James Breen

Thanks! I’ll be joining two wonderful history professors already, too. I’m looking forward to meeting the students next month.

It’s been official for a bit, but I’m thrilled to join the History Dept at Ripon College. This fall, I’m teaching:

• Conspiratorial Thinking in U.S. History
• Immigration & Migration in the U.S.
• 19th-century U.S. History

I can’t wait to start and couldn’t be happier to return home to Wisconsin.

Presenting the Past. 1865 - 1920s. Welcome to SHGAPE. The Society for Historians of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era is an organization of historians who study and promote knowledge of American history from the Reconstruction era through the aftermath of World War I. The society brings together academic, public, and independent historians, as well as scholars in other humanities and social-science disciplines interested in these decades and their issues.

The Society for #Historians of the #GildedAge & #ProgressiveEra is on Bluesky! We'll share Society news, opportunities, & blog posts from the SHGAPE Blog (blog.shgape.org). Check out our recently refreshed website (www.shgape.org) & give us a follow! #history #skystorians #historysky #historiansky

I wrote a book about bureaucratic violence and if there’s one thing I wish everyone knew right now, it would be:

The people most harmed can’t tell what’s happening or why. Their lives unravel and, more often than not, they are taught to blame themselves—or other victims.

Named my son’s stuffed shark Noam Chompsky today.

That’s a productive Sunday. ✅

Sure thing, but full disclosure: I wrote for BP and served as the fantasy editor for about a half-dozen years. I’m not a neutral voice here, lol.

First quarter after I transferred to a small liberal-arts school, I had an English Lit prof give me a C- on a paper with “See Me” written at the top. He told me he was “offended” that I’d “wasted such promising ideas with lazy and sloppy writing.” First time someone called me out. I needed it, too.

I enjoyed an extended residency at The Huntington as an advanced graduate student, and I can’t speak more highly of the institution and its people. If you’re a graduate student who works on the American West, you should definitely apply for this.

In the Shadow of the Law: The Hanigan Case and the Genesis of the Immigrant Rights Movement One August afternoon in 1976, a group of men building a fence on a family ranch in Agua Prieta, Mexico, looked up to see a young man limping toward them. N

academic.oup.com/jah/article-...

My JAH article on how anti-immigrant violence in the borderlands contributed to the human rights movement: the Hanigan case shows us the ways undocumented people and their advocates have defended migrants’ human and civil rights in the face of unspeakable violence

Subscribing to BP funds a platform where writers, analysts, and scouts can be noticed by big-league orgs. Few people can become pro baseball players, and thus access the “good ol’ boys” network. BP has long served as a unique incubator for big-league talent — and the best part is you benefit, too.

BP is a wonderful place that is well worth the subscription price. I wanna add one more thing, though:

BP has served as a non-traditional pathway into baseball for many talented writers, analysts, and scouts. Subscribing to BP gives you access to their analysis and ideas before they make it big.

The past couple of weeks have once again shown that more scholars and journalists need to read @kkdumez.bsky.social’s JESUS AND JOHN WAYNE.

Conspiratorial thinking has never been restricted to right-wing circles. Not historically, not now. As such, this “BlueAnon” phenomenon is not surprising.

Pennsylvania Leads U.S. Pertussis Outbreak Pertussis Cases Increase 500% in 2024

CDC data shows large increase in pertussis - more than 5 times the same time last year.
"The CDC's data shows Pennsylvania has reported about 10% (2,462) of all pertussis cases this year." www.precisionvaccinations.com/pennsylvania...