"When the first of August came round, the Professor realized he had pleasantly trifled away nearly two months at a task which should have taken little more than a week." -Willa Cather (from The Professor's House, 1925)

those who work in University writing programs should pay close attention—developing AI-friendly teaching doesn't make you safe from layoff www.thecrimson.com/article/2026...

Every year Carnegie Mellon does something in the summer months that makes this relevant once again..

Catherine@caevans.bsky.social · last yr.

1967. “The Medium is the Message.” Carnegie Mellon’s Fence

Help! I think my university is a pyramid scheme.

Thrilled to have this piece on Kipp Dawson’s T-shirt collection in the world. Read it now, for free, @femmediahist.bsky.social

Feminist Media Histories@femmediahist.bsky.social · 2w ago

In "Threadbare Politics: Feminist T-Shirts as Queer Media," Catherine A. Evans argues that T-shirts are, indeed, media, centering activist Kipp Dawson’s collection of over 250 political shirts. @caevans.bsky.social Read for free now! doi.org/10.1525/fmh....

just got an email from my (former) chair that the university has acted & the state has approved the formal closure of my department. this was done without any faculty input on the decision or the process, & has ended a vibrant, growing (!), humanities department that won teaching and research awards

Matt Gabriele@profgabriele.com · 12mo ago

Anyway, happy Monday! The Dean is shutting down my department - Religion & Culture, the only 1 of is kind in the country & home to the innovative Major in Humanities for Public Service. There is no immediate budgetary or political pressure for this decision

UT Austin’s denial of Iván Char Lopez’ tenure is enraging and disheartening, not least because it demonstrates how the recent dismantling of faculty governance across UT has left little recourse for independent oversight to appeal this type of one-sided decisions:

Texas Conference of the AAUP@texasaaup.bsky.social · 2w ago

🚨Lauren Gutterman, former chair of the American Studies department and AAUP UT Austin Chapter VP: “Iván’s case is a warning for all faculty across the university, because it suggests that achieving excellence in your field is no longer enough to secure tenure and promotion.” ⬇️

Ah yes. A nice summer walk through the Carnegie Mellon library stacks 🫠

Thrilled to see the Kipp Dawson public humanities/DH project get some attention. If you haven’t checked out the digital T-shirt archive I created (and am obsessed with), now is the time! tshirts.kippdawson.com

Roopika Risam@roopikarisam.bsky.social · last mo.

* Kipp Dawson: The Struggle is the Victory, a multimedia open educational resource on activist Kipp Dawson, directed by Jessie B. Ramey and reviewed by Paul Garza #ReviewsInDH reviewsindh.pubpub.org/pub/kipp-daw...

A stretch of an ask: The iconic Nino Testa and I are starting on a project about “weird” Pittsburgh drag (and its relationship to Appalachia). If you or a loved one has performed as a ketchup bottle, a sinkhole bus, or an infrastructural failing, fill out our survey and talk to us!

Weird Pittsburgh Drag Oral History Project

Are you a drag performer in Pittsburgh who does "weird stuff" that you want to talk about? Have you ever dressed up like the Rachel Carson Bridge? What about the Duquesne Incline? We are looking for l...

docs.google.com

New piece out on feminist anthologies, editorial care, and tender(ness) in Pittsburgh in @asapjournal.bsky.social. Read it, open access, here. dx.doi.org/10.1353/asa....

A widespread rebranding of DH scholars to AI 'experts' is particularly bleak. The DH to techo-extractivist pipeline is real.

Josh Shepperd@joshshepperd.bsky.social · 2mo ago

I feel like digital humanities was this great 15 year moment of techno-optimism that created solid resources and showed how old media connected to new media. Whereas AI is going to introduce a period of techno-cannibalism designed to devour digital humanities labor and anyone else in its proximity.

I do not think it is in any way an exaggeration to say that university boards and administrators are enemies of learning

eileen chengyin chow@chowleen.bsky.social · 2mo ago

“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...

The book is dead! Long live the book! yalereview.org/article/shei...

Sheila Liming: “The End of Books”

A university professor on what we lose when we lose the book as a physical medium.

yalereview.org

"You’ve read a million pearl-clutching op-eds about woke professors and cancel culture, but for my money, the real crisis facing American higher education is that colleges & universities are increasingly run by people who are hostile to students & professors, &...the idea of the university itself."

