My sons turn 18 today and I’m taken aback by how emotional this is making me. 😭

McMaster has become the first university in Ontario to sign the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment, more familiarly known as DORA, which will allow us to better assess research contributions in terms of societal and community impact. news.mcmaster.ca/mcmaster-sig...

Gauging interest. I were to do a workshop on possible academias -- defined as ways of doing knowledge production and sharing, maybe other things, who knows -- who would want to participate? I'm interested in thinking together about how we could build new structures or understandings of this thing!

A couple years ago I asked my linguistics students a question to prompt them to think about prototype theory (cf. "is a hot dog a sandwich"). The question was not very effective, because I had assumed they would know that bats are not birds.

OOTD for today’s International Women’s Day event on campus supplied by the @academicaunties.com merch store.

I am trying to fix my heart, but I confess to feeling a little salty that International Women's Day has added several additional responsibilities to my week, taking time away from my responsibilities directing a women's and gender studies program.

What does love look like? A non-exhaustive Valentine’s Day thread: payhip.com/b/XQeBH

#birds Enjoy!

McMaster has a pool. So why is it hosting swim nationals in Markham?

It's Offense and Derogation week in Intro #linguistics class and I am here to say that the word 'clanker' is a very useful example for teaching these concepts without doing harm to my students. fritinancy.substack.com/p/word-of-th... @fritinancy.bsky.social

*honk* I love nuthatches so much I tattooed one onto my body. 🪶

Ok this LSA panel is 🔥. So thankful for colleagues who are doing the work to make our field more just. #LSA2026

Introducing myself to my students, told them I like to play Wingspan. Figured that whatever else they infer about me from that fact will probably be accurate.

Two bright spots on a grey morning: 1. male cardinal at the crown of an otherwise naked tree, surveying his domain 2. red star-shaped mylar balloon floating about two feet above the arts quad trash bin

A key point in this editorial, by Mount Allison president Ian Sutherland and student Lucas Orfanides, is that, along with possessing relevant (and essential) job skills, liberal arts grads are uniquely well positioned to deal with AI's ethical shortcomings. www.theglobeandmail.com/business/com...

My latest comic breaking down the “generosity” of billionaires is live! aubreyhirsch.substack.com/p/the-genero...

The final exam for my course of 400+ students was six days ago and I'm still calculating final grades. As a little break from the spreadsheets, I thought I'd pull back the curtain on what the prof does after the exam. 🧵 1/n

Reposting because the morning crowd deserves to see how cute we are.

Twenty-six years these babes have been married. That’s literally half our lives.

There isn't a single problem "solved" by edtech that couldn't be fixed with smaller classes led by well-paid teachers given real academic freedom

I generally really like learning new things, but I confess to some resentment at having to teach myself organic chemistry at the breakfast table for the sake of the Grade 12 project.

Someone has adorned the water fountain outside my office with two very tiny gnomes. #TinyJoys

Maximizing my Canadianhood by making butter tarts with the pastry leftover from the meat pies.

Offering thanks to Past Catherine, who scheduled "Catch-up Week: No New Material" for mid-November.

I didn't know it was possible to love Emma Thompson any harder than I already did.

Gave myself a seasonal manicure. #TinyJoys

A co-working session with twitter colleagues turned into a Community of Practice that turned into a whole-ass textbook: essentialsoflinguistics.ca

Universal👏Free 👏Vaccines 👏

Just in time for "Language behaviour indexes social identities" week in Intro Linguistics: www.questionablecontent.net/view.php?com...

Listening to podcasts and baking cookies, the perfect start to a Sunday.

I am once again urging you to add a thread to your class discussion board where students can post pics of their pets. I'm feeling nervous about the first class of the semester but I also get to enjoy excellent cats and dogs on my screen.

"LLMs cannot replace the expertise, empathy, insight, experience of teachers because teaching is a relationship. Do not let anyone automate any parts of your work you value and do well."

Worth reading: (Also now I want to watch the movie Pride again)

Classes start a week from today. Thanks to decades of formation, I'm tense and jittery. BUT: 1. The sun is shining and the breeze is deliciously cool. 2. My prep is done for Week 1 of both courses. 3. My office Snack Box is stocked with high-protein, ø-lactose- treats. This is going to be ok.

As I prepare for my #IntroLinguistics course I'm thinking a lot about the word "generative" and how it means something different to linguists than to techbros. So I added a textbook section about it. I hope it's useful to you too! ecampusontario.pressbooks.pub/essentialsof...

Today, with 11 work days before the semester begins, my brain finally flipped from Do Things The Excellent Way mode into Do Things the Easy Way mode, thank god.

We celebrated our 1st anniversary at a fancy French restaurant in Chicago. In 2000, cell phones were socially conspicuous. The 1st time a fellow diner answered his phone, the maître d’ scolded him roundly. The 2nd time, the diner was seized by the elbow and escorted out, much to our satisfaction.

Doing some digital housekeeping and realized that I have files for a single project spread across FIVE different cloud accounts. Not in any systematic, secure way, just in a chaos way.

This is because it takes a lot of work to keep a university running. Research gets the glory, but in a healthy institution, senior academics are actively involved in decisions about curriculum, policy, admissions, hiring, IRBs, awards, promotions, and a million other essential functions.

A doozy of a thread for the #RacioLinguistics files:

I regret to report that, a full eight weeks before classes start, in the 25th year of my teaching career, the teaching anxiety dreams are here again.

So useful!

It’s been at least two decades since I set foot in a laundromat, and I’m finding it strangely peaceful. But also taking the opportunity to be grateful that I can usually wash my clothes in my own home.

A thing that I like: in #HamOnt there is a social norm of thanking the bus driver when alighting, even from the back doors. A simple little ritual that preserves a bit of care in our daily routines.

3/ There's definitely labor-saving value in having a program do a lot of brute force work much more quickly than a human can, even a human with a latin dictionary. But the sense-making is still human work, and human work that requires prior knowledge and understanding.

Once at the farmer's market I asked the young man at the stall for "a couple of those yellow zucchinis" and he replied, as witheringly as only a 14-year-old can reply, "they're Summer Squash".

I, on the other hand, am feeling totally Pɽoədʉl because I’m already anticipating how I’ll use this in a lecture in September.

guys, guys, guys: this is happening!!!!!!!!!!! I did not know they had any tour dates in Canada and then my brother told me about this! I am beside myself with anticipation.

The academic urge to intellectualize one’s experience of beauty when what one really needs is a good cry.