Dutch Colonial Betel Box tortoiseshell, silver c. 18th century Batavia, Dutch East Indies (Indonesia) #handmade #dutchcolonial #betelbox #tortoiseshell #silver #box #batavia #dutcheastindies #indonesia #antique #18thcentury #chinoiserie #doubleheadedeagle #keyplate #hospitality #indigenous #custom

So alarming for the Triangle (NC), where we are also in the middle of our worst drought on record :(

The entire fuckin point of the national mall is loitering

Yunxin Li knows that premodern Asia can feel "elusive" to students today. Teaching through material culture can help them access the past, as Li outlines in this article from the Spring 2026 issue of Education About Asia.

They're dumping slimy, green peroxide water from the Reflecting Pool back into the Potomac. #dc @popville.bsky.social

Reuters: US JUDGE ORDERS TRUMP ADMINISTRATION TO REINSTALL SIGNS, EXHIBITS IT REMOVED FROM NATIONAL PARKS DISCUSSING TOPICS LIKE SLAVERY, CLIMATE CHANGE

Incredible headline: No walking allowed in heart of Midtown for Monday's Knicks game

I just received the terribly distressing news that Gordon Wood was hit by a car and killed yesterday. We were together with other Founding era scholars at the 2nd Judicial Circuit conference last week at Lake George, and he was as usual in fine fettle and as always enjoyable to talk to.

🦒 🦓 UPDATE: The Nashville Zoo petition to block an DC BLOX data center next door has crossed 113,000 signatures. DC BLOX: 877.590.1684 CEO: Jeff Uphues cc: @MetroNashville www.change.org/p/nashville-...

Got word from the team @princetonupress.bsky.social that advanced copies of my book are arriving at the press (they sent me this photo of it in the wild)! So excited to be able to hold it in my hands!

still not quite over the fact that i watched 15 year olds get sued for millions of dollars for downloading twelve songs and now we all have to accept AI slop because every tech company in the known universe decided that IP laws don't exist now that they're inconvenient for them

Even better:

“I write with dismay, grief and sorrow for the permanent closure of MIT Libraries Barker, Dewey and Rotch, and termination of library staff in those libraries. For MIT to be closing three of its four major libraries..." fnl.mit.edu/may-june-202...

👀 @erikagaffney.bsky.social is launching a new book series: this time it's BRILL* 🥁 'Early Modern Visual and Material Cultures', with Allison Levy as the series editor rensoc.org.uk/announcement... #EarlyModern #Skystorians

Tenure at University of Texas is effectively dead. www.texastribune.org/2026/05/20/u...

26 years of contraceptive pills on a dress. At the @wellcomecollection.bsky.social

I, for one, look forward to my research being plagiarized by AI before I even defend my dissertation

FIFA painted over a beloved Wyland mural of whales, one of just 100 in the world, to advertise for the World Cup. Apparently without talking to anyone before doing so. www.espn.com/soccer/story...

Recently, FamilySearch digitized and uploaded tons of microfilmed records, including many from 18th-century Massachsuetts. They're using some sort of AI to transcribe/summarize the handwritten documents. I've noticed that the AI strips out references to race and enslavement in 18thc documents.

The baby wren in my bag of potting soil flew the nest yesterday 🥰🥰🥰😭😭😭 they grow up so fast!!

THIS TERM's PROGRAMME! Join us for 2 exciting events with Mélanie Lamotte, @lrhodges.bsky.social, @juliehardwick.bsky.social, and @roperlou.bsky.social Mondays, 17:30 @ihr.bsky.social Everybody welcome, in person or online--register for the zoom link: www.history.ac.uk/news-events/... #EarlyModern

"The proliferation of references to fake articles threatens to undermine the legitimacy of institutional research across the board" -- by Miles Klee www.rollingstone.com/culture/cult... open access link: archive.ph/qt59c 1/🧵

Mañana, how exciting! #earlymodern #history #goa #architecture

Our special issue #30.1-2, "Reflections on the Global Early Modern," is now available online! It opens with an introduction by Zoltán Biedermann, Giancarlo Casale, and Molly Warsh, "How Early? How Modern? Reflections on the Global Early Modern (Part 1)." brill.com/view/journal...

🗃️

Kind of surprised that this hasn't been bigger news. It's finals week for a whole lot of universities, and yet, Canvas (a learning/grading platform used by ~9,000 schools globally) is currently inaccessible because of a pay-or-have-your-data-leaked hack. www.insidehighered.com/news/tech-in...

