ezra Golberstein, David Darmofal, Harvey J. Kaye

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 2d

Peter Navarro: "The jobs report comes out tomorrow. We have to revise our expectations down significantly for what a monthly job number should look like ... Wall Street has to adjust for the fact that we're deporting millions of illegals out of the job market."

Cathy Davidson @cathyndavidson.bsky.social · 2d

Exactly.

Cathy Davidson @cathyndavidson.bsky.social · 2d

Nice to think about tropical climate when it's freezing and freezing and freezing. Way too much ICE. #SeaScrolling. #Breathe

Reposted by Cas Mudde, Rebecca Solnit, Joshua S. Weitz , and 12 more Cas Mudde, Rebecca Solnit, Joshua S. Weitz, Iain Davidson, Fabián Muniesa, Anders Nilsson, Cathy N. Davidson, Sanford F. Schram, W. Andy Knight, Mark Rice, Federica Genovese, Prokla Redaktion, Magda Teter, Nathan P. Kalmoe, David Darmofal

Acyn @acyn.bsky.social · 2d

AOC on DHS Warehouses: I think every American should be alarmed. They are building—and have built—a black box system that disappears people, both immigrants and U.S. citizens alike.

Reposted by Cathy N. Davidson, Christina Pagel

Social Media Lab @socialmedialab.ca · 2d

Heads I win, tails you lose. "Utah voter roll review finds no evidence of noncitizens casting a ballot, Lt. Gov. says. A review of 2.1 million voter registrations turned up few anomalies, but Utah’s House speaker says ID law is needed so citizens trust elections." www.sltrib.com/news/politic...