@susanrojas
Independent scholar exploring affective ecologies and transitional thresholds in early modern drama (she/her) MA English / FGCU • Co-editor / Kritikon Litterarum • Certificate in Editing / University of Chicago
My point is that a refusal to reconsider or apologize when people make a compelling case that you erred isn’t a feature of a culture of free speech.
It’s a feature of authoritarianism—a culture that expects people to stay silent and compliant even when they know they’re being lied to.
Chatbots — LLMs — do not know facts and are not designed to be able to accurately answer factual questions. They are designed to find and mimic patterns of words, probabilistically. When they’re “right” it’s because correct things are often written down, so those patterns are frequent. That’s all.
Borders, Boundaries, and Barriers have become increasingly prominent themes in historical scholarship. There is, therefore, a pressing need to examine how these constructs have shaped the lived experiences of historically marginalised groups, as well as how they were perceived, defined, and engaged with by those groups. This conference seeks to reorient discussions around borders, boundaries, and barriers by foregrounding the experiences and perspectives of marginalised groups and considering how these divisions were perceived from the peripheries of societies. Rather than treating these concepts as abstract or solely geopolitical, we will explore the ways in which they have operated — both historically and historiographically — as tools of exclusion and differentiation. Organised by Natasha Jenman (University of Oxford), Naomi Reiter (QMUL), and Dean A. Irwin (University of Lincoln/OCHJS), the conference will focus on individuals, religious groups, social groups, societal constructions, and natural phenomena. Participants are invited to explore the role played by evolving borders, boundaries, and barriers in the medieval world as part of group identities; and how groups used them to their advantage. Likewise, it will consider the extent to which borders, boundaries and barriers have been imposed upon the medieval world by modern scholars. Possible topics for consideration include: • Legal jurisdictions • The natural and the supernatural worlds • Socio-economic strata • Ritual and religion • Space, time, and the environment • Gender and sexuality • Disability • Transgression, delinquency, and the grey middle space This conference adopts a broad chronological and geographical approach with submissions from all historically-related disciplines being welcome. The conference will take place on 20 and 21 April 2026 in Oxford. To submit, please send a title, abstract (c. 250 words), and a bio (c. 100 words) to: bordersboundariesbarriers@gmail.com.
I’m co-organising a medieval conference next year in Oxford! Please take a look at the CfP and consider submitting an abstract, by the 15th of September, to bordersboundariesbarriers@gmail.com. We hope to be able to provide funding to help cover expenses of attendance.
#medievalsky #skystorians
Colored map of the Kingdom of Kongo and surrounding kingdoms c. 1550. The map shows the Atlantic coast of Africa, and a series of rivers. The biggest river is the Congo. The map centers around Kongo, which is done in yellow. South of Kongo are colors suggesting political units labeled Dembos, Matamba, Ndongo, Kisama, and Benguela. To the north, across the Congo River, Ngayo, Kakongo, Vungu, Loango, and Makoko. The borders are somewhat fuzzy to indicated that they are not fixed in the way we tend to think of political borders.
A grayscale map of the US southwest, centered on the Four Corers region. The map shows the local river networks feeding in the San Juan and Colorado rivers, and shows the pueblo communities of the area. Sand Canyon Pueblo, Mesa Verde, and Chaco Canyon are labeled, but there are a number of dots scattered across the map indicating other pueblo dwellings. A key notes the markings for "great houses and cliff dwellings", "causway" and "modern state borders." An inset map shows a fake 3-d perpective of closeup of Chaco Canyon, indicating the settlements within the canyon.
A colored map of England, broken up by early modern judicial borders. The label at the top of the map reads: "Number of S.21 Orders Granted in Each Circuit in 1881 as a Percentage of Wives Recorded as ‘Married with Spouse Absent’ in the 1881 Census" and has a set of 8 boxed below it with with different colors to indicate different percentages. The judicial regions on the map are colored to match the boxes.
A grayscale of of the part of Urubamba river in the area around Machu Pichu. The main part of the map shows a stretch of river that runs south to north up the page, going past several villages, indigenous sites, and other locations, including the Machu Pichu Power Generating Station. In the upper left is a small map of Peru with a box around the area where the river flows. And arrow points from there to a full map of of the river's course, which is still small. There is a box around the section of river shown in the main main, and an arrow points from that towards the main map. On the lower left side of the map is an inset map showing the elevation change of the part of the river shown on the map.
It's Friday! What a great day to remind you that I draw maps for a living. It's the thing that supports all the eel facts! I mostly draw maps for books, but I can do all sorts. Here's a few examples.
If you need a map, you can check out my website for costs, reviews, etc.
surprisedeelmaps.com
If you like seeing someone get salty about textual editors actively erasing asexual and aromantic possibility from early modern texts (I have receipts), have I got the video for you!
#asexuality #aromanticism #alloediting
Roy Clark was no slouch, either! They both were typecast/branded by their time on HeeHaw.
A black-and-white square photograph. Eartha Kitt is center of frame with a fluffy dark colored puppy on her left shoulder. The dog looks directly into the camera with big puppy eyes. Eartha holds up both hands up to cradle the dog on her chest. She wears a light colored elbow length shirt. She is looking down and to the left towards the dog; her eyeliner and lipstick-lined mouth, slightly parted to show teeth, are visible. Her hair is worn short and styled neatly with volume.
A black-and-white photograph of Eartha Kitt sitting on a diving board above a pool.She holds a copy of the book “Pagan Spain” by Richard Wright. On the board below her is a keychain with a single key. She wears a solid colored long sleeve shirt and short swim bottoms with her legs and feet showing.
