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Erik Braeden Lewis, PhD

@braedenfrev.bsky.social
1.7K followers 2K following 204 posts

Instructor, History (Doña Ana Community College). PhD, History (Florida State). French Revolution. Émigrés. Family. Migration. Franco-Spanish Borderlands. Catalan Identity. Social Networks. Madame du Barry. Domestic Servants. Human Trafficking. Asylum.

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Erik Braeden Lewis, PhD @braedenfrev.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
I do that for quizzes and exams, but I honestly had never thought about using it for these primary source analysis assignments. I can look into that. Thank you!
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Erik Braeden Lewis, PhD @braedenfrev.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
I teach a large number of online history survey courses. I really hoped my students would read the primary sources and engage with them in the discussion boards, but I get tons of AI writing. Do y'all have ideas for AI-resistant online assignments using primary sources? (We use Canvas.)
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Erik Braeden Lewis, PhD @braedenfrev.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
These are a few of my favorite things
A Flute, a Bb Clarinet, and an A Clarinet
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Erik Braeden Lewis, PhD @braedenfrev.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
How cool is life, yall? I get to blow air into a tube in my free time, and in exchange, I get a rush of dopamine. I love making music.
Me, holding my flute while sitting on my couch
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Erik Braeden Lewis, PhD @braedenfrev.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Just gave a tour presentation to some VERY engaged high school students.
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Erik Braeden Lewis, PhD @braedenfrev.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Anybody know of any academic technology grants? I want to buy 25 typewriters for use in my classroom for exams and other in-class writing.
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Erik Braeden Lewis, PhD @braedenfrev.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
I got myself a treat for submitting my application for promotion.
A new flute
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Erik Braeden Lewis, PhD @braedenfrev.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Application and portfolio for promotion from Instructor to Assistant Professor has been submitted. #tenuretrack
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Erik Braeden Lewis, PhD @braedenfrev.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
A lil pic of me actually doing work...
Me: smiling and clapping
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Erik Braeden Lewis, PhD @braedenfrev.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
Today, my alma mater is playing my job in football. I think I shall root for a good match.
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Erik Braeden Lewis, PhD @braedenfrev.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
Last night was the first rehearsal of the ensemble I just joined. It’s so nice to play with a group again. While I’m out of shape, and both my flute and I are old, this will be a lot of fun.
A flute on a stand with some sheet music
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Erik Braeden Lewis, PhD @braedenfrev.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
Do y'all ground your 1000-level surveys in some sort of overarching theory? How comfortable are y'all teaching theory to first-year students? I always feel that a theory introduction on the first day of the semester gives them an understanding of how I understand history. Who knows, though?
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Erik Braeden Lewis, PhD @braedenfrev.bsky.social · 20/08/2026
One of my colleagues told me to ask them: Cat? Dog? or Lizard? It's very low stakes, but still gets them talking, and also reveals something about them (even just a little). They said somebody always chooses lizard and it gets the class going.
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Erik Braeden Lewis, PhD @braedenfrev.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
Fever on the first day of classes so trying to work from home. Sent an announcement to ALL (146!) of my students (on the first day!!!!!) with a typo in it. I'm going back to bed.
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Erik Braeden Lewis, PhD @braedenfrev.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
Reached out about joining a community ensemble so I can make music again. Hopefully this pans out.
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Erik Braeden Lewis, PhD @braedenfrev.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Anybody want to do a panel at the SFHS in Portland next Spring? I am thinking of presenting a paper on business capital, farm animals, and émigré survival during the French Revolution.
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Erik Braeden Lewis, PhD @braedenfrev.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Remember to take time to do the things that made you fall in love with being alive.
Me, with my clarinet.
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Erik Braeden Lewis, PhD @braedenfrev.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
I really like having my students engage with Crenshaw's intersectionality as a way of studying history. However, the writings I have found are sometimes hard for undergrads to digest. Do any of you have any good short articles explaining intersectionality? Thanks in advance.
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Erik Braeden Lewis, PhD @braedenfrev.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
Master courses vs. professor agency... #discuss
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Erik Braeden Lewis, PhD @braedenfrev.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
I terribly want an alto flute.
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Erik Braeden Lewis, PhD @braedenfrev.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
Today I turn 39, and I’m going to see Hilary Duff in concert.
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Erik Braeden Lewis, PhD @braedenfrev.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
Just played the Carmen Dragon arrangement of America the Beautiful, and I had forgotten how much I love (to play) this song.
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Erik Braeden Lewis, PhD @braedenfrev.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
This is absolutely ridiculous.
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Erik Braeden Lewis, PhD @braedenfrev.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
Anybody out there hiring online adjunct history positions that I can work from New Mexico? I need some extra cash. I can teach US, Western, and World History, as well as the French Revolution and Napoleon, 19th Century Europe, the Middle East, and Gender & Sexuality. #tenuretrack
