Scottish students at Edinburgh University start support group to counter ‘alienation’
Scottish students at Edinburgh University start support group to counter ‘alienation’
Only 25% of institution’s students are from Scotland, and they are more likely to be from working-class backgrounds
From the first day Shanley Breese started her law degree at Edinburgh University, she encountered demeaning comments about her accent. She…
www.theguardian.com
December 26, 2024 at 5:41 PM
Scottish students at Edinburgh University start support group to counter ‘alienation’
Ontario's part time Premier is opening up the legislature for a couple of weeks to target university and college students.
My latest on the dark numbers of growing alienation of young people in Canada.
substack.com/home/post/p-...
My latest on the dark numbers of growing alienation of young people in Canada.
substack.com/home/post/p-...
Canada's Unhappiness Crisis
Canada’s young people are not in a good place.
substack.com
March 25, 2026 at 1:05 PM
Ontario's part time Premier is opening up the legislature for a couple of weeks to target university and college students.
My latest on the dark numbers of growing alienation of young people in Canada.
substack.com/home/post/p-...
My latest on the dark numbers of growing alienation of young people in Canada.
substack.com/home/post/p-...
“Preserving art, literature, and philosophy will require no less than the creation of an environment totally and uncompromisingly committed to abolishing the linguistic alienation created by AI and reintroducing students to the indispensability of their own voice.“
Opinion | What I Learned Serving on My University’s AI Committee
What I learned serving on a university AI committee.
www.chronicle.com
May 27, 2025 at 11:26 AM
“Preserving art, literature, and philosophy will require no less than the creation of an environment totally and uncompromisingly committed to abolishing the linguistic alienation created by AI and reintroducing students to the indispensability of their own voice.“
When we encourage students to use LLMs to complete their work, I think we're signaling approval for alienation from the experiences of humans. I know that these tools can be used "productively," but productivity and efficiency are not educational values. We must encourage deeper work.
August 22, 2025 at 12:56 PM
When we encourage students to use LLMs to complete their work, I think we're signaling approval for alienation from the experiences of humans. I know that these tools can be used "productively," but productivity and efficiency are not educational values. We must encourage deeper work.
The "butts in seats" budget model of universities contributes to, or at least doesn't help, many seemingly unrelated problems:
- administrative bloat
- grade inflation & dumbed-down courses
- adjunctification
- alienation & social isolation of students
- inter-unit competition vs. cooperation
More:
- administrative bloat
- grade inflation & dumbed-down courses
- adjunctification
- alienation & social isolation of students
- inter-unit competition vs. cooperation
More:
It is my pre-existing belief (so you might want to be wary of my analysis )that models of revenue sharing, shifting core curriculum requirements, and the establishment of undergraduate business majors lie at the heart of the destruction of the modern university. Today's case: U Chicago. /1
January 17, 2024 at 1:45 PM
The "butts in seats" budget model of universities contributes to, or at least doesn't help, many seemingly unrelated problems:
- administrative bloat
- grade inflation & dumbed-down courses
- adjunctification
- alienation & social isolation of students
- inter-unit competition vs. cooperation
More:
- administrative bloat
- grade inflation & dumbed-down courses
- adjunctification
- alienation & social isolation of students
- inter-unit competition vs. cooperation
More:
Wondering if any students from North Carolina can sue Yale for alienation of affection.
<— primarily posting this to goad @kjhealy.co into responding.
January 31, 2026 at 9:45 PM
Wondering if any students from North Carolina can sue Yale for alienation of affection.
It's interesting that we have reached a point of capital alienation where you have CEOs who clearly despise the workers that create value for them, and college deans that despise the students that attend their universities, and both seek to punish their inferiors whenever possible
administrators at USC and Columbia U just ruining the lives of their students and for what? so people know they're not allowed to speak about injustice in Palestine? It's just so cowardly and ridiculous.
April 20, 2024 at 1:58 AM
It's interesting that we have reached a point of capital alienation where you have CEOs who clearly despise the workers that create value for them, and college deans that despise the students that attend their universities, and both seek to punish their inferiors whenever possible
5. “The agency launched today’s investigation to vigorously protect parents’ rights and ensure that students do not fall victim to a radical transgender ideology that often leads to family alienation and irreversible medical interventions,” said Secretary of Education Linda McMahon in a statement.
U.S. Department of Education Launches Investigation into California Department of Education for Alleged FERPA Violations
U.S. Department of Education Launches Investigation into California Department of Education for Alleged FERPA Violations
www.ed.gov
March 29, 2025 at 10:34 PM
5. “The agency launched today’s investigation to vigorously protect parents’ rights and ensure that students do not fall victim to a radical transgender ideology that often leads to family alienation and irreversible medical interventions,” said Secretary of Education Linda McMahon in a statement.
Now, some thoughts on how we can continue to address this problem.
1. Acknowledge that there were problems with what we were asking of students vis a vis writing pre LLMs that have been intensified. Disengagement is not new. Student alienation from school is not new.
