Lydia Bremer-McCollum
@lcbmphd.bsky.social
Teacher-scholar of religion and ancient Christianities. Coptic language lover. Fighting for the Undercommons. Currently a Lecturer @ Spelman College | Assistant Editor of the Journal of Interreligious Studies Website: https://lcbmphd.com/
At a moment when gender and sexuality is central to understanding contemporary American politics, Harvard decides to . . . defund its Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies program.
Durba Mitra@durba.bsky.social · last wk.The attack and defunding of WGS at Harvard betrays the long tradition of wgs at Harvard’ with profound implications for the future of feminist scholarship @jennifercnash.bsky.social www.thecrimson.com/article/2026...
Am job searching and just saw this as a listed requirement: "A willingness to maintain a high level of competence." Wtf does that mean?!
The new semester is starting (or well under way). If you find yourself wishing you had more Coptic reading in your life, consider joining my online reading group! Meets Mondays @ 10:00am ET (Atlanta, GA time) [Zoom] DM me for more info!
predictably excellent from hollingshead, every word "Against the forces of antiintellectual fascists+AI tech lords, self-flagellating academics+immediacy fetishists alike, we need to champion the difficulties+pleasures of humanities scholarship with our whole chests." defector.com/humanists-ha...
Humanists Have Done Nothing Wrong | Defector
For many years, I’ve held a pet theory that cultural consumers can be grouped into two broad categories: Primary Source People and Secondary Source People. The former are the book lovers, cinephiles, ...
defector.com
another new Element in Religion in Late Antiquity, from Yuliya Minets, 💫 free 💫 to download through August 26! www.cambridge.org/core/element...
Languages and Linguistic Diversity in Late Antique Mediterranean Religions
Cambridge Core - Religion: General Interest - Languages and Linguistic Diversity in Late Antique Mediterranean Religions
cambridge.org
Proofs day forمدرسة غزة للبلاغة والفلسفة : مختارات من كتابات روادها في آواخر العصور القديمة! (The Arabic translation of A Workshop of Eloquence: A Collection of Gazan Literature from Late Antiquity)
An important read re: a former teacher of mine. Erik has been an amazing leader in union organization and anti-ICE education. He has been a model for me re: the intersection of justice and academia since I met him as a first year college student twenty years ago. www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...
The professor facing prison in ‘antifa’ case: ‘They want to scare all who oppose ICE’
Erik Davis is accused by the government of a ‘conspiracy’ to obstruct ICE – experts say it’s part of a pattern to criminalize lawful organizing and ruin activists’ lives
theguardian.com
friends and neighbors, the newest Element in Religion in Late Antiquity is now *live* and *free to download* through August 4! The inimitable Virginia Burrus on "Martyrdom as Witness in Late Ancient Christian Literature"! www.cambridge.org/core/element...
Martyrdom as Witness in Late Ancient Christian Literature
Cambridge Core - Religion: General Interest - Martyrdom as Witness in Late Ancient Christian Literature
cambridge.org
Syriac comp. practice, from real life: ܝܬܒ̇ܬ ܥܡ ܟܠܒܝ ܡܢ ܠܒܪ ܘܡܢܫܠܝ ܕܒܨܝ ܫܘܫܡܢܐ ܒܫܩܐ. ܗܐ ܟ̇ܝܒܐ ܠܝ! /yeṯbeṯ ʕam kalb men l-ḇar w-men-šel daḇṣ-an šawšmånå ḇ-šåqå. hå ḵåybå l-i/ (corrections/suggestions welcome) "I sat down outside with my dog, and all of a sudden an ant bit me on the leg: it hurts!"
The worst part of teaching an asynchronous course is having the data about exactly how many minutes students listened to your lecture. Does not help with the whole feels like you are teaching to an empty void thing.
"The authors wisely advise scholars to ignore historical photographs of professors hunched over the Dead Sea Scrolls and Nag Hammadi Codices with cigarettes dangling from their lips or fingers" lol great review, @ctschroeder.bsky.social!
