Another week, more cutting of the humanities. Bur the data remain clear: cutting the humanities for ‘relevance’ or ‘finances’ is bad logic. It’s a constructed narrative too many people uncritically buy into. There are better reasons not to cut us. But it’s worth calling out these dangerous myths.

🚨IOF STEALING HERITAGE The IOF stormed the town of Al-Maza'a Al-Sharqiyah in the West Bank and stole an ancient column from it! Does the leadership of @asor-research.bsky.social - who had no problem hosting and partying with many 🇮🇱 archaeologists at their congress 2 weeks ago - have anything to say?

this is a wonderful new funding opportunity—please share widely 🙏🥳

🏺The conference "Urban Heritage in Crisis in Egypt, Sudan & Palestine" was SO special! 🙏Huge thanks to @gmandreou.bsky.social @archaeologuest.bsky.social & Noha Abou-Khatwa for being a dream team 📽️Recordings coming up on Everyday Orientalism everydayorientalism.wordpress.com/2025/09/15/c...

Musk has apparently manipulated Grok so much that it says he's a better athlete than LeBron James and a funnier comedian than Jerry Seinfeld. Imagine being so insecure you need to program an LLM to boost you like that.

Israel to Expropriate Hundreds of Acres of Palestinian Land for West Bank Archaeological Site - West Bank www.haaretz.com/west-bank/20...

🐦🔎The University of British Columbia hosts talk on excavation conducted next to Israeli torture camp: Megiddo is the site of one of the largest torture camps for Palestinians; the dig is right next to the prison sparrows4palestine.substack.com/p/ubc-hosts-...

Our countdown to Halloween continues with today’s look back to our series on monsters and demons in the ancient world! Check out #PeoplingBlog #35 Researching Monstrosity in Greek Literature with Fiona Mitchell here: peoplingthepast.com/2021/10/08/b...

Once again urging archaeologists to critically assess the AI push into archaeology. There is a huge swath of problematic ethical issues that come with the AI tech & tech lords & we don't have to make it easier for them to insert themselves in archaeology by welcoming them in. Don't be complicit. 🏺

As we approach Halloween, it’s time to dig into the archives to highlight some of our spooky content! 😱 Today, we look back to our series on “Cursing in the Ancient World” with Blog #87 The Perils of Love: Love Spells in Coptic Magic with Roxanne Bélanger Sarrazin peoplingthepast.com/2023/10/20/b...

Our countdown to Halloween continues today as we look back to our series exploring the presence of the Undead and highlight #PeoplingBlog 68: Controlling the Restless Dead in Mesopotamia with JoAnn Scurlock peoplingthepast.com/2022/10/28/b...

Can't wait for this event! Follow the link to RSVP for online participation👇

Two posts warned me about the timeline and yet I still wasn’t prepared for it.

From the Sameer Project: “Since the ceasefire talks, 38 donors cancelled their monthly subscription. The genocide didn’t end and Palestinians in Gaza still need our material support. Can we get a new 38 people to subscribe monthly?” x.com/sameerprojec...

In our new #PeoplingBlog post, Dr. Lisa Saladino Haney takes us through her work on the Carnegie Museum of Natural History’s new “Egypt on the Nile” project, in which they are re-imagining the ways that we conceive of museum exhibitions related to ancient Egypt: peoplingthepast.com/2025/10/17/b...

1 more week until "Cities on the Edge: Documenting, Preserving, and Teaching Endangered Urban Heritage in Egypt, Sudan, and Palestine"! Registration is free – online option available🙏 Program & registration link: everydayorientalism.wordpress.com/2025/09/15/c... #CulturalHeritage #Museums

After the British museum theft and now the Louvre heist, the premise of Euro-custodianship of global south heritage is more than debatable. Return the possessions to their community custodians.

🗣️ PLEASE SHARE 🗣️ I'm writing an intro & sourcebook on late ancient Gazan literature for Dar al-Kalima University Press. The press and I plan to produce an Arabic translation to make Gazan literature more accessible to Palestinians. Help me compensate the Gazan translator! spot.fund/dn8t744sc

2026 Neustadt Prize to Ibrahim Nasrallah Yesterday evening, organizers announced the great Palestinian novelist and poet Ibrahim Nasrallah as the 29th laureate of the Neustadt International Prize for Literature. 

“Let him among you who is without a Nazi tattoo cast the first stone.” -The Bible

Today is a day when arts degrees are worthless, but the product of those degrees is so valuable it would kill an entire industry if they were made to pay for it.

Job! Postdoc in Digital Cultural Heritage: Data Ethics & Software Ecosystems, on new EU funded grant. 3.5 years, @designinf.bsky.social, Edinburgh. Design ethical processes, & evaluate open source tools for Digital Cultural Heritage Objects, with me! elxw.fa.em3.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/Candid...

1st for me – I'm sharing an article preprint given the relevance and immediacy of the issues around AI and its impacts. Article focuses on AI literacies in humanities fields and the broad / immense social and environmental impacts that algorithmic systems are already having doi.org/10.35542/osf...

