Asheesh Kapur Siddique
@asheeshksi.bsky.social
History & political economy of culture
asheeshks.org/
asheeshks.org/
December 14, 2025 at 4:33 PM
It's a structural problem caused by standardized testing, large classes, and a refusal to pay educators. I can't speak for secondary education, but I can say that at a college level, it's amazing how enthusiastic even your colleagues can be about gaslighting you that many of these are just fine.
The most important story of 2025 that we're not talking about enough (gift link) www.nytimes.com/2025/12/12/u...
Kids Rarely Read Whole Books Anymore. Even in English Class.
www.nytimes.com
December 12, 2025 at 6:21 PM
It's a structural problem caused by standardized testing, large classes, and a refusal to pay educators. I can't speak for secondary education, but I can say that at a college level, it's amazing how enthusiastic even your colleagues can be about gaslighting you that many of these are just fine.
Reposted by Asheesh Kapur Siddique
So, yes, this is horrifying. But there are two things the article does not address:
1. Back in the day, English teachers got two prep hours, not just one. The thinking then was that they had twice as much student writing to go through and grade and it took twice as much time (more, really).
1. Back in the day, English teachers got two prep hours, not just one. The thinking then was that they had twice as much student writing to go through and grade and it took twice as much time (more, really).
The most important story of 2025 that we're not talking about enough (gift link) www.nytimes.com/2025/12/12/u...
Kids Rarely Read Whole Books Anymore. Even in English Class.
www.nytimes.com
December 12, 2025 at 1:20 PM
So, yes, this is horrifying. But there are two things the article does not address:
1. Back in the day, English teachers got two prep hours, not just one. The thinking then was that they had twice as much student writing to go through and grade and it took twice as much time (more, really).
1. Back in the day, English teachers got two prep hours, not just one. The thinking then was that they had twice as much student writing to go through and grade and it took twice as much time (more, really).
Reposted by Asheesh Kapur Siddique
“And some Penn alumni, I assume, are good people.”
I mean, the Penn student newspaper isn't wrong, but www.instagram.com/p/DSH1X4EDwP...
December 12, 2025 at 3:07 AM
“And some Penn alumni, I assume, are good people.”
An excellent way to destroy public higher education in your state.
This -- a model bill to effectively decimate non-STEM research by requiring 3-3 teaching loads outside of "STEM or Americanism and western civilization" -- seems...extremely bad but also quite plausible.
Proposed Model Bill Would Change College Tenure, Teaching, & Research
Three conservative groups have proposed model legislation that would dramatically change faculty tenure paths, teaching loads, research activities and hiring authority
www.forbes.com
December 12, 2025 at 4:05 PM
An excellent way to destroy public higher education in your state.
Reposted by Asheesh Kapur Siddique
Lol at every university trustee and law firm partner who concluded they had no choice but to play ball with this bumbling fool
Trump 0-3 on indicting Tish James and just had his ass handed to him by Indiana Republican legislators he threatened and bullied. Also new low in AP poll at 36% approval.
December 11, 2025 at 10:14 PM
Lol at every university trustee and law firm partner who concluded they had no choice but to play ball with this bumbling fool
“I considered transferring out of U.T., because if my professors are unable to teach me, and I’m not able to have candid conversations to get a proper education, what am I here for?” www.nytimes.com/2025/12/10/u...
The Conservative Overhaul of the University of Texas Is Underway
www.nytimes.com
December 11, 2025 at 12:54 AM
“I considered transferring out of U.T., because if my professors are unable to teach me, and I’m not able to have candid conversations to get a proper education, what am I here for?” www.nytimes.com/2025/12/10/u...
Reposted by Asheesh Kapur Siddique
when we speak of intellectual freedom, or academic freedom, what do we mean? typically freedom from restraint, right? No-one pretends that everyone has the same level of access to resources to pursue their work - right?
December 10, 2025 at 10:27 PM
when we speak of intellectual freedom, or academic freedom, what do we mean? typically freedom from restraint, right? No-one pretends that everyone has the same level of access to resources to pursue their work - right?
I don't think this is the best use of our finite time on earth.
