Laura Locke Estes

A high schooler just complimented the way I was wearing my shirt, so either she was making fun of me or move aside Gen Z, Gen Alpha is bringing back the French tuck.

Man wearing blue PhD robes.

They look snazzy on, too.

Mine has scarlet velvet for theology, his has philosophy blue. Other small differences are a small variation in shade of blue (both royal, but Herff Jones’ is slightly more purple) and piping on only one side of the front velvet (which I probably could have asked for had I thought to!)

The other Dr. Estes’s robes are here! Totally customized and look great, with/slight differences between his and mine noticeable only side by side

If you’re a PhD student looking for a more reasonable alternative but want your school’s colors instead of generic black, check out Cap and Gown Direct!

I distinctly remember watching that episode because I was eating soup and nearly choked when I heard "Kirsopp Lake, the scholar of textual criticism..."
Andre Braugher had some absolute GEMS, this one's right up there with his rant about dentists not being doctors and impassioned defense of the PhD.

Greater love hath no man than this, that he do an LAX drop-off for his friends.

Vacation = reading time = finally getting around to @andytobo.bsky.social’s contribution to the Elements series. First chapter is a lovely, accessible summary intro to recent approaches to ethnicity that I wish I’d had to assign to students in my Ancient/Medieval Christianity class last semester!

(I have Hadrian's Wall at Vindolanda and Housesteads and the Durham Cathedral/Museum on the list for sure!)

It looks like I'll be in Durham for a workshop in December. Right now the plan is to fly in via Edinburgh, make my way down the coast with a stop at Lindisfarne, then spend a few extra days sightseeing.

What must I be sure to see/do/eat in Northern England?

How exciting! When was the last time we had bunk beds?

Me to Disney.

It is a truth universally acknowledged that if you're waiting for reviewer feedback it WILL come in the day before you leave for a vacation.

My kids loved things like this

I always go through the standard academic integrity process with the allowed penalties.
It’s mostly that my usual in-person strategies (in-class writing samples, handwritten exams, lots of discussion to ascertain understanding) are impossible or difficult in an online setting.

I hate the culture of suspicion, but I just can't shake it in the online format. Maybe it's just time to stop teaching the online summer session?

My uni doesn't have Proctorio or any of the other intense proctoring systems, and frankly, they're so invasive that I don't really want them. I can see if they navigate away from the browser tab and I've tried trojan horses in the essay prompts, but they know work arounds.

I'd love to hear from folks who teach online courses to learn how you're creating assessments and discouraging cheating.

It's always been harder online, but in the last two years it's just seemed impossible. I've liked picking up an extra course in the summer, but it's been so discouraging lately.

I wish I’d known it was option for my robes! They’re being completely customized to match our alma mater‘s specific colors, even the white piping, etc., so theoretically, they should be indistinguishable from mine. we’ll see!

Doctoral regalia has gone up even MORE since I defended (now nearly $1200 after tax!!), so spouse has decided to take a gamble and use one of the knock off custom regalia providers for 1/3 of the price.

I'll compare to my robes in 6-8wks and be back with links if they turn out well!

Ah, closing day for Malibu Little League, when all the teams and coaches are named and recognized and you realize one of the other AA teams was coached by a guy who played in the majors for 12 years.

Spent the first hour of my workday on a three-way phone call with insurance/hospital billing, so there goes any chance of getting anything else done today.

(0/10 would recommend having a kid break a leg out of state)

Did I just spend two hours trying to read a medieval catena manuscript? Yes.

Am I any closer to answering the original question that brought me to said ms? No.

(If they find me dead in my office, tell them the medieval Greek scribes and their infinite ligatures and abbreviations did me in)

It's the first time I'll stay at a conference hotel instead of camping out on a friend's couch in Boston for #SBLAAR2025. Do we have a favorite hotel?

Alas, I moved a footnote to the main body and expanded it quite a lot, which means.... I now have to cut something. 😭

FYI, estimated highs in the 60s in Chicago later this week!
But yes, jackets def optional.

If the article was at 7.9k words before I started filling out the sparse foonotes... what are the chances it stays under 10k total?

A thousand thanks for alerting us!!
I am not on the mailing list but saw “unhinged” and immediately correctly guessed venue of the review/response which *says something* about that particular journal…

This is completely anecdotal, but I've been struggling to edit/wrap up an article and I just changed the font from Calibri to Garamond and it's a whole new ball game.

Does anyone else have silly little hacks like this?

In the latest effort to slowly drive me batty: it's mandatory password update time and my uni has just upped the required length from eight to FIFTEEN CHARACTERS LONG.

Absolutely no judgment here! I feel like an interloper anytime I have to write a section on the New Testament proper rather than its reception, but it's good for us to get out of our tiny subdisciplines!