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Erin Michaels

@erin-michaels

Associate Professor UNC-Wilmington sociologist, race, education, immigration, neoliberalism, & the carceral state. PhD CUNY GC BOOK: https://nyupress.org/9781479823390/test-measure-punish/

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Latest posts by Erin Michaels @erin-michaels

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Indoctrination fight raises tensions at University of Houston Some professors push back after a five-page curriculum checklist was unveiled and several deans directed instructors to affirm that they don’t indoctrinate students.

Professors do not indoctrinate students in class but teach them how to think critically and openly.

In the wake of SB 37, University of Houston has introduced syllabi "checklists" and "certifications" to prevent so-called indoctrination in the classroom. This clearly threatens academic freedom.

09.03.2026 21:12 πŸ‘ 37 πŸ” 17 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0
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Abolish ICE Means Abolish the Police w/ Mariame Kaba & Andrea Ritchie (03/09/26) | The Death Panel Get more from The Death Panel on Patreon

In our latest, Mariame Kaba @prisonculture.bsky.social & Andrea Ritchie @dreanyc123.bsky.social on how to understand the spectacular violence of Trump’s ICE surges as an extension of the violence of everyday policing, and why to abolish ICE we must abolish the police

www.patreon.com/posts/152641...

09.03.2026 21:09 πŸ‘ 135 πŸ” 62 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 1
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Lawrence Summers Will Resign From Harvard After Epstein Revelations

I'm glad to see accountability for academia's bad apples. But I also hope that resignations like this one won't be the end of the story. Because we still need to reckon with how the structures and cultures in "elite" academia have created ripe conditions for rot. 1/🧡

www.nytimes.com/2026/02/25/u...

25.02.2026 22:30 πŸ‘ 530 πŸ” 114 πŸ’¬ 19 πŸ“Œ 10
Feminism in Theory and Practice featuring Cecilia Menjivar! Wed February 25th, 2026, 12-1PM PST.

Feminism in Theory and Practice featuring Cecilia Menjivar! Wed February 25th, 2026, 12-1PM PST.

This Wednesday, 2/25 at 3 PM Eastern/noon Pacific! I'll be talking to the brilliant Cecilia MenjΓ­var, of UCLA, about the gender and immigration policy and the impact of ICE enforcement on immigrant women and their families. Join us! stanford.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

23.02.2026 22:13 πŸ‘ 69 πŸ” 24 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 1

This is exactly right. The Onion quietly left Twitter a month ago and... our weekly subscribers went up. It's because we're doing well here, on Instagram and on YouTube.

As a business, being on Twitter is somewhere between useless or detrimental, unless you're selling boner pills.

23.02.2026 01:51 πŸ‘ 29440 πŸ” 4982 πŸ’¬ 333 πŸ“Œ 124
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Yesterday, those who teach Intro to Sociology at Florida colleges (as opposed to universities) received a ready-made curriculum from the state and were ordered to teach it.

Yes, you read that correctly. The *state* is enforcing a curriculum on college profs, complete w/ the following restrictions:

19.02.2026 16:47 πŸ‘ 2754 πŸ” 1567 πŸ’¬ 171 πŸ“Œ 404

Remember the moral panic about safetyism? Trigger warnings? Snowflakes? Well, its actually happening in Texas.

19.02.2026 22:32 πŸ‘ 1876 πŸ” 508 πŸ’¬ 46 πŸ“Œ 17
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I just did the dumbest thing of my entire career to prove a much more serious point.

I tricked ChatGPT and Google, and made them tell other users I’m a competitive hot-dog-eating world champion

People are using this trick on a massive scale to make AI tell you lies. I’ll explain how I did it

18.02.2026 16:37 πŸ‘ 4855 πŸ” 2138 πŸ’¬ 86 πŸ“Œ 304
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Professor Anneliese Mennicke of UNC Charlotte on the debate over academic freedom β€’ NC Newsline Professor Anneliese Mennicke of UNC Charlotte on the debate in higher education over academic freedom and why recent actions of North Carolina leaders have left many UNC faculty members deeply worried...

ncnewsline.com/2026/02/09/p...
A good 15 interview on where we are at in North Carolina with higher ed

18.02.2026 13:06 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Check out our book event this if you are in Wilmington this Friday! @profmarycollier.bsky.social and I will be discussing connections between our new books!

16.02.2026 18:35 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Rev. Jesse Jackson's "I *am* somebody..." remains one of the all-time great pieces of 20th century rhetoric / agitprop

And he could deliver it at a Black separatist meeting, the Democratic National Convention, or on god-blessed Sesame Street (see below πŸ₯Ή)

RIP to the Voice of the Voiceless

17.02.2026 11:29 πŸ‘ 4404 πŸ” 1782 πŸ’¬ 36 πŸ“Œ 105

Resistance by governor in Pennsylvania πŸ‘‡

17.02.2026 11:19 πŸ‘ 27 πŸ” 4 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Opinion | Democrats, It’s Time to Embrace School Choice

Democrats embraced *public school choice* Also no panacea & plenty of problems but there is public accountability.

FWIW: as an expert on AI slop (along w all other profs & teachers), I’d bet some plasma this was written w ChatGPT. Fitting, because the evidence cited herein is of the same merit.

17.02.2026 10:58 πŸ‘ 47 πŸ” 11 πŸ’¬ 11 πŸ“Œ 15

Check out our book event this if you are in Wilmington this Friday! @profmarycollier.bsky.social and I will be discussing connections between our new books!

