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publicbooks.bsky.social
Public Books
@publicbooks.bsky.social
3.3K followers 150 following 990 posts
Public Books is an online magazine of ideas, arts, and scholarship. www.publicbooks.org
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dennismhogan.bsky.social
Dennis Hogan @dennismhogan.bsky.social · 14h
Last week, Public Books published a roundtable that we put together on higher ed under Trump. Six contributors, six essays, six ideas for what those of us in higher education can do now to make the world a little better, a little saner, and a little safer. Read the series here (my intro below):
publicbooks.bsky.social
Public Books @publicbooks.bsky.social · 4d
“Taken together, our roundtable contributors present a suite of ideas that, if enacted, just might make higher education more livable for us all.”
The full series “Higher Ed Under Trump” is live at Public Books. Read all the contributions here:
Toward the Next American University: A Roundtable Discussion on the Future of Higher Ed - Public Books
The path higher education was on before Trump’s reelection was neither certain nor stable. There is not much to go back to now.
www.publicbooks.org
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publicbooks.bsky.social
Public Books @publicbooks.bsky.social · 11h
“‘The Cybernetic Border’ is an exemplary project of disentangling border technologies from the language of progress and techno-solutionism.”
Tech, Stones, and Stories: How the Violence of Border Tech is a Historical Matter - Public Books
Border technologies live within loops of failure → crisis → fix → failure → crisis → fix, eternally to be tested. It will work, promise! Just wait for one more iteration
www.publicbooks.org
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publicbooks.bsky.social
Public Books @publicbooks.bsky.social · 13h
This week at PB: Contributors respond to “The Cybernetic Border” (@dukepress.bsky.social) by Iván Chaar López, which shows how the US border was shaped by questions of identity, frontier imaginaries, & the history of the US as a settler colony & an empire-nation.
Borders Are War by Other Means - Public Books
The border today is and is made through sociotechnical arrangements centering data in the regulation of racial difference.
www.publicbooks.org
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publicbooks.bsky.social
Public Books @publicbooks.bsky.social · 15h
As part of our series on "The Cybernetic Border," @philippseuferling.bsky.social outlines 3 ideas that history debunks: 1) that border technologies are neutral; 2) that technology equals progress; and 3) that technology offers solutions to crises.
Tech, Stones, and Stories: How the Violence of Border Tech is a Historical Matter - Public Books
Border technologies live within loops of failure → crisis → fix → failure → crisis → fix, eternally to be tested. It will work, promise! Just wait for one more iteration
www.publicbooks.org
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publicbooks.bsky.social
Public Books @publicbooks.bsky.social · 18h
“If there is a future for higher ed, it’s one that will likely require collaboration between the university’s often arbitrarily separated populations: faculty, staff, & students. There’s another source of academic allyship, though: teachers of secondary school.”
Toward the Higher- and Secondary-Ed Alliance! - Public Books
The influence of K-12 policy and pedagogy on higher ed can perhaps be seen best in the trickle-up effect of the standards of the Common Core.
www.publicbooks.org
publicbooks.bsky.social
Public Books @publicbooks.bsky.social · 1d
“For centuries—from the dispossession, displacement, and enclosure of Indigenous peoples through colonial settlement and frontier making, all the way to the US–Mexico War in the mid-19th century—military action and violence has created and maintained US borders.”
Borders Are War by Other Means - Public Books
The border today is and is made through sociotechnical arrangements centering data in the regulation of racial difference.
www.publicbooks.org
4
publicbooks.bsky.social
Public Books @publicbooks.bsky.social · 1d
“Disciplines like English and history have found themselves making the case for their continued existence by speaking the language of pragmatism, career success, and transferability.”
Toward the Higher- and Secondary-Ed Alliance! - Public Books
The influence of K-12 policy and pedagogy on higher ed can perhaps be seen best in the trickle-up effect of the standards of the Common Core.
www.publicbooks.org
2 4
publicbooks.bsky.social
Public Books @publicbooks.bsky.social · 1d
“We need to understand border enforcement & borders as ensembles mixing the social & technical in the management of inclusion and exclusion.”

New at PB: Iván Chaar López introduces a series that responds to "The Cybernetic Border" (@dukepress.bsky.social).
