Heather D Curtis

Quote from a story on changes at the U of Chicago that notes they are "pausing" doctoral eduction in Classics, Comp Lit, Germanic studies, Middle Eastern Studies, Romance languages and literatures, and South Asian Studies.

Wow. The University of Chicago, a world-class institution whose humanities faculty in the past has included Homi Bhabha & Lauren Berlant & Ralph Ellison & Hannah freaking Arendt, is getting rid of basically every graduate department involving the acknowledgment that other cultures & languages exist.

One of the amazing parts about doing history is going through loads of material to produce one good paragraph.

Join us today at 4 pm for an original presentation by Mary McNeil, Tufts Department of Race, Colonialism, and Diaspora, and CHAT Faculty Fellow

The Department of International Literary and Cultural Studies invites you to their annual symposium, Ecology Now!, happening Friday, 3/7 in Alumnae Lounge at Tufts. Featuring Ken Liu.

The Department of Anthropology invites the Tufts Community to hear Dr. Ruth Toulson for a book talk, "Necropolitics of the Ordinary," tomorrow (2/27) at 4:30 p.m. in Eaton Hall, Room 225. Come check it out!

Tomorrow (2/25), the Department of English (co-sponsored with CHAT & others) is excited to welcome author Hala Ayan to campus (Breed Hall) for a reading and conversation. Hope you can join! Details on the CHAT website: humanities.tufts.edu/events

Next Wednesday (2/26), join us to hear Emily Strasser discuss her new publication, Half-Life of a Secret: Reckoning with a Hidden History. You can learn more at our website: humanities.tufts.edu/events/upcom...

The Great Resegregation The Trump administration’s attacks on DEI are aimed at reversing the civil-rights movement.

If you read one thing today… www.theatlantic.com/politics/arc...

If only we had a word for a shape with three sides.

Title: What Costs More: Billionaire Tax Avoidance or Federal Workers? Subtitle: Musk’s tax avoidance could fund 677K federal jobs • Current Tax Rate: 3.27% • Top Federal Tax Rate: 37% Cost Comparison (Bar Chart): • Cost of Musk’s Tax Avoidance (smallest bar, purple) • Cost of Top 100 Billionaires’ Tax Avoidance (largest bar, red) • Total Federal Workforce Salaries (mid-sized bar, green) X-axis ranges from $0B to $380B, showing that billionaire tax avoidance covers a significant portion of federal workforce salaries. Impact on Federal Workforce: • Average Federal Salary: $106,000 • Jobs Musk’s Avoidance Could Fund: 677,782 (29.5% of all federal employees) Federal Workforce Breakdown (Pie Chart): • A segment representing 29.5% of the workforce highlights the share Musk’s avoided taxes could fund, labeled “Share Equal to Musk’s Avoided Taxes: 29.5%”. Sources: • Musk’s Tax Rate: ProPublica • Billionaire Gains: Bloomberg Billionaires Index (Dec. 31, 2024) • Federal Employee Data: USAFacts

How many federal workers would DOGE need to fire to make up for Musk not paying his fair share of taxes?

Answer: 677,000. That's 44% of the entire non-DoD federal workforce.

Again, this power grab is not about the budget. It’s about politics.

The Washington Post refused to run this ad. Sure would be a shame if it went viral.

Next week, we have some great events at CHAT. On Wednesday, hear fellow Daniel Sunshine discuss the connections between slavery, medicine, and public history. On Thursday, come hear Leonard Cassuto discuss techniques to improve academic writing. More details on our website: humanities.tufts.edu

If you are a PhD candidate at Tufts, there is still time to apply for a dissertation fellowship for 2025-2026. Apply by March 1! Learn more at our website: humanities.tufts.edu/dissertation...

This Wednesday (2/12), come visit the Fung House! At noon, come hear Joseph Pomp from Harvard University Press discuss the book proposal process. At 4, hear CHAT Fellow Omid Bagherli discuss his research. More details are available on our website! humanities.tufts.edu

Elon—the richest man on Earth—is gutting the world’s largest provider of food aid. He could end world hunger single-handedly and still be the richest man alive. But he won’t.

Instead, he spent 40 million on Super Bowl ads attacking USAID!

Stand with USAID: share this counter-ad…

He is smiling on you, dear friend. 🙏💚

Best, commercial has been the bathroom break

Yep

Come to the Fung House (48 Professors Row) on Wednesday to hear postdoctoral fellow Claire Litt discuss her research into 16th Century European history. We hope you can join us!

Next week, we have some great events on Monday and Wednesday! Come join us at The Fung House (48 Professors Row). Visit our website for details: humanities.tufts.edu.

On Monday, come visit us at The Fung House to meet Juliet Nebolon from Trinity University. She will be sharing her new book, Settler Militarism, at 1:30 p.m. We hope you can join us!

Tomorrow (1/29), come to the Fung House to hear Kristin Skrabut discuss her newest book, Unruly Domestication: Poverty, Family and Statecraft in Urban Peru. We hope you can join us!

Next Wednesday (1/29), join us to hear Professor Kristin Skrabut discuss how Peru's war on poverty shapes many aspects of life in Lima. Open to the Tufts community; we hope you can attend.

There is still time to apply for a postdoctoral position in the Environmental Humanities! Apply at Interfolio: apply.interfolio.com/160402

If you are a Tufts student looking to add a class in the humanities this term, check out this course taught by @chancebonar.bsky.social Wednesdays at 1:30 p.m.

TuftsNow had written an article on the "Slavery, Colonialism, and their Legacies" Initiative display in Tisch Library! tinyurl.com/SCL-TuftsNow

There is still time left to apply for the 2025-2027 Postdoctoral Fellowship in the Environmental Humanities!

apply.interfolio.com/160426

Postdoctoral students are invited to apply for a new position in the Environmental Humanities. Applications are due February 3. The application & more details are available on Interfolio: apply.interfolio.com/160426

Come work with me at Tufts! We have an exciting new project at the Center for the Humanities!

We hope you can join us tomorrow (12/11) for a discussion of the book Decolonize Drag with Kareem Khubchandi and a special performance featuring Neon Calypso and Rusty Hammer. This is going to be a great event, and we are excited to bring it to you.