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Nancy Kanwisher
@nancykanwisher.bsky.social
2.8K followers 420 following 370 posts

Scientist, mentor, activist, explorer.

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Nancy Gail Kanwisher FBA is the Walter A Rosenblith Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a researcher at the McGovern Institute for Brain Research. She studies the neural and cognitive mechanisms underlying human visual perception and cognition. .. more

Neuroscience 75%
Computer science 12%
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Reposted by Nancy Kanwisher

stelhami.bsky.social
Shibley Telhami @stelhami.bsky.social · 11h
Israel will reportedly retain control of 58% of Gaza after its partial troop pull back in the first phase of the current deal, 72 hours after which all Israeli hostages would be released. aje.io/lcai8j
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Reposted by Nancy Kanwisher, Kate Jackson

timothysnyder.bsky.social
Timothy Snyder @timothysnyder.bsky.social · 21h
No Kings. October 18th. Free speech is action. Please join in.
www.nokings.org
No Kings
As the president escalates his authoritarian power grab, the NO KINGS non-violent movement continues to rise stronger. We are united once again to remind the world: America has No Kings and the power ...
www.nokings.org
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Reposted by Stephen M. Walt, Norbert Schwarz, Nancy Kanwisher , and 15 more

laurahelmuth.bsky.social
Laura Helmuth @laurahelmuth.bsky.social · 1d
Six of the nine Nobel Prize winners this year work in the U.S.
Three of the six were born outside the U.S., which is the pattern most years. No country has benefited more from welcoming immigrants from around the world.
www.nobelprize.org
The official website of the Nobel Prize - NobelPrize.org
The Nobel Prize rewards science, humanism and peace efforts. This is one of the central concepts in the will of Alfred Nobel, and it also permeates the outreach activities that have been developed for...
www.nobelprize.org
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Nancy Kanwisher @nancykanwisher.bsky.social · 2d
Soft secession? Hell yeah!
www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
It’s time for soft secession
How blue states can use their economic clout to stand up to Trump’s agenda—starting with California.
www.motherjones.com
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Nancy Kanwisher @nancykanwisher.bsky.social · 2d
3. What we will say to ourselves, our friends, and our family, when asked: When the US was falling into fascism, what did you do about it?

Please add your own reasons!
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Nancy Kanwisher @nancykanwisher.bsky.social · 2d
2. Although protests may not change many minds, they show that this regime is vulnerable. Many people and institutions support the regime out of fear. If they see that it could collapse, they may start to worry about their reputation, and their legal liability, after the regime falls.
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Nancy Kanwisher @nancykanwisher.bsky.social · 2d
1. Erica Chenowyth’s research shows that authoritarian governments are defeated when 3.5% of the population gets out in the streets. The US is 340 million people which means we need 12 million people out there. This is not impossible - we already had 5 million protesting on No Kings I on June 14.
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Nancy Kanwisher @nancykanwisher.bsky.social · 2d
I wanted to share my reasons why I think it is of paramount importance to attend a No King’s protest on October 18, and to make the case to everyone you know to do the same.
a thread...
www.nokings.org
No Kings
As the president escalates his authoritarian power grab, the NO KINGS non-violent movement continues to rise stronger. We are united once again to remind the world: America has No Kings and the power ...
www.nokings.org
1 8 23

Nancy Kanwisher @nancykanwisher.bsky.social · 2d
A beautiful piece by Bernhard Nickel.
"Surround yourself with the right people. Stand in solidarity with them. ... Figuring out what to do isn’t something any of us needs to do alone...
Remembering this fact...has been a deep well of hope."
kirstenweld.bsky.social
Kirsten Weld @kirstenweld.bsky.social · 2d
“Figuring out what to do isn’t something any of us needs to do alone.”

My dear colleague Bernhard Nickel on the importance of solidarity and bravery (and AAUP!) in these grim times:

www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...
I’m a Non-Citizen Professor. Here’s Why I Testified Against Trump. | Opinion | The Harvard Crimson
I am glad that I could re-learn this crucial lesson. Surround yourself with the right people. Stand in solidarity with them. Courses of action will make themselves known to you, along with the resourc...
www.thecrimson.com
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Reposted by Nancy Kanwisher

jeremymberg.bsky.social
Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · 2d
My quote of the day

In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
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Reposted by Nancy Kanwisher

kirstenweld.bsky.social
Kirsten Weld @kirstenweld.bsky.social · 2d
“Figuring out what to do isn’t something any of us needs to do alone.”