IN DEPTH | If you could speak to your dead grandmother forever, would you?
If you could speak to your dead grandmother forever, would you?
www.independent.co.uk
December 10, 2025 at 7:35 PM
I don't think this is the best use of our finite time on earth.
Reposted by Asheesh Kapur Siddique
My final manuscript in! And now I give you..... COVER REVEAL (US cover, UK is sooooo different but it's not public yet)
December 10, 2025 at 2:11 PM
My final manuscript in! And now I give you..... COVER REVEAL (US cover, UK is sooooo different but it's not public yet)
Much of the media in this country believes that the problem with higher education today isn't the attitude of college presidents like Albright's but instead . . . being 'too accommodating' to students with disabilities.
Yes we all agree that this is the reason colleges are in trouble
December 9, 2025 at 10:54 PM
Much of the media in this country believes that the problem with higher education today isn't the attitude of college presidents like Albright's but instead . . . being 'too accommodating' to students with disabilities.
imagine if academics worked-to-rule. 40-40-20 on a 40 hour work week would mean 16 hours on teaching (lol), 16 hours on research (lmao), 8 hours on service (rofl)
December 9, 2025 at 3:42 PM
imagine if academics worked-to-rule. 40-40-20 on a 40 hour work week would mean 16 hours on teaching (lol), 16 hours on research (lmao), 8 hours on service (rofl)
Reposted by Asheesh Kapur Siddique
Really important thread 👇, to which I would add that we need to consider overlap of 1.) endowment managers of the NYU model, 2.) owners of EdTech platforms for student surveillance discussed here, & 3.) private equity capture of NCAA football undergoing chaotic privatization.
Two articles that explain what weird vision the Chronicle class of higher ed executives is chasing everywhere all at once in the new dispensation.
1) Everyone wants to be the SEC, now that the NYU model of growth via real estate speculation, fed-funded research, grad-degree retail sales has failed
1) Everyone wants to be the SEC, now that the NYU model of growth via real estate speculation, fed-funded research, grad-degree retail sales has failed
How SEC Universities Won the Enrollment Wars
The ascendance of Southern flagships is a story of sun, football, and a sophisticated recruitment strategy.
www.chronicle.com
December 7, 2025 at 4:33 PM
Really important thread 👇, to which I would add that we need to consider overlap of 1.) endowment managers of the NYU model, 2.) owners of EdTech platforms for student surveillance discussed here, & 3.) private equity capture of NCAA football undergoing chaotic privatization.
Reposted by Asheesh Kapur Siddique
Two articles that explain what weird vision the Chronicle class of higher ed executives is chasing everywhere all at once in the new dispensation.
1) Everyone wants to be the SEC, now that the NYU model of growth via real estate speculation, fed-funded research, grad-degree retail sales has failed
1) Everyone wants to be the SEC, now that the NYU model of growth via real estate speculation, fed-funded research, grad-degree retail sales has failed
How SEC Universities Won the Enrollment Wars
The ascendance of Southern flagships is a story of sun, football, and a sophisticated recruitment strategy.
www.chronicle.com
December 6, 2025 at 6:12 PM
Two articles that explain what weird vision the Chronicle class of higher ed executives is chasing everywhere all at once in the new dispensation.
1) Everyone wants to be the SEC, now that the NYU model of growth via real estate speculation, fed-funded research, grad-degree retail sales has failed
1) Everyone wants to be the SEC, now that the NYU model of growth via real estate speculation, fed-funded research, grad-degree retail sales has failed
Reposted by Asheesh Kapur Siddique
On Monday the FIFA Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel will be awarded to Larry Summers
December 6, 2025 at 2:24 PM
On Monday the FIFA Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel will be awarded to Larry Summers
At the same time, USC is paying a presumably large sum of money to OpenAI to give students access to ChatGPT we-are.usc.edu/2025/12/03/a...
December 6, 2025 at 2:34 AM
At the same time, USC is paying a presumably large sum of money to OpenAI to give students access to ChatGPT we-are.usc.edu/2025/12/03/a...
