we have some fun 4 July news over at The National Archives! a new copy of the US Declaration of Independence, with an amazing story behind it (privateers! printers! prisoners!) - but also, a find that shows the power and importance of our volunteering and cataloguing projects.

Hmm, what a surprise… forward.com/news/834539/...

this (from @ekaputrat.bsky.social) looks great! academic.oup.com/jaar/advance...

We read an entire scroll — without ever opening it PHerc. 1667, sealed since the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD, has been virtually unwrapped and read from beginning to end scrollprize.org/firstscroll The Herculaneum Papyrus Scrolls project www2.cs.uky.edu/dri/herculan... #books #old_Manuscripts

A lot of media coverage of the ‘AI’ reading of the Herculaneum scrolls really fails to understand what’s happened here. There’s no language processing happening, the AI/ML is not trained on a corpus of texts or language. It can detect ink to see shapes. HUMAN EXPERTS are then transcribing the text.

1/3 Rare books are reaching new audiences through social media. 📚📱 Book historian Allie Alvis shares historic books & collections online, making rare materials visible beyond reading rooms. Read “When Preservation Meets Social Media” in the Vanishing Culture report ⤵️ archive.org/details/vani...

31 #Manuscripts from the #Vatican this week. www.wiglaf.org/vatican/2026... Heavy on the 17th and 18th C stuff, a lovely 15th C Cicero, Coptic Isaiah, Ge'ez Rituale for the Dead, a volume of satires on the election of Benedict XIII (!!!) and more #MedievalSky #Skystorians

Coming in September: a new Element in Religion in Late Antiquity by Yuliya Minets: "Languages and Linguistic Diversity in Late Antique Mediterranean Religions"! Bookmark now! www.cambridge.org/core/element...

Check out @wrathofcon.bsky.social's *Where Is Religion?* project, an interactive learning tool for undergraduate American religion courses, produced through Princeton's Center for Culture, Society and Religion.

The Katz Center mourns the loss of scholar Carlo Ginzburg, an innovative historian who was an early developer of microhistory, a method which hones in on a specific individual or small group, giving voice to the marginalized. Watch his talk with Francesca Trivellato: www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgHc...

It's true! Villanova is hiring a tenure-track position in Eastern Christianity! Please share far and wide. aarsbl.org/job/tenure-t...

For the blog, Rose Facchini interviewed Roger Chartier about his book Won in Translation: Textual Mobility in Early Modern Europe (2022), which traces the travels of early-modern texts across linguistic and cultural borders, and his current research. @rosefacchini.bsky.social @pennpress.bsky.social

One of the coolest moments from the World Cup 🇯🇵👏 NFL quarterback Jameis Winston was spotted helping Japan fans clean up the stands after their match, embracing a tradition that has earned supporters worldwide respect 🫡 Football brings people together 🌍❤️ (Via fox4)

I fear I love them

Poll: How much difference does it make to you for academic books to be Open Access? (A) A lot! I wouldn’t otherwise read it (B) I like the idea… but honestly would find a free PDF anyway (C) I have access through a library and/or like to buy/support physical books (D) Other (please explain)

Sad to learn about the passing of Robert Wilken, whose The Christians as the Romans Saw Them has been a constant go-to work ever since I first read it as a freshman in Susan Harvey's Christianity in Late Antiquity course.

Cast of Laocoön and his Sons (Roman version of a lost Greek original), 100BC-50AD

and it's up! works.hcommons.org/records/7crf...

Utagawa Yoshifuji's "Rabbit Sumo". 1868. Ota memorial Museum of Art

now up on my knowledge commons page! works.hcommons.org/records/5bkw...

let me know if you want a copy!

Random used bookstore find of the day…

new Element in Religion in Late Antiquity coming your way in August from the one and only Virginia Burrus! www.cambridge.org/core/element...

