iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Amy J. Rutenberg @amyjay401.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Dr. Craig Thurtell was the department chair and APUSH teacher at the school where I started my career. He was an amazing teacher and excellent mentor. Because he did his job so well, he wasn’t able to turn his dissertation into a boo -until now. I am so delighted for him. Congratulations, Craig! 🗃️🗺️

Book cover for Short of a Revolution: The Fusion Insurgency and Triumph of Jim Crow in North Carolina.

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Dr Paul Huddie @paulhuddie.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

My little babies also safely arrived. My sincerest thanks to my co-editors and to all our contributors #milwelfhist

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Amy J. Rutenberg @amyjay401.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

Always nice to get a package with the culmination of a few years’ work. Military historians, come for the fun cover, stay for the opportunity to rethink who your work is in conversation with. 🗃️ @paulhuddie.bsky.social @emmahuddlestone.bsky.social @milwelfhist.bsky.social

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Ben Railton @americanstudier.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

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! 🗃️ +

blackwhiteandread.com

#ScholarSunday Thread 290 (8/23/26) – Black and White and Read All Over

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Amy J. Rutenberg @amyjay401.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

Thanks for sharing @herreramilhist.bsky.social! I’m proud to get this work out there, even if I need a better term than “military peace activism.” 😂🗃️ #milhist

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Amy J. Rutenberg @amyjay401.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

For those not aware, social media feeds across the military are being shuttered or evaluated so that messaging can be more standardized. This message, from the official feed of the Department of War [sic], was approved. Let that sink in www.facebook.com/share/v/1LGf...

facebook.com

Facebook

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Amy J. Rutenberg @amyjay401.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

I’m wracking my brain to think of any DOD branding ever. Or any recruiting ads featuring a shot of the president and SecDef. AI slop it may be, but it’s dangerous AI slop.

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Amy J. Rutenberg @amyjay401.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

Military history and adjacent folks, public access to DTIC has been discontinued. This is an incredible loss to anyone who studies the US military 🗃️ @modamhist.bsky.social @oah.org @afssage.bsky.social @warontherocks.bsky.social @taskandpurpose.com #milhist

Homepage of the Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC) showing how authorized personnel can gain access.

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Tressie McMillan Cottom @tressiemcphd.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

I will also say this. There is a real, authentic cohort of poor and working class people in higher education. They can speak to the complexities of being in and not of a class position without making broad, provocative generalizations. One day, someone should publish those people.

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Gregory A. Hargreaves 🎃 @bordergroves.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

Numbers update: The history class I’m about to teach this semester has a 10% larger enrollment and university tuition is also 10% higher than two years ago. My class will generate about $160,000 of revenue for the university. My pay will be under $7K or approximately 4%. Humanities fund uni sport

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Amy J. Rutenberg @amyjay401.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

*compare it (the 1986 original) to Disturbed’s 2006 remake.

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Amy J. Rutenberg @amyjay401.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

Genesis, Land of Confusion is amazing to teach with. (And for anyone who really wants to get crazy, comparing the video to Disturbed’s 2006 remake) m.youtube.com/watch?v=Yq7F...

m.youtube.com

Genesis - Land of Confusion (Official Music Video)

YouTube video by Genesis

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Amy J. Rutenberg @amyjay401.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

“The Save Our Signs archive is this really valuable resource of a snapshot in time of what was happening in our country, and it can be used as a tool that people can use to try to understand the kind of censorship that was happening.” 🗃️ www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...

theguardian.com

The amateur archivists racing to save US history in national parks against Trump administration censorship

Save Our Signs aims to document every sign in the more than 400 national parks and historic sites across the country before the Trump administration removes them

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Amy J. Rutenberg @amyjay401.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

This came across my FB feed for whatever reason, and in all seriousness, WTAF?

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Elizabeth N. Saunders @profsaunders.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

Can't get numb to this: The United States is stuck in a war it started, cannot end, and may further escalate to no avail, having dismantled its diplomatic apparatus, depleted its military stockpile, and destroyed its credibility. A historic strategic mistake harming millions in many different ways.

