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Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her)

@aliciaandrz.bsky.social

13K followers 5.9K following 3.1K posts

assistant prof. of Shakespeare | book: “queer pregnancy in Shakespeare’s plays” | proud CUNY alum | bylines: Chronicle, Boston Globe, LA Review of Books, Electric Lit, Catapult, American Theatre, LitHub, Huffington Post, etc aliciaandrzejewskiphd.com

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Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · Nov 10

hi everyone! I’m a Shakespeare prof at William & Mary & a public scholar, writing for venues on everything from early modern abortion to serpent handling. I post about my sobriety journey, pedagogy, motherhood, mental illness, & more.

I hope my Twitter community finds me, I miss them dearly.

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Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 7h

my husband & I were going to go see the new DiCaprio movie & right before he came to me & said, “Ali, I’m just not up to it tonight, watching gun violence. I just don’t want to see it.”

we stayed home & watched “is it cake?” instead. because, I thought, why do we want to see it?

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Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 15h

google TMS & look into it. my insurance covered some of it because I had tried at least three antidepressants with no results. it doesn’t have many side effects so worth a shot. it’s too early to know if it’s working for me but I’ve heard good things.

Reposted by Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her)

Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 1d

hello to the few academics that follow me. it’s job market time, so here are the materials that got me a tenure-track job in literature at William & Mary.

academic job hunting is like buying a lottery ticket to attend a shit show, but here they are:

www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/yxln6...

Dropbox

www.dropbox.com

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Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 19h

god, I just want to resist the trope of the tortured artist so badly. we don’t have to be in pain to create good art. we can learn to embrace & channel our sensitivity & empathy in good health. I know we can.

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Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 21h

23 days till 2 years sober.

I’m going to do it; it’s in the bag.

a selfie of a woman with long brown and blonde hair wearing a black dress and rose lipstick

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Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 22h

I got up early & wrote 750 words of my article on working with @jodipicoult.bsky.social on her book, By Any Other Name. it feels good to be writing again.

maybe the brain zaps are working.

I read an early draft of By Any Other Name while at the beach with my family. I remember the moment I first encountered Shakespeare in the text. I was not happy: “This [man] was slighter, with a receding hairline and a weak chin badly camouflaged by a dark beard” (144). Emilia immediately remembers reading one of his very bad plays as Hunsdon’s companion. At the bar, Shakespeare claims, “I, too, will write for the stage” and Emilia thinks “Badly” (144). When reading this exchange, I thought: “Jodi, you don’t have to be so mean about it.” Quickly, though, I realized that this is exactly the sentiment built by Shakespeareans Picoult wanted to poke at—the belief that Shakespeare is a god beyond reproach.

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Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 1d

remembering a student eval I got that said something like, “yes Dr. A struggles with depression, which is the most logical & ethical response to the times we live in.”

I love how my students have gone to bat for me in their evals. I guess like they know I’d go to bat for them.

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Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 1d

I think there’s no better evidence that I’m depressed than how lucky I am & how great my life is. I really want to enjoy it & it’s been so hard. the source of my depression? it’s been a lifelong journey to try & find it. but whatever it is is very real & nothing good can touch it.

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Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 1d

nobody deserves the Nobel peace prize like Greta. I have never seen someone act so selflessly & with such humanity in my life. she is the best of us. she reminds us that we never had to be this way & we will never have to be this way.

she reminds us that peace is possible.

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Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 1d

Dropbox

www.dropbox.com

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Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 1d

catching up on responding to emails from my graduated students & am passing along some beautiful words a mentor once gave me:

"mentoring only works if both parties are open to genuine learning & presence & engagement—so please recognize these qualities in yourself."

Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 1d

I went ahead & ordered my two year sobriety chip.

Nov. 2 & I’ll have done it.

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Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 1d

as I struggle, I think about these lines from my tenure report & know to keep going. I make a difference:

“it is common for her students to declare a sense of admiration & affinity with her, to feel that they have connected with an exemplary human being as well as a professor.”

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Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 1d

I listened to “Wood” so I could hear about Travis Kelce’s penis for myself & now it’s stuck in my head. do not recommend

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Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 1d

I am pleased to announce that today I did the very scary thing of being vulnerable & asking for help & it worked out for me.

you can’t receive help if you don’t ask for it. so, try.

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Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 2d

first day of TMS treatment for my depression. definitely feels like my brain is being scrambled, but that’s the point right?

good vibes welcome.

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Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 3d

before the summer two of my students asked me for reading recommendations. I suggested this book & we’re meeting to discuss it today.

sometimes reading literature needs to be divorced from the classroom & grades & be about fun & pleasure. I want to teach my students this.

cover of convenience store woman by sayaka murata

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Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 4d

yes I am an expert on Ophelia. no I will not be commenting on Taylor Swift’s song.

here’s me on Ophelia, bodily autonomy, & abortion for @electricliterature.com:

electricliterature.com/shakespeare-...

Shakespeare Already Wrote About What Happens When Women Don’t Have Bodily Autonomy - Electric Literature

And guess what? It ends badly

electricliterature.com

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Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 4d

“Alicia don’t talk about your meds or mental illness publicly. your students won’t respect you.”

my students:

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Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 4d

waiting for my doctor to send in a prescription so I can refill my meds & am imagining all the things I would do with the time I spend trying to get scripts filled each month—I’d be so successful & awesome.

it truly is a privilege not to be on (controlled) meds. enjoy, friends!

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Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 4d

found out one of my colleagues nominated me for a big teaching award today & that means as much to me as winning it.

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Reposted by Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her)

Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 4d

omg @chronicle.com listed my piece from 2023 as “the great read” in a recent lineup.

amazing! I’m very proud of it.

www.chronicle.com/article/the-...

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Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 4d

grading would be a whole lot easier if I wasn't at an institution where students cry their eyes out over an A-.

I gave a student a 90 once & he practically banged down my office door to tell me a male professor said his writing was great. it's exhausting. As for everyone.

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Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 4d

the proof that you don’t choose to be trans is the fact trans people still exist in this administration. because it is fucking scary right now & I certainly wouldn’t choose to have a huge target on my back.

& even if they do choose to be trans they deserve the same rights as anyone else.

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Alicia Andrzejewski (she/her) @aliciaandrz.bsky.social · 4d

omg @chronicle.com listed my piece from 2023 as “the great read” in a recent lineup.

amazing! I’m very proud of it.

www.chronicle.com/article/the-...

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