John Cotts
@johncotts.bsky.social
Medieval historian, humanist. Working on the crusades, violence, and the twelfth century. Pursuing new interests in environmental and climate history.
Well, okay. Second edition still 3 months out, but available for pre-order. www.bloomsbury.com/us/europes-l...
November 26, 2025 at 11:29 PM
Well, okay. Second edition still 3 months out, but available for pre-order. www.bloomsbury.com/us/europes-l...
Agreed.
This Mariners-Tigers battle is one of the best baseball games I’ve ever seen
October 11, 2025 at 4:25 AM
Agreed.
Reposted by John Cotts
it's weird how several decades of organized assault on higher education has led to a cratering of American public opinion on higher education
news.gallup.com/poll/695003/...
news.gallup.com/poll/695003/...
Perceived Importance of College Hits New Low
The percentage of Americans who consider a college education "very important" has slipped below the majority level.
news.gallup.com
October 7, 2025 at 1:39 PM
it's weird how several decades of organized assault on higher education has led to a cratering of American public opinion on higher education
news.gallup.com/poll/695003/...
news.gallup.com/poll/695003/...
Reposted by John Cotts
When I was placed on the Professor Watchlist in 2021, people sent death threats about my children. I had security officers monitor my 8yo at school.
Where is all the outrage for those of us who have been targeted for years? Where is the outrage for our families?
My own colleagues are silent.
Where is all the outrage for those of us who have been targeted for years? Where is the outrage for our families?
My own colleagues are silent.
September 15, 2025 at 8:25 PM
When I was placed on the Professor Watchlist in 2021, people sent death threats about my children. I had security officers monitor my 8yo at school.
Where is all the outrage for those of us who have been targeted for years? Where is the outrage for our families?
My own colleagues are silent.
Where is all the outrage for those of us who have been targeted for years? Where is the outrage for our families?
My own colleagues are silent.
Reposted by John Cotts
There will be many casualties from UChicago ending ('pausing') PhD admissions in Humantities, but one which I am keenly aware of: this is close to a death sentence for teaching cuneiform in the United States (esp. Sumerian, Hittite, Elamite, Eblaite, Luwian) and it will affect the whole world.
“Chicago has long helped to keep alive tiny fields & esoteric areas of humanistic study... Without the univ’s support, & the continued training of grad students who can keep these bodies of kn going, entire spheres of human learning might eventually blink out.” www.theatlantic.com/culture/arch...
If the University of Chicago Won’t Defend the Humanities, Who Will?
Why it matters that the University of Chicago is pausing admissions to doctoral programs in literature, philosophy, the arts, and languages
www.theatlantic.com
August 27, 2025 at 2:02 PM
There will be many casualties from UChicago ending ('pausing') PhD admissions in Humantities, but one which I am keenly aware of: this is close to a death sentence for teaching cuneiform in the United States (esp. Sumerian, Hittite, Elamite, Eblaite, Luwian) and it will affect the whole world.
Reposted by John Cotts
SAY THIS FUCKING LOUDER
August 25, 2025 at 5:28 PM
SAY THIS FUCKING LOUDER
Reposted by John Cotts
It's my experience (from 25 yrs of teaching) that "learning management" tools like Canvas do nothing to facilitate student learning & make my job MORE, not less, time consuming. That additional time I put in contributes zero to improving the student experience. But Canvas gets our money regardless.
August 24, 2025 at 2:58 PM
It's my experience (from 25 yrs of teaching) that "learning management" tools like Canvas do nothing to facilitate student learning & make my job MORE, not less, time consuming. That additional time I put in contributes zero to improving the student experience. But Canvas gets our money regardless.
And there were proofs . . .
August 20, 2025 at 9:37 PM
And there were proofs . . .
Reposted by John Cotts
I am no constitutional scholar, but I can't help but feel that "the President gets to dictate what every university can teach and what every television station should broadcast" is closer to what the founding fathers were worried about when it comes to free speech than trigger warnings on syllabi.