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Amy J. Rutenberg @amyjay401.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

Four weeks away from home left an overwhelming pile of mail to sort upon homecoming. But this was a serious bright spot in the chaos. I struggled like hell to write my chapter, but I ended up with something I’m really proud of - and the company my chapter keeps cannot be beat. 🗃️

Cover of The Cambridge History of War and Society in America.

List of chapters with mine on the history of conscription in the US in the middle of the page.

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Amy J. Rutenberg @amyjay401.bsky.social · 19/07/2026

Hot off the presses, Mary Louise Roberts has a chapter in The Cambridge History of War and Society in America - and depending on why you need it, the volume may have some other chapters of use. www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0GY...

amazon.com

The Cambridge History of War and Society in America

Amazon.com: The Cambridge History of War and Society in America eBook : Huebner, Andrew J., Keene, Jennifer D.: Kindle Store

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Amy J. Rutenberg @amyjay401.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

For the record, Army studies going all the way back to the 1950s(!) showed that LGB personnel neither undermined unit cohesion nor posed a security risk, not that lawmakers listened. Emotions are a powerful drug, especially, apparently, for male decision makers. taskandpurpose.com/news/ranger-...

taskandpurpose.com

Men at Ranger School face greater hormonal changes than women, study finds

Army researchers found that Ranger School had a greater impact on men's hormones and physiological responses than on women in the course.

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Working Class History @workingclasshistory.com · 14/07/2026

#OtD 14 Jul 1966 3 US GIs refused an order to deploy to Vietnam and became the Fort Hood Three, the highest-profile US refuseniks to date. They were court-martialled and jailed but they helped spark an anti-war GI movement. More info in our podcast: workingclasshistory.com/podcast/e10-...

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Amy J. Rutenberg @amyjay401.bsky.social · 05/07/2026

Fireworks and storm clouds. Happy 250th, America.

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Amy J. Rutenberg @amyjay401.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

I'm honored to be a (small) part of this wonderful volume along with Emma, Anndal, and esp Paul. It connects often siloed fields & ideas. It’s pricey, but have your library get it & use of the idea of "Military Welfare History" in your work & join @milwelfhist.bsky.social 🗃️

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Amy J. Rutenberg @amyjay401.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

I'm super biased, but this is a banger of a book (as academic edited collections go, anyway). Check out the amazing scholars who contributed to it and the nice thing reviewers have said here: kansaspress.ku.edu/9780700643530/. And while you're there, consider pre-ordering with the discount below. 🗃️

Flyer advertising a 30% discount for the book Conscription in the Twentieth Century: Coercion and Resistance in Global Perspective at the University Press of Kansas using the code 24rutenberg

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Amy J. Rutenberg @amyjay401.bsky.social · 20/06/2026

There is something visceral in the memories these evoke.

Picture of my feet in brown roller skates with orange wheels that are probably from 1985.

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Amy J. Rutenberg @amyjay401.bsky.social · 13/06/2026

Bread is too expensive, so we’ve moved to the circus and circus stage of government.

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Amy J. Rutenberg @amyjay401.bsky.social · 21/05/2026

Also, some version of the mandatory courses has been around for a couple of years - the idea predates the center. But to be clear, I’m not advocating any of it. UI is being singled out and we’re apparently “supporting” free thought by forcing a particular version of thought on our students.

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Amy J. Rutenberg @amyjay401.bsky.social · 21/05/2026

Maybe it’s just the lens I’m looking through. I see a legislative attempt to starve UI’s history and political science departments and their college as well as feed the center. If it were only about the center, the law would leave ISU and UNI students out entirely. That got missed in the article.

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Amy J. Rutenberg @amyjay401.bsky.social · 21/05/2026

This article’s framing is weird. The bill says all Regents’ students have to take 3 cr. Of US history and 3 credits of US govt. but it also says that ISU and UNI’s centers designate which courses count and that UI’s center owns the courses. It’s punishment, for sure, but not quite what article says.

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Joshua J. Friedman @joshuajfriedman.com · 12/05/2026

Instantly legendary thread

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Amy J. Rutenberg @amyjay401.bsky.social · 10/05/2026

In-class open-book reading quizzes but only with printed copies or hand written notes.

