Cool photo I found of French Algerian soldiers c. 1904 in Tianjin substack.com/@debris/note...

18th century "cat contract" (納貓兒契式; based on a Yuan-dynasty original), laying out the cat's duties and responsibilities: tirelessly guarding the grain, repelling the "mousey bandits" (鼠賊), not messing with the livestock, not stealing numnums "of any kind whatsoever" (不得偷盜食諸般).

Legal historians: please consider applying for the ASLH Virtual Working Group program for AY2026-27. These are themed (last year: consent, environmental, radical legal advocacy)+could be for a 2nd book ms group. Proposals due June 30, 2026: aslh.net/virtual-work... @aslegalhist.bsky.social

Before Japan surrendered, American aid was already paying for the British, French and Dutch to retake their colonies in Asia. My new Substack post is now up!

For anyone who published a book, article, or digital project on legal history between Jan.2025 and Dec.2026: you should apply to be featured in the ASLH's virtual event series for next yr--"Making Connections: New Works in Legal History, 2026-27." Due June 30, 2026: aslh.net/virtual-book... (1/2)

Raymond Kennedy, Yale professor of sociology, wrote memoranda for the OSS during the war and went on to found the Council on Southeast Asian Studies, the first area-studies program at Yale. American expertise on the region was largely a wartime making. debris.substack.com/p/wartime-be...

Untrodden Field open.substack.com/pub/debris/p...

The publication of The Albatross File: Inside Separation is very welcome for those with an interest in the Singapore story—though less for the hitherto secret documents it reproduces and more for the hitherto secret oral histories. Read now: mekongreview.com/kee...

Post-War Field Formation: Southeast Asia substack.com/@debris/note...

New collection of primary sources on environmental history of China from @columbiaup.bsky.social out in December 2026! Selections translated from 8 (!!!) different languages for #envhist, #energyhist, and #histstm classes on China, East Asia, and the global. #aghist #animalstudies #plantstudies

Intersectional Feminist STS postdoc at Yale - please circulate! postdocs.yale.edu/posts/2026-0...

So excited to talk with Tessa Morris-Suzuki about my new book! Monday 4th May at 8pm EST mjha.org/event-6433046

i'm presenting my chapter at Agrarian Studies Colloquium @yale.edu today! macmillan.yale.edu/agrarian/eve...

Eid mubarak y'all! 🌙

Congratulations to the amazing @durba.bsky.social!

I'll be in Vancouver for AAS next week. Join us on Friday the 13th for our panel on Japanese Occupation at 9am! #AAS2026

My article is out in Law and Society Review. "Beyond Doctrine: How “Law and Society” Approaches Transform Historical Analysis" Head on over to doi.org/10.1017/lsr....

I'll be in conversation with @omarcheta.bsky.social on his wonderful new book 'How Commerce Became Legal' (Stanford UP) on January 21st over Zoom. RSVP to attend.

Very excited to lecture on History of Dutch Empire @yale.edu in Spring semester!

Happening today at American Society for Legal History conference in Detroit!

My fave Dutch words are 'oliemonopolie' and 'pompoen.'

I will be speaking on September 10 on my current book project on History of Land Reclamation in the British Empire at the Council on Southeast Asian Studies at Yale. macmillan.yale.edu/southeast-as...

I've had three tweets go viral in my life but this is the one I'm proudest of.

Very excited to teach History of Southeast Asia (graduate seminar) and History of Indian Ocean Crossings again this Fall!

Super excited for this book by the outstanding Durba Mitra!

And we're back! My latest in the Chronicle is now live: "How to Promote Your Scholarly Book," ft Libra-coded advice such as "use social media" & "or don't use social media." No doubt other publishers will have lots of tidbits to add. Pls share/reach out for a PDF. www.chronicle.com/article/how-...

Join me in Chicago for LSA @lawandsociety.bsky.social annual conference on 5/23. I will talk about how field of Law & Society has impacted discipine of History. ww3.aievolution.com/lsa2501/Even...

Ramadan mubarak! 🌙

Op-Ed by Sunil Amrith www.nytimes.com/2025/02/18/o...

Looking forward to seeing everyone at the AHA conference tomorrow! #AHA25

Another Hurst Institute for Legal History will be happening this coming summer here in Madison, Wisc., co-sponsored by the UW Law School & ASLH. Applications are due Jan.15, 2025. A great tradition & one-of-a-kind experience for junior scholars. Please apply! www.law.wisc.edu/hurst-instit...

Honored and grateful for high level of engagement on two chapters on my second book project at University of Michigan and Stanford this past month! If you could workshop chapters while writing, please do. Such a critical boost during writing process.