My dear colleague Bernhard Nickel on the importance of solidarity and bravery (and AAUP!) in these grim times:

www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...
I’m a Non-Citizen Professor. Here’s Why I Testified Against Trump. | Opinion | The Harvard Crimson
I am glad that I could re-learn this crucial lesson. Surround yourself with the right people. Stand in solidarity with them. Courses of action will make themselves known to you, along with the resourc...
www.thecrimson.com
3

Reposted by Dorothy Bishop, Joshua S. Weitz, Scott L. Greer , and 4 more

Nancy Kanwisher @nancykanwisher.bsky.social · 3d
I am proud of MIT, where our branch of AAUP has voted unanimously to endorse this statement urging MIT leadership and the MIT Corporation to reject the Compact wholesale
docs.google.com/document/d/1...
Letter Regarding Compact
MIT Chapter of the American Association of University Professors October 6, 2025 Statement on the “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education” MIT has been invited by the federal governmen...
docs.google.com
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Reposted by Nancy Kanwisher, Stefan Reis, Christopher Wright , and 1 more

rbreich.bsky.social
Robert Reich @rbreich.bsky.social · 3d
Everything Trump is doing now is a preamble for his regime's real goal: to invoke the Insurrection Act.

I don’t want to unduly alarm you, but you need to be aware of this imminent danger. It’s unfolding very rapidly. https://robertreich.substack.com/p/trumps-plan
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Reposted by Lisa W. Fazio, Nancy Kanwisher, Jacob Montgomery , and 2 more

adriennewood.bsky.social
Adrienne Wood @adriennewood.bsky.social · 3d
Over 400 faculty and staff from the #uva College of Arts and Sciences convened for an emergency vote. 97% of eligible voters endorsed a resolution demanding President Mahoney refuse to consider the Trump admin's Compact for Academic Freedom!!
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Reposted by Nancy Kanwisher

ufw.bsky.social
United Farm Workers @ufw.bsky.social · 4d
"Juan" traveled from CA to harvest blueberries in OR. "The fields are in bad condition-so overgrown I can barely walk. I was to get paid 40 cents/lb, but the labor contractor who brought us here doesn't want to pay us sometimes. I'm not protected by a union contract." #WeFeedYou
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Nancy Kanwisher @nancykanwisher.bsky.social · 4d
yes, i just came back to post about it and saw your note. totally agree!
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Nancy Kanwisher @nancykanwisher.bsky.social · 4d
This piece is also excellent:
balkin.blogspot.com/2025/10/the-...
"That’s the point of the compact... It is about control. Specifically it is about turning existing federal law, over which the administration has limited control, into terms of a “deal” that offers the government much more control."
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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Nancy Kanwisher @nancykanwisher.bsky.social · 4d
This is the best piece I have read on the Compact:
genevievelakier.bsky.social
Genevieve Lakier @genevievelakier.bsky.social · 6d
The Trump Administration’s “Compact of Excellence” for Universities is... far from excellent! Indeed, it’s unconstitutional. In this post, let me count the ways.

blog.dividedargument.com/p/the-uncons...
The Unconstitutional Conditions Doctrine and the Compact for Excellence
Members of the Trump administration love to say that federal funding is a privilege not a right and therefore something that can be granted or withheld based on changing administrative priorities.
blog.dividedargument.com
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Reposted by Stephen M. Walt, Kim L. Scheppele, Lisa W. Fazio , and 24 more

fishkin.bsky.social
Joey Fishkin @fishkin.bsky.social · 5d
I thought I'd put the administration's proposed "compact" with universities in context, so I wrote the blog post below.

It's especially for journalists covering this story!