July 23, 2025 at 4:27 PM
I am no constitutional scholar, but I can't help but feel that "the President gets to dictate what every university can teach and what every television station should broadcast" is closer to what the founding fathers were worried about when it comes to free speech than trigger warnings on syllabi.
Reposted by John Cotts
My experience over 25 years of teaching college is that, for the most part, 18 year olds have not changed all that much. Most are curious, hungry for knowledge, anxious about what their future might hold, & desirous of figuring out what it looks like to be a good person in a fucked up world.
July 13, 2025 at 3:17 PM
My experience over 25 years of teaching college is that, for the most part, 18 year olds have not changed all that much. Most are curious, hungry for knowledge, anxious about what their future might hold, & desirous of figuring out what it looks like to be a good person in a fucked up world.
Reposted by John Cotts
The American right isn't going after universities because of woke courses in woke majors, it just completely falls apart considering that the US right is also destroying STEM research. They hate *all* research and *all* universities and *all* professors because they're against expertise per se
July 10, 2025 at 2:13 PM
The American right isn't going after universities because of woke courses in woke majors, it just completely falls apart considering that the US right is also destroying STEM research. They hate *all* research and *all* universities and *all* professors because they're against expertise per se
Life rules:
It is never ok to yell “FREEBIRD!” at the band.
It is always okay to yell “IT’S ENRICO PALZZO!” when the home plate umpire takes off his mask.
It is never ok to yell “FREEBIRD!” at the band.
It is always okay to yell “IT’S ENRICO PALZZO!” when the home plate umpire takes off his mask.
June 14, 2025 at 5:19 PM
Life rules:
It is never ok to yell “FREEBIRD!” at the band.
It is always okay to yell “IT’S ENRICO PALZZO!” when the home plate umpire takes off his mask.
It is never ok to yell “FREEBIRD!” at the band.
It is always okay to yell “IT’S ENRICO PALZZO!” when the home plate umpire takes off his mask.
WXRT Chicago with the Brian Wilson medley for the absolute gut punch . . .
June 11, 2025 at 5:12 PM
WXRT Chicago with the Brian Wilson medley for the absolute gut punch . . .
Reposted by John Cotts
Yes, you did vote to deport moms.
May 31, 2025 at 3:49 PM
Yes, you did vote to deport moms.
Reposted by John Cotts
Late Roman historian here. Please stop perpetuating the narrative of a fall of Rome triggering Dark Ages. That’s not what happened at all.
The Trump administration is now undertaking a deliberate destruction of education, science, and history, conducted with a fanaticism that recalls the Dark Ages that followed Rome’s fall. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
The New Dark Age
The Trump administration has launched an attack on knowledge itself.
www.theatlantic.com
May 27, 2025 at 2:58 PM
Late Roman historian here. Please stop perpetuating the narrative of a fall of Rome triggering Dark Ages. That’s not what happened at all.
An amazing thread.
This Day in Labor History: May 10, 1869. The Transcontinental Railroad was completed when the Central Pacific and Union Pacific lines met at Promontory Point, Utah. Let's talk about the horrible conditions for the Chinese workers who built the western half of the railroad!
May 10, 2025 at 3:47 PM
An amazing thread.
I had an inkling about AI being used badly, so I did a quick check and good Lord. It really does make stuff up.
May 9, 2025 at 11:08 PM
I had an inkling about AI being used badly, so I did a quick check and good Lord. It really does make stuff up.
Yeah, I went there . . .
April 28, 2025 at 12:32 AM
Yeah, I went there . . .
My inner Gen-Xer is somewhat annoyed that the Bears signed a guy named “Major Burns” and half the folks in the ESPN comments don’t get the joke.
motociclismo.pt/en/bears-sig...
motociclismo.pt/en/bears-sig...
Bears sign Power Echols and Major Burns in a name game that could shake up NFL defenses
A Bold Entrance into the NFL In an unexpected move, the Chicago Bears have elevated the hype surrounding team signings
motociclismo.pt
April 28, 2025 at 12:13 AM
My inner Gen-Xer is somewhat annoyed that the Bears signed a guy named “Major Burns” and half the folks in the ESPN comments don’t get the joke.
motociclismo.pt/en/bears-sig...
motociclismo.pt/en/bears-sig...
