Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

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Prisonculture @prisonculture.bsky.social · 9h

I just got off a call with a group of young people who were seeking some guidance for a project they have launched in their community. Folks, I can tell you that we are blessed in this generation. They are smart and importantly so damn compassionate. ALSO, they know more than we did at their age.

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Ryan Cordell @ryancordell.org · 15h

Experimenting with a new concept using @queermedieval.bsky.social’s Portland Frog woodcut. Embracing goofiness as protest.

A poster in green ink on off white paper. In the center is a woodcut style illustration of a protester wearing an inflatable frog costume standing up against two ICE agents. The text above and below reads:

VIVE LA
RIBBITSTANCE

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William Orchard @billeo.bsky.social · 11h

Finding his light

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Tita Chico @titachico.bsky.social · 17h

Lisa Moore: "like the medieval monks and nuns who buried precious manuscripts to hide them from the kings who burned their abbeys, we will preserve this knowledge and progress for another time in the future."

Tita Chico @titachico.bsky.social · 17h

www.statesman.com/opinion/colu...

After 35 years at UT Austin, I hardly recognize my university | Opinion

What was once a beacon of access and discovery is now fighting for its soul and mission as political attacks upend norms, rules and rights, Lisa L. Moore writes.

www.statesman.com

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Ursula @ladyofsardines.bsky.social · 17h

Just read this which was a nice grounding for today's work.

Building a Political Home - Boston Review

Activist and scholar Cathy J. Cohen on winning power in the midst of a “generational war.”

www.bostonreview.net

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William Orchard @billeo.bsky.social · 17h

Caught the cat mid yawn, but like how he looks like he’s asking to speak to the manager.

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William Orchard @billeo.bsky.social · 1d

Appreciate the colleague who reminded me that fun is part of what do too. Needed the reminder, especially now that everything feels so unfun.

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William Orchard @billeo.bsky.social · 2d

Harlem from today’s train

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Anna Kornbluh @annakornbluh.bsky.social · 3d

it's national taco day! stellar mexicanist ignacio sanchez prado has a new book right on time!

TACO, in the bloomsbury object lessons series.

chicago, go celebrate with a taco and support our neighbors in little village, pilsen, logan, everywhere

www.bloomsbury.com/us/taco-9798...

Taco

Object Lessons is a series of short, beautifully designed books about the hidden lives of ordinary things.Taco is a deep dive into the most iconic Mexican food…

www.bloomsbury.com

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The Baffler @thebaffler.com · 3d

“The NAFTA Novel remains the literary form of a diminutive bourgeois class: the lettered colonials tasked with mediating between the elites of Mexico and the United States. But the latter elite no longer has use for such cosmopolitan intermediaries.”

The NAFTA Novel | Nicolás Medina Mora

For all its utopianism, the NAFTA Novel remains the literary form of a diminutive bourgeois class.

thebaffler.com

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William Orchard @billeo.bsky.social · 3d

Today’s arrival

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William Orchard @billeo.bsky.social · 4d

Sometimes when I hear Kate Bush’s “Wuthering Heights,” I think, she was eighteen and stayed up late and created that.

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Lisa Diedrich @lisadiedrich.bsky.social · 4d

Stuart Hall took Thatcherism seriously & tried to understand its affective & aspirational appeal. Trumpism operates differently, as @cnewf.bsky.social notes, but the need to offer a cultural & political counter-strategy is key. I keep thinking about Hall’s adept use of new forms of media.

Matt Seybold @mattseybold.bsky.social · 4d

Great call to arms by @cnewf.bsky.social, following the tactic of Jed Esty's "Future of Decline" by looking to Stuart Hall & the New Left, & urging us to forego "private agency within our universities" in favor of "collective agency by running them."

Academics Must Seize the Means of Knowledge Production - Public Books

Trumpism has canceled the knowledge society.

www.publicbooks.org

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William Orchard @billeo.bsky.social · 4d

Scholarship opportunity: Black and Latino men, undergrads, deadline applicants 10/31

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Laura McGrath @lbmcgrath.bsky.social · 4d

Teaching this banger, so I thought I'd take the opportunity to remind you that @dan-sinnamon.bsky.social and I always welcome pitches for the Culture Industries section of Public Books! Bring us your wonkiest, your galaxy-brainest, your in-the-weeds-iest!
www.publicbooks.org/how-the-new-...