Miriam Posner@miriamposner.com · 2mo ago

www.theringer.com/2026/05/22/n... jesus THANK YOU

Every single one of these schools is going to ask these grads for money in the fall and I for one am excited to see the creative ways they respond to those requests.

Kasey Gifford@kaseygifford.bsky.social · 3mo ago

This is Calarts. Arguably the best animation school in the US, its alumni include industry legends. The graduating class is booing school president Ravi Ranjan, he's been gutting creative programs and pushing Ai initiatives, corporatizing the school. His secretary is treating graduates like babies.

Sometimes it’s the small things. Like when your office window, the only PhD office with a window of course, becomes the chosen death window for the campus birds.

I’ve been teaching Meridian for the last several years and have been screaming this from the rooftops. Everyone teach it - let’s make next academic year the year of Meridian.

Lisa Diedrich@lisadiedrich.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Definitely time to teach Alice Walker's novel Meridian again. Published in 1975, it's a formally complex story of the voter registration movement in the South in the late 1960s & early 1970s. Walker powerfully captures the complex racial, sexual, & class politics of the Civil Rights movement.

⚠️ This is an ABORTION FUND checkpoint. Did you know you can set up monthly donations to a reproductive fund that helps Pennsylvanians with gap funding? Click “Donate Here” and choose “Caravan Fund” in the drop-down menu: www.theautonomousbodyshop.com/caravanfund

Caravan Fund — the auto body shop

The Caravan Fund is a community-oriented fund that provides direct financial and practical support to individuals seeking access to vital sexual & reproductive health care in Pennsylvania, such as abortion, gender affirming care, and pregnancy help.

theautonomousbodyshop.com

"29% of respondents in states w/ a 'divisive concepts' law said they had altered their research & 10% said they were looking for a job in a diff state. Researchers in education & nursing were among the most likely to have altered their research." www.chronicle.com/article/near...

Nearly One-Third of Faculty in Red States Say They’ve Censored Their Research

A new survey of 4,000 academics looked at the effects of state laws barring “divisive concepts” and federal grant cuts.

chronicle.com

If our classroom activities comprise teaching students how to use a commercial product then we are not teachers; we are salespeople.

"Under the memo, graduate students will be permanently barred from writing theses or dissertations centered on LGBTQ+ topics once current teach-out programs conclude." What a joke Texas Tech's leadership is.

Texas Tech Issues Ban On Students Writing On LGBTQ+ Topics

The ban applies to theses and dissertations, and is expected to begin going into effect on a rolling basis.

erininthemorning.com

250 workers jobless with no severance and little notice; support Hampshire staff and faculty! www.helphampshireworkers.com?fbclid=IwY2x...

Help Hampshire Workers | Support Hampshire Workers Today

Support Hampshire College staff and faculty facing job loss with emergency relief funds for essential needs. Contributions and support help provide immediate assistance during this critical time.

helphampshireworkers.com

A couple of days ago, Momo decided to self-medicate, breaking into a bag of “calming treats.” The outcome:

Some things never change… do they? Found on the back of a Kipp Dawson letter circa 1985.

While Hampshire’s case is in some ways unique, it is amazing to think that in a single lifetime - about 70 years - the US founded the greatest public and liberal arts college system in the world and then destroyed it, to build prisons, give tax cuts to the rich, and own the libs

Firestorm was the epicenter of locally-led mutual aid after Helene. @distributeaid.org wouldn't have had such a successful response if @firestorm.coop didn't bring the community together first. Please support them. They are far more to the Ashville community than just another radical bookstore.

Firestorm Books@firestorm.coop · 4mo ago

What You Can Do!: If Firestorm surviving and thriving is important to you, we welcome your support. Here are a few ways to pitch in. 🌈 Buy your next book from us, or tell someone who buys books about us! Not a physical media person? We also sell audiobooks through Libro.fm. 7/9

Devin Wilson’s “Whale Oil” has a lot to say about Moby Dick. Cerritos College Art Gallery Closes April 4

This is a verified GoFundMe for librarian Luanne James from the Rutherford County Library Alliance. gofund.me/f7704eb98 Read what happened to this hero: www.newschannel5.com/news/rutherf...

Rutherford County Library Board fires director after she refuses to relocate 132 children's books

Dr. Lu-anne James called the board's order to move books with LGBTQ+ themes to the adult section an unlawful act of viewpoint discrimination.

newschannel5.com