Time for a new #introduction post, as much of my last one has changed! I’m Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies in the College of Arts and Letters at Michigan State University. I’m founder and Director Emerita* of #MeshResearch, a lab building open-source interoperable tools for new forms of scholarly communication. I'm also director of Knowledge Commons, a scholarly network serving knowledge creators from across the disciplines and around the world. https://hcommons.org

My research interests circulate around transforming #universities into more #open, more #generous spaces for cultural and intellectual work. My newest book, LEADING GENEROUSLY: TOOLS FOR TRANSFORMATION, published in 2024 by Hopkins Press, explores the notion that #collective leadership infrastructures might be one key to that transformation. https://www.press.jhu.edu/books/title/12787/leading-generously

*Not a real title.

At what point do we just admit that not only is #WordPress no longer a good thing for the web and society but an active threat to both?

https://techcrunch.com/2026/03/20/wordpress-com-now-lets-ai-agents-write-and-publish-posts-and-more/

The latest Currents in Digital Education is now out. Characterised by critical pragmatism, it's a regular guide to navigating the ever-shifting tides of higher education, with a special focus on what matters most in the South African Higher Education context.
Really fascinating resources from South and North - news, guides, books, panels, talks, forthcoming events - you did not know exist!

https://mailchi.mp/usaf.ac.za/currents-in-digital-education-march2026?e=98a63fd469

This week its 250 years since the publication of Adam Smith's magnum opus The Wealth of Nations.

Too often this book is read in isolation from the rest of his work, which leaves important normative aspects of his political economy ignored....

while interpretations of the WoN itself are too often based on selective quotations & partial understanding of his analysis of markets.

You'll see a lot of claims Smith is the celebrant of unfettered free markets;

read WoN & find he isn't!

#economics

Apereo and partners of the newly formed Open Renaissance Group are issuing a direct call to action: for higher education to move beyond passive consumption of technology and instead actively steward the open digital infrastructure that underpins teaching and learning, research and scholarship, and institutional autonomy.

Apereo invites leaders, faculty, technologists, and partners worldwide to share the letter, add their names, and help shape what comes next.

https://www.apereo.org/news/2026/reclaiming-digital-commons-apereo-helps-launch-call-action-higher-education

This case shows how Open Source will die. With anyone just being able to pipe existing code and tests through an LLM and claiming that to be "clean room" (which is hogwash) no licensing can protect your work from being accumulated and monetized by anyone. The commons are actively being shredded in front of our eyes.

https://github.com/chardet/chardet/pull/322