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Dr. Bethany Qualls

@bethanyqualls.bsky.social
1.9K followers 348 following 781 posts

PhD in #18thC gossip. Recent postdoc at l'Université de Caen. Writer. Editor. Re(un)Covered Podcast Creator. Lover of archives, book history, #c18 smut, snark, intersectional scholarship, and the Oxford comma. Feminist. Bethanyqualls.com she/her/elle

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Dr. Bethany Qualls @bethanyqualls.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Anyone know what's going on with the Blake Archive? Looks like UNC Chapel Hill remapped their website but the Blake Archive itself seems to have been down for at least a day... and I am concerned. #19thC #18thC www.blakearchive.org
blakearchive.org
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Dr. Bethany Qualls @bethanyqualls.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Haters gonna hate, men gonna run over time when giving conference presentations even when given multiple reminders. Please, friends, time your talks before you give them. All the multisyllabic words won't save you from losing the crowd when they are thinking about the coffee that's next up.
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Elizabeth Giardina, PhD @elizagiardina.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Have you ever wondered what's with all the spheres in 18th century culture? Submissions to this wide-ranging ASECS 2027 roundtable (or should I say spheretable?) are due today, 09/18. Don’t be a square; submit something spherical! Submit here: www.xcdsystem.com/asecs/abstra...
xcdsystem.com
American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies
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Dr. Bethany Qualls @bethanyqualls.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
@elizagiardina.bsky.social & I are co-chairing an #asecs27 roundtable about "Spheres: Then and Now," very broadly construed. Some #c18th ideas: Étienne-Louis Boullée’s cenotaph for Isaac Newton Hot air balloons London’s time ball Globes in Milton, maritime history Habermas public vs private
Spheres: Then and Now, a call for papers for a roundtable at American Society of #18thC Studies 2027

Description: Étienne-Louis Boullée’s proposed cenotaph for Isaac Newton. Hot air balloons. London’s time ball. Globes—poetic and terrestrial—in Milton and maritime history. Habermas’s idea of public vs private social space. Expansive and holistic by their very nature, spheres appeared across the long and deep eighteenth century. Both literal and physical, spheres and circles theorized material, philosophical, spatial, artistic, and social interactions in the period, containerizing concepts in ways we often take for granted in the twenty-first century.

This roundtable (emphasis on round) seeks to bring together the eighteenth century’s variety of spheres from around the world, exploring their wider uses and multimedia appearances. We invite interdisciplinary contributions that consider spheres, balls, circles, and other roundness as a way to explore everything from transatlantic exchanges to coterie publishing circles, from circuits of meteorology and ocean currents to masquerade balls. How did/do spheres shape our ideas of the eighteenth century, its people and discourses? What makes the sphere particularly suited for discussions of anchored social spaces, then and now? How do spheres impact maritime exploration, Greenwich Mean Time, and other nautical orientation methods? What do spheres construct and why do we keep coming back to them, over and over, even as building physical spheres is famously a difficult task? Where do spheres show up and surprise us? Where do they feel so obvious as to be not worth notice? Together we hope to circle around these questions—metaphorical, spiritual, physical—approaching but never quite reaching a center.
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Dr. Bethany Qualls @bethanyqualls.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
Historical accuracy right here.
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Dr. Bethany Qualls @bethanyqualls.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
@easays.bsky.social thinking about you! I made more sex work resources on my website #sexhist and generally hope you are doing okay out there in this time of
static.klipy.com
Shocked Surprised
Alt: Shocked Surprised cat looking around with big eyes
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Dr. Bethany Qualls @bethanyqualls.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
Being put on this list has made my day! Relatedly, if you or someone you know crafts cool things using archival materials in any way, please pitch me to be a possible guest on season 2 of Re(un)Covered. Art, zines, graphic narratives, installations, fonts: no medium or technique shall be turned away
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Dr. Bethany Qualls @bethanyqualls.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
🗃, mid-century modernism fans, an episode for you. I chat with Stephen Coles (Letterform Archive), plus we cover 2 women type designers and their fonts: Montan, Anna Maria Schildbach (1924–?) Thomas Schrift & Versalien. Friedel Thomas (1895–1956) reuncoveredpodcast.buzzsprout.com/2206728/epis...
reuncoveredpodcast.buzzsprout.com
So Mod - Re(un)Covered
“Birding has so many connections to type”🦉🐦‍⬛🦢Mid-century shifts to clean lines as we situate two more women type designers and their work: Montan by Anna Maria Schildbach (1924–?) and Thomas Schrift ...
