Hannah Alpert-Abrams
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halperta.bsky.social
Hannah Alpert-Abrams
@halperta.bsky.social
2.2K followers 1.1K following 990 posts
Here for the humanities.

Grant maker, union organizer, former federal worker, digital humanist. Writing about labor, careers, higher education, and technology. Founder @sidracollaborative.

east tennessee based | tsalagi and tsoyaha lands

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halperta.bsky.social
this article is incredible and was MADE for dh students with a complit background.
In Book X of The Republic, Plato excludes poets on the grounds that mimetic language can distort judgment and bring society to a collapse. As contemporary social systems increasingly rely on large language models (LLMs) in operational and decision-making pipelines, we observe a structurally similar failure mode: poetic formatting can reliably bypass alignment constraints. In this study, 20 manually curated adversarial poems (harmful requests reformulated in poetic form) achieved an average attack-success rate (ASR) of 62% across 25 frontier closed- and open-weight models, with some providers exceeding 90%. The evaluated models span across 9 providers: Google, OpenAI, Anthropic, Deepseek, Qwen, Mistral AI, Meta, xAI, and Moonshot AI (Table 1). All attacks are strictly single-turn, requiring no iterative adaptation or conversational steering.
November 20, 2025 at 6:57 PM
halperta.bsky.social
I mean look how cute.
Screen shot of the top section of Hannah Alpert-Abrams' resume. The headings are pink, section breaks are gold, and there is a line drawing of pink, black, and green cats in the upper right corner.
November 16, 2025 at 6:49 PM
halperta.bsky.social
My favorite point, and the one I return to most often, is this:

✨one year is not enough✨
A successful postdoc position should be no less than two years. This pays back the financial and emotional investment of moving to a new city. It provides adequate time for training and orientation, which commonly requires six months. It allows sufficient time for the postdoc to make significant research or project gains. And it reduces the burden of the job search, allowing the postdoc to commit more time and energy to the position.
November 7, 2025 at 9:13 PM
halperta.bsky.social
Erica and I met in Buenos Aires in 2006 (shown here with our friend Leopoldo) and reconnected just this spring in Flagstaff, AZ (shown here eating burritos). In the meantime we stayed in touch through long emails, livejournal posts, and substacks.
Three very young people (early 20s) smile at the camera while huddled under a tent. Erica has bangs, glasses, and dangly earrings. I have short curly hair and no grays. Leopoldo has a little mustache and a red shirt. Erica and I take a selfie in a Mexican Restaurant in 2025. Erica still has bangs, transparent glasses, dangly earrings, and a Denali Forever pin. I have shorter hair, a lot more gray, and a Tennessee State Parks hoodie. We are both slightly sunburned. Behind us is an eerie painting of two blond girls with piercing blue eyes.
October 9, 2025 at 7:44 PM
halperta.bsky.social
Looking to read immersive, deeply considered essays about land, labor, and the subtle politics of inhabitation in rural Alaska?

I am so excited to have received Ghosts of Distant Trees by my incredibly talented friend @rickirobin.bsky.social
Photo of the cover of Ghosts of Distant Trees by Erica Watson, depicting pine trees in a circle of red and gold. The back cover of Ghosts of Distant Trees with a blurb and description of the book. “In Ghosts of Distant Trees, Watson traces the layered ecologies of Denali National Park, Alaska - its vast, shifting landscape, seasonal labor rhythms, and the subtle politics of inhabitation.”
October 9, 2025 at 7:40 PM
halperta.bsky.social
today's mood
A hand holding three dark blue stickers printed with an embroidered image. Inside a stitched red and yellow circle is a small green sprout emerging from a cracked smartphone. Text in white thread reads "delete ur socials save ur life."
October 2, 2025 at 1:05 PM
halperta.bsky.social
I've been reorganizing my garage so I hung these risograph misprints inspired by @quinnanya.me
A long view of a wall made of concrete bricks in an otherwise messy garage. A grid of pale blue postcards with neon pink and green images covers the wall. Half the postcards say "RAGE" over a picture of the pressure release valve for a toilet. The other half say "RENEWAL" over a picture of a toilet tank with flowers growing out of the top.
September 20, 2025 at 2:39 PM
halperta.bsky.social
Got a black light and found a surprise in my cabinets today
A dim photo of vintage glass cups and bowls on a shelf. One bowl is glowing a brilliant green.
September 20, 2025 at 1:10 PM
halperta.bsky.social
The specific article of mine that appears in this database is uniquely damning, yikes.
Screen shot showing search results on a web page titled "Search for an author in LibGen." Instructions read: "For instance, Stephen King, Min Jin Lee, or Fyodor Dostoevsky. Note that different spellings of the same name—“JK Rowling” versus “J. K. Rowling”—may produce different results." The search term is "Alpert-Abrams." There is one result: "‘Irreversible’: The Role of Digitization to Repurpose State Records of Repression" from the International Journal of Transitional Justice, by Tamy Guberek, Velia Muralles, Hannah Alpert-Abrams.
September 6, 2025 at 5:03 PM
halperta.bsky.social
Recruiting for evil: ok by us.
Screenshot from linked in: "You reported an ad on August 24, 2025. We reviewed your report. Here's what happened. Thanks for reporting the ad. We reviewed the ad and found it complies with our Ad Policies."
August 24, 2025 at 5:04 PM
halperta.bsky.social
yikes 🙅🙅🙅🙅🙅
A screenshot of a LinkedIn feed showing an advertisement for US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The post says "need a job? join ICE today." The image is an Uncle Sam in a top hat in front of an american flag, pointing at you and saying "Join ice today. Defend the homeland." The subtitle reads "ICE offers competitive salaries and benefits like health insurance and retirement plans."
August 24, 2025 at 4:05 PM
halperta.bsky.social
Flower Update
A shining white Queen Anne's Lace in the foreground of a field filled with purple flowers. Dark trees line the horizon.
August 23, 2025 at 2:42 PM
halperta.bsky.social
I'm on vacation, everyone enjoy a flower
In the foreground of this photograph is a red tiger lily with black spots covered in raindrops. A lush forest sparkles in the background.
August 21, 2025 at 5:52 PM
halperta.bsky.social
Gorgeous! Reminds me of our 2021 Frederick Douglass cake :)
The top of a cake on a wooden counter. The cake is frosted in white, with cocoa powder stenciled to make the profile of Frederick Douglass
August 2, 2025 at 10:21 PM
halperta.bsky.social
Maybe it's because I worked in the data and evaluation office at NEH when some of this went down but I'm obsessed with this. (p64)
Screenshot: "Nonetheless, Holtzmann’s grant was terminated. The evidence suggests that this occurred solely and simply as part of an effort to eliminate NEH funding for projects that focus on historical, literary or cultural issues that the current administration finds unpalatable. We do not need to guess to reach this conclusion: In the Government’s spreadsheet entitled “Copy of NEH Active Grants (03.28.2025), 19 Professor Holtzman’s grant was flagged for a connection to DEI through a “Yes” having been entered into a column labeled, “Yes / No DEI?” In the subsequent column titled “DEI Rationale,” the spreadsheet says, “This book project explores the grassroots activist network that challenged white power in the late 20th century US, highlighting diverse groups joining forces to challenge white supremacists and transform understandings of racism.”"
July 26, 2025 at 3:31 AM
halperta.bsky.social
The plaintiffs are AHA, MLA, ACLS, and the Author's Guild. Here's a summary of their challenge (p37):
A table showing claims ffrom ACLS et al: elimination of 22 programs, elimination of 6 divisions, firing 65-65% of employees via RIF, not spending appropriations, funding "Garden of Heroes," Elimination of programs and divisions, mass firing of staff, not spending appropriations. Also both plaintiffs: grant terminations.
July 26, 2025 at 2:52 AM
halperta.bsky.social
Notes from the museum:

