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Laurie Pearce

@pearcele.bsky.social

Assyriologist, MELC UCBerkeley. Gardener, Walker.

566 Followers  |  162 Following  |  145 Posts  |  Joined: 15.07.2023
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Posts by Laurie Pearce (@pearcele.bsky.social)

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I’m a Polio Survivor. I Don’t Want You to Get It. Polio is once again a public health threat in the United States. Grace is disappointed, though not surprised.

Since polio vaccines may be considered “optional,” do you enjoy the following? Walking, being warm, having energy, driving normally, sports, travel, functional bowel and bladder, strong bones

If you enjoy any of the above, then polio vaccines are not optional, they’re common sense #polio #vaccines

26.01.2026 04:01 — 👍 417    🔁 184    💬 15    📌 7

cut and paste in action!

22.01.2026 00:38 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

With our eyes wide open!

01.01.2026 05:34 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

We did this in 1995, and I have no idea of what it costs, but we took a 2-3 hour bus tour run by Harrod's. There was a guide narrating the sights, and iirc, cookies were served on board.

29.12.2025 04:04 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

Third thing sent back to editors. Next up a short write-up and dissertation reading and review.

23.12.2025 00:07 — 👍 2    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0

Never rearrange the library. You'll never find anything ever again.

22.12.2025 04:01 — 👍 4    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

Another thing sent back to editors. One more to go.

22.12.2025 04:00 — 👍 2    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

Thank you! You are kind to say.

22.12.2025 01:26 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

Thing sent back to editors.

22.12.2025 00:27 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0

Join the sick kid in the feast!

27.10.2025 17:18 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

Maybe ......

07.10.2025 02:31 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0

Revenge will come when she's old enough to spout things you have said and realizes OMG I sound (or worse: I've become) like my mother!

26.09.2025 21:14 — 👍 2    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

understood!

13.09.2025 16:50 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

Asking for technical information: would that help in view of the fact that a fair amount of uni activity (emails, e.g., and I assume anything else done on uni computers?) are archived?

13.09.2025 16:43 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0

Second proofs thing sent!

05.09.2025 18:58 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0
I've now been allowed and asked to share more details about what's going down at the University of Oregon, which involves imminent announcement of firings, among others, of tenure-track and tenured faculty. Given the units impacted (see below), please  share this with your professional networks in related disciplines and start getting ready to put pressure (or begin putting pressure already) on the University of Oregon upper admin to abandon this alleged plan before they finalize it.

It appears that, with no prior consultations, the departments of Religion and Classics (two separate units), and the programs in Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies, German & Scandinavian, Judaic Studies, Arabic Studies, and Holocaust Studies (the latter five all parts of a previously-consolidated mega unit called the Schnitzer School of Global Studies and Languages) are facing imminent announcement of elimination (expected the week of Sept 7), with layoffs of pre-tenure, tenured, and career faculty in these units. The reason given is "financial exigency" -- upper administrations of several universities across the country (and in blue states like Oregon also) appear to be giddy to use the context of Trump attacks on higher ed to dismantle the humanities.

Faculty at OU won a faculty union not long ago; this may be, in part, a retaliation for that, I've been told. The union is working with AAUP, etc.; my understanding is that the maximum spotlight is needed at this point.

I've now been allowed and asked to share more details about what's going down at the University of Oregon, which involves imminent announcement of firings, among others, of tenure-track and tenured faculty. Given the units impacted (see below), please share this with your professional networks in related disciplines and start getting ready to put pressure (or begin putting pressure already) on the University of Oregon upper admin to abandon this alleged plan before they finalize it. It appears that, with no prior consultations, the departments of Religion and Classics (two separate units), and the programs in Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies, German & Scandinavian, Judaic Studies, Arabic Studies, and Holocaust Studies (the latter five all parts of a previously-consolidated mega unit called the Schnitzer School of Global Studies and Languages) are facing imminent announcement of elimination (expected the week of Sept 7), with layoffs of pre-tenure, tenured, and career faculty in these units. The reason given is "financial exigency" -- upper administrations of several universities across the country (and in blue states like Oregon also) appear to be giddy to use the context of Trump attacks on higher ed to dismantle the humanities. Faculty at OU won a faculty union not long ago; this may be, in part, a retaliation for that, I've been told. The union is working with AAUP, etc.; my understanding is that the maximum spotlight is needed at this point.

