Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Ian Kennedy (they/them) 🏳️‍⚧️ @ikennedy.bsky.social · 4d

Dark things are happening. But also, my partner and I are going to have a child and this morning we're preparing for a baby shower.

It's so lovely to come together with our friends and family. May you all be well today.

Two bouquets of flowers stand on a brown wooden table by a window in a corner formed by white walls. A clock, a painting, and a spice rack are on the wall to the right, while the window dominates the wall to the left. Green and brown outside, a small basket hangs from the window.

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Ian Kennedy (they/them) 🏳️‍⚧️ @ikennedy.bsky.social · 6d

I had an international student in my office hours yesterday and I ended up explaining the government shutdown to someone who hadn't imagined that governments could shut down.

He asked "why would this be a thing?", very reasonably

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Ian Kennedy (they/them) 🏳️‍⚧️ @ikennedy.bsky.social · 12d

Keep it up Chicago!

www.erininthemorning.com/p/chicago-pu...

Chicago Public Schools Defy Trump, Reject Trans Bathroom Ban Demands

The school system has refused to capitulate, despite Trump pulling back millions in federal funds.

www.erininthemorning.com

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Ian Kennedy (they/them) 🏳️‍⚧️ @ikennedy.bsky.social · 22d

Also, their estimation is described as only slightly worse, so describing them as "poor monitors" may be an overstatement?

Ian Kennedy (they/them) 🏳️‍⚧️ @ikennedy.bsky.social · 22d

www.insidehighered.com/news/governm...

Trump Administration Delays Millions for TRIO Programs

The disruptions in TRIO funding have caused some programs to lay off or furlough staff. The Education Department says it will issue grant awards by Sept. 30.

www.insidehighered.com

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Ian Kennedy (they/them) 🏳️‍⚧️ @ikennedy.bsky.social · 22d

That would be incredible

Ian Kennedy (they/them) 🏳️‍⚧️ @ikennedy.bsky.social · 22d

I'll follow anyone who makes this call today!

Comment that you've done it and why supporting higher Ed is important and I'll read all of your skeets forever ♾️

Ian Kennedy (they/them) 🏳️‍⚧️ @ikennedy.bsky.social · 22d

If you're serious about standing firm against attacks on academia, then now is the time to support one our most important allies: The TRIO McNair Program: helping underrepresented, first-gen, and low income enter research based gras programs. Call your reps #academicsky

coenet.org/protect-the-...

Protect the Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement Program - Council for Opportunity in Education

We’re stronger together. Call your Member of Congress, send an email, post on social media, host a phone party, invite your Member to campus, and report your actions. Every voice protects students and...

coenet.org

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Ian Kennedy (they/them) 🏳️‍⚧️ @ikennedy.bsky.social · 22d

Use the link above to call your reps and demand they reach out to the department of Ed and demand that they honor their obligations to these students.

Ian Kennedy (they/them) 🏳️‍⚧️ @ikennedy.bsky.social · 22d

What's especially wild is that the department of Ed has just unilaterally stopped payments--effectively ending the the program. This is super underhanded since the program is still supported by Congress and isn't being formally defunded or ended, and its grants aren't being formally cancelled.

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Ian Kennedy (they/them) 🏳️‍⚧️ @ikennedy.bsky.social · 22d

If you're serious about standing firm against attacks on academia, then now is the time to support one our most important allies: The TRIO McNair Program: helping underrepresented, first-gen, and low income enter research based gras programs. Call your reps #academicsky

coenet.org/protect-the-...

Protect the Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement Program - Council for Opportunity in Education

We’re stronger together. Call your Member of Congress, send an email, post on social media, host a phone party, invite your Member to campus, and report your actions. Every voice protects students and...

coenet.org

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Ian Kennedy (they/them) 🏳️‍⚧️ @ikennedy.bsky.social · 26d

“It is a time to resist injustice that now threatens to be normalized by those who capitulate, sometimes in advance, to bullying tactics of extortion at the expense of basic standards that govern shared governance" -Butler
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

UC Berkeley shares 160 names with Trump administration in ‘McCarthy era’ move

Prominent professor Judith Butler among students and faculty investigated for ‘alleged antisemitic incidents’

www.theguardian.com

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Ian Kennedy (they/them) 🏳️‍⚧️ @ikennedy.bsky.social · 28d

Thanks for being there too 🙏!