Borders Are War by Other Means - Public Books
The border today is and is made through sociotechnical arrangements centering data in the regulation of racial difference.
www.publicbooks.org
2 4
publicbooks.bsky.social
Public Books @publicbooks.bsky.social · 1d
The Common Core failed, secondary & higher-ed embraced its own demise, and proponents of “classical” (read, “conservative”) education are ready with their own ideas of what learning. Anne E. Clarks asks: What, now, is to be done?
Toward the Higher- and Secondary-Ed Alliance! - Public Books
The influence of K-12 policy and pedagogy on higher ed can perhaps be seen best in the trickle-up effect of the standards of the Common Core.
www.publicbooks.org
2 3
publicbooks.bsky.social
Public Books @publicbooks.bsky.social · 2d
“HBCUs must reject narratives—rooted in white supremacy—that cast queerness as deviant or divisive. Far-right movements are weaponizing misinformation to erase queer and trans* lives, especially those of color.”
This Is Not a Choice—It Is a Charge: How HBCUs Must Embrace Black Radical Love & Empower Queer and Trans* Students - Public Books
This essay calls in HBCUs to recommit to Black queer and trans* inclusion.
www.publicbooks.org
2
publicbooks.bsky.social
Public Books @publicbooks.bsky.social · 2d
The Gates Foundation’s bias toward assessable skills, mass testing, and “workforce training” virtually ensured that Common Core standards would give short shrift to any academic discipline not grounded in quantitative learning.
Toward the Higher- and Secondary-Ed Alliance! - Public Books
The influence of K-12 policy and pedagogy on higher ed can perhaps be seen best in the trickle-up effect of the standards of the Common Core.
www.publicbooks.org
2 4
publicbooks.bsky.social
Public Books @publicbooks.bsky.social · 3d
“Black queer & trans* students often face a painful contradiction at HBCUs: embraced for being Black but pushed to the margins for their gender and sexual identities.”

New at PB: Jarrel T. Johnson on the ways HBCUs can better support queer & trans* students.
This Is Not a Choice—It Is a Charge: How HBCUs Must Embrace Black Radical Love & Empower Queer and Trans* Students - Public Books
This essay calls in HBCUs to recommit to Black queer and trans* inclusion.
www.publicbooks.org
3
publicbooks.bsky.social
Public Books @publicbooks.bsky.social · 3d
“Many Americans may not want to stop institutional racism. However, part of why the right’s campaign against affirmative action was so successful is that admissions criteria at selective universities, including public flagships, seem nebulous and arbitrary.”
To Save Public Higher Ed, Stop Revering California’s Tiered System - Public Books
Open admissions to all state-funded public universities could break the competitive concentration of prestige, increase affordability through more egalitarian institutional funding, and restore…
www.publicbooks.org
2 1
publicbooks.bsky.social
Public Books @publicbooks.bsky.social · 3d
New at PB: As part of a series exploring higher ed under Trump, curated by @dennismhogan.bsky.social, @annaeclark.bsky.social discusses the way the Common Core failed us—and opened doors for Trump’s direct attack on academic freedom and funding sources.
Toward the Higher- and Secondary-Ed Alliance! - Public Books
The influence of K-12 policy and pedagogy on higher ed can perhaps be seen best in the trickle-up effect of the standards of the Common Core.
www.publicbooks.org
2 2
publicbooks.bsky.social
Public Books @publicbooks.bsky.social · 3d
When colleges take steps to ensure the success of Black and Hispanic men, they run the risk of retaliation from conservatives who would resegregate education.

“But the alternative won’t guarantee being spared from hostile policymakers.”
To Save Higher Ed, Seek Our Black and Hispanic Men - Public Books
Policymakers and institutional leaders seeking to preserve higher education’s functionality should consider the enrollment and completion rates of Black and Hispanic men.
www.publicbooks.org
1 5
publicbooks.bsky.social
Public Books @publicbooks.bsky.social · 4d
“Taken together, our roundtable contributors present a suite of ideas that, if enacted, just might make higher education more livable for us all.”
The full series “Higher Ed Under Trump” is live at Public Books. Read all the contributions here:
Toward the Next American University: A Roundtable Discussion on the Future of Higher Ed - Public Books
The path higher education was on before Trump’s reelection was neither certain nor stable. There is not much to go back to now.
www.publicbooks.org
3 7
publicbooks.bsky.social
Public Books @publicbooks.bsky.social · 4d
“In a moment when labor is under attack in education, the government, and the private sector, a united front is more necessary than ever.”
