Sam Schotland

As the Supreme Court Focuses on the Past, Historians Turn to Advocacy

Posting this without (much) comment, but suffice to say that (1) I am not impressed with the justices' use of history (on either side), and (2) I worry greatly about the ideological priors of my field.

#history
#supremecourt
#law

www.nytimes.com/2025/08/04/u...

What the fuck is a Gugarati Muslim?

I ask, as a Hindu and Indian and historian of India?

Dying Before Germ Theory As RFK questions germ theory, and measles ravages unvaccinated children, Americans need to know what is at risk. Americans died at higher rates and younger ages before the introduction of germ theo…

Today on @nursingclio.bsky.social, I share an account of falling ill and dying before germ theory and modern medicine. This #histmed is a peek into my current project, and an experience that I want everything thinking about health to know.

nursingclio.org/2025/07/21/d...

My cartoon in this weeks @newyorker.com

me, personally? i'd call it Reconstruction.

Miasma Theory: A Primer I recently received an unusual request—could I explain miasma theory to an NPR reporter? Miasma theory is suddenly newsworthy, roughly 150 years after germ theory displaced this explanation for the…

Melanie Kiechle asks: If miasma theory is guiding RFK's decisions, what do we need to know about it? A @nursingclio.bsky.social Emergency Response to the current HHS Secretary's adherence to the discredited, pseudoscientific theory: wp.me/p6hgwQ-9bd 🗃️

Become a jamón expert at our Ham School

TIRED: “learn to code!”
WIRED:

In today’s episode of What Are They Thinking: “If you don’t see a hurricane coming… does it really exist?”

🚨 The Dept of Defense is shutting down its weather satellite program. No more data. No more updates. Meteorologists are scrambling—and we’re heading into peak storm season.

Brilliant timing.

"Tools in themselves are neither good nor bad."

That sound you can hear is all the historians of science and medicine, and STS scholars, screaming.

Bespoke or prescribed? The myth of personalised learning Personalised learning is AI’s promise in education—but who defines what’s personal, and does it nurture strengths or just fix what algorithms see as flaws?

This is the argument that Jiseung Yoo and I have been making. Personalized learning presumes a theory of personhood, which most education (and especially AI-based education) utterly lacks.

#education
#philosophy
#AI

www.unesco.org/en/articles/...

As he wrapped up his speech, Brad Lander again congratulated Mamdani, whom he cross-endorsed. And Lander, who is Jewish, declared, "We are not going to let anyone divide Muslim New Yorkers and Jewish New Yorkers."

♥️

Why I Teach Literary Theory to High Schoolers (and you should too) Helping students read the word and world-system one lens at a time

Teaching literary theory has been the most influential approach I’ve used to improve HS students’ interpretive ability.

Theory helps them see what’s possible with interpretation, not just what’s permitted by “correct” readings.

#literacies #iteachenglish #edusky

open.substack.com/pub/trevoral...

I am once again pitching my romantic comedy:

- two academics start dating
- discover they are each other's terrible reviewer
- hijinks ensue

Working title: Love is Double-Blind

Womp, womp.

To be clear: Trump is dispatching the troops in response to protests *the Los Angeles Police Department* has described as peaceful

How to Protect Yourself during Protests Demonstrators face tear gas, flash bangs, coronavirus and surveillance

This article by @ykarenkwon.bsky.social is so important.

Thanks to @sciam.bsky.social and then-EIC @laurahelmuth.bsky.social for publishing it. (Photo by Pablo Monsalve/Getty).

