Elliott Sturtevant

Taking part in this later this week!

Cover of the issue 48:3 of the journal Itinerario, showing a black-and-white photo of a European tourist being pushed/pulled up the side of a pyramid by a group of Egyptian guides.

The intro to our Itinerario special issue on the entwined histories of tourism and imperialism has just passed 1,000 views! 🥳 Many thanks to all readers, keep spreading the word and remember to check out the great contributions that make up the issue, too. doi.org/10.1017/S016...

How are natural and waste materials valued, produced and transformed? What lessons can architects learn from history? Some of the questions that will be explored at tomorrow's event 👇co-hosted by Leverhulme Early Career Fellow Alistair Cartwright & @elliotts.bsky.social @liverpooluni.bsky.social. ‬

Trump Administration Authorizes Covert C.I.A. Action in Venezuela

"The agency also had its hands in a 1964 coup in Brazil, the death of Che Guevara and other machinations in Bolivia, a 1973 coup in Chile, and the contra fight against the leftist Sandinista government of Nicaragua in the 1980s." Left for the last graf. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/15/u...

"Values of Waste," taking place at the University of Liverpool this Friday! @leverhulme.ac.uk

I teach a history of antifascism course @ruhistorydept.bsky.social and figured I'd start an ongoing thread this semester to share some insights from course readings and recommend some great works on antifascism.

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I'm giving a talk on the architecture of US empire in two weeks. This couldn't have come at a better time!

I am sympathetic to the need for positive programs, and I am looking for ways (in my little corner of the academy) to collaborate with colleagues in the arch. sciences, for instance, but calling for an end to skepticism and accelerating the concentration of power is not the answer.

A helpful read for thinking about the need to push back against false dichotomies—maker/taker, builder/critic, innovator/regulator—that are currently being used to further marginalize the humanities.

Have a short piece coming out in arq soon that maps out some of my thinking on this. Hoping the next project can be on waste and environmental sinks.

I'm co-hosting this event, titled "Values of Waste," with Alistair Cartwright at the University of Liverpool in two weeks! Please come if you happen to be in the area! www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/values-of-...

Got a gash on my head from that concrete as a kid! Watch where you sit!

An excellent line-up featuring two very lovely grad school classmates, including @elliotts.bsky.social!

Little appreciation for my Stargate references in class today. "You know, Abydos, where they first travelled to after entering the Stargate?"

Violence As Policy in Trump’s America Jan-Werner Mueller argues that the murder of Charlie Kirk has highlighted the fundamental asymmetry of contemporary US politics.

"Trump has been signaling for a decade or so that political violence committed by his supporters is acceptable and might even be rewarded...Trump and...his acolytes frame such conduct not as violence, but as legitimate...self-defense;...they portray themselves as perpetual victims."

New column:

I highly recommend both!

Shoot. It. Into. My. Veins.

Opinion | The Visual Language of Trump’s Authoritarianism

"It is as if the administration is building a simulacrum of authoritarianism, albeit one meant to bring the real thing into being." www.nytimes.com/2025/08/30/o...

No, the White House Is Not Getting a 90,000-Foot Extension But Trump’s doomed proposal does give us a revealing glimpse into his state of mind.

"The postmodernists may have won the battle, but the modernists . . . won the war. What’s ridiculous about all of this, however, is that one side—not dissimilar to the rest of Trump’s quixotic culture warrior fantasies—never stopped fighting." www.thenation.com/article/cult...

2025 AAUP Faculty in the South Survey The Georgia conference of the American Association of University Professors [AAUP] and its partners in states across the South have been at the forefront of fighting attacks on higher education. To as...

Calling all part-time and full-time faculty in the South: Speak out on academic freedom, shared governance, and your working conditions! Survey closes 8/29 at 5pm ET. States: AL, AR, FL, GA, KY, LA, MS, NC, SC, TN, TX, VA. docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

People working in universities know a lot of the work that makes the organization function is outsourced to for-profit companies (catering, landscaping) or runs on platforms requiring payments to such companies: Workday, Canvas, Microsoft, Zoom.

This thread will be for less obvious examples. 1/

A ‘Great Defection’ threatens to empty universities and colleges of top teaching talent Political attacks and other problems appear to be driving an exodus of Ph.D.s and faculty from higher education, threatening a diminished experience for undergraduates.

During the Great Recession & the pandemic, doctoral candidates could continue their studies until things got better. This time, the Trump admin cuts to research funding have stripped many of that option.

“This is way worse than those earlier crises. Doctoral students are in panic mode.”

Just wish a single email from my employer was something like: "We are hiring more TAs and increasing the Writing Center's capacity!" Rather than the more familiar: "We are pleased to announce our exclusive partnership with Panopto at the upcoming EdTech Conference!"

I'm chairing a panel on "The Architecture of US Empire" at the College Art Association (CAA) conference in February 2026. Abstracts due Aug. 29. Please consider applying! Description ⬇️ caa.confex.com/caa/2026/web...

(Panel description also available via link above.)

I'm chairing a panel on "The Architecture of US Empire" at the College Art Association (CAA) conference in February 2026. Abstracts due Aug. 29. Please consider applying! Description ⬇️ caa.confex.com/caa/2026/web...

Very keen for similar suggestions (now that AI literacy seems to be a mandatory part of all our jobs).

Opinion | The Death of the Fourth American Republic

"The Voting Rights Act is quite likely dead. Long live the Voting Rights Act." www.nytimes.com/2025/08/06/o...