what it feels like to be gearing up for a new semester in the United States #academicsky

This is happening this Friday @officialbaas.bsky.social ! Come for a virtual chat over an home-brewed beverage of your choice, write, circle back. Hosted by yours truly with the company of our GREEN BAAS members. Postgrad students and ECRs very welcome! Registration link below 👇

Today I'm casting off my cynicism (i.e., avoiding news for one whole day) and attempting to read this with an open mind:

The countdown to our conference in Hatfield has now begun - there are just 35 days to go! BAAS 2025: University of Hertfordshire, 23-25 April 2025 Info/Registration:

Ethnographers: This coming Thursday, I will be teaching a lecture (online, asynchronous) on ethnographic writing. Please recommend beautiful writing (yours included, of course). I'd love to get a sampler across disciplines/fields/areas of study. Re-skeet for broader samples.

"We can pay women less here in the UK because they are paid less in other countries" isn't the stunningly powerful argument that the ECB seems to think it is. www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricke...

"We reject the premise that it is 'anti-American' or 'subversive' to learn the full history of the United States with its rich and dramatic contradictions, challenges, and conflicts alongside its achievements, innovations, and opportunities." 🗃️ www.historians.org/news/aha-oah...

This whole game is a thing of absolute beauty, but Conor Bradley in particular has been impeccable #lfc

Pleased to be joining this panel tomorrow at @warwickpais.bsky.social. I'm less pleased that we have sooooo much to talk about only 48 hours into the administration.

Never let it be said that the discourse of American exceptionalism has gone out of fashion. Though I might object to the phrasing "far more exceptional than ever before"

📢 New Paper Alert! Yearbooks have a special place in my heart. The OU Yearbook was my first job and where I met my wife. Now, my first peer-reviewed publication explores using yearbooks as archival sources for teaching about political participation. tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

A question for my historians, political scientists, etc on this website: Anyone have a model - or thoughts - they'd be willing to share about an undergrad course on the Constitution: not on constitutional law as its conventionally taught, but more on popular constitutionalism/constitutional memory?

I've been locked out of my institutional account for five days, and though I doubt there will be anything of huge importance in my inbox in that time, the NOT KNOWING is driving me nuts! Then of course there are all those articles that I was definitely going to read this week which I now can't...

New Cambridge Element 'Abortion Attitudes and Polarization in the American Electorate' by @erincassese.bsky.social, @hondercin.bsky.social & Jordan Randall is now free to read for 4 weeks! cup.org/4h0C0b6 #cambridgeelements #politics

Nothing like a catastrophic mix up between Chinese five spice and cinnamon to start the day - it can surely only get better?

my students in the last decade have become teachers, barristers, lawyers, civil servants, midwives, ICU nurses, journalists, accountants, academics, advertising execs, museum curators, TV producers… because we give them broad skills. If I had to train them to do *a job* they’d all be historians.

Friends, please help me spreading the word about this Postdoctoral Fellowship opportunity at Penn for a scholar to work at the Center for Latin American and Latinx Studies. More info here: apply.interfolio.com/160769

Great article from Eleanor Bader on American exceptionalism and Christian nationalism in Texas' elementary curricula, 'incentivising' school districts with $60 per student to adopt: truthout.org/articles/chr...

🏆 PGRs/ECRs – Don’t miss the fantastic opportunity to apply for the Ellen Craft Essay Prize from SASA. The deadline is this Friday (6th)!

We have extended the deadline for applications for the next Theory & Research in Social Education editor (@trseeditor.bsky.social). We are now accepting applications submitted before Monday December 16th. See the below call for more information. docs.google.com/document/d/1...

It’s that time of the year again! Please do get your students to apply for our exciting (and fully funded 😱) Kinder-BrANCH MA in Atlantic History and Politics! 👇

Yep, we're working on 2026 @jcblibrary.bsky.social --and at Brown University-- in a big way! @theotherrbg.bsky.social is the 3 yr Postdoc Coordinator for #Brown2026. Now we're looking to appoint a 2 yr postdoc in a parallel position for the JCB. Please do share! 1/

"Twitter (and Threads) Have Made a HUGE Mistake" I completely agree with @hankgreen.bsky.social here (come on, he's usually right) and can say my own testing has yielded the same sort of results. Give it a watch: www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4gh...

ICYMI.

Brilliant tonight, Conor 👏

CFP! Submit!

I used to host a virtual craft club for academics and I miss having that community… would anyone here be interested? I’m thinking wednesdays from 730-930pm GMT. let me know if you’re interested 🥲

I wish there was a way for editing me to remind writing me not to use so many commas, and for it to actually stick.

"Not becoming entangled in the world’s problems doesn’t necessarily mean being isolationist. It can also mean engaging the world, but on terms that benefit the United States, not others." ICYMI, my latest @wpr.bsky.social explores how Trump will be a continuation of "American Exceptionalism"

We invite submissions for the second Stuart Hall Essay Prize. The award aims to stimulate a new generation of thinkers who can offer original, lively and topical contributions to the lines of political, cultural and educational inquiry which Hall pursued. www.stuarthallfoundation.org/projects/the...

Where’s the lie

Is it marginally better that I was awake to receive the 1am 'unfortunately' job email, rather than waking up to it on Monday morning? Is this the smallest of silver linings ever to be found?

#cfp 🎤 HOTCUS Winter Symposium, 2025 - The United States & World War II: Impacts & Legacies at Home & Abroad. 21st Feb @ University of Gloucestershire Proposals invited that consider the impact of WWII on different groups of Americans. Deadline: 1st Dec

Unexpected snow day! With Devon roads impassable and having to stay home, I was more productive, albeit measured in snowman construction rather than words edited.

Thrilled to be featured in the US Election Analysis 2024 which brings together leading media and politics scholars for early analysis of the election and campaign. I contributed three pieces to the report, covering media sexism, AI, and non-traditional news - more below 🧵👇🏻

How did Trump maintain his hold on the American Right after Jan. 6th? What role does nationalist populism play in mobilizing Trump voters? What are the policies behind his America First slogan? Answers to these questions you can find in my new book, The Politics of Antagonism.👇

Just filled out a job application where instead of a cover letter, you had to provide an answer to address each of the essential and desirable criteria. To the point, no fluffy stuff. Can't decide if I loved it or loathed it, but it has to be more helpful to the hiring panel.

Carefully saving the deleted section in a new document, just in case I need the worst paragraph ever written for future work

So, I wrote a 'report' of my fieldwork funded in part by a travel grant from the American Politics special group with the @polstudiesassoc.bsky.social. It's more of a reflective piece than a scholarly contribution, but feel free to have a read if you're curious. ukpsaapg.co.uk/report-from-...