Um… this quiz is eerily accurate…

"My mayor Muslim / my bagels Jewish / my Christian Dior / Knicks in Four" is basically Keats to me

yes, this is key! faculty are invested in inst. viability b/c there are no opportunities (or often desires) to go elsewhere; upper admin jobs are now structured *toward* mobility, i.e., landing a bigger job elsewhere, so long-term stability at "home" is less important than "doing big stuff"

The personification of Wisdom, holding books and a sceptre, sits in the initial 'O'(mnis) at the beginning of Ecclesiasticus. BnF MS Latin 8 (2); Biblia Sancti Martialis Lemovicensis altera; 11th century; f.74v @gallicabnf.bsky.social

okay, early Christianity/late antiquity pals: you're teaching a 7-week course to brand new first year college students in which they will be reading a selection (8-10?) of premodern saints lives: which do you choose? go!

One-year teaching position in the Department of Religious Studies here at McMaster!

So glad they ended Humanities PhD admissions for this

Oh hey I published this one works.hcommons.org/records/ngvg...

Maren Niehoff surveys Vidas "The Rise of Talmud" by bringing midrash into the conversation.

Sarit Kattan Gribetz begins a review forum engaging Moulie Vidas' The Rise of Talmud.

Just out in newest HTR!! www.cambridge.org/core/journal... (As always, happy to send a PDF to anyone w/o institutional access)

Some reflections on writing as process before and beyond product open.substack.com/pub/humanhis...

Added to e-Clavis: Manuscripta apocryphorum ~ Cambridge (Mass.), Harvard University, Syr. 151 (8/9 c.) feat. Epistles of Christ and Abgar. www.nasscal.com/manuscripta-...

One year ago, I gave this interview to CNN about leaving the U.S. because of cuts to scientific funding and because immigrant scientists like me no longer felt welcome there. What followed was a difficult year. (1/7) edition.cnn.com/2025/06/01/w...

White House proposes new rules giving political appointees final approval of research grants These proposed Office of Management and Budget regulations would render the federal research grant review process opaque www.scientificamerican.com/article/whit...

The past was erased, the erasure won’t be forgotten, the Big Lie won’t become the truth. www.lawfaremedia.org/article/the-...

bookmark it now! www.cambridge.org/core/element...

If I’m not evolved enough to understand it, then why did they have to steal my writing to train it?

I hope this encyclical helps more higher education administrators to realize that the biggest advances made in STEM fields right now are all making Religious Studies education far more important, not less.

More reflections on the American reception of the Dead Sea Scrolls through the lens of Harvard’s archives—incl audio of Krister Stendahl and others! humanhistoriesofkn.substack.com/p/debating-t...

I worked as a lifeguard and swim instructor for three years in my teens. This is spot on. Non-paywalled version gcaptain.com/drowning/

Every summer I repost this article on how to spot drowning. Please read it and pass on. In the last few years I’ve had SIX messages from people who saved a kid’s life after clicking on the link from my feed. slate.com/technology/2...

Next in our #SIMSseries on LJS 26, a 13th c. astronomical and mathematical manuscript, what we’ve all been waiting for: diagrams! There are several, a couple illustrating eclipses, and diagrams of an astrolabe and a quadrant. Written in Italy. #medievalsky 🔗: https://bit.ly/41EAKFa

Although this page has several illuminations identified as St. John, the animal in the top margin appears to be a ram. Definitely not an eagle (which is the animal that John is associated with). This is is Ms. Codex 724 f. 326v, a 13th c. illuminated Bible. #medievalsky 🔗: https://bit.ly/4deNkzU

The Internet is disappearing before our very eyes and it’s why we should all support that absolutely critical work of @archive.org

A friendly reminder to anyone attending #NAPS2026: Krista Dalton, Emanuel Fiano, and I are editing a new book series with Fordham Press. If you'd like to learn more about the series or pitch a project, I'd be happy to meet up during the conference! fordhampress.com/theoria