Ian Kennedy (they/them) 🏳️‍⚧️ @ikennedy.bsky.social · 29d

I'm downtown in beautiful downtown Chicago. All we need to be safe is to get ice and troops out of our city.

Cute little me holding a sign that says "fight fear stop deportations defend immigrants"

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Reposted by Ian Kennedy (they/them) 🏳️‍⚧️

Preorder Read This When Things Fall Apart @mskellymhayes.bsky.social · Sep 3

Someone asked me what victory against the forces seeking to occupy Chicago looks like. Obviously, those forces being repelled is the goal, but there are layers to what success looks like in these deteriorating conditions. The first is to successfully resist the normalization of military occupation.

22 380 1.4K

Reposted by Ian Kennedy (they/them) 🏳️‍⚧️

American Sociological Association @asanews.bsky.social · Aug 27

Are you a sociology doctoral student interested in applying for an ASA Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grant? Register for the FREE virtual Q&A on 9/4 at 1 p.m. Eastern. You must register to attend. In the meantime, check out our FAQs: www.asanet.org/ddrig

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Ian Kennedy (they/them) 🏳️‍⚧️ @ikennedy.bsky.social · Aug 26

It's great to be back in the classroom at UIC Sociology today! Excited to learn from a whole new group of students 🤓

Cute little me sitting in my office.

I'm wearing a black headband, silver earrings shaped like ginkgo leaves, and a black blouse. The white walls of my office, two paintings, and a white board are behind me~

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Ian Kennedy (they/them) 🏳️‍⚧️ @ikennedy.bsky.social · Aug 24

All of us who live here in Chicago know that our city _does not need_ the national guard or _any_ federal interference.

Just like DC residents knew before their police department was messed with.

#chicago #pritzker #noice

Ian Kennedy (they/them) 🏳️‍⚧️ @ikennedy.bsky.social · Aug 23

I didn't visit the table, but I also don't review for them

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Ian Kennedy (they/them) 🏳️‍⚧️ @ikennedy.bsky.social · Aug 23

Really excited to be working on _another_ incredible paper with @msoma.bsky.social

He's presenting it at this conference, check it out!

Mahesh Somashekhar @msoma.bsky.social · Aug 22

On Aug 28, as part of the conference below, I'll be presenting new work (co-authored w/ @ikennedy.bsky.social) on the geography of far-right retailers in the U.S.
ias.uva.nl/content/even...

To virtually attend, and to get the full schedule, contact @lauradupin.bsky.social. Hope to see you there!

Organizations and Urban Inequality - Institute for Advanced Study IAS

In this hybrid event prominent scholars from different disciplines (urban sociology, political science, management studies, geospatial studies, organizational studies) will discuss their upcoming contributions to an accepted forthcoming special issue of Urban Studies (eds. Floris Vermeulen, Laura Dupin and Mingshu Wang).

ias.uva.nl

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Ian Kennedy (they/them) 🏳️‍⚧️ @ikennedy.bsky.social · Aug 23

www.reddit.com/r/lgbt/comme...

From the lgbt community on Reddit: WHO’S AFRAID OF GENDER?

Explore this post and more from the lgbt community

www.reddit.com

Ian Kennedy (they/them) 🏳️‍⚧️ @ikennedy.bsky.social · Aug 23

Haha, I am kind of trying to do that. Thank you for your service!

Also, queer life online (and other online sex stuff) is important and valuable and has helped me in dark times!

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Reposted by Ian Kennedy (they/them) 🏳️‍⚧️

Balthazar Bot @balthazarbot.bsky.social · Aug 19

Balthazar is thinking about Structural sociology. It looks delighted.

Pixel art of a corgi on a virtual pet device screen. It looks delighted.

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Reposted by Ian Kennedy (they/them) 🏳️‍⚧️

Oisín McGann @oisinmcgann.bsky.social · Aug 18

Threatening to criminalize one of Ireland's most successful writers for caring about Palestine pretty much guarantees that half of Ireland will find a way to shove this back in the face of the UK government. If they go through with it, they will face a level of piss-taking they've never seen before.

The National @scotnational.bsky.social · Aug 18

BREAKING: Downing Street has warned Sally Rooney risks committing a terrorist offence if she funds Palestine Action

It comes after the author said she would continue to support the group financially

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Ian Kennedy (they/them) 🏳️‍⚧️ @ikennedy.bsky.social · Aug 11

This is hard. I don't want to do hard things 😭

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