Many details about how the compact itself works and why the administration has retreated to this strategy.
Balkinization: The Art of Replacing the Law with the Deal
A group blog on constitutional law, theory, and politics
balkin.blogspot.com
12 260 540

Reposted by Nancy Kanwisher

jeremymberg.bsky.social
Jeremy Berg @jeremymberg.bsky.social · 5d
Powerful and important piece by an outstanding physician, scientist, and human being @kaminskimed.bsky.social

pdf:

jeremymberg.github.io/jeremyberg.g...
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Reposted by Nancy Kanwisher

yairwallach.bsky.social
Yair Wallach @yairwallach.bsky.social · 5d
Israel killed 66 Palestinians in Gaza TODAY.
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Nancy Kanwisher @nancykanwisher.bsky.social · 5d
Thank you Dartmouth!
dpmoriarity.bsky.social
Daniel P. Moriarity @dpmoriarity.bsky.social · 5d
Dartmouth response to the Trump Administration Compact

president.dartmouth.edu/news/2025/10...
Response to the ‘Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education’ | Office of the President
president.dartmouth.edu
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Reposted by Nancy Kanwisher, Diane Ravitch, David Darmofal

billkristolbulwark.bsky.social
Bill Kristol @billkristolbulwark.bsky.social · 5d
"I believe that Americans would agree that the government can’t just make people disappear without any process or explanation. Second, because I want to give the government a chance to admit that they were wrong.

So far the government has not done so."

newsletter.ofthebrave.org/p/im-a-us-ci...
I’m a US citizen and a veteran. ICE arrested me for no reason.
Jailed for three days without an explanation or ability to notify anyone, George Retes argues the only path to healing starts with the government taking accountability for its actions.
newsletter.ofthebrave.org
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Nancy Kanwisher @nancykanwisher.bsky.social · 5d
Interesting argument: "Democrats are negotiating about policy when they should be negotiating about power."
www.thebulwark.com/p/democrats-...
www.thebulwark.com
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Reposted by Nancy Kanwisher

stelhami.bsky.social
Shibley Telhami @stelhami.bsky.social · 5d
Wow: 61 percent of Jewish Americans say Israel committed war crimes in Gaza and about 4 in 10 say the country is guilty of genocide against the Palestinians, according to a Washington Post poll. Jewish Americans, not surprisingly, are like other Americans.

www.washingtonpost.com/politics/202...
Many American Jews sharply critical of Israel on Gaza, Post poll finds
Most Jews say Israel is committing war crimes — and 39 percent say genocide — while often distinguishing between the country and its leadership.
www.washingtonpost.com
7 7

Reposted by Nancy Kanwisher

adamserwer.bsky.social
Adam Serwer @adamserwer.bsky.social · 5d
Seems a bit weird that a position held by about 2/3 of american jews (israel is committing war crimes against palestinians) can get you fired for antisemitism
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Reposted by Ben H. Ansell, Nancy Kanwisher, Scott L. Greer , and 10 more

dpmoriarity.bsky.social
Daniel P. Moriarity @dpmoriarity.bsky.social · 5d
Dartmouth response to the Trump Administration Compact

president.dartmouth.edu/news/2025/10...
Response to the ‘Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education’ | Office of the President
president.dartmouth.edu
17 89 320

Reposted by Nancy Kanwisher

mollyjongfast.bsky.social
Molly Jong-Fast @mollyjongfast.bsky.social · 5d
Here’s a gift link to my New York Times piece on what Dems can learn from bad bunny

www.nytimes.com/2025/10/04/o...
Opinion | What Chuck Schumer Can Learn From Bad Bunny
www.nytimes.com
180 690 2.2K

Reposted by Nancy Kanwisher, Brendan Nyhan, Jacob T. Levy , and 2 more

genevievelakier.bsky.social
Genevieve Lakier @genevievelakier.bsky.social · 6d
The Trump Administration’s “Compact of Excellence” for Universities is... far from excellent! Indeed, it’s unconstitutional. In this post, let me count the ways.

blog.dividedargument.com/p/the-uncons...
The Unconstitutional Conditions Doctrine and the Compact for Excellence
Members of the Trump administration love to say that federal funding is a privilege not a right and therefore something that can be granted or withheld based on changing administrative priorities.
blog.dividedargument.com
5 230 560

Reposted by Nancy Kanwisher, Alan Richardson, Helen Jefferson Lenskyj , and 1 more

pehjackson.bsky.social
Patrick Jackson @pehjackson.bsky.social · 6d
UVA Faculty Senate passed a resolution strongly opposing the Trump “Compact.” We, at least, remain committed to the historic values and mission of the university.
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.
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