Audrey Truschke
@audreytruschke.bsky.social
Professor of South Asian history Rutgers-Newark | Anti-fascist | pro-education | https://www.audreytruschke.com/ | https://princeton.press/8r8idcye
Pinned
It's publication day! 🙌
U.S. link: amazon.com/India-000-Ye...
UK link: amazon.co.uk/India-000-Ye...
India link: amazon.in/India-000-Ye... (*releases June 17)
U.S. link: amazon.com/India-000-Ye...
UK link: amazon.co.uk/India-000-Ye...
India link: amazon.in/India-000-Ye... (*releases June 17)
For those outside the field, interested in how historians of premodern India work with primary sources, here's one example...
This is the end of a Jain Sanskrit manuscript copied in the late 1590s. #Jain #Mughal #Sanskrit #manuscripts #primarysouces #history #India #SouthAsia
This is the end of a Jain Sanskrit manuscript copied in the late 1590s. #Jain #Mughal #Sanskrit #manuscripts #primarysouces #history #India #SouthAsia
November 25, 2025 at 3:24 PM
For those outside the field, interested in how historians of premodern India work with primary sources, here's one example...
This is the end of a Jain Sanskrit manuscript copied in the late 1590s. #Jain #Mughal #Sanskrit #manuscripts #primarysouces #history #India #SouthAsia
This is the end of a Jain Sanskrit manuscript copied in the late 1590s. #Jain #Mughal #Sanskrit #manuscripts #primarysouces #history #India #SouthAsia
"I don’t think parents know that their kids are behind."
I see this all the time. Meanwhile, I taught / teach all my kids reading and math (most recently, two-variable linear equations with my middle schooler). From hard copy books, obvs.
nymag.com/intelligence...
I see this all the time. Meanwhile, I taught / teach all my kids reading and math (most recently, two-variable linear equations with my middle schooler). From hard copy books, obvs.
nymag.com/intelligence...
How Public Education Failed in the Liberal Enclaves That Care About It Most
Student achievement has fallen off a cliff. Neither Trump nor the pandemic is to blame.
nymag.com
November 24, 2025 at 7:23 PM
"I don’t think parents know that their kids are behind."
I see this all the time. Meanwhile, I taught / teach all my kids reading and math (most recently, two-variable linear equations with my middle schooler). From hard copy books, obvs.
nymag.com/intelligence...
I see this all the time. Meanwhile, I taught / teach all my kids reading and math (most recently, two-variable linear equations with my middle schooler). From hard copy books, obvs.
nymag.com/intelligence...
Some of you may recall this post. I thought I'd provide an update on how planning for my analog course is going...
It's been a mix of expected and unexpected, but welcome, surprises --
It's been a mix of expected and unexpected, but welcome, surprises --
Fellow academics, I'm doing it. Going all in. Pulling the plug, literally.
This is on my syllabus for Spring 2026: "This is an analog class. No Canvas; this syllabus is your guide."
All readings are printed books; hand-written exams; no laptops. #academicbluesky #Highered #academia #Rutgers
This is on my syllabus for Spring 2026: "This is an analog class. No Canvas; this syllabus is your guide."
All readings are printed books; hand-written exams; no laptops. #academicbluesky #Highered #academia #Rutgers
November 24, 2025 at 3:10 PM
Some of you may recall this post. I thought I'd provide an update on how planning for my analog course is going...
It's been a mix of expected and unexpected, but welcome, surprises --
It's been a mix of expected and unexpected, but welcome, surprises --
I'll be there, talking about biography in Asian studies!
The #AAS2026 preliminary conference program is online ... start browsing the nearly *600 sessions*, planning your schedule, and seeing all that our gathering in Vancouver has to offer!
buff.ly/gItXtM1
buff.ly/gItXtM1
November 24, 2025 at 2:44 PM
I'll be there, talking about biography in Asian studies!
I didn't have to elaborate for an audience in Berlin tonight on what lies at the end of the road that begins with book burning.
The hate mail always gets a reaction though. And it should. It places those who send it beyond the bounds of any respectable society. #Hindutva
The hate mail always gets a reaction though. And it should. It places those who send it beyond the bounds of any respectable society. #Hindutva
November 20, 2025 at 9:52 PM
I didn't have to elaborate for an audience in Berlin tonight on what lies at the end of the road that begins with book burning.
The hate mail always gets a reaction though. And it should. It places those who send it beyond the bounds of any respectable society. #Hindutva
The hate mail always gets a reaction though. And it should. It places those who send it beyond the bounds of any respectable society. #Hindutva
It's always nice when my university includes my recent public-facing work in our internal newsletter.
It's especially nice when they note the right-wing challenges that I face. #Rutgers #academiclife
(Link to article where I'm quoted: www.abc.net.au/religion/cat...)
