Rohan Alexander

Yeah it’s horrible. And as you say, really makes you rethink what we’re doing.

Difficult to pick one, but the most unbelievable part of “My Oxford Year” is the prof offering to mark but have her grad student teach.

A screenshot of the Sociological Methods & Research website showing the special issue title

I’m delighted to share that the August 2025 special issue of Sociological Methods & Research on Generative AI is out now. Along with my co-editor, Daniel Karell, we put together this issue to build on the conference we organized last year.

Here's a thread on each of the ten papers:

That's so lovely! Congratulations again.

Wow. Congratulations! You went there too right? Kind of cool that she's going to your old uni.

Some especially interesting links in this issue.

The Em Dash Responds to the AI Allegations “In recent months, a curious fixation has emerged in corners of academia: the em dash. More specifically, the apparent moral panic around how it is...

The em dash has finally pushed back on all that generative AI slander.

"Let’s be honest: The real issue isn’t me—it’s you. You simply don’t read enough. If you did, you’d know I’ve been here for centuries."

www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/the...

Faculty (UWOFA) Western University, in vibrant London, Ontario, delivers an academic and student experience second to none.

Political Science at Western University, Canada is searching for three tenure track assistant professors. There are two ads, one in International Politics (IR or comparative) and one in Comparative or Canadian. Ads are here: www.uwo.ca/facultyrelat...

The wonderful Niamh Cahill is recruiting a PhD student (co-supervised by me!) to work on estimating and projecting population exposure to extreme sea levels. Please contact me if interested!

I agree with bin space concerns for domestic flights. But IDK if it's such a big deal on the long haul flights where a lot of people are checking in anyway.

I will never understand people who want to board a 15 hour flight early. Shouldn't the prize be being the person who gets to board last?

That's such a wholesome story!

Brisbane airport has eduroam, which is odd and unexpected but wonderful.

The bottom level has Arnott’s Shapes (Pizza and Barbecue), several jars of Vegemite, Arnott’s Ginger Nut biscuits, and Uncle Tobys Choc Chip muesli bars.

The top level has multiple bags of Allen’s Killer Pythons, Frogs Alive, Party Mix, and chocolate.

Packing just the essentials for the return to Toronto! 🦘✈️🇨🇦

Screenshot with "decided by majority (six in favour, three against)" highlighted

Is this normal language from the RBA? I don't remember them releasing the votes in the past, but maybe things have changed.
www.rba.gov.au/monetary-pol...

Replication Crisis

Solved! xkcd.com/3117/

Map of countries where the DHS was the only source of maternal mortality data

In February, the US gov shut down the Demographic & Health Surveys.

It was the only data source on maternal & child health, births, household structure in many countries – making it crucial for research.

In a new article I explain why it should be rescued.
ourworldindata.org/demographic-...

IKR :( Don't know what you've got till it's gone.

Didn't expect that I'd miss the jumbled, badly written, emails you'd get from students, cf the bland LLM homogeneity you get these days.

Oh I didn't know these were called consort diagrams. Thank you!

I didn't see that one! Great opportunity for Canada.

Screenshot showing scholarship details from Western University. The “Value” section states funding of up to $160,000 CAD ($40,000 per year for four years) for a research-based doctoral program. The “Eligibility” section lists four criteria: applicants must not hold or have held an offer from Western; must be affiliated with a Top 100 American university; must meet Western’s doctoral admission requirements; and may be of any nationality.

Nice initiative from Western! news.westernu.ca/2025/07/phd-...

That was a great article. Congratulations!

Interesting throughout. Thanks for writing!

Srebrenica, a Massacre Foretold, Still Casts Its Shadow

JFC: www.nytimes.com/2025/07/11/w...

Phone: Do you need Maps?
Me: No. I. do. not. need. maps. in. Melbourne. I. am. not. a. tourist.
*Goes around circles; gets taken out by a tram doing a hook turn*

This is really great, and perfectly timed. Thanks for sharing.

Mindfulness journal, but it’s just moving the tasks I didn’t do last week to this week :(

A collage of sixteen images showing: 1) a welcome screen for Rohan Alexander; 2) many, many, photos from one of the greatest coffee shops in the world - Campos Newtown; 3) the University of Sydney; 4) a rugby field with the Wallabies training on it; 5) the Marly Bar - where this time, unlike a decade or two ago, I didn't dance in my pjs, which I'm sure the good burghers of Newtown are relieved about; 6) tree-lined streets; 7) Sydney skyline views; 8) Bondi - yes, for various historical reasons I prefer Manly, but I can acknowledge Bondi has some charms!; and 9) a presentation slide titled "Living in interesting times" dated 2025-07-03.

Bye Sydney 🥲
Thanks again to the Centre for AI, Trust and Governance at U Syd for hosting me.

Former deputy prime minister Sheila Copps’ firm sues for share of $2 billion federal contract BTNX says if Copps' firm lobbied on its behalf, "then it did so by illegal means"

Former deputy prime minister Sheila Copps says her firm, Medipro Canada, is owed tens of millions of dollars for helping a medical equipment company win federal contracts during the pandemic.

theijf.org/former-deput...