How the “New York Times” Covers Black Writers - Public Books

There has long been a fear that media only makes room for one Black writer at a time. But that’s always been difficult to prove—until now.

www.publicbooks.org

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John Scalzi @scalzi.com · 5d

K-Pop Demon Hunters is legitimately the global cultural phenomenon of 2025 and honestly there are far worse things to be a cultural touchstone this year than a trio of young women fighting literal soul-sucking hegemony through the power of their art

E. Perkins 🎃 @hauntedpumpkin.bsky.social · 5d

Oh crap, it's back at #1 in movies again today on Netflix too. That's awesome!

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Natalia Cecire @ncecire.bsky.social · 5d

"The proposed 'compact' for unis is similar in a key respect to this govt’s actions across many areas of law & policy...replacing the regularity & fairness of law w highly discretionary systems that ensure all sorts of entities & institutions will face the govt...as supplicants in need of largesse."

jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 5d

for any UVA folks that follow me you should circulate this among your networks balkin.blogspot.com/2025/10/the-...

Balkinization: The Art of Replacing the Law with the Deal

A group blog on constitutional law, theory, and politics

balkin.blogspot.com

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Matthew Kirschenbaum @mkirschenbaum.bsky.social · 6d

Resolution of the University of Virginia Faculty Senate (thus not institutional policy and entirely non-binding, but still inspirational):

Resolution Opposing the
"Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education"
WHEREAS the United States Secretary of Education has requested that the University of Virginia enter into a "Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education", and WHEREAS the Compact contains provisions antithetical to the mission and traditions of the University, and
WHEREAS the Compact contains provisions which endanger the independence and integrity of the University, and
WHEREAS the compact likely violates state and federal law, and infringes upon the constitutional rights of members of the University community, and WHEREAS the University of Virginia exemplifies American academic values of the highest standard, including universal right to free speech and the cultivation of academic freedom; therefore
BE IT RESOLVED that the Faculty Senate of the University of Virginia firmly opposes this Compact as written and calls upon Interim President Mahoney and the Board of Visitors to also reject this Compact outright as well as any similar proposal compromising the mission, values, and independence of the University.
Feature Date:
Friday, October 3, 2025

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Deborah McDowell @dem8z.bsky.social · 6d

Oddly, I have spent much of the day thinking pleasantly abt yesterday’s faculty senate resolution re Trump’s extortionist compact. At a time when everything and everyone seems to be caving under the weight of his relentless onslaughts, my colleagues stood strong and hung tough, come what may.

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William Orchard @billeo.bsky.social · 6d

Teaching Alberto Rios this week. He’s so good.

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William Orchard @billeo.bsky.social · 7d

They removed Ramon Saldivar from the National Council in the Humanities! hyperallergic.com/1046341/trum...

Trump Fires Majority of Federal Humanities Council

Only four members of the council remain, all men and all appointed by the president during his first term, sources told Hyperallergic.

hyperallergic.com

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William Orchard @billeo.bsky.social · 7d

www.culturedmag.com/article/2025...

How MoMA PS1's Vaginal Davis Exhibition Was Sourced From Flooded Apartments, High Schoolers, and Moving Boxes

A godmother to the worlds of drag, queercore, zine publishing, house galleries—what hasn’t Vaginal Davis touched?

www.culturedmag.com

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Marcos Gonsalez @marcossgonsalez.bsky.social · 7d

Adelphi University’s English department is hiring an Assistant Professor in creative nonfiction.

I’m happy to answer any questions folks may have. Applications due Nov 14. Please share widely!
phf.tbe.taleo.net/phf02/ats/ca...

Hiring Assistant Professor - Creative Writing, - Garden City, N.Y.

View job details and apply now

phf.tbe.taleo.net

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William Orchard @billeo.bsky.social · 7d

How advising goes sometimes:
Q: That's really interesting that you're taking Russian. What sparked your interest in that language?
A: I needed a class at 1:40.

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ianVisits @ianvisits.co.uk · 7d

In memoriam...

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