Andrea Kaston Tange
@aktange.bsky.social
2.8K followers 1.3K following 2.5K posts
Victorianist & lit professor, gardener, lover of quirky details. Writing sporadically at https://andreakastontange.com
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aktange.bsky.social
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.
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]
Reposted by Andrea Kaston Tange
smith.senate.gov
A single mother in Marshall, Minnesota making $40,000 will pay an EXTRA $140 every single month to get health insurance for herself and her two kids if we don’t get a shutdown deal.
Reposted by Andrea Kaston Tange
timwatson.bsky.social
It stuck with me because he actually wanted us to figure out *why*—not to stop at "they're all lying bastards." Critical thinking *and* media literacy.

He didn't use those terms, though; he was a dyed-in-the-wool Leavisite. And I wouldn't be an English professor without him. Thank you, Mr. Kirkham.
Reposted by Andrea Kaston Tange
timwatson.bsky.social
A great question to ask and a hard one to answer.

In simpler times (the 1980s), I recall my secondary school English teacher saying that when we saw a politician speaking we should ask, "why is this bastard lying to me?" (This was on our one screen, with a grand total of three channels.)
volts.wtf
All I want in life is to persuade everyone, when encountering politics & culture, to ask, "why are we talking about this?" I mean that very literally: anything you encounter on your screens reflects a choice. Someone covered that, talked about that, rather than the many other things out there. Why?
Reposted by Andrea Kaston Tange
nickfleisher.bsky.social
Exactly. A contract binds both parties. "Assurances" from this administration are always revocable. You don't keep your lunch money through negotiation.
ryanenos.bsky.social
Nothing shows the dangerous tendency to normalize authoritarianism like the New York Times coverage of the extortion of Harvard. One could read this article and think it is about a free agent inking a contract with the Yankees. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/09/u...
Harvard Seeks Assurances as Talks Restart in Washington
www.nytimes.com
aktange.bsky.social
It's not news that that man wants a Nobel Peace prize any more than it's news that I'd like an Oscar. And I'm sick of how the MSM treats as worthy of legitimate consideration the warped fantasies that are creating nightmares for the rest of us.
aktange.bsky.social
Lucky lucky students! I can hardly wait to hear from my daughter if she was there in person. She would have been so inspired if she was.
Reposted by Andrea Kaston Tange
Reposted by Andrea Kaston Tange
biscuitkitten.bsky.social
“the girlfriend of one of the founders of antifa”
Ingrid Bergman as Ilsa Lund in Casablanca
aktange.bsky.social
10/10 highly recommend. (Pro tip: cowl necks and loose turtlenecks also appeal, so you can wear bird jewelry all fall & winter, between those three.)
aktange.bsky.social
No, but he makes little contented twittery noises periodically while he's snuzzled up. He also tweets to interject himself into conversations in the room in which he is not involved. And will make an occasional squawk to punctuate things.
aktange.bsky.social
Bethany, when I tell you it is SO soothing, I am wildly understating things. 💙
aktange.bsky.social
Anyone who has ever been edited who CANNOT say this has not allowed themselves to be properly edited, is all I can say.
aktange.bsky.social
Every time it happens, I am charmed all over again.
aktange.bsky.social
Smol friend flew onto my shoulder, climbed down into the convenient nest, and is now sound asleep. This is immensely helpful for working.
A tiny aqua parakeet sits on the shoulder of a woman wearing a comfy sweater and a loose floral scarf. The same tiny parakeet is now nestled into the scarf, and smooshed up against the woman's neck. She's grinning. An even closer photo shows the bird settled in with its head turned backwards, and it's eyes closed.
aktange.bsky.social
Apropos of nothing at all, grammar and logic would suggest that if you go after anti-fascists, you must be pro-fascist.

Math suggests it too, now I think of it. Two negatives making a positive and all.

(I want to make a liberal-arts-teaching-people-to-think joke here but can't quite find it.)
aktange.bsky.social
Nope, it's real. I saw the news video a few days ago. They bulldozer ripped up this whole art-deco intersection (that crosswalk was actually four, forming a huge square), out of pure spite and meanness. And at huge taxpayer expense, no doubt.
aktange.bsky.social
AAUP/AFT petition against the Trump compact, which is an attempt to coerce U.S. universities to fall in line with ultra-conservatives mandates at the risk of losing federal funding if they don't comply. This is unconstitutional. Add your name to the chorus of outcry against such blackmail tactics.
Trump Higher Ed Compact 2025
We stand for education—for science, for students and for freedom—and against this backward, anti-American policy. We call on university leaders, faculty, staff and students to unite in rejecting the T...
actionnetwork.org
Reposted by Andrea Kaston Tange
mkirschenbaum.bsky.social
Virginia State Senate Dems just brought down fire and fury regarding the “Compact,” notifying the President and Rector that UVA would lose ALL STATE APPROPRIATIONS if it signs and cedes the University to “federal political control.” Notably, their letter directly restates points made here by @siva.
sivav.bsky.social
The “compact” for higher ed is an unserious document written by unserious people from a position of spectacular ignorance. No one should take it seriously. Sadly, my bosses are taking it seriously.

newrepublic.com/article/2013...
Why This Essay Could Cause the University of Virginia to Shut Down
How Linda McMahon’s latest “compact” would do deep and permanent harm to American higher education
newrepublic.com
aktange.bsky.social
fwiw, I feel this, and I sympathize. And also this place sounds wonderful.
aktange.bsky.social
PSA: Get yourself a Committee of No—a trusted group you can ask about opportunities, offers & obligations to figure out which you should accept and which you should decline. It's a real boon in thinking through workload issues. Plus, they'll inevitably text you funny things at stressful moments.
Reposted by Andrea Kaston Tange
jefftiedrich.bsky.social
the people who told us to calm down because Roe was settled law are the same people now telling us to calm down because the military would never open fire on Americans
Reposted by Andrea Kaston Tange
atrubek.bsky.social
Anthropic settlement explainer:
--look up to see if your work was included (easy)
--file a claim if it was (easy)

--Amount will likely be 1.5K (3K per book, split w/publisher)
--Money comes between now and 2027 (in separate tranches)
Submit a Claim
secure.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com