It's especially nice when they note the right-wing challenges that I face. #Rutgers #academiclife
(Link to article where I'm quoted: www.abc.net.au/religion/cat...)
November 20, 2025 at 9:02 AM
It's always nice when my university includes my recent public-facing work in our internal newsletter.
It's especially nice when they note the right-wing challenges that I face. #Rutgers #academiclife
(Link to article where I'm quoted: www.abc.net.au/religion/cat...)
It's especially nice when they note the right-wing challenges that I face. #Rutgers #academiclife
(Link to article where I'm quoted: www.abc.net.au/religion/cat...)
This is a whiney, self-indulgent attempt at self-deception.
It’s also not reflective of 99.99% of historians. Do better @chronicle.com! There are a lot of historians out there with interesting, reflective things to say. Talk to them.
It’s also not reflective of 99.99% of historians. Do better @chronicle.com! There are a lot of historians out there with interesting, reflective things to say. Talk to them.
Harvard's prosecutorial culture was "miserable," says Jill Lepore. Even so, she stayed, but has since come to regret her silence. https://chroni.cl/4ihof9O
Why Jill Lepore Nearly Quit Harvard
The prosecutorial culture was “miserable.” She stayed, but has come to regret her silence at the time.
www.chronicle.com
November 19, 2025 at 8:39 PM
This is a whiney, self-indulgent attempt at self-deception.
It’s also not reflective of 99.99% of historians. Do better @chronicle.com! There are a lot of historians out there with interesting, reflective things to say. Talk to them.
It’s also not reflective of 99.99% of historians. Do better @chronicle.com! There are a lot of historians out there with interesting, reflective things to say. Talk to them.
Guess who I found, destined to live together in a box in Berlin for eternity…
#Shivaji #Aurangzeb #Mughal #Maratha #iykyk
#Shivaji #Aurangzeb #Mughal #Maratha #iykyk
November 19, 2025 at 10:17 AM
Guess who I found, destined to live together in a box in Berlin for eternity…
#Shivaji #Aurangzeb #Mughal #Maratha #iykyk
#Shivaji #Aurangzeb #Mughal #Maratha #iykyk
Amazing crowd in Berlin tonight. Visible reaction when I mentioned some of BG Tilak's more unsavory views (really, all his views on women).
There are truly no unmitigated heroes in history. None. And it isn't a historian's job to pretend otherwise.
There are truly no unmitigated heroes in history. None. And it isn't a historian's job to pretend otherwise.
November 18, 2025 at 10:37 PM
Amazing crowd in Berlin tonight. Visible reaction when I mentioned some of BG Tilak's more unsavory views (really, all his views on women).
There are truly no unmitigated heroes in history. None. And it isn't a historian's job to pretend otherwise.
There are truly no unmitigated heroes in history. None. And it isn't a historian's job to pretend otherwise.
When copying the #Mahabharata in #Persian in 18th-century #India, did one praise Allah or Rama?
Sometimes, the copyist praised both.
More Hindus read the epics in Persian (versus Sanskrit) in this period.
Images courtesy of Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin
Sometimes, the copyist praised both.
More Hindus read the epics in Persian (versus Sanskrit) in this period.
Images courtesy of Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin
November 18, 2025 at 10:12 AM
When copying the #Mahabharata in #Persian in 18th-century #India, did one praise Allah or Rama?
Sometimes, the copyist praised both.
More Hindus read the epics in Persian (versus Sanskrit) in this period.
Images courtesy of Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin
Sometimes, the copyist praised both.
More Hindus read the epics in Persian (versus Sanskrit) in this period.
Images courtesy of Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin
Definite upside of Berlin — Nobody blinks at my surname or asks how to spell it repeatedly. 😎
November 17, 2025 at 4:39 PM
Definite upside of Berlin — Nobody blinks at my surname or asks how to spell it repeatedly. 😎
Ban laptops from the classroom.
I have for a decade, and it works great.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/16/o...
I have for a decade, and it works great.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/16/o...
Opinion | The Screen That Ate Your Child’s Education
www.nytimes.com
November 17, 2025 at 10:56 AM
Ban laptops from the classroom.
I have for a decade, and it works great.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/16/o...
I have for a decade, and it works great.
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/16/o...
It’s going to be a good week.
November 17, 2025 at 10:41 AM
It’s going to be a good week.
"Call me a poet of death."
So opens this article, which defies description. It's about death and life, personal loss and academic excellence, images and poetry, pain and beauty. I've rarely devoured a scholarly article, as I did this one...
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
So opens this article, which defies description. It's about death and life, personal loss and academic excellence, images and poetry, pain and beauty. I've rarely devoured a scholarly article, as I did this one...