A massive attack on several humanities units (Arabic Studies, Judaic Studies, Holocaust Studies, Classics, Religion, German & Scandinavian, Russian/East European/Eurasian Studies) *and* tenure now unfolding at the University of Oregon (a blue state!). Closure of units and faculty layoffs threatened.

18.08.2025 18:42 — 👍 1033    🔁 760    💬 47    📌 145
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Stand Up for UC We must stand together to protect our students, staff, faculty and our mission.

www.universityofcalifornia.edu/get-involved...

11.08.2025 16:16 — 👍 3    🔁 3    💬 0    📌 0
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Reading Creation Myths Economically in Ancient Mesopotamia and Israel Cambridge Core - Economic History - Reading Creation Myths Economically in Ancient Mesopotamia and Israel

Planning to spam the timeline for the next 2 weeks to make sure as many people as possible can get a copy during the free period. Stay tuned for increasingly unhinged posts as I find ways to amuse myself

04.08.2025 15:57 — 👍 4    🔁 3    💬 0    📌 0

Did you feel it?

03.08.2025 06:17 — 👍 0    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0

Just sent a thing back to the editors. Two things crept up to fill its place!

31.07.2025 05:35 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0

You get a night off!

31.05.2025 05:18 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 0    📌 0
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Cuts to NEH and Humanities Councils: What Southern States Will Lose - Federation of State Humanities Councils Jump to Your State: Alabama | Arkansas | Georgia | Kentucky | Louisiana | Mississippi | North Carolina | Oklahoma | Tennessee | Texas On Monday, March 31, the Federation … Read more

Hats off to the Federation of State Humanities Councils, and the southern state councils for leading the way in speaking up about what they're losing with the NEH funding cuts.

04.04.2025 20:53 — 👍 79    🔁 40    💬 0    📌 3

We will not blindly follow illegal orders because Donald Trump wrote them down on a piece of paper.

Illinois follows the laws of the land – not the decrees of an aspiring king hell bent on disenfranchising millions of voters who deserve to have their voice heard.

25.03.2025 23:36 — 👍 10549    🔁 2127    💬 107    📌 177
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Elementary Phoenician – Grammar and Inscriptions

We are offering two FREE, online semi-intensive short courses in #Phoenician and Punic #language in April 🏛️ 🏺

Elementary course info: ics.sas.ac.uk/events/eleme...

Intermediate course info: ics.sas.ac.uk/events/inter...

Share and Apply by 22 March!

10.03.2025 20:38 — 👍 93    🔁 54    💬 3    📌 5

And here in the US, with the shutdown of the weather service, those 20,000 residents might get no warnings.

04.03.2025 17:17 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0

vaccinate your child. As a survivor of the measles, I lost much of my eyesight but am guaranteed immunity. My son, as an adult, just went and received a booster to ensure the 97% effectiveness that he can have with the vaccine. It is a PREVENTABLE DISEASE.

27.02.2025 18:41 — 👍 6    🔁 3    💬 0    📌 0

It's hard to describe what a feat this is, and shouldered by a much smaller group than the folks who captured the data. @asegerberg.bsky.social has been chipping away at this database for years. Rescuing data is hard, but curating & publishing it is a much harder, lonely slog. Prepare for it.

24.02.2025 16:41 — 👍 89    🔁 32    💬 4    📌 2

That 10% of what just got cut from Education.

17.02.2025 23:36 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0

Priceless ;)

12.02.2025 01:17 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0

letter sent to my rep (former speaker Pelosi)! @homophonous.bsky.social has gotten me into active letter writing mode

12.02.2025 01:14 — 👍 1    🔁 0    💬 1    📌 0