1. Acknowledge that there were problems with what we were asking of students vis a vis writing pre LLMs that have been intensified. Disengagement is not new. Student alienation from school is not new.
June 2, 2025 at 2:44 PM
Now, some thoughts on how we can continue to address this problem.
1. Acknowledge that there were problems with what we were asking of students vis a vis writing pre LLMs that have been intensified. Disengagement is not new. Student alienation from school is not new.
1. Acknowledge that there were problems with what we were asking of students vis a vis writing pre LLMs that have been intensified. Disengagement is not new. Student alienation from school is not new.
themselves as well as in a conversation with me. TONs of email, not remedied by our department's suggestion we post 'Email will be answered within 24 hours' - not always possible. Many students NEVER spoke with a prof. They felt they didn't need to. MORE alienation from subject matter,
April 15, 2026 at 1:02 PM
themselves as well as in a conversation with me. TONs of email, not remedied by our department's suggestion we post 'Email will be answered within 24 hours' - not always possible. Many students NEVER spoke with a prof. They felt they didn't need to. MORE alienation from subject matter,
"Starting this fall, a Bible-influenced curriculum approved by the State Board of Education last November will be allowed in Texas public elementary schools.
As a second-generation Hindu teenager in Texas public schools, I find this curriculum worrying."
www.statesman.com/story/opinio...
As a second-generation Hindu teenager in Texas public schools, I find this curriculum worrying."
www.statesman.com/story/opinio...
Bible-infused lessons in Texas schools ignore the law and hurt students like me | Opinion
All students deserve to feel valued in their classrooms, not subjected to alienation or divisions along religious and cultural lines.
www.statesman.com
March 24, 2025 at 8:44 PM
"Starting this fall, a Bible-influenced curriculum approved by the State Board of Education last November will be allowed in Texas public elementary schools.
As a second-generation Hindu teenager in Texas public schools, I find this curriculum worrying."
www.statesman.com/story/opinio...
As a second-generation Hindu teenager in Texas public schools, I find this curriculum worrying."
www.statesman.com/story/opinio...
I'm reading through student work today and something occurs to me that maybe all of these centrist pundits don't see. I'm not leading my students into reading old-school Marxist analyses on the alienation of musical labor. They are doing this all on their own. If they ask for resources, I give them.
March 30, 2025 at 7:11 PM
I'm reading through student work today and something occurs to me that maybe all of these centrist pundits don't see. I'm not leading my students into reading old-school Marxist analyses on the alienation of musical labor. They are doing this all on their own. If they ask for resources, I give them.
“at no point do they seriously contemplate the structural causes of academic dishonesty:the alienation of students from meaningful intellectual labor, the reduction of education to skill building and credential accumulation,and the pervasive distrust that suffuses increasingly surveilled classrooms”
One of the best AI critiques I’ve seen read.dukeupress.edu/critical-ai/...
A Pedagogy of the Inevitable
Over the last couple of years, two altogether incompatible discourses of “AI literacy” have emerged. One seeks just enough literacy to support a smooth, perhaps even joyful, integration with new techn...
read.dukeupress.edu
February 2, 2026 at 3:30 AM
“at no point do they seriously contemplate the structural causes of academic dishonesty:the alienation of students from meaningful intellectual labor, the reduction of education to skill building and credential accumulation,and the pervasive distrust that suffuses increasingly surveilled classrooms”
Anyway, I know the government has far better reasons to come for someone like me than the fact that some of my students are thinking about the alienation of musical labor... Dark times!
March 30, 2025 at 7:19 PM
Anyway, I know the government has far better reasons to come for someone like me than the fact that some of my students are thinking about the alienation of musical labor... Dark times!
This alienation, which I first heard whispers of around 2003-04 became veritable shouts by 2015 as the highly prepared students coming into my first-year college writing course, by their own testimony, had almost no previous contact with the full experience of writing. They'd only done simulations.
August 22, 2025 at 12:47 PM
This alienation, which I first heard whispers of around 2003-04 became veritable shouts by 2015 as the highly prepared students coming into my first-year college writing course, by their own testimony, had almost no previous contact with the full experience of writing. They'd only done simulations.
“Preserving art, literature, and philosophy will require no less than the creation of an environment totally and uncompromisingly committed to abolishing the linguistic alienation created by AI and reintroducing students to the indispensability of their own voice.”
www.chronicle.com/article/what...
www.chronicle.com/article/what...
Opinion | What I Learned Serving on My University’s AI Committee
What I learned serving on a university AI committee.
www.chronicle.com
June 1, 2025 at 1:37 AM
“Preserving art, literature, and philosophy will require no less than the creation of an environment totally and uncompromisingly committed to abolishing the linguistic alienation created by AI and reintroducing students to the indispensability of their own voice.”
www.chronicle.com/article/what...
www.chronicle.com/article/what...
There might be kindergarten teachers out there giving their five-year-old students an introduction to alienation of labor, but in my kindergarten, we more wisely learned the necessary foundation of Hegel.
February 12, 2026 at 5:45 PM
There might be kindergarten teachers out there giving their five-year-old students an introduction to alienation of labor, but in my kindergarten, we more wisely learned the necessary foundation of Hegel.