“My recipe for life is not being afraid of myself, afraid of what I think or of my opinions.”—Eartha Kitt
For #WomensHistoryMonth, we celebrate Eartha Kitt, an international star, dancer, singer, actress, performer, cabaret artist, and published author.
So glad I decided to go hard and attend the first day of the Early Modern Trans Studies conference today *after* the RSA / SAA twofer! It was a joy to see so many terrific papers and hang w the (rapidly expanding) premodern trans studies crew - and to taste the @badinfinity2.bsky.social book cake 🎂
A group of five people walking through the corridor of a shopping mall.
I don’t have many photos from #Shax2025, but this one of us walking through the mall where we all lived and learned for several days on sums it up quite nicely. Thanks, as ever, to my friends and colleagues for being in community and sharing knowledge this weekend. 1/2
Boston: City of Knowledge? As if #RSA2025, #shax2025 and #MAA2025 hadn’t been enough, we now have the PrEmoTrans symposium. Great to see such a huge turnout and many familiar faces from the RSA, etc.
Happy Birthday Chaka Khan! Explore her musical legacy (including audio & video highlights) here:
Popping in to share the excellent books I gathered at SAA/RSA. On order is Trans Historical: Gender Plurality Before the Modern (Greta LaFleur, Masha Raskolnikov and Anna Klosowska, eds)
There’s just one month until the deadline for this Call for Papers! Submit your abstract for "Reconsidering Courtly Environments, c.1200-1800" by March 15. Further information is available in the attached document 📝
@courtstudies.bsky.social
A very long shot, but does anyone know of any historians working on or who have worked on the history of cancer? It's a very small field but there must be some people out there!
London Theatre Company have today released production photos of Richard II, starring Jonathan Bailey and directed by Nicholas Hytner, this fresh take on Shakespeare’s subtle, caustic and powerful play is currently playing the Bridge Theatre
This April: ‘Shifting Scripts’, a multifaceted event with panel discussions and workshops we organise together with @mkghamburg.bsky.social explores the intersections of Arabic and Persian graphic design with cultural, political and artistic narratives.
More info/registration: uhh.de/csmc-shiftin...
The Indigenous People of North America have decided to go back to calling the Gulf of Mexico, “Chalchiuhtlicueyecatl”. It is what the Nahuatl People originally called it as it is the domain of the goddess Chalchiuhtlicue, who is assoc w/water bodies, including the Gulf of Mexico.
A hand holding a large embroidery hoop up in front of a lawn. The hoop contains a sewn aerial landscape depicting a country manor estate - winding streams through green knots at the top, green crop fields at the bottom, yellow oilseed fields in the bottom left and the manor itself in the centre.
A landscape commission I completed March 2024... this remains one of my proudest aerial embroideries to date! It was challenging and took its time and that pop of spring yellow in the south-west corner was a perfect choice from the commissioner 💛 I hope you also all love it! #fiberarts #embroidery
This image shows an aerial view of Durham Cathedral
We're recruiting for the role of Assistant Professor in Early Modern History, and seek to appoint a historian working on any aspect of the early modern world, excluding the Anglophone world (deadline 17 March 2025): durham.taleo.net/careersectio...
I built a free URL shortener for teachers bc we don't need ads when we're just trying to help each other out
Edushare.ing
No redirecting to ads, no stealing your traffic, no registration or log-in, no charge
I hope you find it useful. Please share with teachers freely
#TeachersHelpingTeachers
photo of paperback of Julius Caesar sitting on wood stage floor. The book odd read with the image of a lion, the spqr crest, the Roman Capitol and six hands with bloody knives.
Happy UK publication day to the first of many amazing New Oxford Shakespeare plays! Here’s Julius Caesar (with my intro) pictured @shakespearesglobe.bsky.social! Thanks to @oldfortunatus.bsky.social for her brilliant work as general editor and to Sarah Neville for her precise editing of the text.
Download a printable version of this card here: www.tomgauld.com/valentine
I'm supposed to go to Canada in June. Will they let me in? Will I be welcome if I visit? Will the US let me return? I can't believe we have to ask these questions.
A crop of the image of the Fuller Brooch, a late ninth century brooch from England. The figures represent five senses (taste, smell, touch, hearing and, in the central field, sight). However the central figure has an extremely worried look on their face - well, as we all do!
Current mood in face of all that is happening is Fuller Brooch
Call for Papers – Refugees and Borders: Life, Law, and Limits
@chase-dtp.bsky.social Refugee Justice Network for a Borderless World
Abstract Deadline – 22 February 2025
Seminar Date – 19 March 2025 at SOAS, London
niche-canada.org/2025/02/10/c...
#envstudies #migration #refugees
Antipopes should always have the opposite name to the reigning pope at the time; so
Urban/Rural
Clement/Inclement
Paul/Peter
Innocent/Guilty
Pius/Impius
Benedict/Maledict
Francis/Dominic
... and so on
I'd support using tax dollars for that trip.
I'm only about halfway through the introduction to @badinfinity2.bsky.social 's excellent book, but it's 🔥🔥. Important work in both literary criticism and history.
Come work with us! 🚨 Job Opportunity: Ad Astra Fellow @UCD School of Classics / School of Art History and Cultural Policy !!! 🚨
📍 Specializing in Digital Technologies & Antiquity
💼 Salary: €62,855–€99,533
📅 Deadline: 21 Feb 2025, 12 PM (Irish Time)
👉 Apply now: my.corehr.com/pls/coreport...