Reposted by Asheesh Kapur Siddique
The AHA, perpetually keeping its power dry for a battle it will never fight. Reupping this because the AHA will always disappoint in this regard. It's a country club, not a union, and when people accept this and opt for something else they'll be happier.
December 5, 2025 at 6:20 PM
The AHA, perpetually keeping its power dry for a battle it will never fight. Reupping this because the AHA will always disappoint in this regard. It's a country club, not a union, and when people accept this and opt for something else they'll be happier.
Certainly raises a big question for the American historical profession, given its noted emphasis in the Trump era on 'history as essential to the defense of democracy': hard to take this message seriously when the discipline itself is governed in such an undemocratic manner. 🗃️
Last week the @historians.org Council decided to deny its members the opportunity to vote on two resolutions—one in solidarity with Gaza and one condemning the sustained assault on “core principles of education” in the US and abroad—at the organization’s conference next month. 1/ 🗃️
December 5, 2025 at 5:03 PM
Certainly raises a big question for the American historical profession, given its noted emphasis in the Trump era on 'history as essential to the defense of democracy': hard to take this message seriously when the discipline itself is governed in such an undemocratic manner. 🗃️
Disappointing: "The [AHA] Council received two resolutions for consideration at the 2026 annual business meeting: the 'Resolution in Solidarity with Gaza' and the 'Resolution Opposing Attacks on Core Principles of Education.' but "the Council will not place the proposed resolutions on the agenda."
December 5, 2025 at 4:47 PM
Disappointing: "The [AHA] Council received two resolutions for consideration at the 2026 annual business meeting: the 'Resolution in Solidarity with Gaza' and the 'Resolution Opposing Attacks on Core Principles of Education.' but "the Council will not place the proposed resolutions on the agenda."
Reposted by Asheesh Kapur Siddique
After the University…page proofs
December 5, 2025 at 3:43 PM
After the University…page proofs
Reposted by Asheesh Kapur Siddique
this encapsulates the essential relationship between the people running universities, the people doing academic work in universities, and the people looking to smash and grab as much as possible from universities while we're on the way down
My employer, Dartmouth College, today boasts it's 1st Ivy "to launch AI at an institutional scale." It is doing this by partnering--"more than a collaboration"--with Anthropic, a company that stole the books of many faculty, me included, which many of us are suing.
December 5, 2025 at 1:51 AM
this encapsulates the essential relationship between the people running universities, the people doing academic work in universities, and the people looking to smash and grab as much as possible from universities while we're on the way down
Reposted by Asheesh Kapur Siddique
My employer, Dartmouth College, today boasts it's 1st Ivy "to launch AI at an institutional scale." It is doing this by partnering--"more than a collaboration"--with Anthropic, a company that stole the books of many faculty, me included, which many of us are suing.
December 4, 2025 at 9:38 PM
My employer, Dartmouth College, today boasts it's 1st Ivy "to launch AI at an institutional scale." It is doing this by partnering--"more than a collaboration"--with Anthropic, a company that stole the books of many faculty, me included, which many of us are suing.
Many universities including @umassamherst.bsky.social now claim that federal cuts mean that the institution has to defund scholarship & teaching. My colleague Kevin Young recently published a report showing that in the UMass case, at least, this is completely wrong: drive.proton.me/urls/VS9FJ3D...
Proton Drive
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December 5, 2025 at 12:45 AM
Many universities including @umassamherst.bsky.social now claim that federal cuts mean that the institution has to defund scholarship & teaching. My colleague Kevin Young recently published a report showing that in the UMass case, at least, this is completely wrong: drive.proton.me/urls/VS9FJ3D...
Terrible things happening at the New School: www.newschoolfreepress.com/2025/11/27/a...
Administration finalizes restructuring plans in a university-wide email - The New School Free Press
What do you think about the changes to The New School? NSFP wants to hear from you. Tell us how you feel here. Administration is moving forward with plans to significantly reshape The New School. Pres...
www.newschoolfreepress.com
December 4, 2025 at 8:06 PM
Terrible things happening at the New School: www.newschoolfreepress.com/2025/11/27/a...