Adam Shear

This is a bizarre idea. And sidepoint: FEWER not LESS!

I thought my entire department was ignoring me on scheduling something but it looking now like the emails I sent out on a listserv never went through. One anxiety relieved; another emerges.

Others have thought of this, I'm sure, but if time machines get invented, the study abroad/spring break course add-on opportunities are going to be amazing! (Yes, I am familiar with the novels of Connie Willis.)

I am not convinced that saying that a board member has a fiduciary responsibility (to a non-profit) is the same as endorsing the specific Chicago school idea of what fiduciary responsibility is (for a business). In a non-profit, furthering the mission is part of the fiduciary responsibility

I am starting to understand--I think we might be thinking about different kinds of events? If you are saying we need to plan events that students can get something out of, find of interest, learn from, then I agree 100%. But they might still need the "bribe" to get them there given cultural norms.

Counterpoint: We are meeting them "where they are at" to offer life-long skills. A previous generation of students learned how to be part of an intellectual community organically; this generation needs the GPA boost.

Sqrwol Hill is a very nice neighborhood.

Ohio State to cut eight majors and merge others in Senate Bill 1 compliance Ohio State is cutting eight majors and has proposed combining 20 others to comply with Senate Bill 1.  Integrated mathematics and English, medieval and renaissance studies, music theory and musicology...

Help me understand this article: is OSU eliminating an "integrated math" & an "English" major or "integrated math and English" major? I don't understand what this would be, but I can't believe a major research university is eliminating its English major! www.thelantern.com/2025/11/ohio...

but I have to say the clear briefcases with shoulder straps are pretty nice! beats the British Library plastic bags with logos and the Bodleian's clear plastic bags. then again, a lot farther to walk to the reading rooms so the shoulder strap is essential

Do English readers ignore instructions or do French readers ignore English signs? Mysteries of Paris. (in the locker area of the BnF Mitterrand.)

not that many people born before WW1 who could have had a facebook page.

I run across Seymour de Ricci (1881-1942) every so often & dip my toes into the rabbithole--one day I will fall in: bibliographer, Orientalist, a Montefiore, first wife a Dreyfus. Last biographical treatment = 8 pages in 1942? Daughter died in 2008. #bookhistory #Jewishstudies.

Same thought-- where do journalists think all those planes flying into the hub airports come from?

Upcoming lectures in eligion and Healthcare Lecture Series at Pitt-- #JewishStudies #ReligiousStudies. bioethics.pitt.edu/health-human...
Next: Nov 11, 8 – 9 am EST, Online
“In all your ways, know Him" (Proverbs 3:6) Meets "And you shall live by them" (Leviticus 18:5), Rabbanit Miriam Fenster

Senior art historians who work on "pre-modernity" as defined in your geographic area, take a look at this: cfopitt.taleo.net/careersectio.... Folks in related #earlymodern and other pre-modern areas share this widely.

Already is in many places.

Does your university sponsor a mock ancient olympics as part of the study of classics and religious studies? www.religiousstudies.pitt.edu/news/religio...
#religiousstudies #classics #ancientworld

I thought I knew a lot about Reuchlin but it's great to discover avenues I hadn't even considered--looking forward to reading this new book. #earlymodern #Jewishstudies #ChristianHebraism reforc.com/news/music-r...

Settlement between Ohio attorney general and HUC on the rare book collection. www.ohioattorneygeneral.gov/Media/News-R...

My colleague Adam Lowenstein is such a great explainer of why horror films (and lit) are worth serious academic study. He even got me to watch a horror film once. www.as.pitt.edu/horror-studi...

I am going to this one: calendar.pitt.edu/event/gender...

With the decline of the humanities in American academia and the hard-sell to students to study anything that happened before 1800, I find it both annoying and gratifying that my university and the art museum next door feature 3 lectures on classical and early modern topics at the same time today!

@sammyshear.bsky.social

48 surreal hours in Damascus — an Israeli reporter’s travelogue from an enemy capital I had no idea what to expect from a visit to Syria, accompanying a US Jewish group to holy sites and meetings with Sharaa government officials. I found a nation poised between healing and fresh chaos,...

I went to a lecture 10 days ago that I though Jill Joshowitz would be at. Her spouse said she had a scheduling conflict and he couldn't say what it was but it was a big deal. And now I know: www.timesofisrael.com/48-surreal-h...

I'll also say that some of your programs/department/centers are really bad at the updating of your websites!

Info about current and past job searches in academic Jewish studies here: docs.google.com/spreadsheets...
Info about other jobs and results of past searches, please share. (Note: I only post the name of the person hired once they have begun the position or with their permission ahead of that.)

College of Arts & Sciences pauses admission to 20 majors amid portfolio review Syracuse University paused admission into 20 majors in the College of Arts & Sciences without faculty input amid its portfolio review.

“Syracuse University paused admission to 20 majors in the College of Arts and Sciences without faculty input” dailyorange.com/2025/09/coll...

Classics + following the pre-med curriculum= applicant for med school; Biology + following the pre-med curriculum= applicant for med school.

"to provide skills"--in the American liberal arts model, major + general ed requirements is what provides skills like critical reading, writing, quantitative analysis etc. Skills for a specific profession happens in grad/professional school or in an undergrad school like engineering or nursing.

Looking forward-- would be interesting to take this and compare it to say, Oxford Handbook for Jewish Studies (2002) and see how the field is discussed now--what's different since the beginning of the century and what had stayed the same.