liz polcha

Libraries are among the few public institutions that represent the kind of world we want to live in. They must be fought for.

Mayor Mamdani Breaks His Promise to NYC Public Libraries The Struggle Against Defunding Libraries Continues...

I hope New Yorkers will challenge Mamdani about this. Too often, people feel they need to be absolutely for or against a politician — ignoring their missteps or throwing them out with the bathwater. You can like and/or believe in someone and still challenge them to deliver on their promises.

Donate to Support the Arias Family During ICE Detention, organized by Vanessa Arias Hi everyone, my name is Vanessa Arias. Early in the morning, 6am on Januar… Vanessa Arias needs your support for Support the Arias Family During ICE Detention

This gofundme was started by a Drexel student whose father was taken by ICE. If you are able to, please join me in donating

www.gofundme.com/f/support-th...

He is seriously amazing & under appreciated at Drexel!

2025 Literary Studies Book and Journal Article List A companion list for lit studies scholars.

Since 2019, one of the proudest services I do for the profession is collaborate w. @rcolesworthy.bsky.social & Erin Bartram @contingent-mag.bsky.social to compile a (limited) list of pubs by contingent lit studies scholars.

Here is our 2025 compilation.

contingentmagazine.org/2025/12/16/2...

Jane Austen at 250: Why we shouldn’t exaggerate her radicalism Examining Austen as a radical genius misunderstands her art and misrepresents the imperial culture that she was part of.

For Jane Austen's 250th Birthday I am sharing my article for @theconversation.com that warns against pretending Austen was radical or "wild". She was a Conservative, supported of empire and mainstream tenets of white supremacy and heteronormative primogeniture.
theconversation.com/jane-austen-...

Alt-Ac Support network

Today I remembered that there is a resource that is just a list of almost one hundred humanities PhDs who have transitioned to other careers and are available to talk about it.

You can schedule an informational interview or invite them to talk to your department!

docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

Thank you! I’m familiar with AAUP’s report but hadn’t seen this article. Thanks also for your article - I shared it with some of my colleagues in Drexel‘s AAUP chapter. Sending solidarity from Philadelphia 🙏

Reading this, because Drexel just announced that they are also cutting a deal with OpenAI for Chat GPT Edu

an Ancient Aliens meme from the Our Marathon project’s meme collection is the most viewed file in Northeastern’s Digital Repository Service. Appreciate my old coworker Sarah Sweeney sharing this data point and others! librarynews.northeastern.edu?p=276987&fbc...

Cover of the essay. It depicts a Black man, visibly tired and sad, holding a bleading heart that reads The Emotional Labor Behind AI Intimacy by Michael Geoffrey Asia.

Today, DWI publishes a powerful essay by @mgasia.bsky.social, who works impersonating an AI sex companion: data-workers.org/michael/

This piece offers a rare glimpse into the psychological and economic realities behind one of the fastest-growing sectors: AI-assisted intimacy.

The New School faces identity crisis amid planned layoffs, reorganization The storied leftist university faces a $48 million deficit.

The American Association of University Professors said 40% of full-time faculty members — or 169 academics — have received voluntary separation or early retirement offers, making it the “largest attempted firing of faculty currently taking place in the nation.” #AcademicSky

Last call, friends! @hartmann-villalta.bsky.social and I are finishing up our annual list of lit studies publications—articles, books, book chapters—by NTT scholars for @contingent-mag.bsky.social. Please spread the word and send me your pubs by tomorrow/Tues 12/9! 🙏🫡

Introduction to Feminisms class poster with hot pink and green abstract patterns, the poster notes the class is offered in winter 2026 at Drexel University by professor Liz Polcha

I'm working on my course calendars for the winter term while wrapping up teaching in the fall term, but I am very excited to teach this intro to feminist theory class for the first time at Drexel. The class is going to move slow and focus on 1-2 readings per week, with lots of note-taking by hand

Job Hacks for Humanists: Dr. Hannah Alpert-Abrams Dr. Alpert-Abrams shares the wisdom about building a values-aligned career from working in the humanities funding landscape.

A few weeks ago I was interviewed for the "Career Hacks for Humanists" podcast.

