Dr. Jessica Lepler
@jlepler.bsky.social
2.7K followers 2.1K following 220 posts
Historian at UNH. Teaches early America, capitalism, & animals. 1st Book (2013): "The Many Panics of 1837." 2nd Book (August 2025): "Canal Dreamers" https://uncpress.org/book/9781469690551/canal-dreamers/
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jlepler.bsky.social
I really needed a sign today that what I do as a historian matters. I did not expect to literally see a sign. On the sidewalk. And in the window. Hooray for local bookstores! Water Street Bookstore totally made my day! 🗃️
@uncpress.bsky.social @sonyabonczek.bsky.social
jlepler.bsky.social
Follow-up: we had a great discussion. The students expressed genuine relief to learn from your book that history wars have happened before and the nation has survived.
jlepler.bsky.social
I am happy to let the author reply, but my read of the book is that it is a history of the history of the revolution. It is not really about “ought” as much as it is about “how” the current views on the revolution fit within a long trajectory of change over time.
jlepler.bsky.social
Thank you! It's really a triumph. Bravo!

If the students have any questions, I will pass them along.
jlepler.bsky.social
I am excited to teach The Memory of '76 by @michaelhattem.bsky.social in my early American grad seminar tomorrow. It will be a new staple for the course because it is concise, eloquent, provocative, and a survey of popular and academic historiography. 🗃️
yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300...
The Memory of ’76
The surprising history of how Americans have fought over the meaning and legacy of the Revolution for nearly two and a half centuries  Finalist, George Wash...
yalebooks.yale.edu
jlepler.bsky.social
Yes. I’ll take the warmth, but it is just WEIRD.
jlepler.bsky.social
I like warm. It’s just WEIRD!
jlepler.bsky.social
Tonight’s full moonrise is breathtaking. What a lovely and slightly haunting end to an 82 degree day in October in New Hampshire. I appreciate the free trip to Florida, but global warming much?
jlepler.bsky.social
Following this discussion. I need to update my sense of the field. The transition to coal seems super important these days.
jeffmanuel.bsky.social
Historians: if you had to pick one accessible text for an undergraduate student starting to explore the early British Industrial Revolution, what would you recommend? TIA
🗃️
jlepler.bsky.social
My undergrad and grad students are doing a footnote assignment where they have to find the primary source cited in a secondary source and analyze the accuracy of its use. It is working well toward getting them to dig in to the reading more.
Reposted by Dr. Jessica Lepler
joshrgreenberg.bsky.social
With news that Trump wants to be put on a $1 coin, here is the $.05 fractional currency featuring Spencer Clark, Superintendent of the US National Currency Bureau that led to outrage over putting living people on currency. PA Rep Russell Thayer’s 1866 appropriations amendment forbid this practice.
jlepler.bsky.social
If you want new pictures of me, UNH is taking new photos on Tuesday! Good timing!
jlepler.bsky.social
"Swim beyond your school!" And other hilarious and fishy advice from the @shearites.bsky.social program committee! 🗃️
shearites.bsky.social
Are you feeling Eel at ease about what you should include in your CV and Diversity Statement for #SHEAR2026? Program Committee Co-Chair Mark Boonshoft is here to give you tips on luring in the Program Committee. Check this space weekly for more tips and tricks for a successful proposal. #GRWS
Reposted by Dr. Jessica Lepler
aupresses.bsky.social
All are invited to the first in Publishing with University Presses Webinar Series, "Turning Your Dissertation into a Book," Oct 9 at 1pm ET. Organized by our Faculty Outreach Committee with the Rutgers Ctr for Minority Serving Institutions.

Register here: https://buff.ly/UiOAr5M
Turning You Dissertation into a Book webinar promotional tile
jlepler.bsky.social
I love teaching my intro-level course on the History of Animals. I'm excited to share my lecture on "Dinosaurs: Animal History Before Humans (And After)" through a free online program sponsored by the Free Library of Philadelphia on October 17. Register here: 🗃️
libwww.freelibrary.org/calendar/eve...
Events: Dinosaurs: Animal History Before Humans (and After).
Join us on October 17th for a free Zoom presentation as Jessica Lepler, a historian at the University of New Hampshire, will offer a compelling program that may change the way you view both animals an...
libwww.freelibrary.org
jlepler.bsky.social
I really needed a sign today that what I do as a historian matters. I did not expect to literally see a sign. On the sidewalk. And in the window. Hooray for local bookstores! Water Street Bookstore totally made my day! 🗃️
@uncpress.bsky.social @sonyabonczek.bsky.social
jlepler.bsky.social
A quarter century ago, I had an amazing year as a visiting student at Mansfield College of Oxford University. I am so honored that Canal Dreamers is featured on the alumni book review page of @ox.ac.uk. @uncpress.bsky.social 🗃️

www.alumni.ox.ac.uk/article/off-...
OFF THE SHELF: SEPTEMBER 2025
The Panama Canal, our late Queen, teachers, stained glass and liturgy
www.alumni.ox.ac.uk
Reposted by Dr. Jessica Lepler
jamellebouie.net
getting fired from your job because some dipshit student who missed their calling in the Stasi filmed you talking about gender in a class about gender
weedenkim.bsky.social
I agree but this case is even worse: it appears that the detailed course description* explicitly mentions that it will explore how gender and sexuality are depicted in YA literature.

*As the reddit poster mentions, there's some confusion and possible misreporting of which course she's teaching.
Screenshot of reddit post from user Wang_Lung_1921.

Begin quote:

I understand that ENG 360 is Children's Literature, and that's what has been reported, but she's not in the Course Schedule for 360. Instead, look at ENG 394, which does show as her course. If I'm wrong, I'm wrong. But that's what my search pulled up.

You can still find her syllabus, with a detailed course description, that falls within the range of the general description given in the Catalog.

"COURSE DESCRIPTION Did you read what we now call “young adult literature” as a young adult? What exactly is a young adult? Does the term refer to an age category or a marketing tool, a personality type or a genre? What differentiates adult from young adult from teenager from child? How do we understand the genre of literature for and about this blurry, shifting group? In this course, we will explore a range of young adult or YA literature in English, including poetry, contemporary fiction, graphic memoirs, historical fiction, and fantasy, from a diverse group of authors with many varied perspectives on race, gender, sexuality, disability and other realms of human difference. Our task is to think critically about what these books can tell us about how we (and others) understand adolescence, how those definitions have changed over time, and how these books participate in larger movements of history, culture, and literature."

End quote
Reposted by Dr. Jessica Lepler
victorerikray.bsky.social
Not only is this coming for you, it is here and we are collectively behind in preparing.
jlepler.bsky.social
Thanks for announcing the release of Canal Dreamers! It’s so exciting to share it with everyone! uncpress.org/978146969055...