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Amy J. Rutenberg @amyjay401.bsky.social · 09/05/2026

Best class discussions I’ve had in years.

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Amy J. Rutenberg @amyjay401.bsky.social · 09/05/2026

Seriously the best class discussions I’ve had in years.

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Amy J. Rutenberg @amyjay401.bsky.social · 09/05/2026

My school has started making these available again! Unfortunately, orders are due months before classes start, so not doable for classes needing a lot of revision, like mine this semester. But definitely next time.

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Amy J. Rutenberg @amyjay401.bsky.social · 08/05/2026

This semester I experimented with making my students print out their readings.I thought I’d get slammed in evals.In an anonymous survey, 24 of 25 students praised the policy. Reasons ranged from fewer headaches to easier to annotate to harder to forget to read to better retention.Long live paper. 🗃️🗺️

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Amy J. Rutenberg @amyjay401.bsky.social · 08/05/2026

David Fitzgerald’s Uncertain Warriors, on the US Army. The military is connected to social change. Also, it makes a strong argument for the 90s as the origin of today’s (harmful) “warrior ethos.”

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Amy J. Rutenberg @amyjay401.bsky.social · 05/05/2026

I will make sure my student (who is in my class on the Vietnam War) who just got word he’s deploying knows we’re in a cease fire. Good thing he’s missing the last class where we’re discussing the War Powers Resolution. (Seriously. I couldn’t make this up)

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Amy J. Rutenberg @amyjay401.bsky.social · 28/04/2026

Cover reveal! I am beyond excited for this book. Contributions from an amazing array of scholars have come together into a banger of a book. Even if it feels far away, we should all be paying attention to the assumptions that underlie systems of conscription as well as the consequences. #milhist 🗃️

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honor sachs @drhonor.bsky.social · 24/04/2026

This is obviously batshit on so many levels, but something particularly dystopian about the “you must skip that chapter of history” part.

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Amy J. Rutenberg @amyjay401.bsky.social · 13/04/2026

@warontherocks.bsky.social is a fantastic place to get cogent commentary. But also, I’m really appreciating the cogent nature of this headline - “Regime Change in Iran, Underpants Gnomes, and the Phase II Problem” warontherocks.com/regime-chang...

warontherocks.com

Regime Change in Iran, Underpants Gnomes, and the Phase II Problem

U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu started the Iran war off with a bang — not just the bang of bombs and rockets,

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Joshua J. Friedman @joshuajfriedman.com · 11/04/2026

Hello, I made you a feed of your cats watching the Artemis II splashdown bsky.app/profile/did:...

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Dr Paul Huddie @paulhuddie.bsky.social · 10/04/2026

Coming soon! My (and friends') new book: link.springer.com/book/9783032.... Enjoy #milwelfhist #military #welfare

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Amy J. Rutenberg @amyjay401.bsky.social · 10/04/2026

Teaching a course on the Vietnam War this semester has been crazy. Gulf of Tonkin Resolution the day after the bombing started; My Lai and the laws of war as the Commander in Chief threatens war crimes; and now this on the morning I’m teaching the GI Movement. 🗃️🗺️ www.npr.org/2026/04/10/n...

npr.org

There's growing disquiet in the military. The Iran war made it worse

Since Trump began his second term, his administration's use of the armed forces has left a growing number in the military unsettled, according to NPR interviews with service members and advocates.

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Amy J. Rutenberg @amyjay401.bsky.social · 10/04/2026

Yes! And special mention to his Uncertain Warriors, though it’s about the 1990s.

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Amy J. Rutenberg @amyjay401.bsky.social · 09/04/2026

Beth Bailey, America’s Army Jennifer Mittelstadt, The Military Welfare State Brian Linn, Real Soldiering All top notch

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Amy J. Rutenberg @amyjay401.bsky.social · 09/04/2026

Cover reveal! Due out in September 🗃️

Cover for the book Military welfare History since the 18th century. Black and white etching of a nurse helping wounded soldiers on top and photo of a WWI canteen girl helping sailors below.

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