Alicia Spencer-Hall
@aspencerhall.bsky.social
3.4K followers 1.9K following 5.9K posts
Writer. Researcher. Editor. Genderqueer femme. Crip. She/they. // medieval lit / media / gender / disability / pop culture // https://linktr.ee/aspencerhall
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aspencerhall.bsky.social
So I wrote a book about Twitter. Medieval Twitter to be exact---the interconnections between Twitter's textual modes & medieval literary culture(s), plus medievalists' use of Twitter and the #MedievalTwitter hashtag

www.arc-humanities.org/978194240195...

@archumanities.bsky.social #MedievalSky 🗃️
Front cover of "Medieval Twitter" by Alicia Spencer-Hall, published by Arc Humanities Press in October 2024. Series: Arc Impact. On a bright, textured blue background, neon pink birds from medieval manuscripts circle three medieval monks. The monk on the left reacts with a heart, the middle monk, agog, retweets, and the monk on the right wags his finger, tweeting a response. This pioneering monograph provocatively explodes current research paradigms for the modern and the medieval by showing that Twitter shares key similarities with medieval literary forms, texts, and narrative techniques. Analyzing tweets with medieval texts, and vice versa, Spencer-Hall initiates readers into an innovative methodology of interdisciplinary literary criticism, posing vital questions about the politics of medievalism today. Chapters include brand-new readings of The Owl and the Nightingale, the Chastelaine de Vergi, and Marie de France’s Laüstic, and arresting insights into troubadour style, Margery Kempe, and #MedievalTwitter. The book culminates in a medieval(ist) reading of Twitter’s premature demise, and Elon Musk’s medievalism. Throughout, points of contact and divergence are dissected, re-contextualizing the socio-cultural meaning of communication and texts across the temporal divide.
Reposted by Alicia Spencer-Hall
chanda.blacksky.app
Today seems like a great day to re-up my slides from 2017 about the Nazi takeover of German physics, in part because in my estimation, a lot of American physicists in 2025 are confused about whether "agreeing to work with them" is resistance (it's not) and whether it works (it doesn't) 🧪⚛️
chanda.blacksky.app
In light of this deeply illegal activity at NSF and the ongoing attack on American science, I'm posting the slides from my 2017 talk at the American Physical Society about the Nazi take over of German physics/why German is no longer science's lingua franca 🧪

🧵 1/26
drive.google.com/file/d/1_MCm...
nazi germany & physics
Chanda Prescod-Weinstein, PhD
Department of  Physics,University of Washington, Seattle
APS April Meeting, January 2017
Dismantling the (Nazi) German Nuclear Reactor (Pile) at Haigerloch, 50 km SW of Stuttgart, in April 1945
Reposted by Alicia Spencer-Hall
monicamedhist.bsky.social
#histmed #MedievalSky Minji Lee's book, The Medieval Womb: Hildegard of Bingen’s Views on the Female Reproductive Body, has just been released #OpenAccess: library.oapen.org/handle/20.50...
Cover image of Minji Lee, The Medieval Womb: Hildegard of Bingen’s Views on the Female Reproductive Body. On the complex imagery reproduced on the cover, read the book!
Reposted by Alicia Spencer-Hall
mrspjhaverstock.bsky.social
If the event doesn’t have this vibe I don’t want to be there ⬇️⬇️⬇️
pikaole.bsky.social
Witchy crows 🐦‍⬛
Reposted by Alicia Spencer-Hall
keithwdickinson.bsky.social
Today is a day when arts degrees are worthless, but the product of those degrees is so valuable it would kill an entire industry if they were made to pay for it.
Reposted by Alicia Spencer-Hall
outonbluesix.bsky.social
How is this repeatedly made into a policy issue - by *all* parties - when the blunt fact of the matter is that grown adults who are obliged to pay for their own education, and relentlessly pursued to repay their loans, should be able to study whatever the fuck they want.
Reposted by Alicia Spencer-Hall
davidveevers.bsky.social
All I think about when reading this is how many jobs the money spent on that pile of brick and glass could have saved in smaller humanities departments - my own colleagues. It’s like building a monument of gold in a landscape of wrack and ruin.
eicathomefinn.bsky.social
'The gleaming palace to the humanities – the single largest building project ever undertaken by the University of Oxford made possible by the largest philanthropic gift it has ever received – stands in stark contrast to the beleaguered, shrinking state of the rest of the sector.'
Oxford’s largest-ever project ‘shows what the humanities can do’
New building which brings together disciplines for the first time will also open its doors to the public to engage with big questions facing the world
www.timeshighereducation.com
Reposted by Alicia Spencer-Hall
sundersays.bsky.social
The Bishop of Birmingham has written to the Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick about his comments about Handsworth
Reposted by Alicia Spencer-Hall
mbsycamore.bsky.social
Does anyone remember this term from the beginning of the pandemic to describe feeling horrible all day & then you end up staying up too late because you’re trying to get to a place where you’re feeling kind of okay, and then the staying up too late feeds the whole pattern? Anyway, that’s where I am.
Reposted by Alicia Spencer-Hall
mikeachim.bsky.social
Damn. This is amazing. £325 per week, paid monthly, for 3 years - and the result was a profit for the Irish economy:
www.citizensinformation.ie/en/employmen...
Post from Threads user rodneyowl: "Ireland has declared the Basic Income for Artists scheme permanent. This will be officially announced in tomorrow’s budget. Details to follow. Congratulations to all who fought for it and the present and future artists of all sorts in Ireland. That includes me 👌We’re just comin to the end of a 3 year pilot scheme. It’s been a roaring success. For every €1 paid out to the 2000 participants, the government got €1.46 back. Can’t argue with that. Other countries are already taking note."
Reposted by Alicia Spencer-Hall
senthorun.bsky.social
“As the first comprehensive international human rights instrument dedicated to the protection of persons with variations of sex characteristics, the Recommendation marks a historic and much-needed milestone.”