16.02.2026 18:35 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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CU signs $2M OpenAI deal for ChatGPT access Students and faculty will gain access to ChatGPT Edu starting in March under a three-year deal.

My employer, Univ. Colorado will pay OpenAI $2M/year under the banner of β€œequity”. That’s 54 full scholarships / year. Plus, our IT will be able to read our chatGPT logs, and our chats can be requested under public records law. No thanks. Surveillance is not equity

www.axios.com/local/boulde...

13.02.2026 23:36 πŸ‘ 654 πŸ” 284 πŸ’¬ 30 πŸ“Œ 46
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Just noting this because I have cited the trends a lot recently: Tracking data from Civiqs now shows a plurality of the public favors abolishing ICE, with 47% in support and 46% opposed. Independents are net +5 on abolish, up from -40 a year ago substack.com/profile/4791...

14.02.2026 13:00 πŸ‘ 923 πŸ” 271 πŸ’¬ 17 πŸ“Œ 24

The arrest rate among CBP agents is higher than the arrest rate among undocumented immigrants.

13.02.2026 03:24 πŸ‘ 1066 πŸ” 365 πŸ’¬ 18 πŸ“Œ 12

Just to underscore:

Trans people, we aren't "issues".

Me, I'm not an "ideology".

I'm a human, like anyone else.

The only "ideology" here is those bigots who use such rhetoric in their effort to dehumanize trans people β€”Β because they want us gone.

12.02.2026 11:18 πŸ‘ 448 πŸ” 127 πŸ’¬ 4 πŸ“Œ 4
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Duke Energy reports nearly $5B net income as customers face higher bills, pending rate increases Duke Energy reported nearly $5 billion in net income for 2025 as central North Carolina customers expressed outrage over "doubled" and "outrageous" power bills following a cold snap.

Remember *two weeks ago* when Duke Energy told us their system was incapable of handling the load from a snow storm?

Today: $5 billion in profits for Duke Energy, higher bills for you and me, and what does this state have to show in terms of energy resiliency? #ncpol

www.wral.com/news/local/d...

12.02.2026 02:02 πŸ‘ 8 πŸ” 6 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
"There's Nothing I Enjoy More Than Acting In The Theater" - Ian McKellen EXTENDED INTERVIEW
"There's Nothing I Enjoy More Than Acting In The Theater" - Ian McKellen EXTENDED INTERVIEW YouTube video by The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

Highly recommended interview if one is in need of joy, inspiration and loving embrace to the value of the arts.

youtu.be/2l2RqzVG4ag?...

11.02.2026 18:57 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Congrats! This looks great!

11.02.2026 14:21 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Copies of the book Environmental Sociology Now in a cardboard box.

Copies of the book Environmental Sociology Now in a cardboard box.

Physical copies just arrived!

11.02.2026 00:48 πŸ‘ 80 πŸ” 5 πŸ’¬ 3 πŸ“Œ 0
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Reimagining Aid Foreign Donors, Women’s Health, and New Paths for Development in Cambodia

I can't believe this is the week that my book finally comes out into the world!!

fsi.stanford.edu/publication/...

19.01.2026 17:23 πŸ‘ 14 πŸ” 4 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 1

please do all your planning for this year with the thought in mind that ICE has bought a billion dollars in warehouses to use as concentration camps and they probably don’t intend to leave them empty

11.02.2026 11:15 πŸ‘ 255 πŸ” 76 πŸ’¬ 3 πŸ“Œ 3

This is concerning. During Trump I, it was easy to envision the harm he could do and think, no way that could happen in the U.S. now, during Trump II we really have to be concerned. #RuleOfLaw #ncpol

11.02.2026 11:34 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 1

It's jarring to see how much money is going to ICE instead of education, healthcare, public transportation, international aid, green energy infrastructure, and the arts, but I guess that's the point.

10.02.2026 16:46 πŸ‘ 1317 πŸ” 374 πŸ’¬ 14 πŸ“Œ 8
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How Elite Colleges Aided Censorship During the Red Scares Powerful organizations during the Red Scares crafted a world where β€œacademic freedom” was conditional on political allegiance.

"But if the member presidents choose the guise of institutional neutrality as a way to gain political cover, they may now be leading higher ed toward greater authoritarianism."

Well the AAU is gonna love this (miniest of threads)

www.insidehighered.com/opinion/colu...

10.02.2026 14:21 πŸ‘ 98 πŸ” 53 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 6
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Tenure Will Be Eliminated at Most of Oklahoma’s Public Colleges, Governor Says Gov. Kevin Stitt, a Republican, directed the state’s two-dozen regional universities and community colleges to phase out the practice. Existing faculty members will be grandfathered in.

Breaking, from me: An executive order from Oklahoma's governor directs most of the state's public colleges to "phase out tenure." #AcademicSky #HigherEd @chronicle.com
www.chronicle.com/article/tenu...

05.02.2026 21:59 πŸ‘ 470 πŸ” 341 πŸ’¬ 37 πŸ“Œ 108

that stage of society when school children share the bond of having endured the camps together

05.02.2026 02:12 πŸ‘ 1056 πŸ” 380 πŸ’¬ 9 πŸ“Œ 7

Corporate profits have hit record highs.

CEOs are paid 280x as much as a typical worker.

We're subsidizing huge corporations that pay lousy wages through food stamps and Medicaid.

But instead of cracking down on corporate greed, Republicans want to punish the working poor.

05.02.2026 00:30 πŸ‘ 1684 πŸ” 525 πŸ’¬ 56 πŸ“Œ 16