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Pursuing Immortality, Pursuing the Arts of Death
According to South Asia’s Hindu traditions, three individuals evade death through an intense encounter with the god Yama, ender and soul-taker. While Indian intellectuals have been preoccupied with...
www.tandfonline.com
November 14, 2025 at 6:10 PM
"Call me a poet of death."
So opens this article, which defies description. It's about death and life, personal loss and academic excellence, images and poetry, pain and beauty. I've rarely devoured a scholarly article, as I did this one...
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
So opens this article, which defies description. It's about death and life, personal loss and academic excellence, images and poetry, pain and beauty. I've rarely devoured a scholarly article, as I did this one...
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
It's new for India's far-right paramilitary RSS to directly lobby on Capitol Hill.
It's bad news for America.
And it may well be illegal under U.S. law.
You're going to want to read this one -- prismreports.org/2025/11/12/r... #Hindutva #RSS100Years #RSS100
It's bad news for America.
And it may well be illegal under U.S. law.
You're going to want to read this one -- prismreports.org/2025/11/12/r... #Hindutva #RSS100Years #RSS100
RSS hires U.S. lobbyists for congressional influence campaign
Squire Patton Boggs lobbied U.S. lawmakers on behalf of the RSS, a Hindu nationalist group linked to discrimination and violence against Muslims
prismreports.org
November 12, 2025 at 8:53 PM
It's new for India's far-right paramilitary RSS to directly lobby on Capitol Hill.
It's bad news for America.
And it may well be illegal under U.S. law.
You're going to want to read this one -- prismreports.org/2025/11/12/r... #Hindutva #RSS100Years #RSS100
It's bad news for America.
And it may well be illegal under U.S. law.
You're going to want to read this one -- prismreports.org/2025/11/12/r... #Hindutva #RSS100Years #RSS100
Hindu nationalists wield less power in NYC today versus six months ago.
If you are a Hindu American and frustrated -- even irate -- about Hindu nationalists taking your identity in vain and pushing far-right hate, here are your people and playbook --
scroll.in/article/1088...
If you are a Hindu American and frustrated -- even irate -- about Hindu nationalists taking your identity in vain and pushing far-right hate, here are your people and playbook --
scroll.in/article/1088...
How ‘Hindus for Zohran’ pushed back against Hindutva claims in New York mayoral race
The Muslim candidate of South Asian origin faced hostility because he called out the political motivations behind the Gujarat riots.
scroll.in
November 12, 2025 at 1:37 PM
Hindu nationalists wield less power in NYC today versus six months ago.
If you are a Hindu American and frustrated -- even irate -- about Hindu nationalists taking your identity in vain and pushing far-right hate, here are your people and playbook --
scroll.in/article/1088...
If you are a Hindu American and frustrated -- even irate -- about Hindu nationalists taking your identity in vain and pushing far-right hate, here are your people and playbook --
scroll.in/article/1088...
It's lovely to be quoted in this article, exploring Vance's recent "I hope my not-really-Hindu wife converts to Catholicism" statement and what various responses tell us about the state of American pluralism, far-right alliances, and religion.
www.abc.net.au/religion/cat...
www.abc.net.au/religion/cat...
JD Vance, Usha and the social media wars of religion - ABC Religion & Ethics
After Vice-President JD Vance expressed his desire that his wife, Usha Chilukuri Vance — who was raised Hindu — would convert to Christianity, the online backlash demonstrated the dangers of politicis...
www.abc.net.au
November 11, 2025 at 4:03 PM
It's lovely to be quoted in this article, exploring Vance's recent "I hope my not-really-Hindu wife converts to Catholicism" statement and what various responses tell us about the state of American pluralism, far-right alliances, and religion.
www.abc.net.au/religion/cat...
www.abc.net.au/religion/cat...
On India's #Hindutva fury at a mayor oceans away:
"[Mamdani] exposes the ideological brittleness at the heart of Hindutva—a movement so insecure in its vision of India that it cannot tolerate even diaspora success stories that fall outside its narrow script."
caravanmagazine.in/politics/mod...
"[Mamdani] exposes the ideological brittleness at the heart of Hindutva—a movement so insecure in its vision of India that it cannot tolerate even diaspora success stories that fall outside its narrow script."
caravanmagazine.in/politics/mod...
Narendra Modi's silence on Zohran Mamdani’s victory reveals what terrifies Hindutva supporters
Zohran Mamdani represents everything whose existence the Hindu Right has spent decades trying to deny.
caravanmagazine.in
November 11, 2025 at 1:43 PM
On India's #Hindutva fury at a mayor oceans away:
"[Mamdani] exposes the ideological brittleness at the heart of Hindutva—a movement so insecure in its vision of India that it cannot tolerate even diaspora success stories that fall outside its narrow script."
caravanmagazine.in/politics/mod...