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Dr. Bethany Qualls @bethanyqualls.bsky.social · 19/06/2026
@grafematik.bsky.social is next week in Reading, UK so it's time to get that presentation about the Re(un)Covered podcast polished up. Fueled by chai and praxis, it's gonna be a good time. #archivesoutloud
Stack of books: How artifacts afford, pedagogy of the oppressed, methodology of the oppressed, understanding your users. Plus stickers for re(un)covered podcast and a charm bracelet Mug with giant capital B on desk with pages of notes propped up behind it
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Dr. Bethany Qualls @bethanyqualls.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
Hey all, please give to this fundraiser to get emergency support for Red Hen Press. They do good work, publishing solid books and supporting queer voices. Donate, buy a book, share with your friends and networks: it all helps. share.google/U4midkXHTwIg...
share.google
Donate to We Need Your Help to Save Red Hen Press, organized by Red Hen Press
A Message from Kate Gale, Publisher and CEO, and Tobi Harper Petrie, Deputy and… Red Hen Press needs your support for We Need Your Help to Save Red Hen Press
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Dr. Bethany Qualls @bethanyqualls.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
@eleanorfranzen.bsky.social giving great talk today re: Harriette Wilson and her novels, for the Romanticism Across Borders online seminar. More #sexwork history yay!
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Dr. Bethany Qualls @bethanyqualls.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
Y'all Alexis Hall has written a "sapphic Moby Dick in space" and, only a few chapters in, I am suddenly glad for reading Melville back in my MA program because I GET THE JOKES. Go read Hell's Heart. It's amazing and I'm only 12% in. #queerlit #amreading #19thc retellings
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National Trust @nationaltrust.org.uk · 03/05/2026
We have an *extremely* important announcement to make. From Wednesday, we will be launching our puffin live cam, coming to you from the Farne Islands. So you can watch puffins all day long. In celebration, please enjoy this clip of puffins being really busy for 39 seconds straight.
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Dr. Bethany Qualls @bethanyqualls.bsky.social · 03/05/2026
Preparing for job interview. Faculty position in #18thC British Lit. Cue training montage with furious typing, countless open browser tabs, many cups of coffee. No running up steps... yet. Still channeling the #asecs2026 #asecs26 love; please send positive vibes my way next Monday if you can!
media.tenor.com
a black and white cat is typing on a laptop
Alt: a black and white cat is typing on a laptop which is basically me right now
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Dr. Bethany Qualls @bethanyqualls.bsky.social · 10/04/2026
Hilary Havens talking about the Maria Edgeworth letters project, so awesome to see these digital workflows and linked open data in use for this massive project. Huge #dh inspiration for #18thC #asecs26 #asecs2026 🗃️
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Dr. Bethany Qualls @bethanyqualls.bsky.social · 10/04/2026
@ecswd.bsky.social i.e. Ea Wilcox and I are vibing with unplanned zines for each of our talks on #sexhist in #18thC for #asecs26. Total delight to see how this project evolves and hope to get more involved! #sexworkiswork
2 zines about #18thc sex work history at #asecs2026
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Dr. Bethany Qualls @bethanyqualls.bsky.social · 09/04/2026
@biblioscholar.bsky.social great job organizing everything, digital people doing so many nifty things! #asecs26 #asecs2026
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Dr. Bethany Qualls @bethanyqualls.bsky.social · 09/04/2026
@alicetm.bsky.social dropping DIY #DH knowledge and resources here at #asecs26 like wow, really impressed by her ideas about markdown and minimal computing, so great #asecs2026 #18thc
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Dr. Bethany Qualls @bethanyqualls.bsky.social · 09/04/2026
Yes, I did bring my bone folder to prep my handout that's a mini zine for my #asecs26 talk tomorrow late morning about #sexhist in #18thc London, come join the fun if you can.
