Mathilde Montpetit
@mathildegm.bsky.social
PhD student & translator (French-English) studying medieval West Africa, eunuchs, and the Mediterranean.
Reposted by Mathilde Montpetit
Centaurs, dragons, and snail shell houses — just a few of the otherworldly marvels depicted in a 15th-century French manuscript (BnF, Français 22971) illustrated by Robert Testard. More here: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/secrets-de-l-histoire-naturelle/
February 11, 2026 at 5:48 PM
Centaurs, dragons, and snail shell houses — just a few of the otherworldly marvels depicted in a 15th-century French manuscript (BnF, Français 22971) illustrated by Robert Testard. More here: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/secrets-de-l-histoire-naturelle/
In 1485, the illustrator Robert Testard drew the whole world into a manuscript: mountains of gold, centaurs, dragons, wars between storks and men... And even more shockingly, places where women are in charge.
Snail Homes, Bog Bodies, and Mechanical Flies: Robert Testard’s Illustrations for *Les secretz de l’histoire naturelle* (ca. 1485)
A wondrous illuminated manuscript, which gathers and illustrates the marvels of the world and beyond.
publicdomainreview.org
February 12, 2026 at 12:05 PM
In 1485, the illustrator Robert Testard drew the whole world into a manuscript: mountains of gold, centaurs, dragons, wars between storks and men... And even more shockingly, places where women are in charge.
Reposted by Mathilde Montpetit
deadline closes FEB 10TH send us your BEST
WE WANT YOUR PROSE—submit now to read at our Feb 21 Lettrétage event about Christa Wolf (and her post-Wall writing e.g. One Day A Year). Send us some short prose in any language about the day, the daily, the recurring date, everyday politics. We will print a zine!
sites.google.com/view/mayroec...
sites.google.com/view/mayroec...
February 6, 2026 at 10:04 PM
deadline closes FEB 10TH send us your BEST
Reposted by Mathilde Montpetit
media friends: I'm looking for some new work to supplement the excellent roster of outlets I edit for on a regular basis (Jezebel, Foreign Policy, IPQ). Do you need a cover for an editor on leave, a fact-checker, a morning newsletter writer? I can do it all—and more! Please be in touch :)
February 2, 2026 at 5:43 PM
media friends: I'm looking for some new work to supplement the excellent roster of outlets I edit for on a regular basis (Jezebel, Foreign Policy, IPQ). Do you need a cover for an editor on leave, a fact-checker, a morning newsletter writer? I can do it all—and more! Please be in touch :)
The Auflauf, a new newsletter for Berlin books, is here! Fresh out the oven: book reviews from me, @return2sanders.bsky.social and @brynstole.bsky.social; not to mention some hot literary gossip... Interviews and more to come!
February Books: Maci, Reimann, Clark
Essays from Enis Maci, a novella by the GDR's Brigitte Reimann, and Christopher Clark's nineteenth-century Prussia.
theauflauf.substack.com
February 3, 2026 at 3:25 PM
The Auflauf, a new newsletter for Berlin books, is here! Fresh out the oven: book reviews from me, @return2sanders.bsky.social and @brynstole.bsky.social; not to mention some hot literary gossip... Interviews and more to come!
Reposted by Mathilde Montpetit
Check out The Auflauf, a new substack of Berlin books. Our first course: @mathildegm.bsky.social on Reimann, @brynstole.bsky.social on Clark, & me on Maci. @ajbwells.bsky.social is in the kitchen too helping cook and dish up lit crit, goss & conversations: theauflauf.substack.com
February 3, 2026 at 9:39 AM
Check out The Auflauf, a new substack of Berlin books. Our first course: @mathildegm.bsky.social on Reimann, @brynstole.bsky.social on Clark, & me on Maci. @ajbwells.bsky.social is in the kitchen too helping cook and dish up lit crit, goss & conversations: theauflauf.substack.com
Reposted by Mathilde Montpetit
Cool new project alert!!! Subscribe for more soon!
I was honoured to fact-check the gossip section for this issue; will also be doing reviews, interviews, &c. in future instalments
I was honoured to fact-check the gossip section for this issue; will also be doing reviews, interviews, &c. in future instalments
Check out The Auflauf, a new substack of Berlin books. Our first course: @mathildegm.bsky.social on Reimann, @brynstole.bsky.social on Clark, & me on Maci. @ajbwells.bsky.social is in the kitchen too helping cook and dish up lit crit, goss & conversations: theauflauf.substack.com
February 3, 2026 at 10:11 AM
Cool new project alert!!! Subscribe for more soon!
