Ansley Erickson

It’s tiring that we are increasingly stuck organizing our intellectual lives around arguing for the value of having an intellectual life

Thanks for sharing!

Dear Colleagues, We write to share information about a paid summer professional learning experience for teachers that centers histories of education and educational activism in New York City Public Schools. K-12 teachers of all content areas as well as paraprofessionals, school counselors, and school-based administrators (nominated by faculty) are invited to apply for the 2026 Histories of Educational Action & Learning (HEAL) Summer Institute. This professional learning experience invites New York City educators into a community with scholars and organizers to learn about local histories of educational activism and explore the role of advocacy and action in education today. Institute Details: The institute will take place in person Monday-Thursday, 9:30 am - 2:30 pm from July 6th-16th.* Participants (excepting administrators) earn up to 30 CTLE credits and receive a $500 honorarium. We especially encourage teams of classroom-based educators to apply. **** Apply at http://tinyurl.com/HEALSI2026 by April 3rd**** Why HEAL? Teachers rarely learn histories of NYC schooling and activism; yet this context is key to understanding the communities that NYC educators work in and for. With an intensive focus on local educational history and grassroots efforts to advance educational justice, this learning experience invites current educators to see themselves and their students as collective change-makers. What past participants have said about this experience: “I am feeling completely reinvigorated and am very excited to implement what I've learned at my… school!” “[T]he institute was a much needed reminder of why I am still in this career… The institute helped me feel re-inspired to continue working to impact the lives of young people, even though it will never be easy!” “I feel a transformed sense of the importance of studying history, a reaffirmed commitment to grounding activism in one's community, a trust in the importance …

Join us for this incredible learning experience, NYC public school teachers!

2 week summer institute, honorarium & CTLEs, and an ongoing community of critical practitioners for educational justice.

Apply by April 3. tinyurl.com/HEALSI2026

Dear Colleagues, We write to share information about a paid summer professional learning experience for teachers that centers histories of education and educational activism in New York City Public Schools. K-12 teachers of all content areas as well as paraprofessionals, school counselors, and school-based administrators (nominated by faculty) are invited to apply for the 2026 Histories of Educational Action & Learning (HEAL) Summer Institute. This professional learning experience invites New York City educators into a community with scholars and organizers to learn about local histories of educational activism and explore the role of advocacy and action in education today. Institute Details: The institute will take place in person Monday-Thursday, 9:30 am - 2:30 pm from July 6th-16th.* Participants (excepting administrators) earn up to 30 CTLE credits and receive a $500 honorarium. We especially encourage teams of classroom-based educators to apply. Why HEAL? Teachers rarely learn histories of NYC schooling and activism; yet this context is key to understanding the communities that NYC educators work in and for. With an intensive focus on local educational history and grassroots efforts to advance educational justice, this learning experience invites current educators to see themselves and their students as collective change-makers. What past participants have said about this experience: “I am feeling completely reinvigorated and am very excited to implement what I've learned at my… school!” “[T]he institute was a much needed reminder of why I am still in this career… The institute helped me feel re-inspired to continue working to impact the lives of young people, even though it will never be easy!” “I feel a transformed sense of the importance of studying history, a reaffirmed commitment to grounding activism in one's community, a trust in the importance of everyday actions even when it feels small, curiosity from the future and a slight hope from be…

Join us for this wonderful learning experience in July! Open to all NYC public school teachers, who will be paid (modestly) for their time.

tinyurl.com/HEALSI2026

Orchid plants in bloom, on a book-covered desk. Flowers are bright white and light yellow against deep green leaves

Happy Monday! There is a riot of orchids in my office.

One useful way to understand this: if you ask the police to do your discipline and conflict resolution for you, you have nothing to go on when the police case falters. #copsoffcampus

A judge just tossed out Columbia University's disciplinary actions against 22 students over the 2024 Hamilton Hall occupation, finding the school relied on sealed arrest records and held individuals responsible for group actions, violating its own rules.

iapps.courts.state.ny.us/fbem/Documen...

Great. Even better if their company wasn’t built on other people’s knowledge and creativity.