WXRT just played George Harrison's "Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)" in honor of Pope Francis, who was apparently a Beatles fan. Nice.
April 21, 2025 at 5:27 PM
WXRT just played George Harrison's "Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)" in honor of Pope Francis, who was apparently a Beatles fan. Nice.
Reposted by John Cotts
Reclaiming the Narrative About Critical Race Theory
Aja Martinez and Robert Smith say in a new book that the roots of CRT show that the academic discipline is uniquely American and an extension of the civil rights movement. #HigherEd #EDUSky #AcademicSky bit.ly/43RMcPM
Aja Martinez and Robert Smith say in a new book that the roots of CRT show that the academic discipline is uniquely American and an extension of the civil rights movement. #HigherEd #EDUSky #AcademicSky bit.ly/43RMcPM
Q&A on New Book About Critical Race Theory’s Origins
Aja Martinez and Robert Smith say in a new book that the roots of CRT show that the academic discipline is uniquely American and an extension of the civil rights movement.
bit.ly
April 17, 2025 at 3:36 PM
Reclaiming the Narrative About Critical Race Theory
Aja Martinez and Robert Smith say in a new book that the roots of CRT show that the academic discipline is uniquely American and an extension of the civil rights movement. #HigherEd #EDUSky #AcademicSky bit.ly/43RMcPM
Aja Martinez and Robert Smith say in a new book that the roots of CRT show that the academic discipline is uniquely American and an extension of the civil rights movement. #HigherEd #EDUSky #AcademicSky bit.ly/43RMcPM
Reposted by John Cotts
Yes--Germany invented the modern university. In the 1930s its universities were the best in the world until the Nazis destroyed them. German universities have never recovered their preeminence. We risk repeating this history here in the US.
Germany still hasn’t fully recovered from expelling and killing so many of its top researchers back in 1933. A lot of brilliant minds were forced to leave—people who went on to do groundbreaking work in other countries, especially the U.S.
March 30, 2025 at 2:42 PM
Yes--Germany invented the modern university. In the 1930s its universities were the best in the world until the Nazis destroyed them. German universities have never recovered their preeminence. We risk repeating this history here in the US.
Reposted by John Cotts
I'm just a small-town professor. I'll never be a provost or chancellor. But here's some free advice: we're about to hold the most watched college sports event in 🇺🇸. Every college president should be all over TV, at every game, explaining why the March Madness of federal budget cuts is a huge crisis.
👇🎯 The public isn't going to understand this, unless the presidents of R1 universities around the country <loudly> & <collectively> get out into the public square & start explaining this & calling out the existential threat to the entire 🇺🇸 university system. The silence is deafening right now.
The public really needs to understand this. Every university system in the world rests on public funding, there has never been an alternative model at any time in history.
We have universities for literally the same reason that we have roads and armies.
We have universities for literally the same reason that we have roads and armies.
March 8, 2025 at 9:20 PM
I'm just a small-town professor. I'll never be a provost or chancellor. But here's some free advice: we're about to hold the most watched college sports event in 🇺🇸. Every college president should be all over TV, at every game, explaining why the March Madness of federal budget cuts is a huge crisis.
Reposted by John Cotts
Higher education in the US is being assailed by corporatization, financialization, pre-professionalization, artificial intelligence, and, now, by the Trump/Musk wrecking ball.
The whole structure is on the precipice, its survival in a recognizable form hanging in the balance.
A difficult moment.
The whole structure is on the precipice, its survival in a recognizable form hanging in the balance.
A difficult moment.
March 7, 2025 at 3:40 AM
Higher education in the US is being assailed by corporatization, financialization, pre-professionalization, artificial intelligence, and, now, by the Trump/Musk wrecking ball.
The whole structure is on the precipice, its survival in a recognizable form hanging in the balance.
A difficult moment.
The whole structure is on the precipice, its survival in a recognizable form hanging in the balance.
A difficult moment.