I was honoured to fact-check the gossip section for this issue; will also be doing reviews, interviews, &c. in future instalments
I was honoured to fact-check the gossip section for this issue; will also be doing reviews, interviews, &c. in future instalments
Reposted by Mathilde Montpetit
An “auto”-biographical film in the most literal sense, this 1943 US propaganda short is told from the Jeep’s own point of view — a strange and revealing piece of wartime self-mythmaking: publicdomainreview.org/collection/a...
January 27, 2026 at 6:25 PM
An “auto”-biographical film in the most literal sense, this 1943 US propaganda short is told from the Jeep’s own point of view — a strange and revealing piece of wartime self-mythmaking: publicdomainreview.org/collection/a...
Can the sub-1/2 ton 4x4 utility truck speak? According to this WWII propaganda film by the later-blacklisted documentary filmmaker Irving Lerner, yes – and he's got great news for you about the future of American empire.
*Autobiography of a “Jeep”* (1943)
A WWII propaganda film narrated as an "auto"-biography
publicdomainreview.org
January 28, 2026 at 9:27 AM
Can the sub-1/2 ton 4x4 utility truck speak? According to this WWII propaganda film by the later-blacklisted documentary filmmaker Irving Lerner, yes – and he's got great news for you about the future of American empire.
Reposted by Mathilde Montpetit
pals please repost and share with your friends and students if relevant
creativecritical.net is open for submissions!
Please send your
> essays, poems, stories, translations
> reflections on the relationship between creative and critical practice
> course materials or syllabi that incorporate creative work into critical teaching
to [email protected]
Please send your
> essays, poems, stories, translations
> reflections on the relationship between creative and critical practice
> course materials or syllabi that incorporate creative work into critical teaching
to [email protected]
Welcome to Creative Critical - Creative-Critical
creativecritical.net
January 22, 2026 at 3:12 PM
pals please repost and share with your friends and students if relevant
Reposted by Mathilde Montpetit
WE WANT YOUR PROSE—submit now to read at our Feb 21 Lettrétage event about Christa Wolf (and her post-Wall writing e.g. One Day A Year). Send us some short prose in any language about the day, the daily, the recurring date, everyday politics. We will print a zine!
sites.google.com/view/mayroec...
sites.google.com/view/mayroec...
January 22, 2026 at 2:21 PM
WE WANT YOUR PROSE—submit now to read at our Feb 21 Lettrétage event about Christa Wolf (and her post-Wall writing e.g. One Day A Year). Send us some short prose in any language about the day, the daily, the recurring date, everyday politics. We will print a zine!
sites.google.com/view/mayroec...
sites.google.com/view/mayroec...
Reposted by Mathilde Montpetit
Peter Kropotkin’s Memoirs of a Revolutionist (1899): a radical Bildungsroman from the former Russian prince — page to Alexander II, explorer-scientist, twice imprisoned, and (by century’s end) one of the world’s leading anarchist voices: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/kropotkin-memoirs/
January 14, 2026 at 3:16 PM
Peter Kropotkin’s Memoirs of a Revolutionist (1899): a radical Bildungsroman from the former Russian prince — page to Alexander II, explorer-scientist, twice imprisoned, and (by century’s end) one of the world’s leading anarchist voices: https://publicdomainreview.org/collection/kropotkin-memoirs/
I had a great time reading Peter Kropotkin's memoirs for @publicdomainrev.bsky.social: never has the transformation from Russian prince to anarchist firebrand been narrated with such good humor and verve:
Peter Kropotkin’s *Memoirs of a Revolutionist* (1899)
The memoirs of an aristocratic man revolutionised into an anarchist communist.
publicdomainreview.org
January 13, 2026 at 3:31 PM
I had a great time reading Peter Kropotkin's memoirs for @publicdomainrev.bsky.social: never has the transformation from Russian prince to anarchist firebrand been narrated with such good humor and verve:
Reposted by Mathilde Montpetit
Online today @JewishCurrents: my examination of how nearly a century of cooperation between American universities and the military-industrial complex has made a mockery of the concept of academic freedom jewishcurrents.org/higher-eds-b...