ATTN DMV art fans: the V&A Great Mughals exhibition is traveling to the Richmond VMFA this summer (May 9 to Aug 23). Absolutely worth the drive from DC! Also worth seeing the VMFA's permanent collection in South Asian art, one of the best in the US. www.vmfa.museum/exhibitions/...

so excited to see this!

I wrote about Karan Johar’s and Manish Malhotra’s capes at The Met Gala 2026 and what that means for Indian art history and artisanal labor. www.deepthimurali.com/textiles-talk/2026/5/making-labor-visible-wearing-india-loudly-craft-capital-and-contradiction-at-the-met-gala-2026 #metgala2026 #india

NEW today in the New York Times: In the face of unprecedented authoritarian attacks, the AAUP is building a powerful and militant resistance movement in defense of American higher education, the freedom to learn, and our democracy. Join Us!

I’m looking forward to presenting my paper on sensory loss in the British Civil Wars at the ‘Speech/less in the Early Modern World’ conference this week! Organised by the wonderful @oliviaformby.bsky.social at @camhistory.bsky.social! #earlymodern #skystorians

This administration is just hell-bent against generating knowledge about the world. www.notus.org/health-scien...

JOB: Associate Editor, The John Dickinson Writings Project Looking for someone with a PhD in early American history, ideally with previous experience working on a similar project Presented with the usual caveat about staff salaries here....

Happy 420. Here’s an article I wrote on cannabis in Sanskrit medical literature, with a little sidebar on jazz terms for the gañj. www.academia.edu/119332545/Ca...

Umm, this is NOT what I mean when I say that I LOVE LIBRARIANS! But if any #skystorians want to watch a Hallmark channel meet-cute romcom (crossed with Tom Stoppard's Arcadia) between a historian & archivist - in Philly, just in time for the 250th! - please report back.👀 decider.com/2026/04/18/t...

"In a country without the NEA, NEH and IMLS, hundreds of small local #arts groups would likely cease to exist entirely — and with them, the community, education and enlightenment that underpin our increasingly fragile, fractured society." @jessicagelt.bsky.social in @latimes.com

Always such a restorative gathering of excellent people! And October cannot come soon enough @universitypress.cambridge.org www.cambridge.org/gb/universit... #earlymodern

It has been really disturbing to see some people pay tribute to Dr. Cerina Fairfax’s killer without even mentioning her. The victims of domestic violence matter more than their husband’s political careers. www.13newsnow.com/article/news...

Dream positions: 3 (!!) PhD placements at the Prize Papers with emphasis on finding students with the following language skills: French, Spanish, Dutch, and Scandinavian languages. (Of course, I emphasize the Dutch language!) www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/professional...

Happy Friday to all, but especially to the new Journal of Mughal Studies. 500 years after the empire dawned... first issue coming soon. escholarship.org/uc/journalof... #Mughals #India #history #scholarship #highered

New reporting reveals Trump will finance his arch by taking $15 million in taxpayer funds from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Our colleague, Dr Oliver Finnegan, records specialist for the Prize Papers at @nationalarchivesuk, holds a workshop on 'Practical Archival Skills Training (PAST) Workshop on English High Court of Admiralty Records', more info below & tickets can be booked here www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/practical-...

The window blinds are drawn at CBS Chicago News station near Daley Plaza as the march passes by. Coverage of the Artemis II mission is playing on the news screen.

More than 2 million low-income Americans, overwhelmingly women, access birth control and STD screening through Title X programs.

NEW: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has taken steps to block or delay promotions for more than a dozen Black and female senior officers across all four branches of the military, according to nine U.S. officials familiar with the process.

“The last night I was a pediatric resident, a child came in with Hib and promptly died by the next day. I didn’t work for 50 years to have everything destroyed by one man.” -Dr. Kathryn Edwards, Vanderbilt University This is what RFK Jr. and the anti-vaxxers have wrought.

Timeline cleanse

US-Israeli bombing destroys the Pasteur Institute “Established in 1920, the institute is the first and oldest public health center in Iran—where staffers pioneered vaccine development and research on the prevention of infectious diseases.” www.cnn.com/2026/04/02/w...

Sauer just had to say that slaves had an "intent to remain" in the US. Motherfucker WHAT??