Stack of zines for conference presentation with bone folder. The title is "politick whores, nightwalkers, and she friends: navigating London's sex industry in the long eighteenth century"
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Dr. Bethany Qualls @bethanyqualls.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
Heading to #asecs2026 for some #18thc fun, trains have gotten me to Paris, next stop Newark (after standing in some more lines that is).
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Dr. Bethany Qualls @bethanyqualls.bsky.social · 09/03/2026
If you are in Basel tomorrow afternoon, I'm talking about cats as memes from the #18thc till now. Plus have some nifty new things to share I made w/ Lewis Walpole Library digital collections. 10 March, 14:15 @unibas.ch #DH #DigitalHumanities lab, @ Allschwilerstrasse 14, 3rd flr, Sitzungszimmer.
Poster for the talk How do Cats Meme with details below a picture of a #18thc cat castle being besieged by rats
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Dr. Bethany Qualls @bethanyqualls.bsky.social · 28/02/2026
Hi all, today marks the end of my time as a postdoc for the Punch's Pocket Book Archive project. I'm not 100% sure what's next, big picture, but in the meantime here's a post I wrote last month about #19thC Crystal Palace dinosaurs, ht @cpdinosaurs.bsky.social for info 🦖🦕 ppbka.hypotheses.org/2803
ppbka.hypotheses.org
Crystal Palace Dinosaurs in Punch’s Pocket Books
One of the pleasures of archival research is falling into a hole of information that you did not even know existed, then sharing that new-to-you set of facts with… basically everyone you talk with for...
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Dr. Bethany Qualls @bethanyqualls.bsky.social · 24/10/2025
Who's solving the Louvre robbery? Right answers only:
media.tenor.com
a woman with a surprised look on her face is wearing earrings
Alt: a woman with a surprised look on her face is wearing earrings aka Angela Lansbury being fabulous
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Dr Rebecca Hall WakeProductions @wakerevolt.bsky.social · 06/10/2025
www.kickstarter.com/projects/wak...
kickstarter.com
Wake Productions
An AfroFuturist Education Project in the Black Radical Tradition
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Dr. Bethany Qualls @bethanyqualls.bsky.social · 05/10/2025
reuncoveredpodcast.buzzsprout.com/2206728/epis... THE PODCAST IS LIVE Y'ALL. Please give it a listen wherever you get your podcasts and get into women of metal type design #reuncovered 📚🗃️
reuncoveredpodcast.buzzsprout.com
Just What Is Re(un)Covered? - Re(un)Covered
“Why did you rub the lamp that contains me?” 🧞Joe and Bethany cover what you’ll be hearing on Re(un)Covered, what is archival recovery, some feminist history, and how knowing a more inclusive past can...
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Dr. Bethany Qualls @bethanyqualls.bsky.social · 20/09/2025
Surprised that Emo family don't have bangs in their face, black nail polish, and a livejournal link as well, although if you squint at the black bendy...
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Dr. Bethany Qualls @bethanyqualls.bsky.social · 06/09/2025
Y'all. The Re(un)covered podcast's first season is fully going to launch before 6 October. I am excited & slightly terrified. bio.link/reuncoveredp... Listen if interested in: women's history beyond #18thC, making things, #archives #recovery #graphicdesign #typography #podcasts #letterforms #c20 📚
bio.link
Re(un)covered podcast
The podcast where Bethany, a literary researcher with a passion for the obscure, shares recovered & uncovered stories from archives around the world.