Higher Ed's Bad Bargain
To salvage academic freedom amid Trump’s attacks, universities must break from their Cold War compromise with US militarism.
jewishcurrents.org
January 12, 2026 at 3:58 PM
Online today @JewishCurrents: my examination of how nearly a century of cooperation between American universities and the military-industrial complex has made a mockery of the concept of academic freedom jewishcurrents.org/higher-eds-b...
Reposted by Mathilde Montpetit
It's our first birthday. Please consider an end-of-year gift to the Diasporist: thediasporist.de/donate/
December 20, 2025 at 11:03 AM
It's our first birthday. Please consider an end-of-year gift to the Diasporist: thediasporist.de/donate/
In 1925, the painter Chaim Soutine was interrupted by the Parisian public health authorities – his neighbors were complaining about the smell of his homages to Rembrandt and Chardin. Art prevailed and he got to keep the meat, but had to promise to spray them with ammonia every day:
*Nature Morte*: Chaïm Soutine’s Still Lifes (ca. 1920s)
Still lifes by the artist who seemed to bridge expressionism with the baroque.
publicdomainreview.org
December 15, 2025 at 11:44 AM
In 1925, the painter Chaim Soutine was interrupted by the Parisian public health authorities – his neighbors were complaining about the smell of his homages to Rembrandt and Chardin. Art prevailed and he got to keep the meat, but had to promise to spray them with ammonia every day:
Reposted by Mathilde Montpetit
Just 3 days left of our fundraiser! Become a Friend of the PDR before midnight on Dec 17th to get our latest postcard pack themed on ATTENTION. Other Friend perks include 15% off our prints. (One-off donations also very welcome!). More details here: https://publicdomainreview.org/support
December 14, 2025 at 8:45 PM
Just 3 days left of our fundraiser! Become a Friend of the PDR before midnight on Dec 17th to get our latest postcard pack themed on ATTENTION. Other Friend perks include 15% off our prints. (One-off donations also very welcome!). More details here: https://publicdomainreview.org/support
Reposted by Mathilde Montpetit
these grafs make up roughly a third of the AP story. if you're going to say something is being "ignored by US media" you should probably first confirm that it's being ignored by US media!
www.pbs.org/newshour/wor...
www.pbs.org/newshour/wor...
December 11, 2025 at 9:48 AM
these grafs make up roughly a third of the AP story. if you're going to say something is being "ignored by US media" you should probably first confirm that it's being ignored by US media!
www.pbs.org/newshour/wor...
www.pbs.org/newshour/wor...
For @publicdomainrev.bsky.social, I follow the history of the Schefer Maqāmāt (BNF Arabe 5847), which goes from Iraq to Paris and back again. Also a great opportunity to spend time with the incredible illuminations, which include some brutally efficient censorship of a man dropping his pants...
Deceit and Disrobing: The Schefer *Maqāmāt* (BNF Arabe 5847, ca. 1237)
Illustrations of Abū Zayd and his adventures in double meaning.
publicdomainreview.org
December 11, 2025 at 9:44 AM
For @publicdomainrev.bsky.social, I follow the history of the Schefer Maqāmāt (BNF Arabe 5847), which goes from Iraq to Paris and back again. Also a great opportunity to spend time with the incredible illuminations, which include some brutally efficient censorship of a man dropping his pants...
Reposted by Mathilde Montpetit
The 2025 issue also includes a pedagogy file by Sylvia Wu on mosque architecture in China, aimed at helping to diversify the types of sources available in the undergraduate classroom.
December 8, 2025 at 5:20 PM
The 2025 issue also includes a pedagogy file by Sylvia Wu on mosque architecture in China, aimed at helping to diversify the types of sources available in the undergraduate classroom.
Reposted by Mathilde Montpetit
Thanks to all authors, reviewers, & readers as we close out issue 33!
We published 550 pages in 2025: 7 articles; a thematic dossier w/ 4 more articles; a roundtable; an Arabic edition; a pedagogy file; 7 book reviews; & some short communications.
Here’s a thread to gather some highlights! 🧵
We published 550 pages in 2025: 7 articles; a thematic dossier w/ 4 more articles; a roundtable; an Arabic edition; a pedagogy file; 7 book reviews; & some short communications.
