it is so fucking depressing that the go to author on trans issues is the guy who (a) is not trans, (b) has no real expertise, and (c) frames trans issues as a moral panic for cis parents. 1

Everyone in academia should read this piece about our dear, brilliant colleague @durba.bsky.social www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...

It's not that I am particularly on top of my shit, it's that I have a near-pathological sense of urgency

I admire the confidence suggested by the license plate SIRDADY and I admire it even more given that the vehicle in question is a Toyota Camry (no photo because I am a safe and conscientious driver)

Nice bit of tooling.

Notice, #earlymodern #skystorians, the logo at the middle of the photo? The VOC (Dutch East India Company). All the more reason to reckon with the legacies of these companies and how they integrate (or don't) with shifting ideas of globalisation, integration, capitalism, and national identity.

Cringe fascism

Ah, there it is

It has been brought to my attention that not everyone knows about Ben Franklin's virtue-tracking app

"IMPREGNABLE!!"

Call for #medievalsky & related other ski’s!! Guest editors for issues & clusters—we summon you!!! We’re currently looking for individuals or teams interested in #bardcore, craft medievalism & medieval crafts, changing climates, early globalities, & more! #cfp Full guest ed call linked 👇

"IMPREGNABLE!!"

Attended a reenactment of the 1775 bombardment of Portland (then Falmouth, Massachusetts colony) by the British navy, feat. the tall ship Lynx reenacts

High-waisted pants are great. Nobody— not you, not me— needs a revival of the low rise

At Broadview ICE facility, federal agents hurl tear gas and pepper spray at protesters blocking vans www.chicagotribune.com/2025/09/19/t...

Happy Gerald R. Ford Stuck in an Elevator Day to all those who celebrate. (As someone who has visited the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum multiple times [my parents live 15 mins away] and who spent many hours in Van Pelt as a grad student, this is a very important and solemn day for me.)

RBS is happy to announce that we are now accepting applications for: 𝗥𝗕𝗦-𝗮𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝘀𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗮𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽𝘀 (apply by 𝟮 𝗡𝗼𝘃.) 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗠. 𝗖. 𝗟𝗮𝗻𝗴 𝗙𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗶𝗻 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗛𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆, 𝗕𝗶𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗵𝘆, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗛𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗛𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗦𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗰𝗲𝘀 (apply by 𝟳 𝗗𝗲𝗰.) Details: rarebookschool.org/2025-scholarships-fellowships/

Once we’ve sorted out the whole fascism thing, I’d like an investigation into why college dining halls are still playing the same music as when I was a student twenty years ago

The world is dim but I’m going to a 30th anniversary screening of Hackers at a queer bar this weekend so at least something’s going right

advisory to academic workers from @aaup.org @uam-umd.bsky.social www.aaup.org/news/advisor...

i don't think anyone on here will care but lately I have entertained myself by making some cross-stitch patterns of some world heritage posts, and i can share them with you if you are interested.

Everich rose hath its þ

New semester, same commute, and I need your podcast recs. I like something that makes me feel smart (In Our Time) in the mornings, and something that makes me happy (Trixie and Katya) on the way home. And none of this 2.5 hour episode stuff. Ideas?

Who benefits from attacks on higher ed? Certainly not the US economy. Certainly not the states where higher ed is the major employer. Certainly not the American people. excellent work @ehayot.bsky.social and @paulakrebs.bsky.social www.post-gazette.com/opinion/gues...

Does your teaching touch upon the Black Death? Then don't miss the one and only Dr. Monica Green's open-access, introductory teaching module for the History for the 21st Century (H21) project! www.history21.com/owit-module/... #earlymodern #histmed #medhumanities #medieval #worldhistory

In the midst of all this Kirk stuff, my heart really goes out to the partner/roommate. I hope she's got good people around her

WE ARE ALL JEAN SMART (I want to talk about what’s going on with her necklace/dress way more than whatever he’s saying)

Reflecting on the possible links between my religious education and my career as a book historian, I am reminded of Psalty the Singing Songbook, from the Kids Praise videos. I remember the illustration quite clearly, but a quick google shows why I've repressed the live action portion entirely

In my next life I'm coming back as someone who can read a calendar properly, JFC

*laughs in Calvinist K-12 education* I knew their politics AND their theological views

VERY grouchy these days but just sent off a reader report for a piece that's publication-ready and genuinely a great read

Queen Ina (Queena?) in repose

"How did the college textbook market become so broken, forcing some students to skip meals and work overtime just to afford course materials? One culprit, advocates say, is Wall Street’s increasing control over a staple campus institution: the college bookstore."

2026-27 New Media and Public Humanities Postdoctoral Fellowship www.humanities.utoronto.ca/news/2026-27...

A risk I’m willing to take

*involuntarily reaches for steamer*

“Just we two” Postcard from my collection. Copyright 1907, mailed 1909. This is by C.E. Bullard, my favorite of the Victorian/Edwardian cat photographers. He seemed to genuinely love cats and didn't restrain them or cram them into tiny costumes.

Yesterday's piece from @jamellebouie.net is the only high-profile piece I've seen that specifically discusses the watchlist, its effect on academics, and its effect on public attitudes toward academia as a whole. (gift link) www.nytimes.com/2025/09/13/o...

reposting with alt text because this feels incredibly significant. the right-wing disinfo machine means a lot of the people grieving Charlie Kirk never heard any of the things he said that would have tarnished his brand as Guy Who Just Wants to Have Dialogue Across the Aisle

Stop reading the news and normalize lounging inside “Visiona 2” by Verner Panton at the Cologne Furniture Fair in 1970.

Mainers will be able to access the #covid vaccine as normal—without a prescription—this year, essentially:

Scumbag medievalism! It's not about the fact that we've got a South Asian dude (who looks like the lead in a stoner comedy who, through a series of preposterous events, finds himself in way over his head) invoking Norse mythology in memory of a Christian, it's about the vibes and the signaling

one of the strongest findings in political science is no country with an average BMI over 25 has ever experienced a civil war

And now, since our Dean wrote this (www.jsonline.com/story/opinio...), we've all received letters informing us year 4 of our NRC/FLAS grants has been cancelled. International & foreign language education is "not a priority of the administration." The party of national security something something

Logging off because the discourse today is Too Online even for me, but not without telling you that I have had two (2) great sessions with a trainer at the campus gym and one (1) instance of random student in the library asking if he saw me working out earlier and now I can never go back

i would posit that a society where even governors use the phrase "touch grass" in a public statement and expect to be understood cannot in fact log off. offline may as well be the lost garden of eden

I don't know if any other former Michigan undergrads remember HD Cameron talking about this in Great Books, but I sure do

Booklist for the 10th century library at Bobbio. Among the various categories: "Books We Have But Can't Find" (de libris quos non reperimus sed habemus)

It's not even the middle of September, and already three times this semester-- and twice in 48 hours-- I've had to send a message to a friend along the lines of "seeing [your campus] on the news. I really hope you and your colleagues and students are all safe." WTF even is this country.

A GoFundMe for the instructor who was fired at Texas A&M!