Anwar

Update: In a statement, Bonn University confirms the renaming of the Otto Spies Memorial Series because of the archival material I quoted in my blogpost. In the meantime, the local newspaper Bonner General-Anzeiger published an article on the issue as well.
www.ioa.uni-bonn.de/isl/de/nachr...

A teenager with shoulder-length brown hair, wearing a dark green long-sleeve shirt, sits cross-legged against a dark floral wallpaper background. A headline reads: "An E-Bike Almost Killed Her. She Became the Face of a New Law." Photo by Balazs Gardi for The New York Times.

Unregulated e-bikes are a growing danger on American streets. In one Bay Area town, a terrible accident finally led to reform. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/30/m...

Disquiet over ‘PhDs by publication’ diminishes doctorate’s prestige Misuse of ‘cumulative PhDs’ should prompt debate over whether stacking research papers is really equivalent to writing a dissertation, says Brian Bloch

'growing numbers of Germans are gaining their PhDs through “cumulative doctorates”, known in other countries as “PhDs by publication”. In some disciplines, such as economics and business administration, the dissertation or monograph has virtually disappeared.' 1/2

Trotz NS-Vergangenheit: Universität Bonn ehrt Otto Spies Seit 2015 trägt eine Vorlesungs- und Publikationsreihe an der Universität Bonn den Namen des Orientalisten Otto Spies – obwohl seine Nähe zum Nationalsozialismus dokumentiert ist. Neue Forschungsergeb...

I wrote a blog post explaining why I consider an honour for the orientalist Otto Spies (1901-1981) problematic, based on correspondence I examined in Berlin this summer:
disorient.de/magazin/trot...

How to stop the revolving door of German academia Germany is one of the most popular destinations for students and scholars worldwide, but those pursuing academic careers face significant hurdles to success.

German academia: great place to work? You should think twice before giving it a try: Permanent positions are very rare, most scholars have to drop out after some precarious years. @dianakwon.bsky.social has written a great piece about this for @nature.com and also talked to yours truly. #IchBinHanna

Tolga U. Esmer - Economies of Banditry in the Late Ottoman Empire

À paraître en février aux Oxford UP

congratulations! so good to see it published :))

My first peer-reviewed article, based on my BA thesis at FU Berlin, has just been published (OA). It traces Palestinian libraries from the late Ottoman period in the so-called Abandoned Property Collection (NLI). Thank you to everyone who supported! doi.org/10.1353/mns.... @sims-mss.bsky.social

Look at this absolute unit. Buckle up for a long thread about agrarian Palestinian folktales and lore! There is a lot. I personally own 6 volumes on the subject.

i can wait! im waiting for your thread tomorrow :)) thank you so much for the source!

that would be great! you have a professional email id i can write you? these volumes you talk about means something to me :))

also, historical beliefs about the landscapes of Palestine :)) wells, mountains, hills, trees, shrines, etc.

great thread! what about agrarian folk stories/customs? connected to agriculture, animal husbandry?

another banger!

also the green card discourse is clown rationalization!

omg! i never park my bike overnight anywhere other than home. once i forgot my key at my workplace on a friday and had to cut my lock with a professional (by submitting all my papers haha!) instead of waiting for monday. fearing monday my bike won't be there.

sorry to hear that! did you lock the bike overnight?

Tobacco in Global Perspective, 1780–1960 This book provides an in-depth analysis of the imperial, colonial, and postcolonial history of tobacco from 1780 to 1960

My chapter focusing on German tobacco fantasies in German Southwest Africa (1884-1915, modern-day Namibia) is now published in the volume "Tobacco in Global Perspective, 1780-1960: Trade, Knowledge, Labour." Thanks to all who helped/contributed! link.springer.com/book/10.1007...

The Library of Aḥmad Pasha al-Jazzār "The Library of Aḥmad Pasha al-Jazzār" published on 23 Dec 2024 by Brill.

The edited volume The Library of Aḥmad Pasha al-Jazzār has been published (open access; Brill: 2025: brill.com/display/titl...). I contributed to the project by identifying 5 manuscripts from al-Jazzār's library in the so-called AP (“abandoned property") collection of the National Library of Israel.

I'm excited to share my new (open access) article in Social Codicology, edited by Olly Akkerman.

The article connects Islamicate manuscript and talismanic scribal cultures with chemical-bacterial networks, Platonic cosmologies and technologies of climate resilience.

brill.com/display/book...

the extent to which the western left is incapable of viewing any global development without *centring* us imperialism is *quite something*

like, perhaps, and hear me out, your inability to seriously engage with local specificity and complexity is in and of itself... imperialist?

@sariyannis.bsky.social

could add marinos sariyannis

@zozanpehlivan.bsky.social

Knowing by Sensing: How to Teach the History of Smell For this inaugural module of the #AHRSyllabus collection, we invited the historical smells team called Odeuropa to introduce best practice techniques for teachi

Knowing by Sensing: How to Teach the History of Smell Inger Leemans, et al, The American Historical Review, Volume 128, Issue 3, September 2023, Pages 1251–1264, doi.org/10.1093/ahr/... academic.oup.com/ahr/article/... 🗃