"[Mamdani] exposes the ideological brittleness at the heart of Hindutva—a movement so insecure in its vision of India that it cannot tolerate even diaspora success stories that fall outside its narrow script."
caravanmagazine.in/politics/mod...
Guess who’s back??
Some of these are literally from decades ago, with yellowed paper and all. Your friendly state universities are hard at work on a shoe string budget.
💪 #highered
Some of these are literally from decades ago, with yellowed paper and all. Your friendly state universities are hard at work on a shoe string budget.
💪 #highered
November 10, 2025 at 1:40 PM
Guess who’s back??
Some of these are literally from decades ago, with yellowed paper and all. Your friendly state universities are hard at work on a shoe string budget.
💪 #highered
Some of these are literally from decades ago, with yellowed paper and all. Your friendly state universities are hard at work on a shoe string budget.
💪 #highered
Modi’s man, Amit Shah, is directly tied to assassination attempts of American and Canadian citizens (one successful and one failed).
I repeat: Hindutva is violent.
globalnews.ca/news/1151469...
I repeat: Hindutva is violent.
globalnews.ca/news/1151469...
Intercepted communications link Indian government to B.C. Sikh leader’s assassination | Globalnews.ca
British intelligence provided Canada with initial tip tying India’s government to temple leader's 2023 killing.
globalnews.ca
November 9, 2025 at 6:41 PM
Modi’s man, Amit Shah, is directly tied to assassination attempts of American and Canadian citizens (one successful and one failed).
I repeat: Hindutva is violent.
globalnews.ca/news/1151469...
I repeat: Hindutva is violent.
globalnews.ca/news/1151469...
Great response to this conversation, which has been viewed thousands of times within 24 hours!
For those who want to know my sources for all this information -- I give you over 115 pages of notes + bibliography in my India book. Dive in and have fun!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=IR05...
For those who want to know my sources for all this information -- I give you over 115 pages of notes + bibliography in my India book. Dive in and have fun!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=IR05...
From the Indus Valley to Modi’s India: Audrey Truschke on 5,000 Years of South Asian History
YouTube video by New Wave History
www.youtube.com
November 7, 2025 at 6:25 PM
Great response to this conversation, which has been viewed thousands of times within 24 hours!
For those who want to know my sources for all this information -- I give you over 115 pages of notes + bibliography in my India book. Dive in and have fun!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=IR05...
For those who want to know my sources for all this information -- I give you over 115 pages of notes + bibliography in my India book. Dive in and have fun!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=IR05...
A progressive, diverse wing of the South Asian American diaspora is poised to transform U.S. politics.
Among other things, that group opposes Hindu nationalism. This is the way forward.
www.cnn.com/2025/11/07/u... #Mamdani
Among other things, that group opposes Hindu nationalism. This is the way forward.
www.cnn.com/2025/11/07/u... #Mamdani
New York’s mayor is India’s pride – and a fierce critic of the country’s leader | CNN
When Zohran Mamdani made history this week by becoming the first South Asian mayor of New York, his victory was seen as a seismic event in American politics.
www.cnn.com
November 7, 2025 at 5:04 PM
A progressive, diverse wing of the South Asian American diaspora is poised to transform U.S. politics.
Among other things, that group opposes Hindu nationalism. This is the way forward.
www.cnn.com/2025/11/07/u... #Mamdani
Among other things, that group opposes Hindu nationalism. This is the way forward.
www.cnn.com/2025/11/07/u... #Mamdani
I'll be in Berlin in a couple of weeks, giving two talks. Do join us!
RSVP (Nov 18): luma.com/tjcyoy5t
RSVP (Nov 20): www.eventbrite.com/e/fieldnotes...
RSVP (Nov 18): luma.com/tjcyoy5t
RSVP (Nov 20): www.eventbrite.com/e/fieldnotes...
November 7, 2025 at 2:18 PM
I'll be in Berlin in a couple of weeks, giving two talks. Do join us!
RSVP (Nov 18): luma.com/tjcyoy5t
RSVP (Nov 20): www.eventbrite.com/e/fieldnotes...
RSVP (Nov 18): luma.com/tjcyoy5t
RSVP (Nov 20): www.eventbrite.com/e/fieldnotes...
Delights of today include watching American Hindu nationalists trip all over themselves trying to spin their losses in yesterday's elections.
Delights moving forward include progressive coalitions that cultivate true pluralism, affordability, and a brighter future for everyone.
Delights moving forward include progressive coalitions that cultivate true pluralism, affordability, and a brighter future for everyone.
November 5, 2025 at 5:31 PM
Delights of today include watching American Hindu nationalists trip all over themselves trying to spin their losses in yesterday's elections.
Delights moving forward include progressive coalitions that cultivate true pluralism, affordability, and a brighter future for everyone.
Delights moving forward include progressive coalitions that cultivate true pluralism, affordability, and a brighter future for everyone.