Eric J. Harvey, Ph.D.
@blindscholar.bsky.social
PhD in Hebrew Bible and Ancient Near East from Brandeis, postdoc at Stanford. Interests in disability, myth, economics, and materiality. More at www.blindscholar.com.
Reposted by Eric J. Harvey, Ph.D.
From ancient Rome to today, war-makers have talked constantly about peace
theconversation.com/from-ancient...
theconversation.com/from-ancient...
From ancient Rome to today, war-makers have talked constantly about peace
“When they make a wasteland, they call it ‘peace,‘” wrote the Roman historian Tacitus, in a turn of phrase that a classics scholar says has been relevant for centuries – including right now.
theconversation.com
January 21, 2026 at 6:48 PM
From ancient Rome to today, war-makers have talked constantly about peace
theconversation.com/from-ancient...
theconversation.com/from-ancient...
Reposted by Eric J. Harvey, Ph.D.
“But what deeply troubles me now is that for all the steps we've taken toward integration, I've come to believe that we are integrating into a burning house."
Dr. King said this famous quote on March 27th, 1968, mere days before his murder. But the context around the quote is interesting...
Dr. King said this famous quote on March 27th, 1968, mere days before his murder. But the context around the quote is interesting...
January 20, 2026 at 3:40 AM
“But what deeply troubles me now is that for all the steps we've taken toward integration, I've come to believe that we are integrating into a burning house."
Dr. King said this famous quote on March 27th, 1968, mere days before his murder. But the context around the quote is interesting...
Dr. King said this famous quote on March 27th, 1968, mere days before his murder. But the context around the quote is interesting...
Read this. Even more than the Letter from a Birmingham Jail, I think, this speech captures the essence of where King was going and where we still need to go from here.
My favorite speech by MLK, and possibly his greatest.
Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. - April 4, 1967 - Beyond Vietnam: A Time To Break Silence [Full Speech]
YouTube video by Servant2All
youtu.be
January 19, 2026 at 7:19 PM
Read this. Even more than the Letter from a Birmingham Jail, I think, this speech captures the essence of where King was going and where we still need to go from here.
"I knew that I could never again raise my voice against the violence of the oppressed in the ghettos without having first spoken clearly to the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today -- my own government." - MLK
All we need when people scrutinize protester conduct & communal self-defense.
All we need when people scrutinize protester conduct & communal self-defense.
January 19, 2026 at 6:01 PM
"I knew that I could never again raise my voice against the violence of the oppressed in the ghettos without having first spoken clearly to the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today -- my own government." - MLK
All we need when people scrutinize protester conduct & communal self-defense.
All we need when people scrutinize protester conduct & communal self-defense.
Reposted by Eric J. Harvey, Ph.D.
COW TOOLS COW TOOLS COW TOOLS
Back-scratching bovine leads scientists to reassess intelligence of cows
Brown Swiss in Austria has been discovered using tools in multiple ways – something only ever seen in humans and chimpanzees
www.theguardian.com
January 19, 2026 at 4:06 PM
COW TOOLS COW TOOLS COW TOOLS
TIL that not only is my birthday also the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr., it is also the date of the assassination of Rosa Luxembourg. What a do.
January 15, 2026 at 10:21 PM
TIL that not only is my birthday also the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr., it is also the date of the assassination of Rosa Luxembourg. What a do.
An article that combines my birthday-sharer MLK Jr. and racial/disability solidarity? Yes, please!
Also, dire warnings about the efforts to resegregate society? Necessary.
Also, dire warnings about the efforts to resegregate society? Necessary.
I wrote about how MLK Day was won, how Stevie Wonder helped to make it happen, and how King's legacy is being undermined today. capitalbnews.org/stevie-wonde...
Stevie Wonder’s Battle for MLK Day and the New Challenges to King’s Legacy
Forty-five years after Stevie Wonder helped to galvanize support for the holiday, historians warn that King’s legacy is being undone.
capitalbnews.org
January 15, 2026 at 6:08 PM
An article that combines my birthday-sharer MLK Jr. and racial/disability solidarity? Yes, please!
Also, dire warnings about the efforts to resegregate society? Necessary.
Also, dire warnings about the efforts to resegregate society? Necessary.
Reposted by Eric J. Harvey, Ph.D.
Hello just making my periodic announcement that I'm a trans man and transitioning made my life SO MUCH better and trans people of all ages deserve respect and access to gender-affirming care - just like cis people do!
