I'm proud to announce that my dissertation defense is scheduled for Friday, 15 May at 10:30 am EDT, 9:30 am CDT. Those of you in Bing are welcome to attend in person (LN 2200). Everyone else can watch on Zoom on mute if interested. Please let me know and I will share further details with you. #PhD

"Sometimes science 'progresses' in terrible ways...Brushing off these practices as unscientific implies that 'true' science is, and always has been, unimpeachable." Today's #histSTM lunch read: @wbarlowrobles.bsky.social's @contingent-mag.bsky.social piece on the dangers of Whiggish #histsci 🗃️📜

Happy Easter to everyone celebrating today! 🐰 Have a wonderful day. 📷 aprilmunday.wordpress.com/2022/06/19/t...

Tonight as my parish choir was doing a final rehearsal before the Easter Vigil Mass I noted to the tenors & altos around me that “O Filii et Filiae” is a French hymn “from just before the time I study.” It’s attributed to one of Thevet’s fellow cordeliers. Felt a sense of timelessness tonight.

Also, on Saturday we had 75°F (24°C) temps and beautiful sunshine. Great weather for my neighborhood St. Patrick’s Day Parade and tonight it’s sustained 60 mph winds and snow. I keep saying how nice San Francisco was a few weeks ago during the RSA. My video from the valet drive at my place of work.

I usually bring light reading material to fill the downtime in my theatre job. It’s easier to follow the plot than the scholarship we read professionally when you’ve got a radio going off in your earpiece. On Friday I was able to make progress reading one new book during a symphony dress rehearsal…

Took a break this morning from #RenSa26 to visit the SF Zoo. Sharing the history of animals with readers everywhere. #earlymodern #histsci #animalhistory

I’m excited to present my paper “Parlaying Parrots and Sighing Sloths: Animal Utterances in Thevet’s Singularitez de la France Antarctique” about cultural interpretations of animal expression. Come hear my paper this Thursday at 14:30 PST at the #rensa26. #earlymodern #histsci

Bhuail mé leis nuair bhí 14 bliana d'aois. Bhí guth aige a chaint sé chuig an anama. I met him when I was 14. He had a voice that sang to the soul. RIP, a Seáin Ó Sé.

I got the opportunity this morning to do some research in the Field Museum Library for an upcoming diss. chapter. I didn’t take any photos up there on the 3rd floor yet it was neat getting to see the professional side of the museum, somewhere I’d love to work if the opportunity arises. #histsci

If the Bears can win that game all of us ABDs can finish our dissertations and earn our PhDs and maybe even find a good job on the other side. From this Chicago area native at the #AHA2026, Bear down!

Spent the morning reading Guillaume Rondelet’s “De piscibus marinis” in the UChicago Library’s Special Collections. I’ve been working on sorting out what sort of marine mammal was Thevet’s “marousin,” when that name applied to dolphins, orcas, and porpoises alike. #earlymodern #histsci

This Friday @ 8:30 am, I’m presenting “Sufficiently Strange Beasts: André Thevet’s Catholic Comprehension of Neotropical Animals” in the @achahistory.bsky.social meeting adjoining the #AHA26 conference in the Chicago Hilton. A strange paper to write means it should be fun, right? #earlymodern

youtu.be/8Qq9MhGJv2A?... #envhist #irishhistory This video touches on a lot of questions that are central to my own research on what counts as native, and the impermanence of nature, and the colonial impact upon island ecologies which André Thevet discussed in his #earlymodern cosmographies. /1

/1 Can Apple’s AirPod Translation Get You Through Tokyo? We Tested It. — A couple thoughts in this thread. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/26/t...

The International #Bibliography of #Humanism and the #Renaissance (IBHR) has been updated. 3,022 records were added More Info: bit.ly/4o8eWKH #EarlyModern #RenaissanceSky #HumanismSky #Bibliographies #DigitalHumanities

Last day of this trip and I decided to make one final stop at NYPL to read their Parisian edition of Marco Polo published in 1556. Another fascinating mile marker in the history of the European perception of everyone else that will be useful in my dissertation. #earlymodern #skystorians

I'm making a quick stop on the way home from #HSS2025 in NYC to read the NYPL's copy of Vespucci's 1503 "Mundus Novus" and look through some of the objects on display at @amnh.org that relate to my current research. #earlymodern #histsci #skystorians

I’m making a quick stop in NYC 🍎 on the way home from New Orleans ⚜️ to see Alie Ward do her first @ologies.bsky.social podcast live show. This is one of my favorite science podcasts that’s been a regular feature of my weekly listening since the pandemic.

I'm not at #HSS2025 but wrote a #NOLA -themed newsletter, anyway - with registration info for an online #histsci talk on HUMANS: A MONSTROUS HISTORY. Fans of @danielkraus.com - this is for you, too! #horror 💙📚 🗃 buttondown.com/surekhadavie...

On Sunday at 11 am CT I will be presenting a fun project of mine concerning Thevet’s flightless seabird sighting on 26 Oct. 1555 which contributed to the taxonomic muddle between penguins (L) and the Great auk (R). Come see me at #HSS2025 in room Napoleon A2 (3rd floor). #histsci #earlymodern

I go to a fair few conferences. Along the chance to present my work to fellow experts the biggest draw remains getting that refresher that as isolated as I am in my daily life that I am not alone in this profession. Thanks, friends! #skystorians #earlymodern #histsci

Took a break from #SCS2025 to go to the Rocky Butte State Park to catch a glimpse of Mount Hood and Mount St. Helens in the distance. Coming from the prairies I do love seeing mountains.

