When you are feeling weary or despairing, remember that there are people in every corner of the world taking life affirming action in the direction of more justice. The fact that you can't see it all is a comfort because it means there is an excess of positive actions happening all at once. #onwards

you've heard about the college kids who can't do anything without ChatGPT's help—but what about the students who oppose generative A.I. for myriad reasons and refuse to rely on it as a shortcut? well, I found and spoke with a few of them here: slate.com/life/2025/07...

Next week, I am hosting a workshop in Munich on the decolonization of architectural education. The workshop will feature a public lecture by architect and curator Nzinga Mboup (Dakar). 22 May at Pavillon 333 Registration is open until the end of the week www.globaldisconnect.org/03/12/22-may...

In hindsight, the battle against AI use in academia was lost before it even started. Congratulations to everyone involved and have fun in the Republic of Slop.

Call for abstract submissions to my SAH 2026 panel titled “New Insights on Histories of African Architecture”. Studies of social, political, economic, and cultural histories of architecture made, driven, and influenced by Africans on the African continent are welcome. www.sah.org/2026/call-fo...

The weather’s warmer in Ann Arbor and the flowers are showing out. I have a whole new understanding of ancient fertility rituals and mythologies around Springtime now.

Just a few hours remaining for most ASA Awards & Honors! Don't miss your opportunity to nominate your colleague, student, or yourself. Most ASA award nominations close today, April 30: africanstudies.org/a...

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Call for abstract submissions to my SAH 2026 panel titled “New Insights on Histories of African Architecture”. Studies of social, political, economic, and cultural histories of architecture made, driven, and influenced by Africans on the African continent are welcome. www.sah.org/2026/call-fo...

NEW | Municipal finance: Crosscutting report Infrastructure and services are key to driving productivity in African cities and making them liveable, sustainable spaces. They are also needed to attract investment, enhance employment opportunities and advance structural transformation.

Detroit-style pizza is the girl Chicago-style pizza thinks she is.

"Large-scale infrastructure projects built and planned across the African continent... are essentially replicating colonial models of infrastructure" My article for @wpr.bsky.social on mining, big infrastructure projects and their legacy: www.worldpoliticsreview.com/africa-miner...

www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/epdf/10.... New article: "W. E. B. Du Bois and the Liberian Question: Sovereignty, Empire, and the Tensions of a Black Republic"

Of all the great art at the University of Michigan hospitals, this - where patients & visitors put their sticker badges up on the walls while leaving is my favourite. It’s ritual, communal, visual & performance art rolled beautifully together.

1/8 - The Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture - the parent organization for the Journal of Architectural Education - has cancelled the upcoming Fall 2025 issue of the journal - titled “Palestine,” and fired our Interim Executive Editor.

The Journal for Architectural Education’s Palestine issue — for which I was an issue co-editor — was cancelled by the board of Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture citing risks and “new actions by the U.S. presidential administration” 😐 www.archpaper.com/2025/02/acsa...

Shame on the ACSA for cancelling the Fall 2025 Journal of Architectural Education issue about Palestine! www.archpaper.com/2025/02/acsa...

Off to #ISA2025 ! If you plan to attend come and join the following discussions: (1) Global South and disruptive Technologies in Governance (2) The evolving global order and IR Theory (3) Professional development for scholars in and from the Global South (4)Why and how book reviews can benefit you

I wrote a piece for @sciam.bsky.social about why White parents should be talking to their kids about race and racism. It was so great to work with @megha.bsky.social on this piece! Please share! www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-...

1/ I am seeing a lot of comments on the slashing of NIH support along the lines of “universities should just spend their huge endowments.” I’m the last person to cheer on the institutional stratification rising endowments have contributed to. But let me explain why this is not a solution.

Trump Wants to Destroy All Academia, Not Just the Woke Parts www.nytimes.com/2025/02/14/o...

Excited to visit U of Toronto Sociology in a couple of weeks!: www.sociology.utoronto.ca/events/collo...

Emerging Scholars: Looking for journal publication mentorship? The 2025 PIPES workshop might be the answer! Read the workshop summary and submit a draft paper to be considered for our pre-conference workshop in Atlanta. africanstudies.org/annual-meeti...

The Museum of Stolen History: Egyptian government officials and individuals have campaigned for years for the return of what they call the Rashid Stone, but without success. The UK claims it owns the Rosetta Stone under agreements signed by France and the Ottomans and that Egypt has other copies.

I haven’t been this busy since I was growing my first organs as a baby in utero fr fr

I've written about the long boom and long bust in South Africa's mining industry and how the once close alliance between industry and state dissolved in @phenomenalworld.bsky.social. It's a cautionary tale for countries relying on mineral wealth. www.phenomenalworld.org/analysis/aft...

All Protocol Observed Welcome to Issue 189 of The Continent. M23 fighters are marching on to take a second city in the DRC. The Tanzanian president is hosting a leader’s conference to address the crisis. But Tanzania is not a disinterested party. Read it here: bit.ly/TheContinent...

Kiah was set to join our faculty at Howard Law School in the Fall. She was a dedicated, brilliant civil rights lawyer poised to make a powerful difference in our world. Our hearts are broken & we pray for her family & friends. www.kwch.com/2025/01/30/c...

‘Africa is where I’m from’: why some Black Brazilians are moving to Benin

Harvard just fired me and all of my colleagues. www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...

how do you respond to a reviewer who says something like 'this thing that began as a brutal practice was eventually normalised, so there's no need to connect those brutal origins to current practices'?

Hello friends & colleagues. I will be developing a project this year on spatial histories of infertility (the places & spaces associated with this experience, sites of intercession, prayer, pilgrimage, healing) & would love to learn of any connected research/ sites/ histories/ practices. Thank you!

Journalist Anas Al-Sharif removes his helmet and announces a ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel. His voice steady as his fellow Palestinians lift him into the air in celebration. For 15 months, the Al-Jazeera correspondent has reported on the genocide of his people in Gaza.

Ambitious literature and public policy are each concerned with shaping reality. Perhaps no place embodies the power of artists & policymakers to arrange space & time more persuasively than Washington, D.C. For "An Unfinished Atlas," Tope Folarin writes about his search for prose, politics & power.

I wrote about Neil Gaiman, and the women accusing him of sexual coercion, assault and abuse. www.vulture.com/article/neil...

Celebrate Public Domain Day 2025! 🎉 Join us at the @InternetArchive for an unforgettable evening honoring #PublicDomain works from 1929: Roaring Twenties music & more. 📽️🍸 📅 Jan 22 | 🕕 6–10 PM PT 📍 300 Funston Ave, SF 🎟️ Register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1117297439719 #PublicDomainDay

‘Hotel of mum and dad’ in UK at its fullest in two decades, study finds

Any political party that campaigns on no work during the winter (and summer) has my vote. If they have a plan to abolish work completely, I'll quit everything and join them.

Every living thing with sense sleeps through the winter, but since we got our degree, humans think they know everything!

Outside-In

One of our biggest preservation projects to date: partnering with Aruba on Collecion Aruba, which provides free access to historical materials and cultural treasures—available on archive.org. More projects like this are possible with your support: https://archive.org/donate/?origin=blsky-eoy2024

Here’s my first thread about my current timberborn settlement, a thing that brings me joy.

I want my first Bluesky post to be something big. I want something that says I’m here…