Our Right to Our Union: Graduate Student Workers Under Threat - Public Books
University leaders may make a show of opposing Trump when funding is under threat, but they will happily align themselves with him in confronting graduate student workers.
www.publicbooks.org
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publicbooks.bsky.social
Public Books @publicbooks.bsky.social · 4d
“We must work step by step, in an organizational way, toward direct control of universities. If we do, we’ll be of real use to our knowledge allies in building the self-governing knowledge systems we need to block authoritarian implosion and get a future we want.”
Academics Must Seize the Means of Knowledge Production - Public Books
Trumpism has canceled the knowledge society.
www.publicbooks.org
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publicbooks.bsky.social
Public Books @publicbooks.bsky.social · 4d
“This essay calls in HBCUs to recommit to Black queer and trans* inclusion: lifting recent progress and offering strategies rooted in radical love, grassroots leadership, and collective (un)learning.”
This Is Not a Choice—It Is a Charge: How HBCUs Must Embrace Black Radical Love & Empower Queer and Trans* Students - Public Books
This essay calls in HBCUs to recommit to Black queer and trans* inclusion.
www.publicbooks.org
1
publicbooks.bsky.social
Public Books @publicbooks.bsky.social · 4d
New at PB: As part of a series exploring higher ed under Trump, curated by @dennismhogan.bsky.social, @ccollins330.bsky.social considers how institutions of higher education have failed Black and Hispanic men—and how they might do better.
To Save Higher Ed, Seek Our Black and Hispanic Men - Public Books
Policymakers and institutional leaders seeking to preserve higher education’s functionality should consider the enrollment and completion rates of Black and Hispanic men.
www.publicbooks.org
2 4
publicbooks.bsky.social
Public Books @publicbooks.bsky.social · 5d
“Black queer and trans* students are not waiting for your permission to exist. They are organizing, resisting, and building liberatory futures.”
This Is Not a Choice—It Is a Charge: How HBCUs Must Embrace Black Radical Love & Empower Queer and Trans* Students - Public Books
This essay calls in HBCUs to recommit to Black queer and trans* inclusion.
www.publicbooks.org
publicbooks.bsky.social
Public Books @publicbooks.bsky.social · 5d
“While we can indeed blame Reagan and the new right for laying the groundwork for public universities’ dependence on tuition, the antidemocratic structure of the California Master Plan laid the groundwork for public education as individual, private good.”
To Save Public Higher Ed, Stop Revering California’s Tiered System - Public Books
Open admissions to all state-funded public universities could break the competitive concentration of prestige, increase affordability through more egalitarian institutional funding, and restore…
www.publicbooks.org
1
publicbooks.bsky.social
Public Books @publicbooks.bsky.social · 5d
The first step is for educational institutions to lead and organize open dialogue—with other institutions, local K–12 schools, and community members—about how best to support Black and Hispanic men at every educational step.
To Save Higher Ed, Seek Our Black and Hispanic Men - Public Books
Policymakers and institutional leaders seeking to preserve higher education’s functionality should consider the enrollment and completion rates of Black and Hispanic men.
www.publicbooks.org
1
publicbooks.bsky.social
Public Books @publicbooks.bsky.social · 5d
New at PB: Jarrel T. Johnson addresses three steps HBCUs can take to empower queer and trans* students in the Trump era: 1) embody a radical love and care ethic. 2) commit to (un)learning. And 3) lead and transform from where you are.
This Is Not a Choice—It Is a Charge: How HBCUs Must Embrace Black Radical Love & Empower Queer and Trans* Students - Public Books
This essay calls in HBCUs to recommit to Black queer and trans* inclusion.
www.publicbooks.org
publicbooks.bsky.social
Public Books @publicbooks.bsky.social · 5d
In a new piece at PB, Christopher Newfield explains how even some of the professoriat exists to serve capital. And those who resist are targeted by Trumpism for obliteration.
Academics Must Seize the Means of Knowledge Production - Public Books
Trumpism has canceled the knowledge society.
www.publicbooks.org
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