Small black dog with brown markings curled up on a lap.

Will be here holding this pup for the foreseeable future.

The Guardian has identified the Columbia student abducted by DHS as Ellie Aghayeva. She posted the IG story below:

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026...

Here’s the Columbia press release on DHS’s invasion of a dorm at dawn today. Notably, it’s signed by the university president.

president.columbia.edu/news/importa...

I'm hearing that there's a protest planned for noon at the Broadway gates of the Columbia campus. Will update if I get more.

(Nothing in Columbia's student newspaper on this story yet, but they're presumably working on a piece. Will update with that when I see it as well.)

Columbia says DHS entered a dorm at dawn today under false pretenses, detaining a student in violation of the law and university policy.

They are here on campus now, again. 💔💔💔

The Trump Administration Can’t Kill Black History Month We don’t need permission from the government to commemorate a complex past.

Last week, my mother took me and my kids to see the school where, 60 years ago, she was among the first wave of Black students to integrate a previously all-White school. We wanted to remind my kids that Black history is not just famous people in textbooks, it is often the people right next to you.

It is both true that Israel‘s behavior has created fertile ground for antisemitism to grow and also no antisemitism is justified ever so if you’re not Jewish and starting to have some thoughts about “the Jews“ that’s on you. You’re responsible for not being an antisemitic twit.

I’m A Psychologist Who Is Also Black. It's Crucial You Do THIS To Protect Yourself In The Wake Of ICE Violence. "To those new to this not-so-exclusive club: Welcome."

Excellent advice about the many powers of resistance right now - especially for white people who have lived to this point thinking *we* would be safe.

www.huffpost.com/entry/ice-ki...

Opinion | Democracy Dies by Database

“You need only know this: Whatever is happening with your data, it is important enough to the most egregiously lawless administration in American history that it be collected and consolidated.” Always read @tressiemcphd.bsky.social (gift link)

On the military blacklist for education benefits:
1/N
American University
Boston College
Boston University
Brown University
Camegie Mellon University
Case Wester Reserve University
Columbia University
College of William and Mary
Cornell University
Duke University
Emory University

The Epstein Emails Show How the Powerful Talk About Race The files reveal the disgraced financier’s interest in “race science.”

A great piece from @alibreland.bsky.social on Epstein's race science obsession—one he shares with much of the contemporary right wing elite www.theatlantic.com/politics/202...

Trump’s ICE Won’t Stop Abducting Kids Here are just some of the ways Trump’s ICE has terrorized thousands of children, like five-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos, since the administration took office.

ICE pursued school buses, intruded on campuses, and abducted students in MN and beyond. “Our classrooms are sacred spaces… This government is defiling them.”

Read this new story by Lily Seltz on Trump’s ICE abducting kids.

#AbolishICE #children

Trump’s ICE Won’t Stop Abducting Kids Here are just some of the ways Trump’s ICE has terrorized thousands of children, like five-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos, since the administration took office.

Nothing to celebrate in this story reminding us of how many kids ICE has abducted.

But I am proud that my daughter is using her voice to make us pay attention.

At Barnard College, dozens of faculty_circulated an open letter calling on the college to investigate & publicly address trustees’ past connections to Epstein,& urging the removal of Francine A. LeFrak’s name from campus buildings as well as her resignation from the board.
archive.ph/2026.02.11-0...

“If America’s university presidents believe that their foremost responsibility is simply to keep their institutions operational — collecting tuition and protecting endowments — they are mistaken… presidents and chancellors are stewards of intellectual freedom and democratic norms.”

Really I should have said “no longer in deportation jeopardy.” None of this was legal, even if it used systems that purport to be about “law enforcement.”

Yes.
And I appreciate that Tufts spoke in her support, when other unis in similar circumstances have remained silent.

Teachers College alumna no longer in legal jeopardy over her op-ed.

I CALLED IT I CALLED IT

Cut, from T’s birthday bouquet, a few days matured.

A yellow rose, fully opened, illuminated by light that makes the edges of the petals seem to glow.

Good morning. Yellow rose, eastern morning light.