Occasionally reminded that Georgia added a “post tenure review” process bc they were so certain that professors became deadweight once they had job security, and all the outcomes have proven JUST THE OPPOSITE! People work harder and in more complex ways when they feel secure in their employment.
Part of why I am insistent that public libraries must be expanded is because they can offer us a foundation for unleashing creativity and for nurturing imagination. This is an affirmative project at a time when we desperately need to be FOR things and not just against them.
Our society is so fixated on sexual violence, and yet so unwilling to examine the underlying attitudes that produce it. If you don't eliminate misogyny and patriarchy, you will never stop the violent symptoms they inexorably produce.
The closing of African American Studies and GWSS at Iowa is absolutely heartbreaking. It is such an important time to study these subjects. Words really cannot express how upsetting this decision is. www.thegazette.com/higher-educa...
These are “low enrollment” majors but the classes are regularly at capacity. They changed the funding structure a few years ago here, switching the allocation from course enrollments to majors then blamed these departments for a structural, top-down change. This is entirely a political choice.
“…the Epstein files highlight issues that women in academe have mostly discussed in whisper networks: Who is unsafe to be alone with? Which advisers are to be avoided? Whose connections may come with a price?” www.chronicle.com/article/unma...
Lots of good quotes here, and I think if anything good comes out of this awfulness it will perhaps be academics rethinking our reflexive obeisance to prestige and wealth.
"...the notion of the meritocracy is completely revealed to be gendered bullshit.” - @dannagal.bsky.social
The attractiveness of agentic AIs is a symptom of a decades-long trend in higher education. “Univiristies…by and large adopted a transactive model of education,” Kirschenbaum said. “Students see their diploma as a credential. They pay tuition and at the end of four years, sometimes five years, they receive the credential and, in theory at least, that is then the springboard to economic stability and prosperity.”
the AIs are attractive because of what education has become in the US
Screenshot from NEH webpage, text reads: "Fellowships provide recipients time to conduct research or to produce books, monographs, peer-reviewed articles, e-books, born-digital materials, translations with annotations or a critical apparatus, or critical editions resulting from previous research. Projects may be at any stage of development. NEH encourages submissions from independent scholars and junior scholars. The 2026 Fellowships competition will only accept projects for research in American history and culture and Western civilization. Competitive applications must focus on topics in the history, culture, and government of the United States in any period from the Colonial Era to the present, or topics in Western civilization from antiquity to the present."
Fun update on National Endowment for the Humanities fellowships: they have to focus on "American history and culture and Western civilization." Sinologists et al. are no longer welcome.
www.neh.gov/grants/resea...
#Sinology 🀄️📚
The cost for the series is $50. We meet via Zoom each Monday from 6-7:30 pm CT
www.tinyurl.com/Dignified2026
STARTS TODAY (Monday, March 2) - There is still time to sign up for this Lenten lecture series on Queer Theology in the spirit of Pope Francis.
Link is in the comments - Please join us!
If anyone is interested in the keynote I gave at the AJCU conference in Tucson last week, I have posted it here. It’s long and weird, and I would love to hear your thoughts.
https://daviddault.substack.com/p/framing-artificial-intelligence-in
tinyurl.com/Dignified2026
Freinds - Please consider signing up for this 4-part Lenten lecture series on Queer theology. FULLY ONLINE! It's $50 for the whole thing. Please pass this info along to folks that you think might benefit - thank you!
Here's the registration page: https://tinyurl.com/Dignified2026
Hey, good people. I will be delivering an online lecture series every Monday evening in March: “Dignified Agency: Queer Theology in the Spirit of Pope Francis.” I hope you will consider joining, Thank you!
https://epay.luc.edu/C20996_ustores/web/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCTID=7717&SINGLESTORE=true
Thank you! Luck favors the prepared, but it was a lot of luck :)
A friend of mine from college is/was the "Fuck You" Dad, and he has learned some great stuff about virality...
A year ago I had a post “go viral,” getting millions of views and engagements. My latest essay talks about that — how I did it, and more importantly, why. I welcome your thoughts and responses. If you enjoy this, pls share it. Thanks!
https://daviddault.substack.com/p/how-i-became-the-fuck-you-dad
Our latest review from @drbobcornwall.bsky.social covers the ethical implications of how we use scripture as explored in @daultradio.bsky.social’s new book “The Accessorized Bible” (@yalepress.bsky.social).
Apologies for the confusion! I was waiting for the link to be live. It is now on the episode page, and I will post the link here. Thanks!
https://epay.luc.edu/C20996_ustores/web/product_detail.jsp?PRODUCTID=7717&SINGLESTORE=true
Review: "The Accessorized Bible" by @daultradio.bsky.social (@yalepress.bsky.social). Bibles are books serving as platforms, communities, & accessories requiring moral seriousness and an ethical mindset.
www.bobcornwall.com/2026/02/the-... #ccdoc #booksky #theosky @erbks.bsky.social
In this week’s essay, I am grappling with the ways that our long American history of violent colonialism is coming home to roost. I hope you read it, and I hope you share it. I’d love to hear your thoughts. Thank you.
https://daviddault.substack.com/p/rogue-empire
🎙️ New episode drop!
Nat, Bethany, and Jon are joined by @daultradio.bsky.social for a rich, thoughtful conversation about his book The Accessorized Bible (published by @yalepress.bsky.social and available now).
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...
“Well, if woman upset the world, do give her a chance to set it right side up again.”
-Sojourner Truth, 1851
It's not just "stand up to ICE when you see them," it's building many vast networks of support and trust to
- create safe spaces
- protect schools
- get kids TO school
- check on neighbors
- deliver groceries
- help pay the rent
- let people know of danger
- feed the helpers, too!
- and on and on
Adding the first woman’s name to a list that starts at 597 AD. Does that matter? Yeah, it does.
ICE just stole a person from my town. They did it too quickly for activists to mobilize, but we're still fighting. I can't be on the streets for medical reasons so I'm doing quieter work like going to school board meetings and donating supplies and $ to activists and the families of the victims.
And also, ICE is doing much of their kidnappings not in big cities but in suburbs and rural communities. There's a pretty good chance that they're near your city right now snatching people. Minneapolis is on the news, but 90% of ICE isn't. Get involved in your own community NOW.
Yeah, so Collins told Trump this could cost her re-election, so they just pulled back, because they know that removing dangerous people from the country was never really the mission, it was always just about terrorizing anyone who stood up to Trump.
This week’s essay is a little weird. I’m trying to extend some of the ideas I had in The Accessorized Bible about “parasociality.” I welcome you to think along with me. Thank you as always for your kind attention.
https://daviddault.substack.com/p/thor-and-hamilton
My latest essay, in which I attempt to think with my friend @daviddark.bsky.social about his ideas regarding the “prayer trade” and the “God grift”
https://daviddault.substack.com/p/a-question-for-david-dark