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Dr. Bethany Qualls @bethanyqualls.bsky.social · 05/09/2025
So... The Beggar's Opera redux? Because that's what a musical about #18thCentury Jack Sheppard screams to me. If anyone at the David Bowie Centre wants to get in touch with people who know more about that context, I've got some ideas...
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Dr. Bethany Qualls @bethanyqualls.bsky.social · 22/08/2025
Pufflings now in your feed, you are welcome
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Dr. Bethany Qualls @bethanyqualls.bsky.social · 20/08/2025
That feeling when you scroll just a bit too far in your feed and then end up more depressed than when you got on here seeking something to lift you up—and found some sparkling moments of light and laughter—but then kept going. Who to blame besides late stage capitalism? #amwriting
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Dr. Bethany Qualls @bethanyqualls.bsky.social · 27/07/2025
share.libbyapp.com/title/9919849 Just finished reading The No-Girlfriend Rule and kept thinking of @friede.bsky.social, all the others I know who play RPGs. Definitely recommend if you're looking for a quick, queer gamer YA novel with plenty of heart as a #summerread. #amreading #onvacation
share.libbyapp.com
The No-Girlfriend Rule
An instant USA TODAY bestsellerFour starred reviews!Julie Murphy meets Heartstopper with a D&D twist in this “magical, heartwarming” (Rachael Lippincott, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Sh...
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Dr. Bethany Qualls @bethanyqualls.bsky.social · 02/07/2025
My kingdom for paying people to do editorial labor across the board... because it's really, really, REALLY important. The scars from negative, mean, unprofessional feedback last for years/decades and are so unnecessary.
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Hopkins Press @hopkinspress.bsky.social · 02/07/2025
Read "The Cyber-Homunculus: On Race and Labor in Plans for Computation" by Ranjodh Singh Dhaliwal from the Fall 2022 issue of Configurations It's #OpenAccess via @projectmuse.bsky.social muse.jhu.edu/article/867525
muse.jhu.edu
Project MUSE - The Cyber-Homunculus: On Race and Labor in Plans for Computation
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Dr. Bethany Qualls @bethanyqualls.bsky.social · 02/07/2025
Almost up to 30 likes on the #18thcentury 2.0 feed, we love to see it. It seems like everything is behaving correctly too. So whatever you tag with #c18th, #18thC, or #c18 should show up. Appreciation to folks like @sarahmurden.bsky.social, @nguthrie.bsky.social who always keep the images coming!
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Joshua J. Friedman @joshuajfriedman.com · 25/06/2025
Here's the ultra-short read on the Mamdani logo design www.gq.com/story/zohran...
"It's not the classic Dem blue, Republican red. We wanted [the logo to feel like] a yellow taxi cab, something that really represents New York City," said Katie Riley, Mamdani's deputy campaign manager. The wordmark was hand-drawn by graphic designer Aneesh Bhoopathy, a former member of the Queens DSA who is now based in Philadelphia. According to Riley, the design also took inspiration from city street signs and old Bollywood movie posters. "It's bright and colorful and joyful," she said.
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Dr. Bethany Qualls @bethanyqualls.bsky.social · 30/06/2025
The deeper this thread goes the more I just had to laugh, thank you for all you do @midnightpals.bsky.social
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Dr. Bethany Qualls @bethanyqualls.bsky.social · 30/06/2025
okay, somehow the 2.0 feed became everything onhere but I think for real now it should just show #18thC content 🤞 My tests aren't fully interacting so please do give a shout if something doesn't show up after you post #c18th things, thx
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Dr. Bethany Qualls @bethanyqualls.bsky.social · 30/06/2025
Thanks to @drbibliomane.bsky.social we've got a skyfeed driven #c18th feed now since blueskyfeeds host is sadly shutting down. Please go and like the 2.0 version here and let me know if you run into any issues along the way! bsky.app/profile/did:... #18c #c18
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Dr. Bethany Qualls @bethanyqualls.bsky.social · 12/06/2025
It's been a tough few months over here but I'm really excited to share some joy: I wrote this piece about brothels for the DIGITENS open-access Digital Encyclopaedia on Sociability in Europe in the Long Eighteenth Century: www.digitens.org/en/notices/b... 🗃 #sexwork #sexhistory #c18th, check it out
digitens.org
Brothels | Digitens
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Dr. Bethany Qualls @bethanyqualls.bsky.social · 15/04/2025
HAPPENING TODAY don't miss this awesome #18thc event. I mean, the line up alone is... *wonderful*... 😍😻🫶
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History Cafe ☕ Ottoman Heritage @ottomanhistory.bsky.social · 11/04/2025
✏️ Handwritten Note on the Page: "A Precious Book is Such a Wonderful Companion." #Book #Books
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Dr. Bethany Qualls @bethanyqualls.bsky.social · 11/04/2025
@susannah-sm.bsky.social I bet you have thoughts about this...
