Peter Romaskiewicz, PhD

What were electric eels called before electricity was discovered?

The rise of AI denialism Computer scientist Louis Rosenberg argues that dismissing AI as a “bubble” or mere “slop” ignores the tectonic technological shift now unfolding.

Not sure why this dross, dated Dec 1, seems to be circulating now (and why it didn't cross my feed a month ago), but wow what a terrible essay.

A few comments, in a short 🧵>>

bigthink.com/the-present/...

Statement on Teaching: Statement on Teaching: Effective Programming in the Age of “AI” Nicholas Weaver nweaver@icsi.berkeley.edu https://skerry-tech.com/cv.html Computer science is not computer programming but computer p...

My statement on teaching (looking for permanent teaching-centric gigs)
docs.google.com/document/d/1...

It really really is bad in the CS side, and I've dealt with too many faculty who are all gaga over it...

Photos taken by pioneering Chinese photographer Lai Afong (1838/39–1890). Held by the Getty Museum.
#photofriday

Utagawa Hiroshige, "Seven-Mile Beach in Sagami Province," 1837. Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Where would you stand to see this view?

That is the puzzle at the heart of Drawing from the Crowd—a citizen science project exploring how Edo-period Japanese prints depicted landscapes.

We'd love your help solving it 🧵

The missionary exhibition, the World in Boston, took place in the spring of 1911 before moving to Cincinnati.

Here is a souvenir postcard showing the Japan Scene in Boston, below is the same display in Cincinnati a year later. The exhibit continued to Baltimore and then Chicago in 1913.

Cover of JAOS 145.4, with table of contents

Issue 145:4 of the JAOS is out online doi.org/10.7817/jaos... , with articles on: Yahwists in Elephantine, oracular law in Assyria, syntax in Qur'anic interpretation, r vs rr in Khotan, Mongol text of the 1413 Tyr stele, Old Chinese parts of speech, Song dynasty incense trade, and more!

while i am not an academic i did see this coming and post about it on bluesky, which is why i am quoted in this article

Raphael Tuck’s complete 6 card “Oilette” set for Tibet with cover, circa 1905.
Early 20th century postcards were one of the main ways images of Buddhist material culture circulated in Europe/US.

Photographs of Japan taken by Wilhelm Burger as member of the Imperial Austrian Expedition to East Asia in 1870. Held by the British Library.

Photographs of Japan taken by Wilhelm Burger as member of the Imperial Austrian Expedition to East Asia in 1870. Held by the British Library.

The Royal Game of Ur from the British Museum

Okay, as promised, here are my 25 boardgames that would make good presents for historians or the historically-inclined.
- I've played them and enjoyed them
- They have to have a historical theme or be related to the practice of history
- They were within the first 25 I thought of...

Buddhist monks on cross-country pilgrimage enter the metro area Monday The group's final destination on the journey is Washington, D.C.

#WalkForPeace update, near Jackson.

www.wapt.com/article/budd...

The Asian Division’s Florence Tan Moeson Fellowship: Now Accepting Applications for 2026 | 4 Corners of the World The Asian Division is now accepting applications for its Florence Tan Moeson Fellowship, which supports short-term research visits to the Asian Reading Room at the Library of Congress. This year's app...

The Library of Congress' Asian Division is now accepting applications for their 2026 Florence Tan Moeson Fellowship: up to $3,000 to support travel, lodging, and research expenses. Due January 11, 2026. #sinology #libraries

blogs.loc.gov/internationa...

Giant pair of 19th c. Japanese prayer beads with baseball-sized bead-shrines housing tiny Buddhist icons. Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Mass.

Giant pair of 19th c. Japanese prayer beads with baseball-sized bead-shrines housing tiny Buddhist icons. Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Mass.

We are very excited to announce the launch of our new digital library platform which will host all of our digital content, including curated exhibitions and featured collections. Find out more here: https://soas.quartexcollections.com/?cid= #EYADigital

Laughing Buddha teapot and tea canister. Chelsea, England, c. 1745-1749. Museum of Fine Art, Boston.

Cultural tribute or Asian stereotype? Salem roiled by dispute over city seal. - The Boston Globe To one side, the seal contains an anachronistic, racial caricature of a 19th-century Asian merchant. To the other, it honors a progressive, cross-cultural commerce that benefited peoples a world apart...

Not sure which is more inconceivable: that Salem's city seal is what it is even today or that the historian defending it (or the article in fact) fails to mention the word "opium" even once, even as the family who traded it (Peabodys) commissioned the seal!
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/11/27/m...

Laughing Buddha teapot and tea canister. Chelsea, England, c. 1745-1749. Museum of Fine Art, Boston.

Responding to Disruption? Consult a Center for Teaching and Learning A guest post by Derek Bruff, Andrew Kennedy and Jess Taggart.

Jessica Taggart, Andrew Kennedy, and I have a new piece out that's about UVA's Faculty AI Guides program, but it's really about how centers for teaching and learning can be key players in an institution's response to disruption. www.insidehighered.com/opinion/colu...

What links Sherlock Holmes, the British invasion of Tibet, and a royal gambling scandal? Andrew Glazzard investigates the domestic and imperial subterfuge beneath the surface of Holmes’ 1903 return to Baker Street in Conan Doyle’s “The Empty House” — publicdomainreview.org/essay/i...

Laughing Buddha Smoking a Pipe, made in Delft, Netherlands between 1700-1725 with Qing era Buddha in white porcelain from 1740. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Image show a flyer for a pop-up exhibit called "Engraving the Grotesque Buddha, 1660-1850." The imagery shows a 17th century hand-colored engraving engraving depicting four people prostrating before a sun-faced deity figure emerging from a lotue pond. The text gives the following informationa about the show: Pop-up Exhibit showing the evolution of Buddhist imagery in European book arts Saturday, November 22 9AM-3PM CGIS S050 Harvard University Exhibit in conjunction with the 2025 Woodenfish Reunion at llarvard. Prints from the Buddhas in the West Material Archive, a public scholarship and social media based project. Visit BuddhasInTheWest.com Bluesky@buddhasinthewest.bsky.social Insta @buddhas.in.the.west

For anyone attending the #AARSBL in Boston, come see the Buddhas in the West Pop-Up Exhibit this Saturday at CGIS S050 at Harvard University.
We look at the early European depictions of the Buddha and Buddhist monks from the 1660s to 1850s.
🗃️ 📜 #Buddhasinthewest

Contemporary artist Tokuhiro Kawai depicts cats as furry saints!
Current show "Altarpiece of Cat Adoration" in Tokyo now: tinyurl.com/2ew694rh
#caturday

The first 108 Buddhas in the West posts are now archived, tagged, and easy to browse! 🔍 🗺
Thank you to everyone for the support! 🙏

👉 tinyurl.com/4kmcwp87

Contemporary artist Tokuhiro Kawai depicts cats as furry saints!
Current show "Altarpiece of Cat Adoration" in Tokyo now: tinyurl.com/2ew694rh
#caturday