Melissa Reynolds

How Far Back Were Africans Inoculating Against Smallpox? Really Far Back. When I looked at the archives, I found a history hidden in plain sight.

Happy Black History month! Here’s a thing I wrote about the Black history of inoculation a while back! Remember it wasn’t just Onesimus! Legions of Black men and women shared and shaped the practice in the Americas!

slate.com/news-and-pol...

Huge thanks to the Welch Medal Committee and the @aahmhistmed.bsky.social for recognizing Reading Practice with this honor. What a shortlist!

Rabbits capture, try and execute a hunter. The Smithfield Decretals, decorated in London, England, in the 1340s: Royal MS 10 E IV, f. 59v-61v

Bad bunnies from long ago
www.bl.uk/stories/blog...

Good morning from TX SD-9! This morning I’m extra grateful to my neighbors in the blue center of Fort Worth, many of whom hosted fundraisers, invited neighbors to meet Taylor, & distributed yard signs. Small donors lined up against billionaire-funded SuperPACs, and we won!

This is my first Texas ice storm, and it seems to defy the laws of physics? Currently 24 degrees out (feels like 11!) but somehow it’s still sleeting and not snowing, like a big eff you from the sky.

CfP: Personal Recipe Collections Send us your pitches for the Spring 2026 issue of the Recipes Project

Plans are afoot for the Spring 2026 issue of the Recipes Project: PERSONAL RECIPE COLLECTIONS.

We’d love to read your pitches! More info below on how to submit.

open.substack.com/pub/therecip...

Re-upping this once more to say that the deadline for applications approaches! January 15! Good job, non-TT but renewable contract with really strong salary & benefits plus opportunities for advancement on the teaching track. DM with questions!

i think it is ok to reiterate that the victim as a us citizen. yes, noncitizens are equally entitled to human rights. but also, it's important to illustrate how ice isn't about immigration at all

University to Pay $500,000 to Professor It Fired Over Charlie Kirk Post Austin Peay State University in Tennessee also reinstated Darren Michael, a tenured acting professor whose post about Mr. Kirk’s killing inflamed conservatives.

A tenured professor who was briefly fired by Austin Peay State University in Tennessee in September for what the school’s president said was an insensitive social media post about the killing of Charlie Kirk will get a $500,000 settlement and his job back.

I’m just so proud to have an article in this issue alongside scholars whose work I admire so much. Many thanks to Renée Raphael and Tina Asmussen for their vision & to the editorial staff of the RQ for the exceptional editorial care with which they brought this special issue to fruition!

High of 80 here in Fort Worth today. My raised-in-the-northeast children are unsure how to process this.

i think a (perhaps underappreciated) aspect of this whole situation is the extent to which every elite profession is filled with people who excel at drawing attention and want to be famous more than they want to do the actual job

SKULL OF THOMAS AQUINAS: TAKE A LEFT NOW
PRIEST: No, the GPS says we have to keep going—
SKULL: I KNOW A SHORTCUT
PRIEST: Do you remember the last ti—
SKULL: FOR THOSE WITH FAITH, NO EVIDENCE IS NECESSARY; FOR THOSE WITHOUT IT, NO EVIDENCE WILL SUFFICE

Congrats! It’s a real (almost) book!

Medievalists! Ancient historians! Re-upping this to say that the deadline for this very good non-TT job is January 15. Please apply and reach out with any questions!

#medieval #ancienthistory #classics

Conference schedule for Renaissance Society of America, meeting in San Francisco, February 2026. The title of the paper is "Leprosy at Contact: The Global Dissemination of Leprosy in the Pre-1500 World."

Delighted to have my schedule set for the @rsaorg.bsky.social meeting in February. Looking forward to the first of two sessions on "Medicine and Science in the Early Modern Pacific." My paper will be examining evidence for leprosy's global dissemination 1000s of years prior to European colonialism.

Instructor of History - TCU Main Campus, Texas, United States Application Deadline: January 15, 2026 Position Details: This full-time faculty position is on-campus and in-person.Texas Christian University invites applications for a full-time Instructor in the De...

**JOB ALERT**
Friends, my department is hiring an Instructor in Medieval and Ancient History. This is a non-TT, teaching focused job but it’s a good one: renewable contract, great salary & benefits, and possibility of promotion on teaching track. DM me w/questions!

jobs.tcu.edu/jobs/instruc...

Congrats Marissa!

Can’t believe the whole country has to suffer through the return of Dickensian childhood diseases because the worst, most ignorant attention-demanders decided other people’s expertise makes them feel bad

Everyone, and I mean everyone, who knows anything about prenatal medicine knew that this would happen.

Mapping the Queer Landscape of Medieval Europe A new exhibition at The Met Cloisters makes the case that gender and sexual fluidity were an essential part of Medieval religious art.

A new show at the Met Cloisters speaks to the existence of queer and trans people in the Medieval period and within the Catholic Church, as well as sexual dalliance and humor, and nontraditional unions.

😍😍 😍 Loving all all these NACBS member books at the Chicago UP table! Including our Stansky and Snow book prize winners! @uchicagopress.bsky.social

Graphic showing double page opening of emblem book from Stirling Maxwell Collection featuring portrait of a man on the left and a printed emblem of text and image on the right. The image is overlaid with information about the fellowship scheme welcoming researchers and repeating closing date and URL to follow.

📣Our UofG Library Visiting Research Fellowships are now open for applications!

We’re delighted to invite scholars from across the globe to apply to work with our internationally significant collections.

Apply at: www.gla.ac.uk/myglasgow/li...

📆Closing date: 5 January 2026

#UofGLibraryFellows

CFP: Re-Mediating the Early Book: Pasts and Futures Keynotes: Sarah Werner, independent book historian; Renske Hoff, University of Utrecht; Aditi Nafde, Newcastle University Date & Location: 23-25 June 2026, Royal Irish Academy, Dublin Re-mediat…

Do you research early #bookhistory?
Come to our #REBPAFConference : 23-25 June 2026, Royal Irish Academy, Dublin!

📚 Key details:
• Deadline: 15 Dec 2025
[Abstract (max 300 words) + short CV]

• Themes: Selection,Value,Accessibility & Survival in book culture

Follow the link for more info!

#REBPAF

Just a real “season finale” feeling to all kinds of news today, isn’t there

I have voted
for the deal
that was on
the Senate floor

and which
is probably
caving
to fascism

Forgive me
the flight delays were
so annoying
and so old

Why are we so obsessed with the medieval right now? From burning castles to swords and magic and velvet gowns, medievalism has taken over 21st century pop culture.

Really enjoyed chatting with @kellyfaircloth.bsky.social about all things dirtbag medievalism, and delighted that the article is out now at Nat Geo: www.nationalgeographic.com/history/arti...

My daughter’s seventh grade History Fair project.

This year’s theme is Revolutions. Obvi she chose the Print Revolution, & obvi gave credit to the Chinese for the first printed book, & obvi chose images from incunabula in the Bodleian.

Why yes, I am a historian of the book. How did you know?

A fun question. In 5 years time, what looks better? The US’s enormous bet & capex on AI? Or China’s equally enormous bet and capex on renewables?

Did Women Ruin the Workplace