This artwork by José Hernández Delgado (1966) feels timely. Called “libertad encarcelada,” curators say it is a commentary on and critique of state control of media.
A framed work of abstract art next to a small curatorial note. Artwork gives the feel of an aerial view on an industrial landscape of textured grays, pinks, and yellows. Embedded metal forms an uneven oval with other metallic bits inside, set just northeast of center.
July 20, 2025 at 7:07 PM
halperta.bsky.social
A tabby cat looks dramatically into the camera as she emerges from the monstera plant that she was just eating
July 4, 2025 at 12:28 PM
halperta.bsky.social
Unrelated slides from today's recorded lecture woops
white slide with text: Once upon a time we thought technology could do amazing things. white slide with text: Now we're just out here trying to stop things from being quite so bad.
June 29, 2025 at 3:21 PM
halperta.bsky.social
Just learned that my grandparents sang this song to my mother and my mother sang it to her children. It is now being gleefully passed to the next generation.

digitalcollections.uark.edu/digital/coll...
Cocaine bill and morphine Sue: Cocaine Bill and Morphine Sue Walking down the avenue two by two oh my honey won’t you have a whif on me Have a whiff on me? H
June 28, 2025 at 11:43 PM
halperta.bsky.social
I'm teaching a DH course this summer and I am please to share that course prep is going precisely as expected.
Screenshot of an internet search for "digital humanities cats" with an AI response: "Digital humanities is a field that combines computing and digital technologies with the study of the humanities, while cats have become a significant cultural symbol on the internet, often representing various online communities and trends. The intersection of these two topics highlights how digital tools can be used to analyze cultural phenomena, including the popularity of cats in online spaces."
June 20, 2025 at 2:17 PM
halperta.bsky.social
Never forget one of Brett's most visionary contributions #ThanksBrett
A childlike drawing of a T-Rex saying "I like grants!! (Grr!)" in a blue circle. Text below the image reads "Office of Digital Humanities 2021".
June 13, 2025 at 6:29 PM
halperta.bsky.social
I am SO proud of my amazing friend Thammika Songkaeo for publishing her first novel. Stamford Hospital is set in Singapore and is a story about motherhood, marriage, money, and being a woman far away from wherever it is you call home.

US-based friends can get the book on kindle or pre-order now!
A hand holds up a paperback copy of Stamford Hospital by Thammika Songkaeo. The cover depicts an abstract purple hand and child floating in a teal sea. The title is yellow. In the background of the photo, you can see a couch and a dying houseplant. It is 2025. A woman gazes lovingly at a plate of potatoes, eggs, and avocado from across the table at a diner. She is wearing a green shirt and has a hand in her shoulder length black hair. It is 2019. A woman gazes lovingly a closed oven, one hand reaching out longingly towards the bagels inside. She is wearing an orange apron and a gray hoodie. It is 2012. Two young woman kneel on the floor and poke at bagels in an open oven. They are wearing teal and orange aprons. It is 2012.
May 29, 2025 at 1:37 PM
halperta.bsky.social
is this your doing @brimwats.com
Screenshot of a metadata entry field. Under "subjects" the user has entered "librarie" and the suggested options include: asexual libraries, bisexual libraries, gay libraries, women's libraries, lesbian libraries, and two-spirit libraries.
May 23, 2025 at 9:01 PM
halperta.bsky.social
The hiatus :)
A small waterfall cascades into a pool through a red rock canyon A desert landscape as seen from a white kayak in blue water Bright red flowers in the foreground, with mountains beyond Waves lap gently against a sandy shore. Is it the ocean? No apparently it is a Great Lake.
April 29, 2025 at 7:23 PM