January 14, 2026 at 5:46 PM
Hello just making my periodic announcement that I'm a trans man and transitioning made my life SO MUCH better and trans people of all ages deserve respect and access to gender-affirming care - just like cis people do!
Reposted by Eric J. Harvey, Ph.D.
CripAntiquity was at the SCS/AIA Conference in SF! Thanks to everyone who chatted with us during the conference and at our roundtable. Discussions at the conference gave us many ideas to improve accessibility in our sector. Please continue these talks and providing your support in the future!
January 12, 2026 at 5:17 PM
CripAntiquity was at the SCS/AIA Conference in SF! Thanks to everyone who chatted with us during the conference and at our roundtable. Discussions at the conference gave us many ideas to improve accessibility in our sector. Please continue these talks and providing your support in the future!
This is such a good story. If you'd like an easily listenable version, try this one from The Memory Palace.
https://thememorypalace.us/the-wheel/
https://thememorypalace.us/the-wheel/
If you need inspiration to keep going right now, may I recommend the story of Robert Smalls, who stole a confederate steamboat and piloted his family and almost 20 others to freedom and went on to become one of the first Black people elected to Congress ✊🏽
www.usatoday.com/story/life/b...
www.usatoday.com/story/life/b...
'Be Free or Die,' tale of escaped slave who became a Union hero
Cate Lineberry's new book tells the little-known story of Robert Smalls, a ship pilot.
www.usatoday.com
January 10, 2026 at 10:12 PM
This is such a good story. If you'd like an easily listenable version, try this one from The Memory Palace.
https://thememorypalace.us/the-wheel/
https://thememorypalace.us/the-wheel/
Reposted by Eric J. Harvey, Ph.D.
It's the 3rd of January 1939, your name is professor James Smith and you are staring at a drawing of a fish. It's not a regular fish. It is a completely impossible fish.
January 6, 2026 at 10:27 PM
It's the 3rd of January 1939, your name is professor James Smith and you are staring at a drawing of a fish. It's not a regular fish. It is a completely impossible fish.
Useful.
An incantation to soothe anger from nearly 4 millennia ago for those in need of one.
It begins by telling us what anger is and does.
“Anger goes like a wild bull, it continually leaps forth like a dog.”
Anger is like a lion and a wolf.
It is fierce. It runs. It tears at one’s face and stomach.
It begins by telling us what anger is and does.
“Anger goes like a wild bull, it continually leaps forth like a dog.”
Anger is like a lion and a wolf.
It is fierce. It runs. It tears at one’s face and stomach.
January 6, 2026 at 7:15 PM
Useful.
Reposted by Eric J. Harvey, Ph.D.
Rough vibes on this website today, likely because people feel Hopeless and Helpless Because Can't Stop It and No One Who Is Supposed To Is Trying To So Now We're Fighting Each Other™. I recommend activities such as book, or potentially instrument if you like instrument, or even do talk on phone.
January 5, 2026 at 12:03 AM
Rough vibes on this website today, likely because people feel Hopeless and Helpless Because Can't Stop It and No One Who Is Supposed To Is Trying To So Now We're Fighting Each Other™. I recommend activities such as book, or potentially instrument if you like instrument, or even do talk on phone.
Reposted by Eric J. Harvey, Ph.D.
You need to seriously consider sense modalities other than vision. Theorising about vision and assuming that it will generalise is not a good strategy. (Also, don’t conflate states, events and processes, but that’s another kettle of fish!) #PhilPerception
what's the thing in your subdiscipline that loads of people constantly mess up even though by your lights they really ought to know better? (for me it's clearly distinguishing contents and vehicles)
January 4, 2026 at 10:08 PM
You need to seriously consider sense modalities other than vision. Theorising about vision and assuming that it will generalise is not a good strategy. (Also, don’t conflate states, events and processes, but that’s another kettle of fish!) #PhilPerception
Reposted by Eric J. Harvey, Ph.D.
Tomorrow’s a preview of 2026! A collection of clips from my conversations with Jonathan Sedlak, Sara Koenig, @mburtwrites.bsky.social & @kkramermcginnis.bsky.social, @blindscholar.bsky.social, Jennie Grillo, Brian Walsh & Sylvia Keesmaat, Kirk MacGregor, David Basher, & @alexianafry.bsky.social.