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Erik Braeden Lewis, PhD @braedenfrev.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
How lucky we are to live in the era of Serena Williams.
Serena Williams on a grass court
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Erik Braeden Lewis, PhD @braedenfrev.bsky.social · 07/06/2026
I’ve had this piccolo for well over twenty years, and we were both in better shape back then. But still, this piccolo makes me (but probably not anybody nearby) very happy. So, today I play.
A piccolo with an étude book
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Erik Braeden Lewis, PhD @braedenfrev.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
Thank you!
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Erik Braeden Lewis, PhD @braedenfrev.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
Starting to prepare my Executive Summary and packet of materials for my first promotion from Instructor to Assistant Professor. Organization and tedium are both very hard for me, but I will get through this. #tenuretrack
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Erik Braeden Lewis, PhD @braedenfrev.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
I showed this at a film event this year! I absolutely love this movie.
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Erik Braeden Lewis, PhD @braedenfrev.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
Yesterday was the last day of contract, and Summer 1 does not start until Friday, and I find myself with a day off. Strange feeling that I should be doing something productive, and yet, here I am...
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Erik Braeden Lewis, PhD @braedenfrev.bsky.social · 15/05/2026
Third graduation from the instructor side is in the books. Always so proud of my students when they get to walk!!
Me, in full on doctoral regalia, at graduation.
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Erik Braeden Lewis, PhD @braedenfrev.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
They can still cheat even with LockDown Browser. I just found the reddit telling students how to get around it. They put so much effort into not learning...
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Erik Braeden Lewis, PhD @braedenfrev.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
Really just want to play piccolo etudes instead of grading...
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Erik Braeden Lewis, PhD @braedenfrev.bsky.social · 10/05/2026
Every semester, I give the same assignment to my students: write one to two pages explaining the most important thing you learned this semester (related to my course) and how it impacted your overall educational trajectory. Y'all, I LOVE THIS ASSIGNMENT. They are honest to a fault. Much candor.
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Erik Braeden Lewis, PhD @braedenfrev.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
This why I argue in favor of Blue Books. Yet, all y'all look at me like an antiquated fool.
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Erik Braeden Lewis, PhD @braedenfrev.bsky.social · 07/05/2026
Yesterday was my last lecture of the semester. On the way out the door, one of my students told another student, "this feels like a breakup." They're funny, y'all. I had a good laugh.
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Erik Braeden Lewis, PhD @braedenfrev.bsky.social · 06/05/2026
I combined my final two lectures in Western Civ Part I so that my in-person class could learn about Madame du Barry, and I am so excited to give this lecture. For me, this is the best way to end the semester. It may be a little beyond the time period of my course, but it is a teaser for Part II.
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Erik Braeden Lewis, PhD @braedenfrev.bsky.social · 01/05/2026
And I love teaching at a community college, and I love still learning, and I hope I do right by my students. But I would also love to teach what I know for more than 2-3 hours a semester. That being said, I had a damn good education at FSU and this is no shade to them at all. 3/3
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Erik Braeden Lewis, PhD @braedenfrev.bsky.social · 01/05/2026
And yes, that is a broad amount of teaching that I can do, but I am nowhere close to knowing everything about everything in history. And this is wild to me. But, I keep learning, because every student in each of these classes deserves the same effort as if I were teaching my specialty to them. 2/
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Erik Braeden Lewis, PhD @braedenfrev.bsky.social · 01/05/2026
I'm not sure history PhD programs prepare students to be professors at community colleges. Why not? I teach US, Western, and World (Parts 1 and 2 for each), but I was trained to teach the French Revolution, Early Modern Europe, Middle East, and Gender & Sexuality. 1/
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Erik Braeden Lewis, PhD @braedenfrev.bsky.social · 30/04/2026
Update: she told me no...
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Erik Braeden Lewis, PhD @braedenfrev.bsky.social · 30/04/2026
Just emailed the Department Chair asking for extra summer classes. Very motivated by the dollar right now.
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Erik Braeden Lewis, PhD @braedenfrev.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
"If you don't ask, the answer is always no." -My mother, teaching me something very important in life
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Erik Braeden Lewis, PhD @braedenfrev.bsky.social · 20/04/2026
Found a wonderful $750,000 NEH Grant for Western Civilization. However, there are so many restrictions on what that money ca be used for that I'm not sure winning the grant would benefit my pedagogy, my students, or my institution. That's a shame.
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Erik Braeden Lewis, PhD @braedenfrev.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
Oh yeah, you live in Texas. So sorry for implying.
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Erik Braeden Lewis, PhD @braedenfrev.bsky.social · 06/04/2026
Regular or special?
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Erik Braeden Lewis, PhD @braedenfrev.bsky.social · 06/04/2026
Filled out a survey with OUP and got two free books!!
Two books: The Great Demarcation and The Making of a Terrorist
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Erik Braeden Lewis, PhD @braedenfrev.bsky.social · 04/04/2026
Finally found out where to look up my colleagues' salaries. Whoa, some of y'all make a shitload more than I do. Wild.
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Erik Braeden Lewis, PhD @braedenfrev.bsky.social · 31/03/2026
Dusting off some old research on Madame du Barry to prepare for a presentation this month. Oh, how I have missed her.
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