Frances Bell

CFP: A Time of Monsters The monster has been here all along. It is a historical constant that manifests in wildly different ways across time, place, and culture. Whatever form it takes, the monster claws at categories; it un...

If you are a supporter and reader of @contingent-mag.bsky.social one of the biggest things you can do to help us at the moment is get this CFP to the NTT folks in your life. The fracturing of social media has made it very difficult to get the word out esp. to adjuncts and VAPs.

But hey, I'm glad they have the money to "embed advanced AI into everyday academic life." Maybe they won't even need grad students anymore!

Mind, when I was at W&M a few years ago, most grad students were still not being paid a living wage.

Controversial opinion from the writing desk: Coconut LaCroix is good, actually.

👇👇

A photo of a grey tabby cat sitting in the photographer's lap, next to a laptop on sleep mode.

Hey, at least I opened the laptop. That counts for something, right?

As we begin the 1st few weeks of classes, a reminder that FSSP hosts a large collection of classroom-ready documents related to slavery & its destruction. These first-hand testimonies of enslaved people, Black soldiers, & officials give life to lessons on slavery & the contested arc of emancipation.

I know there's a lot happening today, but this is sneaking in under the radar. This proposed new rule would absolutely crush foreign PhD students, potentially making it impossible for them to enroll with any certainty of their ability to finish www.politico.com/news/2025/08...

Rapid Response: Reinvesting in Racial and Indigenous Health Equity Research The purpose of this call for proposals is to meet the current moment by supporting timely, actionable health equity research that has been interrupted by shifts in federal funding.

ATTN: Robert Wood Johnson has money to support “canceled” research on racial-indigenous health equity

www.rwjf.org/en/grants/ac...

Thank you Colin! It was a lovely day 😊

Thanks, Simon! it was a spectacular weekend.

Thank you!

“The idea that the Smithsonian should reflect any administration’s vision of history is more than problematic.”

~ @agordonreed.bsky.social

100% the important part 😅

😂😂 yes!! It was a perfect beach day!

A black-and-white photo of a couple running down the aisle after getting married in a park.

A short break in your regular programming: we got married! 🎊🎊

Oh my goodness. A very sweet face!

That's helpful! One of the other possible readings is on prison ships, so could easily tie together into a maritime policing day...

This is perfect! It's actually sitting on my shelf, but I haven't yet read beyond the first chapter. So will take a look!

A question, as I polish up my syllabi for th coming semester: do you have a favorite reading on policing/carcerality (broadly conceived) during the American Revolution? I have a few options lined up - but nothing that clicks as well as I'd like so far.

Same here! Even Zotero feels like too much of a distraction, somehow. But I mentioned this to a scientist friend once and she had a wee meltdown 😂

That's the move! And beauty colleges are so underrated - cheap, and the instructors are on hand to fix anything. Tbh I might've made more of a fuss if I hadn't already been there for 3.5 hours...

Yes!! I'm getting in touch tomorrow to ask for a refund. Fingers crossed...

Yup. I know. 😫

It honestly took a while to sink in! 😂 But yeah I'm calling tomorrow because wtf??

RIGHT?? 😂😭

Yes! She was a friend of B.P.B. - but unfortunately left very few details in her letters.

History is contingent - it did not "have to happen" that way.

Just as now, past actors were complex & human! And their actions were shaped by multiple contexts, not just the headlines.

The past helps us understand the present, and often echoes. But it doesn't just repeat.

Yess that too! If anything else comes to mind I'll let you know