This is a very encouraging move in Europe to better protect intersex people.
Council of Europe Adopts Landmark Intersex Rights Recommendation
The Council of Europe adopts a landmark Recommendation on Equal Rights for Intersex Persons, setting a new gold standard for intersex human rights across Europe.
www.ilga-europe.org
Reposted by Alicia Spencer-Hall
slooterman.bsky.social
One way autism has equipped me well for parenthood: I can listen to the same children’s song 30 times in a row, no problem.
Reposted by Alicia Spencer-Hall
wormbuxx.bsky.social
Now I’m falling asleep and she’s calling a cob
Reposted by Alicia Spencer-Hall
chanda.blacksky.app
I don't even know what to say about @aaron.bsky.team announcing that actually they feed all images posted on Bsky into an AI that just a year ago they told everyone they had banned from using Bsky images
Reposted by Alicia Spencer-Hall
henrymance.ft.com
I know this is uncomfortable to admit, but there is a small area in England's second city where people are just not integrated with the rest of society. Many of them hold views that arguably go against British values.

Yes, we need to talk about the Tory conference in Manchester.
Reposted by Alicia Spencer-Hall
michaelhobbes.bsky.social
I cannot believe these lyrics from the new Taylor Swift album are real
Pledge allegiance to your hands, your team, your vibes"

"You made a deal with this devil, turns out my dick's bigger"

"Everybody's so punk on the internet"

"So we all dressed up as wolves and we looked fire"

"Got me drеaming about a driveway with a basketball hoop - Boss up, settle down, got a wish list"

"Please, God, bring me a best friend who I think is hot"

"He dick-matized me and opened my еyes - Redwood tree, it ain't hard to see - His love was thе key that opened my thighs"

"Good thing I like my friends cancelled - I like 'em cloaked in Gucci and in scandal"

"Did you girl-boss too close to the sun?"

"Who's the baddest in the land? What's the plan? - You could be my forever night stand"

"They ripped me off like false lashes - And then threw me away"

"Her name was Kitty - Made her money being pretty and witty - They gave her the keys to this city - Then they said she didn't do it legitly"
Reposted by Alicia Spencer-Hall
dieworkwear.bsky.social
this is the jacket's breast pocket lining pulled up to make it look like a pocket square
Stephen Miller in a gray suit, white shirt, and gray tie. A close-up of his breast pocket.
Reposted by Alicia Spencer-Hall
jordantyranny.bsky.social
Roberta Cowell (1918 - 2011) was a fighter pilot during the Second World War.

She was the first known British trans woman to undergo gender-affirming surgery in 1951.

TRANS WILL WIN.
Reposted by Alicia Spencer-Hall
devawo.bsky.social
“We’re operationalizing our old corridors—taking ancient trade routes our elders told us about and articulating them in a modern context,” said Solomon Cyr, spokesperson for Standing Buffalo Dakota Nation.” — Love it when people take advantage of political opportunities.
Indigenous Nations Plan Tariff-Free Trade Corridor Across US-Canada border
“We’re not begging for crumbs anymore. We’re demanding what’s rightly ours."
www.motherjones.com
Reposted by Alicia Spencer-Hall
nedhartley.com
French PM Lecornu resigning after 13 hours now makes the Lecornu the shortest length to measure political time. For those of you using old measures this is 1/18 of a Scaramucci or about 1.2% of a Truss
jamesrball.com
France’s latest government lasted 13 hours and 47 minutes
fintwitter.bsky.social
FRENCH PM LECORNU RESIGNS
Reposted by Alicia Spencer-Hall
robertmullins.bsky.social
If I were an investigative journalist in the UK (are there any left?), I would be having a good look at the extent to which NHS leadership seems to have allied itself with a fringe medical movement that more or less condones conversion therapy. qnews.com.au/australian-r...
Australian report says UK’s Cass review should not guide transgender healthcare
QNews LGBTIQA+ News
qnews.com.au
Reposted by Alicia Spencer-Hall
bisexualkaiju.myatproto.social
So you want to support living marginalized banned authors but your local banned books week displays and events are full of famous dead people?

Not to worry: your helpful non-binary bookseller is here to help!

A thread!
Reposted by Alicia Spencer-Hall
seantcollins.com
CHATGPT: I understand where you're coming from. You worked really hard to get here, and now it's time to enjoy the fruit of your labors.

ISILDUR: So I should keep it? Elrond says I shouldn't

CHATGPT: The ring is precious. Sometimes friends don't have your best interests at heart.

ISILDUR: true
Reposted by Alicia Spencer-Hall
cait.bsky.social
i'm sorry but I can't stop thinking about how funny it is to write a song called "the fate of ophelia" and have it be an upbeat pop song about your quarterback boyfriend. thank god I found a man so I don't have to kill myself
Reposted by Alicia Spencer-Hall
philipcbaldwin.bsky.social
“The Cass Review, lacking expertise and compromised by implicit stigma and misinformation, does not give credible evidence‐based guidance. We are gravely concerned about its impact on the well-being of trans and gender‐diverse people.” #TransRightsAreHumanRights www.thepinknews.com/2025/10/06/c...
Cass Review full of 'stigma' and should not guide trans youth care, say experts
A newly published study has argued the Cass Review into trans youth care, published in April 2024, is full of 'stigma' and 'misinformation'.
www.thepinknews.com