KenHanson.bsky.social

So tired of AI slop, half-baked papers that should have been desk rejected instead of sent out, and fearing students looking to go viral for a gothca TikTok clip. All the best things about being a professor are eroding and soon all that will be left is empty lecture halls playing Canvas recordings

I've now been allowed and asked to share more details about what's going down at the University of Oregon, which involves imminent announcement of firings, among others, of tenure-track and tenured faculty. Given the units impacted (see below), please share this with your professional networks in related disciplines and start getting ready to put pressure (or begin putting pressure already) on the University of Oregon upper admin to abandon this alleged plan before they finalize it. It appears that, with no prior consultations, the departments of Religion and Classics (two separate units), and the programs in Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies, German & Scandinavian, Judaic Studies, Arabic Studies, and Holocaust Studies (the latter five all parts of a previously-consolidated mega unit called the Schnitzer School of Global Studies and Languages) are facing imminent announcement of elimination (expected the week of Sept 7), with layoffs of pre-tenure, tenured, and career faculty in these units. The reason given is "financial exigency" -- upper administrations of several universities across the country (and in blue states like Oregon also) appear to be giddy to use the context of Trump attacks on higher ed to dismantle the humanities. Faculty at OU won a faculty union not long ago; this may be, in part, a retaliation for that, I've been told. The union is working with AAUP, etc.; my understanding is that the maximum spotlight is needed at this point.

A massive attack on several humanities units (Arabic Studies, Judaic Studies, Holocaust Studies, Classics, Religion, German & Scandinavian, Russian/East European/Eurasian Studies) *and* tenure now unfolding at the University of Oregon (a blue state!). Closure of units and faculty layoffs threatened.

Is AI the future of America's foreign policy? Some experts think so Large language models like ChatGPT and DeepSeek are increasingly being looked at for their potential to help make decisions in high-stakes situations.

It would be wildly foolish it is to rely on any sort of AI to make decisions in tense international situations.

But using an LLM to do so is terrifyingly stupid. It's a category error to think that a machine designed to generate plausible text would be good at reasoning about existential risk.

If sex tech becomes mainstream, we might see a society where intimacy is redefined, blending physical and virtual experiences. We must tread carefully to preserve genuine connections. #futurism

Whither A Sociology of Sex Toys? Contested Histories, Current Trends, and Potential Futures - Kenneth R. Hanson, Whitney E. Brooks, 2025 While being part of many people’s sexual lives, sex toys are rarely the focus of sociological research. To better understand the role sex toys might play in the...

What might the future of sex look like? Futurologists and sexologists are quick to embrace sex tech as the final frontier of pleasure, but sociologist @kenhanson.bsky.social argues we need to examine our past first to figure out where we're going.

journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....

Excited to be part of this landmark issue in @asanews.bsky.social 's new journal! Check it out today!

The website for the new @asanews.bsky.social journal, Sex & Sexualities is live!! It publishes cutting-edge sociological research on sexualities by fostering space for rigorous intersectional, interdisciplinary, transnational, feminist, and critical research.

journals.sagepub.com/home/SNS

News | American Sociological Association The 2025 ASA elections will open Wednesday, April 16, and close Monday, May 19, 5 p.m. Eastern. Ballots will be sent out via email

Who are the inaugural co-editors of Sex & Sexualities, the new @ASAnews journal? Check out this announcement from the American Sociological Association about co-editors Dr. Krystale Littlejohn and Amy L. Stone

www.asanet.org/footnotes-ex...

The juxtaposition between "AI is going to make work obsolete" and "we need to roll back child labor laws to get these crops harvested " is real fucking bleak.

the trend of young men leaving higher education in droves. In won't. Young men (en masse) have already been so heavily propagandized, led astray, and culturally turned off by school that it's too late. Any hope we do have of de-radicalizing people is being quickly dashed—and that's the point.

The laws limiting classroom discussions and content on "DEI" topics will destroy American education. Universities are already seeing a massive decline in numbers. Why would anyone go into massive debt to learn what is clearly propagandized and restricted speech? Some might think this will reverse

The thing about LinkedIn is that it's objectively terrible and people keep using it.

Bad news for All-Inclusive resorts coming soon, will be forced to go with the much less controversial "Pete Hegseth approved drunken debauchery is included in the price at this gluttonous resort! Bring your kids!"

I know the world is terrible right now but I'm re-reading The Protestant Ethic for my soc of religion class and all I can think about is how much Weber would have hated people like Gary V and grind culture more generally.

If say, 1.5 million or so LA residents were feeling desperate about the future and wanted to move to WY, SD, and AK we could seriously turn this ship around politically next election cycle and do something before it's too late.

I have been very impressed with my Braven BRV-1 Portable's durability. Takes drops with no issue, has gotten much more wet than it should have, several times, and still came back to life. Sound quality is so-so but if you want rugged I recommend it!

I've done it, some students asked for MORE assigned readings in my Self & Society class. I can confidently say that some, although certainly not all, students do in fact enjoy reading for class.

IDK if anyone else feels this way but the Marriott Bonvoy app has more security features than my BANK. FFS

2 = the numbers of students this week who have come to tell me they are changing their education plans in light of "gestures broadly." One is ceasing education at my institution (grad student so not as huge of a deal), the other is now applying abroad for grad school instead of US PhD programs.

Since this seems to be the thing to do, putting together a sex tech group. Let me know if you'd like to be added!

go.bsky.app/CiRAxPB

Since this seems to be the thing to do, putting together a sex tech group. Let me know if you'd like to be added!

go.bsky.app/CiRAxPB

We're getting familiar with Bluesky while also off attending a number of conferences over the next couple of weeks!

If you're a scholar in #AmericanStudies, #Criminology, #Musicology, or #WomenStudies, we’d love to hear from you. Are there any great starter packs you’d recommend?

People who say they care about women’s and girls’ sports are noticeably quiet about how eliminating the Department of Education would end federal oversight of Title IX enforcement of the equal existence of women’s and girls’ sports

Tenure-Track Assistant Professor-Artificial Intelligence

I'll make my first post here be about our tt faculty opening in socially informed AI - uscjobs.sc.edu/postings/175....
I'm chairing the search committee, so reach out with any questions. Please share far and wide.

Does their MTV Unplugged album count? Cause I can 100% listen to that straight through.

“Naughty Japanese Babe:” An analysis of racialized sex tech designs Recent technological developments and growing acceptance of sex tech has brought increased scholarly attention to sex tech entrepreneurs, personified …

New article for my fellow sextech scholars! www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Sex Doll Specifications versus Human Body Characteristics - Archives of Sexual Behavior Sex dolls have been criticized for reproducing unrealistic expectations about human bodies. Yet precise sex doll measurements are lacking in the literature nor has there been any systematic attempt to...

My latest article! link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Any Replika or other chatbot users out there? A good friend of ours is doing a study on it! Contact Dr. Ken Hanson to inquire! 😊💜

@davecat.bsky.social @annielooney.bsky.social

Hi! Recruiting for a study, eligible interviewees can get a gift card! I don't have a big following on here so I appreciate the boost even if you aren't a Replika user. But if you are, reach out.