I’ll be speaking tomorrow at the #SCS2025 conference in Portland about variations in the early printings of Thevet’s sloth’s face. Come see me at 15:30 Pacific in the Park Room as part of the Bodies, Nature, Knowledge discipline. #earlymodern #histsci #skystorians

I've decided to end my writing my weekly "Wednesday Blog" after 238 weeks. It's been a good run, and I've accomplished what I set out to do. So, for this week, to conclude what I’ve been saying with a bit of politics, a bit of language, and a bit of history. wednesdayblog.org/2025/10/15/t...

Does anyone have recommendations on sources concerning South Atlantic ocean currents and navigational routes in the 16th century? I see a lot of maps showing how Europeans got to Brazil, but not the return voyage. #earlymodern #histsci #skystorians

I spent some time this afternoon at the Linda Hall Library reading Gessner’s entries for dolphins, porpoises, and orcas looking for connections to Thevet’s accounts of the animals. This research visit was a success. #histsci #skystorians #earlymodern

CFP: Contested Conceptions of Atlantic Animals. I’m looking for interested scholars working on the histories of animals on Atlantic islands & in the Atlantic Ocean in the early modern period to join a panel at the ESHS/HSS conference next June in Edinburgh. #histsci #animalhistory #earlymodern

This week I wrote about Thevet’s claim that wine is necessary for human life and the role of alcohol in culture & ritual. #earlymodern #winehistory #frhistory wednesdayblog.org/2025/09/24/o...

This week, I wrote about breaking down bigger projects into smaller pieces in the twin contexts of #academic writing & #cooking. #phd wednesdayblog.org/2025/09/17/o...

I don't think I'm going to be in Toronto anytime soon, but this exhibit on Flemish masterworks looks like it'll be a good one. #earlymodern #arthistory www.rom.on.ca/whats-on/exh...

The table of contents for this one looks great. #earlymodern #FrHistory

wednesdayblog.org/2025/09/03/t... This week on my blog I drew from the Renaissance humanist proclivity to have everything refer back to antiquity to make a point about finding a work-life balance in grad school. #earlymodern

Inné, chuaigh mé ar stáitse le mo chairde ag an Fhéile Éireannach in KC mar áit labhraíomar faoi ár ranganna Gaeilge ar an Chultúrlann Éireannach. Bhí sé an-deas comhrá agus tá mé ag súil ag feiceáil breis daoine inár ranganna san Fómhair seo. #Gaeilge #GaelMeiriceánach

Applications are open for the Renaissance Society of America's short-term research fellowships, including many that give preference to contingent faculty and independent scholars -- apply by September 16th, applicants must be @rsaorg.bsky.social members: www.rsa.org/general/cust... #earlymodern

The recording of my lightning talk with the @rsaorg.bsky.social in June is now available. I really enjoyed spending the afternoon listening to what my fellow grad students are working on in Renaissance studies. There's a lot of great research going on today. #earlymodern youtu.be/x8n9i4DFxXM?...

The Francophone secondary literature that my work is in conversation with tends to be harder to find at the various libraries here in KC, so this news hits pretty hard. www.cbsnews.com/news/europea... #earlymodern #histsci

This week on my blog, I argue that we must have some degree of artifice to organize our thoughts and recognize the things we see in our world following a new book about Buffon & Linnaeus by @jsnr.bsky.social. #earlymodern #histci #hps #naturalhistory wednesdayblog.org/2025/08/13/o...

My first peer-reviewed article is out! “A Sloth in the First French Colony in the Americas” is a good summary of my research on André Thevet’s observations of a 3 toed sloth which are one of the key singularities in his “Singularitez”. doi.org/10.1080/0082... #earlymodern #histsci #hps

Really enjoyed thus essay by Martin Woessner. www.commonwealmagazine.org/all-things-s...

This week, on my blog I address how we recognize knowledge in comparison to the various fields of inquiry through which we refine our understanding of things. #earlymodern #histsci #hps wednesdayblog.org/2025/07/30/o...

Congress has abdicated their responsibility to fund public broadcasting in this country, so it's up to us now to do our part. For those of you here in KC, here is a Linktree with links to all 3 local stations (KCUR, KCPT, & 90.9 the Bridge). Please help out all three of them. linktr.ee/KCPublicMedia

There’s a lot in here that resonated with my experiences.

CALL FOR SUPPORT: Secure the Future of BHL Following the Smithsonian Institution’s decision to conclude its long-standing role as BHL’s host on 1 January 2026. #HistSTM #HistSci #Biodiversity #Ecology #EnvHist #NatHist #EnvironmentalStudies about.biodiversitylibrary.org/call-for-sup...

Got to spend a couple hours this morning at the Newberry Library reading through sections of Vol. 3 of Ramusio’s “Navigationi et Viaggi” that were sources for Thevet’s “Singularitez” beyond Brazil. Good information for my translation project & several papers I’m working on. #earlymodern

wednesdayblog.org/2025/06/11/o... This week, the fourth in several scribblings about my research: borrowing from Oscar Wilde, the importance of being earnest with one’s sources. #EarlyModern

Excited to participate in this webinar next week. Will be presenting a short paper titled “Animals Adapting to Changes in Nature: Perceptions of Animal Intelligence in the Renaissance?” #earlymodern #histsci #hps

The limits of AI from @kenjennings.bsky.social's NYT op ed: #dh www.nytimes.com/2025/06/05/o...

wednesdayblog.org/2025/06/04/a... This week, the third in several scribblings about my research: how studying André Thevet and his world fulfills a need to find purpose in life. #EarlyModern #FrHistory

This time last summer I was preparing to embark on a drastically shortened European research & conference tour (6 weeks became 10 days) when my already small budget suddenly was cut in half by having to pay for new brakes on my Mazda. This summer, I’m not planning on going far; save money & write.