Melissa Kutner
@melissannbee.bsky.social
380 followers 350 following 450 posts
Ancient Studies professor at UMBC. Mostly Roman things. Views my own.
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melissannbee.bsky.social
My paper, "Public Granaries and Private Transactions: Infrastructure and Standardization," is now out in Ancient Society! Standard measures were never imposed by the Romans across Egypt. But I argue that taxation infrastructure, especially public granaries... poj.peeters-leuven.be/content.php?...
PEETERS ONLINE JOURNALS
poj.peeters-leuven.be
Reposted by Melissa Kutner
historyjobs.bsky.social
New History Job Posted Today: Assistant Professor of Ancient History | University of Maryland Department of History
Assistant Professor of Ancient History | University of Maryland Department of History
College Park, Maryland, The University of Maryland, College Park Department of History, invites applications for a tenure-track Assistant Professor position from historians of the Ancient Mediterranean worlds within the broad geographical zone that extends into Asia, Africa, and Europe. Chronological specialization is open. However, expertise in the Roman Imperial or late antique periods in particular aligns with existing areas of teaching and research expertise in the department.  Preference will be given to scholars whose work engages with the diversity and complexity of the Mediterranean world in such areas as ethnicity, gender, environment, or connectivity. In addition to exceptional scholarly promise, the successful candidate will demonstrate excellence in teaching. Responsibilities include teaching a general survey of the ancient Mediterranean and the Near East, other lecture courses, and upper-level undergraduate and graduate seminars as they align with the candidate’s interests and departmental requirements, as well as engaging in curriculum development. MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS Education: A Ph.D. in History or a related field is required in hand by August 1, 2026 Experience: Teaching experience at the college or university level is required. PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS We seek candidates whose research, teaching, and service have prepared them to contribute to all the pillars of the College of Arts and Humanities’ Strategic Plan: Transformative Thinking; Boundless Creativity; Expansive Empathy; and Meaningful Futures. Contributions toward those goals and values might include leadership in teaching, mentoring, research, or service toward building an equitable and inclusive scholarly environment and/or increasing access or participation of all individuals equitably and fairly. The University of Maryland, College Park, actively subscribes to a policy of equal employment opportunity, and will not discriminate against any employee or applicant because of race, age, sex, color, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability, religion, ancestry or national origin, marital status, genetic information, political affiliation, and gender identity or expression. This search is contingent upon the availability of funds. Apply Here
dlvr.it
melissannbee.bsky.social
Thread- full repost of classic “Rome as pizza” thread
Reposted by Melissa Kutner
christoph-haack.bsky.social
Another (quite exciting looking!) book from Tübingen!!
Reposted by Melissa Kutner
lemoustier.bsky.social
🧪🏺
"My work takes up the theoretical challenge first posed fifty years ago that reliance on agriculture is responsible for a Neolithic increase in disease"

Brenna is one of the most modest AND most sharp scholars I know - this project will be fantastic!
melissannbee.bsky.social
How Greek
rbreich.bsky.social
The biggest divide is not between “right” and “left." It’s between democracy and oligarchy. The billionaires who control our economy and democracy seek to divide us. They want us to turn on each other so we don't look up and see that they have all the wealth and power.
moreperfectunion.bsky.social
The top 10% now hold 67.4% of all the wealth in the US.

The bottom 50% hold 2.5%.
melissannbee.bsky.social
Strikes me as very much out of touch with the future, which will be all about drones? Waiting for the commentary of @bretdevereaux.bsky.social
atrupar.com
Hegseth: "It all starts with physical fitness and appearance. If the secretary of war can do regular hard PT, so can every member of our joint force. Frankly, it's tiring to look out at combat formations and see fat troops. Likewise, it's completely unacceptable to see fat generals and admirals."
Reposted by Melissa Kutner
nickwhithorn.bsky.social
After being arrested 10 days earlier while carrying secret resistance documents and then brutally tortured, on 29th September 1944 Italian partisan Virginia Tonelli is burnt alive in the crematorium at the Risiera di San Sabba concentration camp in Trieste.
melissannbee.bsky.social
Look forward to asking my department chair for money for a seance to resurrect Cato
melissannbee.bsky.social
Turtles all the way down
danrohde.bsky.social
The tricky part of the second way is it still presumes money being actually deposited at some point, which isn't true. So you need to help them realize their own bank deposits were created by a loan to their employer, which was then transferred to their bank when they get direct deposit.
melissannbee.bsky.social
A very old tradition—see Greek and Roman sling bullets.
melissannbee.bsky.social
11/22/63
The Talisman
The Shining
ru12bseen.com
In honor of Stephen King's birthday, what are your top 3 favorite NOVELs (movies is in another post).
1. Dark Tower series
2. The Talisman
3. The Girl Who Love Tom Gordon
Reposted by Melissa Kutner
melissannbee.bsky.social
...Note this: "in early modern England, women were often in charge of the household and were considered more numerate than men."
melissannbee.bsky.social
But we do have visual evidence that calculating was often "a group sport" as described. And for those who doubt that the butcher's wife (?) in the below relief was actually keeping accounts, as opposed to playing some symbolic role (Skulpturensammlung, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden)....
Butcher standing at the left, chopping meat. Woman seated opposite holding tablets, in a fancy chair with an elaborate hair style
Skulpturensammlung, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden, inv. Hm 418.
Reposted by Melissa Kutner
kissphoria.bsky.social
As first reported by @jackjenkins.me here is the wild video of Prestonwood Baptist Pastor Jack Graham playing an AI generated Charlie Kirk speech in which a fake Kirk says he knew he might be killed for "speaking up in this cultural moment, and I'd do it all over again."
melissannbee.bsky.social
This is much more work than just doing the grading.
ernestopriego.com
Simply astonishing. Maybe Lecturer A should not have to mark over 100 essays in a two-week window in the first place? Invest in qualified staff and reduce impossible workloads FFS www.kcl.ac.uk/about/strate...
Screenshot. King's College London page. Examples of effective practice

The following scenarios follow the above guidelines and offer insights into ways that academic staff can use AI transparently and in an assistive capacity, always ensuring human oversight and judgment remain central.
Scenario A – Scaling feedback while maintaining quality

Lecturer A is responsible for marking over 100 essays within a two-week window.

Conscious of the limitations this workload places on the depth of individual feedback, they adopt a hybrid approach using their university’s approved or supported LLM tool, Copilot.

Without ever uploading student work directly, Lecturer A composes an anonymised summary for each student, noting which marking criteria were met and the approximate percentage achieved for each. They input this summary alongside the official rubric into Copilot, prompting it to generate supportive, criterion-referenced feedback. This feedback is then carefully reviewed, adapted, and personalised before being uploaded to the marking platform.

Students are made aware of this process in advance and shown a demonstration, reinforcing transparency and trust.
Reposted by Melissa Kutner
jamellebouie.net
my favorite robert redford story is that mike nichols considered him for dustin hoffman's part in THE GRADUATE. during their conversation nichols asked redford something like, "have you ever struck out with a girl?" and redford's response was basically, "i don't understand the question"