I have withdrawn my in-person participation from the @asor-research.bsky.social conference

which means that the true proportion is higher given the incorrect classification of children, medics, and journalists as combatants

Pls stop what you are doing and read this entire report on Israel's murder of journalist Anas al-Sharif and five colleagues in Gaza City. "He characterized Israel’s threats as 'Silence or Death,' and he vowed not to be silent." It ends with his final message. www.dropsitenews.com/p/anas-al-sh...

Mark your calendars! Join us for this workshop packed with incredible scholars 🙏

For those in Canada, please consider signing to : 1. Call on the Gov of Canada to suspend all arms exports to Israel; 2. Support war crimes investigations; 3. Demand unrestricted aid access; and 4. End its complicity in violations of international law. www.ourcommons.ca/petitions/en...

Did Jeffrey Epstein invent AI? Not exactly but he's exactly the kind of rich guy who promoted it bc it served his interests...makes u think

This is why Israel won’t allow international media into #Gaza. This is Beit Hanoun. It was a thriving city of 67,000 people. Nothing is left - the result of the Israeli state attempting to exterminate Palestinian society. The war crime of the 21st century. #Genocide (🎥 Gaza Notice)

Gaza faces the severe risk of famine as food consumption and nutrition indicators have reached their worst levels since the conflict began. Read more: unicef.link/3HaUx85

So excited that the NEH has funded Leigh Anne Lieberman & my application for a summer 2026 institute on digital literacies and methods in ancient Mediterranean studies research and teaching! Stay tuned for more!! #TeachAncient #DigitalHumanities

What a great way to bring season 4 to a close! Take a moment to listen to our conversation with @yannisham.bsky.social about ethical futures for archaeological practice from the field to the classroom. #CulturalHeritage #archaeology #PeoplingThePast #ColonialLegacies

Why do we need a new Society for the Study of the Past? The brilliant George Connor of @workingclassicists.bsky.social explains!

In the midst of a televised genocide where we see an ENDLESS stream of 🇵🇸 children being killed by 🇮🇱, the American society for overseas research hosted this talk on... the death of children in ancient Israel I don't know what else to say at this point www.asor.org/news/2025/04...

"Our field and its institutions are inevitably entangled with broader questions of justice, memory, and the obligations we have towards those affected by violence and marginalization."

“Why use airdrops when you can drive hundreds of trucks through the borders?,” Juliette Touma tells @nytimes.com “It’s much easier, more effective, faster, cheaper.” Lift the siege, open the gates and guarantee safe movements and dignified access to people in need. www.nytimes.com/2025/07/25/w...

Gaza has reached IPC Phase 5, which is the worst level of food insecurity & is associated with high amounts of death & permanent disability. For people experiencing this level of malnutrition, even if it ended today, many of the consequences (eg personal outcomes like disabilities) are irreversible.

This is a matter of life and death. Please do not stop sharing or donating. linktr.ee/thesameerpro...

This is the Sameer Project’s video. The least you can do is credit and share the link to their North Gaza campaign: chuffed.org/project/help... Original post: x.com/sameerprojec...

Trump's forthcoming AI action plan will inevitably center industry & lead to the unrestrained, unaccountable rollout of AI into every part of our lives. @dairinstitute.bsky.social is among the 90+ orgs demanding an AI policy agenda that puts the interests of people first. peoplesaiaction.com

We on the AAUP Committee on AI have been connecting with members on their concerns with technology. We’ve been developing recommendations to loosen or even refuse big tech’s hold on higher ed, for better working and learning conditions, and building solidarity around many fights tied to tech.

Wow—the Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention (named after Raphael Lemkin, a Holocaust survivor who coined the term genocide) says plainly: "No more discussions, meetings, reports, sessions, summits…IF YOU HAVE THE POWER, YOU MUST USE IT." "HISTORY WILL DETERMINE THE RECTITUDE OF YOUR ACTIONS."

From documenting heritage destruction in war to supporting communities in rebuilding after violence to creating social wellbeing and healing among displaced people, Dr. Isber Sabrine and Heritage for Peace do such incredible work. #peoplingthepast #CulturalHeritage #archaeology

We have decided to ban the use of GenAI for research, writing & creative work at our organization. In fact, we make people sign an agreement saying that their research, analysis, writing, and creative work are *theirs* and not done by GenAI.

this is such a beautiful conversation with @zenakamash.bsky.social about the power of connection and healing through tangible and intangible cultural heritage—please take a few minutes to hear more about this amazing work! #PeoplingThePast #CulturalHeritage #ArchaeologyLovers

what could an anti-colonial and anti-oppression future look like for disciplines studying ancient pasts? what would your dream be? #IDreamOfAFreePalestine #PeoplingThePast #Archaeology #ColonialLegacy #CulturalHeritage

listen to learn more about the politics of cultural heritage protection and salvage and the ways that they are intertwined with other political and economic agendas, leading to significant impacts on modern communities #PeoplingThePast #CulturalHeritage #RiverCultures

Local communities play key roles in archaeological excavations and knowledge production, but are so rarely acknowledged for this. Take some time to listen to this important conversation on archaeological labourers 🙏❤️ #peoplingthepast #CulturalHeritage #archaeology