Orel Beilinson

My very niche advantage as a historian of education traveling in India: I quickly realized 'pass out [of college] meant 'graduate,' and not 'became unconscious.' Many former British armies still refer to their cadets' graduation as Passing Out, I believe.

Started my first morning in Delhi with a guided tour, perhaps a pilgrimage, to see the hotel's peacock. A staff member took me there after I expressed my excitement over the squirrels climbing over tables at the outdoor café...

I met a Chinese teacher at the hotel bar today. He was telling me about his first day, when students pick their Chinese name -- and he suggested I adopt the name 欧乐 Ōulè, which sounds like Orel and can mean "European joy" or "to enjoy Europe." Beyond perfect, really. 🗃️

בכיתה ח׳ (ואילך) הייתי מור נורא לחוק וסדר, אז החלטתי בקיץ ללכת לשמוע דיונים בבית המשפט השלום בהרצליה ואז במחוזי בתל אביב. היה באחד הימים דיון די קשה בתיק של בן (מבוגר) שהתעלל באימא שלו, והשופטת התעקשה להתקשר לאימא שלי לשאול אותה אם זה בסדר שאני אשב פה לשמוע לפני שהיא אפשרה לדיון להתכנס בנוכחות בן 14

Revisiting Lévi-Strauss on Indian cities. If one accepts his characterization of Calcutta and the underlying difference in European vs Indian urbanity, it must testify to the transformation of European urban life--his description would've rung familiar to many Europeans a century+ beforehand.

Oh, right! I don't know how I missed it -- that's how I once got to Esztergom before realizing you can take the train directly there (and that finding a taxi to cross the bridge can be quite a hassle)...

From the Tamil-speaking mosque in Singapore's Chinatown, I learned that there is a Qur'an museum in a city called Bhatkal, named after a medieval grammarian named Bhattakalanka Deva. I can't think of any others -- but who knows what's behind the names of Grammatikovo in Bulgaria and Greece? 🗃️

My time in Singapore was instructive, if not fun. I am very excited for the next leg of my journey: three weeks in India, going Delhi to Kochi!

Deepavali/Diwali season began at Singapore's Indian Heritage Centre. The museum is free on weekends, featuring festive activities such as free henna, tea/snacks, and dress-up opportunities. A wonderful place (best paired with Ar-Rahman's roti prata at Tekka Centre nearby).

The cool thing about Malaysia's National Service Training Program is that every word in its Malay name was borrowed from a different language:
Program: English
Latihan: Austronesian, not borrowed (training)
Khidmat: Arabic (service)
Negara: Sanskrit (city [-> nation in Malay]) 🗃️

Today is the European Day of Languages and, incidentally, my birthday. I think it was very prescient of the European Council to declare it as such toward my sixth birthday. It more than makes up for the fact that I share my birthday with Heidegger.

I am dismayed by Singapore National Library's $1.58 reservation fee PER ITEM when requesting a book from the warehouse. Books stored in-house are free, but as a historian whose work consists of many "less-read books," my fees add up quickly. 🗃️

The Straits Times, in Singapore, weighing in on Yugoslavia's fate, July 1991:

One of my favorite university archives!

The best triangle of Singapore: the National Archives, the Children's Museum, and the Armenian Church/Street. Those who genuinely wish to be world historians -- in the sense of historians of everywhere -- should learn Armenian... 🗃️

II International Seminar for Emerging Historians of Education - Call for papers

Alas, another ancient craft has fallen prey to mechanization. At least it accepts Apple Pay.

The museum does not really tell of the university's many troubles: the unfavorable reviews it received from outside evaluators and the difficulty of maintaining a consistent enrollment in Chinese. Indeed, its linguistic history is fascinating -- and can form the basis for a wonderful monograph.

One should say that entering the museum is quite a hassle: you have to buy a ticket online (12 SGD) and bring 50 SGD in cash (and you really don't need to carry around cash in Singapore, though payment with int'l cards is another issue) as a refundable deposit(!) for the key.

The building behind me used to be Singapore's only private and Chinese-language university. The institution eventually merged into the National University of Singapore, whereas the building is in the territory of Nanyang Technological University. There's a small museum inside that's worth visiting.🗃️

I am in Singapore now, where it seems like they got the message and are determined to make America's talent loss their gain...

Today was a significant day in my mother's developing understanding of the academic career, as she was genuinely surprised that I still need to visit the archives now that I have a job. "Young people usually go to Bucharest to do things much more hanky-panky," grandpa added. 🗃️

Grandpa could only get me a Russian passport; no thanks. I have submitted the documents for a German passport -- luckily, a maternal ancestor failed an optometry class in 1933! -- and hopefully will be able to go in a few years, then.

Spent my first sunset in Singapore watching Malaysia from across the bridge. Hopefully, I'll be able to visit one day...

When designing my teaching portfolio, I was warned that students would likely avoid a class on the Industrial Revolution, the topic being too "outdated" for their taste. My lecture class on the Industrial Revolution next semester is full.

The Executive Order does not appear to exempt professors (who are exempt from various other working visa conditions) from the 100,000 USD fee. That means that no university will hire foreign professors. American academia is toasted.

Ha! I uploaded the wrong screenshot. Now *that's* the research proposal I submitted this morning, hoping to fund a few M.A. and one Ph.D. students to work with me on the literary and political history of youth movements in nineteenth-century Europe...
("Non-Asian words" is such a bizarre metric.)

I know, right? Especially given that the format has been clearly created for the hard sciences. Do I really need to write two pages with "work hypotheses"?

I love seeing how political science and economics departments "market" their job-seeking graduate students. I know they do this because their job market is much larger than ours, but I wish history departments did the same, even if only to "show off" the latest cohort of historians! 🗃️

A grant I've been filling out has a budget item for "research cruises." I know they mean disciplines like marine biology BUT what if the best way for me to visit my archives is a luxury cruise around the world? Can that be an exercise in oceanic/global history? Please? 🗃️