Ancient Jew Review@ancientjewreview.bsky.social · 4mo agoToday, Carrie Schroeder reviews Liv Ingeborg Lied and Brent Nongbri's Working with Manuscripts: A Guide for Textual Scholars. www.ancientjewreview.com/read/2026/5/26/working-with-manuscripts-a-guide-for-textual-scholars
Chance Bonar reports on the 2026 NASSCAL meeting at the University of Virginia. www.nasscal.com/meetings/con...
Conference Report: New Research on Apocryphal Christian Literature (University of Virginia, 1–2 May 2026)
By Chance Bonar On May 1–2, 2026, the University of Virginia’s Departments of Religious Studies and Classics hosted NASSCAL’s conference on New Research on Apocryphal Christian Literature. Occurrin…
nasscal.com
New release 📚 Afropean Biblical Studies, by Olabisi Obamakin 🌍 In this book, Obamakin constructs a Nigerian/British women’s hermeneutic that reshapes how we read the New Testament, blending feminist, postcolonial, and decolonial approaches. Read more here 🔗 brill.com/display/ti...
This book was my very first acquisition when I started with @fortresspress.bsky.social and, even more importantly, it's an incredible book! Can't wait to see it in the real world. Congratulations @chancebonar.bsky.social!
Dr. Chance Bonar@chancebonar.bsky.social · 4mo agoWas just informed by @katgelk.bsky.social that _From Slave to Saint: Onesimus Throughout Christian History_ now has a page on @fortresspress.bsky.social's website! Consider pre-ordering for Jan 2027 to learn more about Onesimus from the 1st–20th centuries www.fortresspress.com/store/produc...
Agree hard w/ all of this but hasten to add: Publish on your own timeline! And publish only what you want to publish! There are very few perks to being off a tenure clock, but two of them are the privilege to let projects take the time they take and the privilege to “write for the drawer.”
Daniel Bellingradt@dbellingradt.bsky.social · 4mo agoThe old advice „publish or perish“ is now: „publish without consequences“
Also, it is scary how teaching is like parenting, in that you have no control over what students will remember!! I asked students to tell me about their most memorable class periods and I totally forgot that we did half this stuff....
Amid grading, I am so grateful to my students for reflecting back to me the power of the classroom. This term felt difficult/chaotic for me/them for lots of diff. reasons. And despite all that, these students are out here asking all these great questions about religion, canon building, and history!
Why read The Pearlsong? •new Eng. tr. of 1 Syriac & 2 Greek texts •at least 13 scripts & 20 languages •a dragon-dosed narcotic magic spell •more about snakes/dragons/serpents •commentary light on allegory and heavy on story •the Guardian of Forever (Star Trek TOS) 1/2
Adam Bremer-McCollum@acbm.bsky.social · 4mo agoThe Pearlsong made an appearance on the Agade list yesterday, so I'll take it as an excuse to say that you can find hard copies here and elsewhere www.hup.harvard.edu/books/978067... And you'll find the open-access pdf here cswr.hds.harvard.edu/publications...
HMML is hiring a "Cataloger, West African Manuscripts," a full-time, benefits-eligible, remote position. Details: https://bit.ly/4njwcgW The Cataloger will participate in HMML's effort to catalog Islamic manuscripts recently digitized in Mali. This is a one-year, grant-funded position. #LibraryJobs
So far oral exams have been a super success! Had a fantastic conversation with a student about what justice for Bathsheba might look like (their own question based on our class!).
Congratulations to @iannelsonmills.bsky.social for receiving the De Gruyter Prize for Biblical Studies and Reception History 2025! His article is now published in #openaccess in our "Journal of the Bible and its Reception". 🔗 www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi...
Ian N Mills@iannelsonmills.bsky.social · 5mo agoOpen Access Publication! My essay. "Canonizing Paul's Epistle to the Laodiceans," won this year's DeGruyter-Brill Prize and, as of today, is available open access. I'm really proud of this one. You can download here: www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi...
A student providing one word about ancient Christianity in reflection of our course: Absurd. My work is done.
hagiography friends: are saints often referred to as the mother or father of a martyrium?
As the SBL program starts firming up, I'd like to encourage unit chairs to keep track of committee members and accepted presenters who are unable to attend the meeting due to the increased cost. Please consider submitting those numbers to SBL.
Why do we even bother with endnotes--this is my personal pet peeve as a historian, I need to read the spicy, sassy, whiny footnotes immediately
