Spring cleaning in a household with two academics is just shuffling books around to new flat surfaces
01.03.2026 20:06
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Spring cleaning in a household with two academics is just shuffling books around to new flat surfaces
whats right, living by conviction, and holding administrations accountable for their stewardship of the community and its most cherished values.
All that to say, I think graduate students and faculty members should recognize that we are the guardians of that recent history & it’s important for students to see their participation in a university community as not just sports camaraderie etc. but also continuing a legacy of standing up for
university archives to see ephemera—flyers, zines, posters—that students made for those protests, and I have encouraged students to think about how history is recorded in real time, as well as what it means for an institution to archive stories that conflict with the “official narrative.”
It changed how I teach about UNC history. I’ve made a point to share about violent police suppression against that student activism, the university’s complicity in harming and silencing students, and the surveillance against professors who speak out against genocide. Next week, we will go to the…
Because campus communities almost completely turn over every four years, movements like this become distant history in the blink of an eye. It hadn’t even occurred to me that my students knew almost nothing about that time; that they were sophomores in high school when we were in the thick of it.
But last semester, when teaching a freshman class on student protests against the Vietnam War, a student raised their hand and said, “I heard about another war protest on campus recently where students were camping on Polk Place. Do you know anything about that?”
Told my sister I’m taking my qualifying exams this week.
Her: Then you’ll have a PhD?
Me: No, then I have to write and defend a prospectus.
Her: But then you’ll have a PhD?
Me: No, then I have to write and defend a diss.
Her: Then what?
Me: Then I’ll be done.
Her: and you’ll get a job?
Me: …🫠
“I watched him die… then I watched them maneuver his body like a rag doll— only to discover it was because they wanted to count the bullet wounds and see how many they ‘got’, like he was a deer.”
It’s meeeeeeeee!
Let me know what you think.
Congrats Hardeep! Can’t wait to read this!
tfw when the imperialism is boomeranging
There certainly were some who found unexpected books that excited them, don’t get me wrong! It was simply noteworthy to me that many students measured success or failure in terms of “time spent.”
Screenshotting my worksheet for anyone interested!
3. One of the most valuable takeaways from the session was helping students see how information is arranged and connected. Students shared that the process of physically moving between ideas helped them see connections they hadn’t thought of before. Digital search simply doesn’t facilitate that.
2. One of the most common responses I received was that finding physical books “wastes time” or “takes too long.” In the age of AI searching, my students overwhelmingly view research as a task to complete; I want to help them view it as a meandering path—even one to find pleasure in.
1. The physical space of the library is overwhelming. Not only do students struggle to understand the Library of Congress classification, but actual wayfinding can be a challenge! Encouraging students to wander through the stacks helped overcome the intimidation.
Last week, I asked my 20 undergrad students who had checked out a physical book from the library and only 2 raised their hands. So today, we went to the library to change that. Here’s what I learned:
“The struggle over the flag, fought among the ruins, is also a struggle over the ruins themselves, the history those ruins speak to, and what they say about who gets to live on this land.”
www.thedriftmag.com/in-ruins/
#academicsky Are there other college instructors out there that have used standards-based grading? I’m considering switching from a contract grading system and would appreciate some insights…
Forget the Ken Burns American Revolution doc—this is my American Revolution. #RHOSLC
How I did not even know there was a British version…?!
For my intro class next semester, I’m teaching a close reading unit focused on narrators and narration. texts I’m considering include:
-Arrested Development
-Billy Budd
-Love Island
-Fall of the House of Usher
-Lucian’s True History
-Fleabag
…#AcademicSky what else should be on this list?
Prof. Dan-el Padilla Peralta’s work has inspired me and so many other young scholars across disciplines. It was a privilege to be able to organize an interdisciplinary gathering at UNC to engage with his current and forthcoming publications!
englishcomplit.unc.edu/2025/11/crit...
Today’s used book store delivery: “Petronius”’ unexpurgated guide to New York (feat. disinterested cat)
Aubrey Beardsley’s fetuses are unsettling for *many* reasons, but one of the main reasons is because they look like Dr. Moron from Loony Tunes
For more on the circumstances of Prof. Dixon’s situation: www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty...
To all fellow academics concerned about censorship and the violation of faculty members’ first amendment rights, please consider signing this petition to reinstate Prof. Dixon at UNC:
www.change.org/p/reinstate-...
The first thing they said about the article was “It was weird” 😂 but they ended by saying “He had some good points” …in freshman speak that is a slam dunk.
