Clio and the Contemporary

Live from the American Studies Association conference in Chicago, it’s my 299th #ScholarSunday thread of great public scholarly writing, podcast episodes, new & forthcoming books from the past week. Add more below, please share widely, & enjoy, all! 🗃️ + blackwhiteandread.com/scholarsunda...

This Day in Labor History: October 28, 1825. The Erie Canal opens after over 1,000 workers die building it! Let's talk about the labor history of this early engineering marvel!

Dear #PublicHistory people: I am teaching a class, very last minute, on public history and am looking for a #PublicHistorian who is open to talk to my class (in person/over zoom) about their practical experiences - on the 28th of October. Any ideas? Thanks for your help!!

On the 20th anniversary of Zotero's 1.0 release on October 5, 2006, I wrote a history of the collaboration and years it took to create the popular research tool now used by over 20 million people: newsletter.dancohen.org/archive/the-...

This history of the Galveston Movement by @bestonetx.bsky.social provides a compelling argument about the benefits of #immigration and a model for how its advocates could develop a pragmatic, community-based response to nativist restrictionism. 🗃️ #academia clioandthecontemporary.com/2026/09/22/f...

Here it is, my 293rd #ScholarSunday thread of great public scholarly writing & work, podcast episodes, new & forthcoming books from the past week. Add more below, please share as widely as possible, & enjoy, all! 🗃️ + blackwhiteandread.com/scholarsunda...

After reading some of the recent pubs and discourse around US higher ed.… I should just stop right here. But here are the three major fallacies of much of what’s out there, three contexts that are missing, and the one big thing that is driving me around the bend (actually already there, but). 1/

How strange for BlueSky to suspend one of the greats for doing the excellent work of sharing public scholarship on #ScholarSunday - but I am here to help spread the word. ☕️

Ben's account has unfortunately been temporarily suspended for tagging all the wonder scholars in #ScholarSunday this week, so please make sure to subscribe to the newsletter to get it in your inbox every week! If you find value in Scholar Sunday, please share it with people who don't know it yet!

In our fifth piece on the 25th anniversary of #September11, Jay Jolles traces the history of sound during the #GWOT. While radio programmers worried about what music might mean to listeners, the US military & other state authorities leveraged sound as a physical and painful coercive force.

In the shadow of the #GWOT, Central Asia underwent profound geopolitical realignments. As Dr. Ebrahim Rezaid Rad shows, the region is now a logistical and security hub as well as an arena of competition among world powers.

Excellent piece on @cliocontemporary.bsky.social today!

In the wake of #September11, the #GWOT transformed how online communication is monitored. @trithara.bsky.social explores how Meta's policies, shaped by post-9/11 counterterrorism, conflate legitimate political discourse with support for terrorism, undermining freedom of expression globally. 🗃️

Hey! I wrote a thing!

In our second piece on the 25th anniversary of #September11, @dcatty.bsky.social explores the relationship between 9/11, the national anthem, performative patriotism, and divisive culture wars of the past 25 years. 🗃️

First up in our new series on the 25th Anniversary of 9/11, Danalee Jahgoo explores how historical accounts remain heavily centered on the Global North. Her piece offers a vital perspective on how threats to American security re-engineered small-island states like Trinidad & Tobago. 🗃️

We come to it at last—the final #ScholarSunday thread before my Fall 2026 semester begins. So here it is, my 291st thread of great public scholarly writing & work, podcast episodes, new & forthcoming books from the past week. Add more below, share as widely as possible, & enjoy, all! 🗃️ +

Check out this excellent guide to Year 1 of being a #lawstudent. Pls share with undergrads (especially history majors!) contemplating or starting #lawschool. Lots of practical advice here for surviving (even thriving!) in your first year of law school. #historymajor #1L #futurelawyer #lawschoollife

We welcome pitches from historians and scholars in related fields on how 9/11 changed the United States and the world. Part of our 2026 anniversary series, this sub-series on the 25th anniversary of 9/11 will roll out in September. Follow the link below to send us your pitch. #skystorians

The new school year is almost upon us, but summer isn’t quite done, & neither are the summer #ScholarSunday threads! Here’s my 290th of public scholarly writing & work, podcast episodes, new & forthcoming books from the past week. Add more below, share widely, & enjoy, all! 🗃️ +

Monumental Consequence and Making History are mentioned in this article as great games to get students ready to play a Reacting to the Past game in a classroom setting. Thanks for the shoutout, @cliocontemporary.bsky.social! Read the article here: clioandthecontemporary.com/2024/06/24/r...

Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey is a story of a world in transition. As @thornburg.bsky.social explains, the film laments the death of norms and rules, with lessons for the contemporary United States. **This essay contains spoilers.** #odysseyfilm #film #TheOdyssey #christophernolan #odyssey

Traveling back to Massachusetts tomorrow, so once again y’all get #ScholarSunday on a Saturday! Here’s my 289th thread of great public scholarly writing, podcast episodes, new & forthcoming books from the past week. Add more below, share widely, & enjoy, all! 🗃️ +

Multiple people have let us know that they've found the resources on our site really helpful, and I put a lot of work into making them so I want to share them all here to hopefully help more people! Under the resources tab, we have public scholarship guides and first gen & indie scholar resources:

This is going to be a disaster for students and colleges alike. That is the point.

Live from Philly, where both LeBron & I took our talents this week (although I'm headed back to Boston later today), here’s my 286th #ScholarSunday thread of great writing & work, podcast episodes, new & forthcoming books from the past week. Add more below, please share widely, & enjoy, all! 🗃️ +

I wasn't planning to see The Odyssey because I was so mad about how egregiously Nolan explored similar themes in Oppenheimer, but my best friend (a Classics prof) encouraged me to see it, and I'm so glad she did. I loved it, and I finally realized why I hated Opp so much, so I wrote about both:

Check out this guide from the FOIL King himself, my dear friend and comrade, @tedforsyth.bsky.social. It's pragmatic, detailed, and even funny--but most importantly, it's chock full of the wisdom from Ted's vast FOIL experience. #academia 🗃️

I was elated that Dr. @malszy.bsky.social insisted I write something about my FOIL experiences for @cliocontemporary.bsky.social. I'm really proud of this work and hope it helps you out in your transparency journey!

Ted Forsyth encourages historians to become more fluent in open records policies. This detailed and accessible guide demystifies New York State's FOIL process from initial inquiry to appeals. #academia 🗃️ clioandthecontemporary.com/2026/07/23/f...

people teaching research methods this coming year: is there anything that you’re adding to your syllabi that’s brand new based on what you feel is a perceived need, eg. talking differently about the internet, how to read sources, citational practices, whatever?