Kevin MacDonnell

The WaPa headline says: 60,000 Gazans were killed. 18,500 of them were children. These are some of their names. Then follows an enormous list of small print names

Thousands of small print names interspersed with some photos of some of the child victims

NEW: 18,500 children have been killed by Israeli forces in Gaza.

The Washington Post has just published every single known name.

A seminal moment.

As scholars of genocide, we demand an end to Israel’s atrocities | Open letter Within weeks, 400 colleagues joined our organization. We say: it is not too late to save lives. End the genocide now

'As scholars of genocide, we demand an end to Israel’s atrocities'

- Taner Akçam, Marianne Hirsch and Michael Rothberg

Within weeks, 400 colleagues joined our organisation. We say: it is not too late to save lives. End the genocide now.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

So, fellow history professor kids, what kind of writing assignments are we thinking about that are AI-resistant? Beyond some in-class reading responses and close primary source readings, what things have been moderately successful for an in-person class? 🗃️

always reposting, it's the rules, like the best lipsynch

English professor here: naive question for US C19 historian friends—based on the FL records I've seen, post-Civil War land office tract books and homestead land patents didn't identify claimants' race, whereas US census records obviously did. Is there an obvious reason for the difference?

First page of syllabus for grad class, "Novel Theory"

Second page of syllabus for grad class, "Novel Theory"

Halfway through my six-week grad summer class, "Novel Theory." We've been reading classics as well as recent work by @dorazhang.bsky.social, @teaganbradway.bsky.social, & @ehayot.bsky.social. Up next: @drbibliomane.bsky.social, @sinsleyh.bsky.social, @annakornbluh.bsky.social, & more!

Israeli strike on Gaza’s Catholic church injures friend of Pope Francis Father Gabriel Romanelli was hurt in the attack on the Holy Family Church on Thursday, with unconfirmed reports of two people killed

Having destroyed almost all the hospitals, schools, and colleges, and 92% of homes Israel moves onto Christian churches bit.ly/4nTr1El perhaps priest was targeted for briefing the Pope regularly on the horrors in Gaza

Reading Scenario Experiments. This series of prompts is designed to get you thinking about how the setting for reading affects concentration, comprehension, and even the existential experience of reading. Every week, one of the following prompts will appear on the syllabus. I encourage you to try all of them that you are able. How does a different reading setting affect your mood? Your receptiveness to the prose? Your pleasure or difficulty reading? What are the particular impacts of changing your lighting or surroundings? What do you notice about yourself and about the work you are reading during this experiment? 1. read by candlelight (use a small lamp in dorms where no candles are allowed!) 2. read for one hour without checking any devices, answering texts, etc. 3. walk out into nature (climb a tree, sit on a rock, grab a spot in a hammock) and read 4. host a reading night with friends & food (sit in companionable silence, reading without chatting) 5. read aloud a chapter to someone else 6. climb into bed at night and read by flashlight under the covers for at least 30 minutes, as if you’ve already been told “lights out” as a kid 7. reread a chapter and see what new things you notice the second time through 8. change your ambient-noise level: add music if you normally read in the quiet; or read without music if you are normally a music-listener 9. read with a sketchpad at hand and sketch scenes, characters, or other elements from the story 10. practice focused listening: have someone read to you 11. make yourself a special, fancy snack on a real plate to nibble while eating: pay attention to the cooking or arranging or choosing of ingredients to make it especially appetizing first 12. make tea (even if you’re not usually a tea drinker), and read and sip 13. invent a new reading scenario for yourself, or repeat the one you liked the best from this term [writing assignment using these prompts follows; text character limit prevents inclusion of it in full]

Here you go! I'll write some new ones for this semester too. They loved them. The "read without your phone or screens in the room" was a revelation, and many of them decided to keep doing it. They had NO IDEA (& were horrified) how often they interrupt themselves to look at a phone for no reason.

I have loved every episode! My personal favorite was your conversation with Cardinal Radcliffe, who was just a pleasure to listen to

Would be interested to see the same graph for "proper use of the semicolon" over time. Would it be flatter? I have found myself telling students to avoid using semicolons altogether because they are so prone to misusing them.

Children Beg for Father’s Release After ICE Detains Jackson Man Activists are calling on immigration officials to release Kerlin Moreno-Orellana from ICE custody after his arrest for illegal dumping.

Two brothers, ages 8 and 10, stared nervously into news cameras on June 19, speaking with quiet determination to a group of onlookers much older than themselves.

“We need our dad back home,” the 8-year-old said.

ICE took custody of their father, Kerlin Moreno-Orellana, that morning.

My wife and I took turns going to our local rally. The reason we didn’t go together and bring our kids, if I’m being honest, is the looming threat of a gunman or a car plowing through the crowd. It ended up being safe and jovial, but violence at one of these things feels inevitable…

Thanks. This Willymott translation had been the version I kept landing on.

By the way, I was just revisiting your Defoe book the other day so it's funny to see a reply from you!

Yes! I think they were first published in 1638 but this 1641 version is just what I’m looking for. Thank you!

Any thoughts on where to find Francis Bacon’s Essays in the original Latin? I thought this would be easy to find but I’m striking out!

.@CBS8 in San Diego reports that due to Bishop Michael Pham’s presence in the courtroom, in effect, cases of migrants today were postponed.

Worth noting that the maniacs in charge of Iran are only in power because of US-led regime change. The Iranian Revolution that brought extremists like Khameini to power was a direct response to the US-backed coup that overthrew Mossadegh and gave the Shah absolute power.

Wow! I need this book!

YouTube video by Middle East Eye British historian on how colonialism led to the ‘genocide in Gaza’

William Dalrymple on the colonial responsibility for Gaza.
Speaking at the 600000 strong rally held in London on Saturday, & completely ignored by British media
youtu.be/MZ6wvi2FR6U?...

No Kings On June 14—Flag Day—Donald Trump wants tanks in the street and a made-for-TV display of dominance for his birthday. A spectacle meant to look like strength. But real power isn’t staged in Washington. ...

Mass protests matter. Tomorrow's No Kings National Day of Action will send a clear message that millions of people from all walks of life oppose the Trump administration’s illegal power grab. Find your local event here: nokings.org

And FWIW I recently published a piece on the conceptual figure that underwrites a key design feature of the steam engine that I'm happy to send to you, even if just to mine the works cited.

You might be using the term "concept figure" in a more discipline-specific way than what I'm thinking of, but first thing that comes to mind for me is Siegfried Giedion's Mechanization Takes Command.

(around an image of a map of No Kings events) NO KINGS JUNE 14 - NATIONWIDE DAY OF DEFIANCE nokings.org

We will not cower, even in the face of Trump’s militarized escalation.

On Saturday, we are going to rise up all across the country in defiance of this administration’s authoritarian agenda.

Join the nationwide peaceful protests for No Kings Day: www.nokings.org?SQF_SOURCE=i...

If you are inclined to read about funny novels in the 18th century, periods, labor and birth, hysteria etc you can pre-order the book! www.rutgersuniversitypress.org/delaware/bod...

Specters of the Atlantic?

very cool that for ten years people at the heights of political commentary insisted to the point of rage that the paramount threat to free speech was “censorious” college students

😂

Is there a specific term we use to describe Britain in the decades after the Glorious Revolution? Post-revolutionary Britain? Parliamentary Britain? Liberal Britain? It's possible I'm completely blanking on it but I can't think of a term that accounts for the major changes wrought by the revolution.

Impossible to even imagine the fallout if a Dem administration took over in 2029 and immediately began shipping white South African asylum seekers to foreign gulags to serve life sentences without a trial.