Check out our conversation about my weird career trajectory and caring about values while needing a job.

popphd.substack.com/p/job-hacks-...

Google at its peak was basically the best information retrieval system in human history and they and every competitor decided going from there to “you didn’t want answers you wanted half-assed auto-complete 80%-wrong hallucinations” in a few years was the right idea

YouTube video by Tiera Tanksley Howard University AI Panel

I need everyone, esp anyone working in education or tech (but really everyone) to WATCH THIS CLIP of @drtanksley.bsky.social discussing the technologies infiltrating our schools & psyches and how she is addressing it with our young people. youtu.be/5mtcSL4S3HQ

The Daniel K. Richter Summer Writing Retreat will convene for the first time in June '26 at the McNeil Center. Each participant will be awarded $4,000, office space, and access to Penn's digital library holdings for one year. Applications open until Jan 15–apply here: www.mceas.org/awards/danie....

The British library is in crisis: why does nobody care? The widespread indifference to the British Library's crippling cyberattack demonstrates a perilous failure to value the knowledge infrastructure vital for national prosperity

I’ve written a piece on the curious lack of media and political interest in the issues faced by our national @britishlibrary.bsky.social. This is strange given we live in a world where ideas, knowledge and research are a long-term source of innovation and insight
www.cityam.com/the-british-...

This is terrible. Ursinus College (where my partner works) spent last year planning a reorganization (they’re creating multidisciplinary “hubs”) only for its administration to announce layoffs this semester. I hope this isn’t in the cards for those working at Montclair State

Thanks Laura!

Educators rally at McCormick’s office to defend federal funding - The Triangle Labor unions and higher education organizations rallied at Senator Dave McCormick’s offices to protest his support for funding cuts.

Drexel’s student newspaper, the Triangle, interviewed me & my brilliant colleague Linda Kim after our AAUP rally last week:

www.thetriangle.org/news/educato...

Always nice to find a LibGuide that's clearly a labor of love. guides.lib.berkeley.edu/twlf/home

CFP: "AMERICAN REVOLUTION INTERNATIONAL" - Huntington Library, Nov. 6-7, 2006. With generous support from the Early Modern Studies Institute at USC, my co-conspirators & I look forward to two days of generative conversation. Travel & lodging included! Proposals due 1/10. Please spread the word! 🙏

for people like me who write about 18th century science & empire, a lot of the historical figures we write about could probably be featured on this podcast

Part One: Thomas Thistlewood: Slave Plantation Owner and Diarist Podcast Episode · Behind the Bastards · 11/11/2025 · 1h 14m

a few friends reached out this week to let me know my dissertation is cited in this episode of Behind the Bastards, I’m both glad that my research is helpful in a public history context & also highly not surprised that Thistlewood is featured on this podcast podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/b...

I asked about this, and one of our excellent librarians discovered that in fact AI summaries/"Research Assistant" can be switched off at the level of the library. Something to request. support.proquest.com/s/article/Eb...

Ex. If you teach about gender, you run the risk of violating the compact’s principle of “Student Equality,” since “institutions [must] commit to defining and otherwise interpreting ‘male,’ ‘female,’ ‘woman,’ and ‘man’ according to reproductive function and biological processes”. YIKES (2/2)

A short Asian American woman with short black hair with a white streak speaks into a microphone addressing a crowd of people off camera. A white man with grey hair holding a sign that says “Higher Education Research Saves Lives” stands beside her.

Our own Drexel faculty member Linda Kim giving a teach-in on the federal administration’s proposed “compact” —would YOUR school violate it? (1/2)

A group of thirty people holding signs that say “Higher Education Research Saves Lives”, “AAUP”, and “Philly Labor for Higher Education & Healthcare” stand outside PA Senator Dave McCormick’s office. A Santander bank sign is visible in the background.

Great to see so many Philadelphia hire ed folks at yesterday’s Day of Action! Cross-union organizing makes us stronger in the fight for academic freedom and the soul of our schools
@aaup-penn.bsky.social @afscme590.bsky.social @aft.org @apscuf.org @fsfccp.bsky.social