Here’s a thread to gather some highlights! 🧵
Al-ʿUsur al-Wusta
Middle East Medievalists (MEM) is an international professional non-profit association of scholars interested in the study of the Islamic lands of the Middle East during the medieval period (defined r...
journals.library.columbia.edu
December 8, 2025 at 5:20 PM
Thanks to all authors, reviewers, & readers as we close out issue 33!
We published 550 pages in 2025: 7 articles; a thematic dossier w/ 4 more articles; a roundtable; an Arabic edition; a pedagogy file; 7 book reviews; & some short communications.
Here’s a thread to gather some highlights! 🧵
We published 550 pages in 2025: 7 articles; a thematic dossier w/ 4 more articles; a roundtable; an Arabic edition; a pedagogy file; 7 book reviews; & some short communications.
Here’s a thread to gather some highlights! 🧵
Reposted by Mathilde Montpetit
I reviewed Gabriele Tergit's THE EFFINGERS, a mighty and brilliant and extremely readable book out now in English thanks to a cracking translation by Sophie Duvernoy >>> www.theguardian.com/books/2025/d...
The Effingers by Gabriele Tergit review – a vivid portrait of Berlin before the Nazis
Written in 1951 and now translated into English for the first time, this family saga by the acclaimed German author recaptures a golden age for Jewish life
www.theguardian.com
December 8, 2025 at 1:01 PM
I reviewed Gabriele Tergit's THE EFFINGERS, a mighty and brilliant and extremely readable book out now in English thanks to a cracking translation by Sophie Duvernoy >>> www.theguardian.com/books/2025/d...
Reposted by Mathilde Montpetit
Our End-of-Year Fundraiser is launched! https://publicdomainreview.org/support
We're a not-for-profit project reliant on reader donations to stay afloat. Please do give if you can! Available to donors, our themed postcard packs: upcoming theme on... ATTENTION.
#GivingTuesday
We're a not-for-profit project reliant on reader donations to stay afloat. Please do give if you can! Available to donors, our themed postcard packs: upcoming theme on... ATTENTION.
#GivingTuesday
December 2, 2025 at 3:17 PM
Our End-of-Year Fundraiser is launched! https://publicdomainreview.org/support
We're a not-for-profit project reliant on reader donations to stay afloat. Please do give if you can! Available to donors, our themed postcard packs: upcoming theme on... ATTENTION.
#GivingTuesday
We're a not-for-profit project reliant on reader donations to stay afloat. Please do give if you can! Available to donors, our themed postcard packs: upcoming theme on... ATTENTION.
#GivingTuesday
Looking for a pièce de résistance for a birthday party or Christmas day? The February 1911 edition of American Homes and Gardens has you covered with Quaint Dessert Dishes like Welshwoman with Cat, banana pigs, and of course the booby bird:
“Quaint Dessert Dishes” in *American Homes and Gardens* (1911)
Bizarre sweet treats that resemble human and animal forms.
publicdomainreview.org
December 2, 2025 at 11:31 AM
Looking for a pièce de résistance for a birthday party or Christmas day? The February 1911 edition of American Homes and Gardens has you covered with Quaint Dessert Dishes like Welshwoman with Cat, banana pigs, and of course the booby bird:
Reposted by Mathilde Montpetit
Digital Humanities Showcase TOMORROW!
Join us for our finale session of the Digital Humanities Showcase! Friday, November 21, 1-2 pm ET (10-11 am PT):
Immersive Realms (Elina Gertsman); and AnyBook Experience (Sabina Zonno and Lynn Dodd)
Join us for our finale session of the Digital Humanities Showcase! Friday, November 21, 1-2 pm ET (10-11 am PT):
Immersive Realms (Elina Gertsman); and AnyBook Experience (Sabina Zonno and Lynn Dodd)
November 21, 2025 at 4:18 AM
Digital Humanities Showcase TOMORROW!
Join us for our finale session of the Digital Humanities Showcase! Friday, November 21, 1-2 pm ET (10-11 am PT):
Immersive Realms (Elina Gertsman); and AnyBook Experience (Sabina Zonno and Lynn Dodd)
Join us for our finale session of the Digital Humanities Showcase! Friday, November 21, 1-2 pm ET (10-11 am PT):
Immersive Realms (Elina Gertsman); and AnyBook Experience (Sabina Zonno and Lynn Dodd)