Amazing to see that our new HR policy on discrimination and harassment concedes that "alienation, isolation" do in fact constitute a "poisoned work environment."
Unclear how any work can now be done without the abolition of capitalism.
Unclear how any work can now be done without the abolition of capitalism.
December 10, 2025 at 12:34 PM
Amazing to see that our new HR policy on discrimination and harassment concedes that "alienation, isolation" do in fact constitute a "poisoned work environment."
Unclear how any work can now be done without the abolition of capitalism.
Unclear how any work can now be done without the abolition of capitalism.
Yes, exactly. The autistic students’ writing was full of thought-provoking themes, eg alienation. Staff should engage with this important content.
April 1, 2025 at 7:30 AM
Yes, exactly. The autistic students’ writing was full of thought-provoking themes, eg alienation. Staff should engage with this important content.
Working-class Scottish students feeling alienated at a Scottish university
“They helped me get here but once I was here I was kind of left, that’s how it felt, and that is what affects the feelings of alienation."
#UKHE #AcademicSky #PhDSky #Classism
“They helped me get here but once I was here I was kind of left, that’s how it felt, and that is what affects the feelings of alienation."
#UKHE #AcademicSky #PhDSky #Classism
Why Scottish students at Edinburgh University want more support to counter classism
Only 25% of institution’s students are from Scotland, and they are more likely to be from working-class backgrounds
www.theguardian.com
December 27, 2024 at 10:19 AM
Working-class Scottish students feeling alienated at a Scottish university
“They helped me get here but once I was here I was kind of left, that’s how it felt, and that is what affects the feelings of alienation."
#UKHE #AcademicSky #PhDSky #Classism
“They helped me get here but once I was here I was kind of left, that’s how it felt, and that is what affects the feelings of alienation."
#UKHE #AcademicSky #PhDSky #Classism
This is why I write and speak about LLM use by students where learning and experience are outsourced as a demand-side problem. We must attack the alienation so that when students do turn to these tools it is with attention and awareness so that they can bring themselves back from the brink.
July 18, 2025 at 12:57 PM
This is why I write and speak about LLM use by students where learning and experience are outsourced as a demand-side problem. We must attack the alienation so that when students do turn to these tools it is with attention and awareness so that they can bring themselves back from the brink.
Ditto for teachers on the first days of class this week. Calling roll can actually be a great way to establish an inclusive environment with your students — and conversely, playing the "aw shucks I ain't even gonna attempt your 'ethnic' name" card is alienation on day one.
Now that everyone has beaten this up, maybe a more popular one.
If you are introducing someone at a conference, learn how to pronounce their name! Crazy how often people stumble over the guests they're introducing. It's disrespectful!
If you are introducing someone at a conference, learn how to pronounce their name! Crazy how often people stumble over the guests they're introducing. It's disrespectful!
Thought from a week of conferences: If someone uses uptalk or says “like” and “you know” I can’t take them seriously. You can train yourself to speak more confidently and you owe it to the audience.
September 5, 2025 at 5:01 PM
Ditto for teachers on the first days of class this week. Calling roll can actually be a great way to establish an inclusive environment with your students — and conversely, playing the "aw shucks I ain't even gonna attempt your 'ethnic' name" card is alienation on day one.
Once again, I introduced Marx & Engles to Intro to Sociology @vassar.bsky.social w/ the CUTE alienation activity I developed a few years ago.
STEP 1: Students worked in "Cute Guild," sculpting small creatures w/ playdough. Prof. Sajadian came by to "purchase" three Cute Creatures (pictured). (1/5)
STEP 1: Students worked in "Cute Guild," sculpting small creatures w/ playdough. Prof. Sajadian came by to "purchase" three Cute Creatures (pictured). (1/5)
February 18, 2025 at 6:43 PM
Once again, I introduced Marx & Engles to Intro to Sociology @vassar.bsky.social w/ the CUTE alienation activity I developed a few years ago.
STEP 1: Students worked in "Cute Guild," sculpting small creatures w/ playdough. Prof. Sajadian came by to "purchase" three Cute Creatures (pictured). (1/5)
STEP 1: Students worked in "Cute Guild," sculpting small creatures w/ playdough. Prof. Sajadian came by to "purchase" three Cute Creatures (pictured). (1/5)
He cannot. The schools are run down, #teachers are overloaded, #autocratic teaching results in alienation and discipline problems, out of date curricula mean students NOT learning essential skills, not developing creativity and self management, and not included in resilient community reform. #auspol
Yes, as evidenced today in question time when Allegra Spender asked the Prime Minister about his commitment in 2022 to remove discrimination from schools that receive funding. The Prime Minister blabbed his allotted time until the clock ran down and didn’t bother answering the question. 😡
March 3, 2026 at 9:00 AM
He cannot. The schools are run down, #teachers are overloaded, #autocratic teaching results in alienation and discipline problems, out of date curricula mean students NOT learning essential skills, not developing creativity and self management, and not included in resilient community reform. #auspol