We need to have a long conversation in higher ed (and ed in general tbh) about our dependence on proprietary software platforms, especially learning management systems

Read the fucking papers Take the fucking notes Synthesize the fucking data Write the fucking book Do the fucking work Or fuck off

You know about the resources posted at the REL Toolbox? Now managed by @seedpods.bsky.social, the site has grown. Go see. Anyone leading a Dept in the Humanities will find it helpful. reltoolbox.ua.edu

Signed a contract for my second book with Rutgers—offering a set of controlled experiments in novel comparison, premised on pivoting to studying religion as something ordinary. @rutgersupress.bsky.social

Pick a Bond from the photos you already have on your phone.

MIT announces “the number of grad students will be 20 percent less than it was in 2024 — about 500 fewer students” www.washingtonpost.com/education/20...

You know what time it is. #Eurovision

All the philosophy students who pursued their passion made a wise decision. Learning how to think is a always a good investment. Psychology grads are not doing too badly on the job market either.

Ethical use of plagiarism...

Formal motion to rename the technology

Happy Mother’s Day.

They put one of yours in the hospital, you put out a statement about how disappointed you are. That’s the centrist way.

It's almost like we shouldn't have put every single university course in America on a single ed-tech platform with the security sophistication of a rusty door latch.

Canvas hack is yet another reason we need to rewatch Battlestar Galactica. <please imagine a gif of that scene where Adama unplugs the ship's computers from the network bc I couldn't find that scene as a gif online anywhere>

You see what just got posted…? #TheBear #Gary

The Journal of Africana Religions is seeking a book reviews editor: open.substack.com/pub/usreligi...

“If his shit can get published then so can mine”—punchline to a story Don Wiebe (then on my PhD committee) once told me about a friend of his getting published during their doctoral studies. I took it to heart.

Classification matters.

If AI is meant to distill complicated texts, but has the effect of eroding individuals’ capacity to manage complicated texts, how long until we need AI to summarise and uncomplicate AI summaries of complicated texts?

It was such a pleasure to talk with @mccutcheonsays.bsky.social about the new second edition of his landmark book, Manufacturing Religion! Congrats on 30 years, on the second edition, and for all of the success you’ve built! newbooksnetwork.com/manufacturin... @newbooksnetwork.bsky.social

Listening to an NPR story in which supporters of Trump’s concentration camps say the camps will provide jobs. Much to consider!

#DoctorWho versus the Met Gala: who wore it best?

Luckily he hasn't got to be up early tomorrow morning.

A Nordic film noir streaming series following a scholar hunting for a citation while the clock is ticking on the login for a journal’s online submission system.

Today

Congrats higher ed administrators. In your rush to deploy your latest initiative—guaranteed to land you your next job—you’ve blown up the whole institution.

Last read of the new book ms. @rutgersupress.bsky.social #redescriptions

I ask college students every semester what surprised them most about the class (do this in every class). No. 1 observation is thought we would just memorize name, dates, and events. Shocked when they learn an event in place affects an event in another place. They love it.

The sound of the pens & pencils of 115 undergrads all focused and writing a final in-class assignment using little brown notebooks they used all semester for help. #oldschool

Wile W Coyote astoundedly observes Roadrunner dashing through the tunnel he’s just painted. A wild Adorno appears in frame declaiming “the hole is the lie”

Talking to @jakebarrett25.bsky.social today about the new ed. of Manufacturing Religion. @newbooksnetwork.bsky.social

Looking forward to talking with @mccutcheonsays.bsky.social about our work reimagining Religious Studies & the Humanities at UNI. April 29 at 3pm ET. Registration link: aarweb.org/event/strate...

Art Vandelay is in the new season of Friends & Neighbors. #ImporterExporter

What are you reading?

Join us aarweb.org/event/strate...

I would feel really disheartened if I learned that someone I asked to be my referee, based on what they knew of me, had outsourced that to their pet AI.

We have met the enemy and it is us.

“We’re an anarcho-syndicalist commune. We take it in turns to act as a sort of executive officer for the week. But all the decisions of that officer have to be ratified at a special biweekly meeting…”

Vice President JD Vance was greeted by thousands of empty seats at a Turning Point USA event where all the tickets were free.

Losing SLACs (small liberal arts colleges) is absolutely a sign of American academia's decline and the gutting of the humanities in particular. I'm pretty sure SLACs are a uniquely American phenomenon. Most countries don't have hundreds of small, non-research-oriented colleges dedicated to teaching.

Mulder would 100% have a podcast that he runs out of his cluttered office in The Unremarkable House. Scully would indulge him but never participate, except to occasionally appear in the background or yell at him to finish recording already, the baby is trying to sleep

@sunypress.bsky.social — wow, you only took 8 months to notify authors of a data breach of their info in your “secure” system. I guess that was time enough for you to lawyer up and get the discount group plan from @experian-us.bsky.social

Feels like an appropriate day to continue teaching the debate over Byzantine iconoclasm.

Victor Orban’s biggest mistake? Not going on Joe Rogan.

Season 2 of #Deadloch. If only there was more yelling.

Upcoming book launch for this edited volume, which includes quite a few NAASR folks! When: 29 April 2026, 17:00 BST (12:00 EDT) Where: Aga Khan Centre, London, and online via Zoom Registration: www.iis.ac.uk/events/pract...

Join us on April 22nd at 4PM EST for our next NAASR Conversation on Early Career Scholars! This is the third conversation regarding the "profession" and will focus on the particular issues facing early career scholars. See you there! Zoom Link: ua-edu.zoom.us/j/83280408612

I had to look this up. It's TRUE. 😮 Before 1974, banks typically required a father's or husband's signature in order for a woman to open a credit card account. HOLEEEE SHIT. In my lifetime?!! The patriarchy really sucks. #ArtemisII

Assume the Gov. will now sign it. alabamareflector.com/2026/04/09/a...