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Quinn Daedal @quinnanya.me · 11/04/2025
Grateful to Katina and all the people she interviewed for spelling out the appalling impact of the NEH grant terminations. Share this with your relatives. Send them to impact.ach.org to look up the grants cut in their state and call their representatives.
impact.ach.org
NEH Grants 2025
NEH Grants 2025
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Dr. Bethany Qualls @bethanyqualls.bsky.social · 04/04/2025
#psa: when you have a presentation and it has a time limit because part of a panel, please practice so that you actually stay inside said time limit. No one will mind if you run short. They will definitely mind if you run long. Keep your audience's goodwill! #asecs2025 #scholaring
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Quinn Daedal @quinnanya.me · 04/04/2025
If your grant is canceled, you don't have to just accept it. Head over to @ach.bsky.social for tips for what to do next, and keep an eye out for their upcoming town hall. Really proud of how my professional organization is showing up in this moment. Do you know what yours is doing to respond?
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Dr. Bethany Qualls @bethanyqualls.bsky.social · 28/03/2025
Okay #asecs2025, who is ready for some #18thC cat meme action? I'm talking about cats I found looking at a selection of Lewis Walpole Library imagetexts THIS SATURDAY during the last session slot. It's going to be mega serious. But you should still come.
Title slide for "Have cats always been memes? The prevalence of signifying felines in imagetexts from the 1700s to today" talk being given during ASECS 2025. Image on the right is Nyan cat with rainbow trail, title text on the left on blue/pink background.
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Dr. Bethany Qualls @bethanyqualls.bsky.social · 03/03/2025
Alors, postes-section-11.info dit le wiki sera sur le site de la @saesfrance.org, mais le site même (à saesfrance.org/carriere/act...) donne toujours l'adresse en haut. Odyssée à 51 offres de poste #section11 à ce moment. Le wiki n'existe plus ou ??? Quelqu'un peut m'expliquer svp ?
Home page that says le wiki des postes sera bientôt disponible sur le site de la SAES (the wiki will soon be on SAES site) with a countdown that reads all zeros
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Dr. Bethany Qualls @bethanyqualls.bsky.social · 23/01/2025
Beau Brummell's grave is less than a 10 minute walk from my office in Caen, France. Figured others interested in this long #18thC #regency #19thC dandy should know more, so I did a deeper-than-expected dive into his life and final resting place for the #PPBkA blog: ppbka.hypotheses.org/1101
ppbka.hypotheses.org
Finding Beau Brummell in Caen
As discussed in the earlier post about the “We are Amused”: Victorian Humour in the Digital Age conference, Regency fashion influencer Beau Brummell is buried in Caen, France. However, we couldn’t fin...
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Dr. Bethany Qualls @bethanyqualls.bsky.social · 26/09/2024
It was so fun!!! Thanks to all you #odsecs fans of the long #c18 who helped us kick off a great new seminar season.
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Dr. Bethany Qualls @bethanyqualls.bsky.social · 20/09/2024
#asecs2025 abstract submitted wheeeeeee #18thc scholaring after a week in the British Library mostly deciphering Victorian era handwriting. Definitely having fun thinking about cats, memes, and social media in #c18 contexts
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