Brooke Foucault Welles

A Blue Start: A large-scale pairwise and higher-order social network dataset Large-scale networks have been instrumental in shaping the way that we think about how individuals interact with one another, developing key insights in mathematical epidemiology, computational social...

Bluesky data now on @icpsr.bsky.social -> "A Blue Start: A large-scale pairwise and higher-order social network dataset" by Smith, Amburg, @diesagar.bsky.social, @foucaultwelles.bsky.social, @nwlandry.bsky.social. arxiv: arxiv.org/abs/2505.11608 Social Media Archive: socialmediaarchive.org/record/78

Please boost! The NOEL PRIZE, in memory of the great and good and much-missed Will Noel.

Celebrate your (or any) open access library project. No project too small, or too big. Full details here, deadline 8/1, extremely low-effort Google Form: pacscl.org/what-we-do/f...

Rapid Response Bridge Funding Program In the face of recent abrupt shifts in federal funding for education research, including large-scale terminations of National Science Foundation (NSF) research grant awards, we have developed a rap...

Possibly useful if you’re the victim of a cancelled grant! www.spencer.org/grant_types/...

Welcome to Save The U.S. National Science Foundation A Girl Looking at a Physics Model TAKE ACTION Save NSF is a coalition of concerned scientists and allies who are working to save funding for scientific grants through the U.S. National Science Foundation. Our mission is to support and advocate for the continuation of vital research and innovation in various scientific fields. NSF funding is critical to this work. Join us in our endeavor to ensure a sustainable future for scientific exploration and discovery.

I am so heartened to this seriously AWESOME #SaveNSF website go up today!!!!

Has a take action toolkit with:

1. Press outreach templates
2. Social media toolkit
3. Elected official outreach
4. Talking points

Check it out and share widely!!!! Likely more to come.

www.savensf.com

First they came for humanitarian aid,
Then they came for health,
Then they came for education,
Then they came for culture,
Now they come for truth.

I’m so sorry—for you, for your team, for all the students you could have helped with this research. How awful for all of us.

Church bells ring across Massachusetts to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the start of the American Revolution and people gather on the lawn to defend our fragile democracy. No kings in 1775 and no kings in 2025.

Touring colleges with my high schooler, this one comes up on almost every campus - the library is sinking because they didn’t account for the weight of the books when it was built.

Superb news. There are numerous modern-day Vavilovs stepping up. Dark times always bring out the best in people, too. www.theguardian.com/world/2024/n...

What if Elon is the first autistic person RFK has ever actually met and that’s why he assumes we don’t pay taxes or go on dates

My heart goes out to every international student in the United States. Foreign students have helped make American universities the best in the world. Without them America will suffer.

The precedent set here is the end of Congress, which I don't think Congress will even notice

If your NEH grant was terminated, please share that information with @humanitiesall.bsky.social via the form below.

@modernlanguage.bsky.social is working with many orgs in the face of ongoing attacks on higher education and the humanities. Let MLA know what you need and what strategies you’d like to share with others.

docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

Good to see you here altNEH, we know it’s a risk. Humanities and culture are worth fighting for!

If you/your grant admin receive/received an official looking email last night or today from NEH (letterhead, correct names), make sure you check the domain it was sent from. Official emails from NEH go through eGMS Reach and would have neh.gov as the domain.

Check in with your grant admin today.

A sliver of good news in the dumpster fire of this week—new paper shows how amplification on social media rewires information networks and permanently shifts attention.

Most of us have long assumed this is true (it’s why we repost/reskeet/etc) but now we have proof 😊

So let me get this straight - they cut funding for DEIA, gender, climate, misinformation, the arts and public health research and they think that’ll make us shut up about stuff that makes them feel uncomfy? Lol ok. We don’t have anything left to do but scream.

Groups across the country have received letters notifying them that their grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities have been canceled, raising alarms about serious harm to museums, historical sites, and a wide range of community projects.

No news organization should ever use the words "third term" without the word "unconstitutional" preceding it

Building the biggest talent pipelines and retaining top talent is good for business, full stop. Study after study after study shows this, it’s literally management 101.

For folks who don’t know, ethnic studies programs like African American/Africana Studies, Asian American Studies, Chicano Studies and the like come directly from civil right era campus activism. Attempts to disempower such programs should be framed as attacks on civil rights same as much else rn.

Some of the tips, in case you need them:

guide.globalsupport.link/physical/bor...

www.eff.org/document/eff...

guide.globalsupport.link/physical/dev...

Over here watching my friends compile tips about how to safely enter my country …

… and I’m so proud of my friends for helping …

… and I’m so sad for my country.

Postdoc positions in HCI and Videogames Theory at IT University of Copenhagen The IT University of Copenhagen invites highly motivated individuals to apply for a Postdoc position in HCI and Videogames Theory at IT University of Copenhagen

Is your PhD research on game design, game production, HCI, or design theory? I've got three 2-year postdoc positions in my ERC StG project to investigate what makes theory useful and usable in game design / interaction design.

Reposts much appreciated. Thx!

candidate.hr-manager.net/ApplicationI...

About fifty years ago, NASA strapped a message in a bottle to a rocket and flung it into the deep dark
It wasn’t supposed to go this far, but it did. Long past its mission, it’s still out there so far away now that a simple hello takes a day to reach it, and another day to hear if it says hello back

🚨New paper alert! 🚨

We all know activism is a marathon not a sprint. New paper shows how environmental activists maintain momentum over time. Hope you like it!

🚨 New preprint alert! 🚨

Love this one because it bridges network and communication theory and gives us an model for understanding the very real phenomenon of being bombarded with news but not having much information (even when folks are genuinely trying to spread information!)

Hey, artists, in case you were wondering if your work matters: I'm a scientist working on climate change and biodiversity, and I would not be who I am today without The Lorax, The Secret of NIMH, Watership Down, The Last Unicorn, and The X-Files. I know I'm not alone. Thank you for all you do.