Man on the street making his 10 seconds of airtime count🔥

Asian Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology Volume 4, Issue 3, December 2024, Pages 94-102 Asian Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology Reshaping sport performers' careers: Lessons from the 2023–2024 war in Israel Author links open overlay panel Roy David Samuel a , Yair Galily b , Gershon Tenenbaum a Show more Add to Mendeley Share Cite https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajsep.2024.10.002 Get rights and content Under a Creative Commons license Open access Abstract The war experience (WE) presents a highly troublesome period for sport performers, with severe effects on their lives and career trajectories. In this article, we initially conceptualize the WE through the scheme of change for sport psychology practice (Samuel & Tenenbaum, 2011a). The WE is considered a longitudinal, multifaceted, unpredicted, noncontrolled, negative change-event, developed over four distinct stages with specific demands and responses: (a) a pre-war stage, (b) War stage-A accompanied by instability and confusion, (c) War stage-B characterized by active coping or regression, and (d) War stage-C; return to sport activity, modification of activity, or retirement. The development of this change process in sport performers’ careers is discussed within the context of the 2023 Israel-Hamas war. Thereafter, we discuss applied practice efforts to support sport performers through the WE. The conclusions offer future avenues for researchers and practitioners when attempting to evaluate and cope with this unique change-event.

The human toll of the conflict is immense, with tragic loss of life and countless individuals facing trauma. Emotional responses vary from fear and anxiety to anger and survivor's guilt. The impact extends beyond immediate physical danger to include profound psychological distress. The turmoil has also affected various aspects of Israeli society, including sports. Leagues have been suspended, training disrupted, and travel restrictions imposed, akin to experiences during other conflicts such as the Russo-Ukrainian war (Pavlova et al., 2023). Uncertainty looms over the resumption of sporting activities, contingent upon security considerations (Buckingham, 2023). International participation has been hindered by flight cancellations and safety concerns, leading to the departure of foreign personnel (Buckingham, 2023; Felberg, 2023). Reflecting on the impact of the conflict on sports’ performers is crucial for effective response and support. While some athletes may benefit from the hiatus to recover or improve skills, others face setbacks in their careers. The unique circumstances require a nuanced approach, considering individual contexts and needs (Henriksen et al., 2020; Schinke et al., 2020a). As researchers and practitioners in the sports domain, we acknowledge the challenge of addressing these issues amidst ongoing conflict. Nonetheless, we aim to provide valuable insights and recommendations to navigate this unprecedented situation, drawing parallels to research conducted during other crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic (e.g., di Fronso et al., 2022; Henriksen et al., 2020; Pillay et al., 2020). Amidst uncertainty, we endeavor to contribute meaningfully to understanding and mitigating the impact of the current conflict on sports and athletes.

Israeli sport psychologists have published a paper comparing the trauma experienced by *ISRAELI* athletes during the genocide to the experience of Covid.

The focus of their 'intervention' is to mitigate "the impact of the current conflict on sports and athletes" in *Israel.*

I kid you not.

If you don’t want to take the booster don’t. But to prevent adults from having the choice is depraved.

Boulder, Montana Kept My Dad Alive. So Did the Government. - Flathead Beacon My father never quite understood how I could live in New York City. He preferred Montana, open rather than dense, prairie rather than concrete. Great Falls was his birthplace, and later he stayed in C...

Thanks to the Flathead (Montana) Beacon for sharing this essay about my dad, and federal policies we all depend on to live.

The Shryock Medal goes to the best histmed essay by a history grad student. Emma Wathen, University of Wisconsin-Madison, won the Shryock Medal for her oustanding essay, “These ‘Children Won’t Become Women’: Depo-Provera, Intellectual Disability, and the Indian Health Service." Congrats, Emma!

An Open Letter to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Who Thinks My Daughter Is a Tragedy Dear Mr. RFK Jr., (The “dear” is tradition. Don’t mistake it for affection.) You said autistic children are a burden. That they ruin families. That...

This op-ed is freaking beautiful and everyone should read it www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/an-...

I couldn’t write a more eye-opening lecture on race and white identity politics than what this administration is offering in its differential treatment of Afrikaners versus every other refugee or immigrant group.

may he have painful and violent diarrhea

FT Alphaville is undefeated. The disdain for Altman is palpable and deserved.

www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...

Really incredible story unraveling in this thread, where Amazon and other sites have seemingly been able to sell an academic textbook that was withdrawn in 2021 and never actually printed or published, without the knowledge of the press, editors or contributors. Something has gone deeply wrong!

Pope Trolli VI

Happy to announce that I’m hanging up my shingle at Schotland Education! I focus on middle school and high school humanities and STEM tutoring, essays and personal statements, and test prep. If you happen to know anyone who could benefit, I’d be most appreciative 🙏 .

www.schotlandeducation.com