December 31, 2025 at 2:32 AM
Tomorrow’s a preview of 2026! A collection of clips from my conversations with Jonathan Sedlak, Sara Koenig, @mburtwrites.bsky.social & @kkramermcginnis.bsky.social, @blindscholar.bsky.social, Jennie Grillo, Brian Walsh & Sylvia Keesmaat, Kirk MacGregor, David Basher, & @alexianafry.bsky.social.
Reposted by Eric J. Harvey, Ph.D.
I think it’s more the case that everybody is stupid sometimes, in some contexts. So we have to protect people for when it’s their turn to be stupid, since someday that will be us too.
December 27, 2025 at 9:18 PM
I think it’s more the case that everybody is stupid sometimes, in some contexts. So we have to protect people for when it’s their turn to be stupid, since someday that will be us too.
Reposted by Eric J. Harvey, Ph.D.
Whenever I led sections of undergrads, I found one of the most effective things was openly admitting I didn't have all the answers, but I could teach them how an expert (and them!) might find out. The content is often secondary to the scaffolding of knowledge creation and discovery
To pick Scalzi’s example: the goal of a clash on Joseph Conrad is to read and discuss and think hard and challenge and learn about Joseph Conrad and his craft and perhaps the things he wrote about.
The prof here designed a class to assess whether you knew the content. A waste.
The prof here designed a class to assess whether you knew the content. A waste.
December 27, 2025 at 6:22 PM
Whenever I led sections of undergrads, I found one of the most effective things was openly admitting I didn't have all the answers, but I could teach them how an expert (and them!) might find out. The content is often secondary to the scaffolding of knowledge creation and discovery
oh my.
I love this.
I love this.
December 27, 2025 at 5:49 PM
oh my.
I love this.
I love this.
Make a Bond movie academic:
Peer Review to a Kill
Peer Review to a Kill
Make a Bond movie academic:
Live and Let Dissertate
Live and Let Dissertate
Make a Bond movie academic:
For Your Peer-Review Eyes Only
For Your Peer-Review Eyes Only
December 26, 2025 at 9:41 PM
Make a Bond movie academic:
Peer Review to a Kill
Peer Review to a Kill
Make a Bond film academic:
GoldOpenAccessFinger
GoldOpenAccessFinger
Make a Bond movie academic:
Doctor No (not that kind of doctor)
Doctor No (not that kind of doctor)
December 26, 2025 at 9:25 PM
Make a Bond film academic:
GoldOpenAccessFinger
GoldOpenAccessFinger
Probably didn't even know the song the elves sang to Santa on his birthday last year. Youths.
Saw a kid wearing a Buddy the Elf shirt. He couldn't even name 2 of the elves' four main food groups or 1 rule of the Code of the Elves.
December 25, 2025 at 6:09 AM
Probably didn't even know the song the elves sang to Santa on his birthday last year. Youths.
Reposted by Eric J. Harvey, Ph.D.
I don’t design my coursework with different ethics and principles than those I expect from myself. Deep reading, sincere effort, meticulous citations, a willingness to acknowledge mistakes, honesty and humility are all things I want from students AND myself. And that shapes how I see gAI.
December 21, 2025 at 3:32 PM
I don’t design my coursework with different ethics and principles than those I expect from myself. Deep reading, sincere effort, meticulous citations, a willingness to acknowledge mistakes, honesty and humility are all things I want from students AND myself. And that shapes how I see gAI.
Reposted by Eric J. Harvey, Ph.D.
Call this file “article cast offs” and then promptly save it to a piece of technology that will go obsolete a year later
Don't just delete it, though. Copy and paste it into a separate text file in case you need it later, then never look at it again.
The whole point of being an academic is that you need to be willing to spend three days creating a 700-word footnote that you will later delete. And you need to LIKE IT.
December 20, 2025 at 4:45 PM
Call this file “article cast offs” and then promptly save it to a piece of technology that will go obsolete a year later
Don't just delete it, though. Copy and paste it into a separate text file in case you need it later, then never look at it again.
The whole point of being an academic is that you need to be willing to spend three days creating a 700-word footnote that you will later delete. And you need to LIKE IT.
December 20, 2025 at 4:26 PM
Don't just delete it, though. Copy and paste it into a separate text file in case you need it later, then never look at it again.
This except the dismantling started in the late '60s
I feel like "academic hiring" discourse is always kind of downstream of the fact that in the 50s we started building a giant public system to make a college education almost universally available and in the 80s and 90s we started taking it apart to go back to the only-the-rich model
December 20, 2025 at 4:24 PM
This except the dismantling started in the late '60s