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Brendan Cantwell

@cantb.bsky.social
4.7K followers 1.5K following 3.9K posts

Views and speech are mine alone. Might delete.

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Brendan Cantwell @cantb.bsky.social · 21m
With right wing partisan boards they may be prevented from suing but in that case my argument is that their obligation is to resign and then sue.
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Brendan Cantwell @cantb.bsky.social · 30m
Anyway, it will be on the faculty and the AAUP and free speech groups to challenge this in court because university boards are captured by partisan politics and university administrators and weak. Presidents: if board won’t let you sue, you must resign in protest. End
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Brendan Cantwell @cantb.bsky.social · 34m
Barrett and I argue in The Postliberal University that leaders who don’t realize they are a member of the academic profession and think they’re fate is apart from the fate of faculty and students enabled partisan control and imperial everyone including themselves. 
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Brendan Cantwell @cantb.bsky.social · 36m
This is an assault on the rights of faculty and students, yes, but it is also assault on the university administration. In this case, administrations should be aligned with faculty and student students because their interests are aligned.
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Brendan Cantwell @cantb.bsky.social · 37m
Faculty in Alabama AAUP Chapter note that this law set a clear president for further partisan control of academic freedom and what can be taught, studied, and expressed.
Academic Freedom Concerns
Davis-Sramek said she has worries about the law that don't specifically relate to the body of water.
"If they can say, by legislative mandate, 'We're going to force employees to reference Gulf of America,' then what else might they force us to say
—or restrict us from saying—in terms of our teaching and research?" she said. "This, in particular, seems silly on the surface. But I think it begs a bigger question: If they can do this, what else can and might they do?"
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Brendan Cantwell @cantb.bsky.social · 40m
Several states have statutes or constitutional provisions that give universities more autonomy than other state agencies. This is the case for Alabama, but the universities have indicated they will comply without legal challenges.
The Alabama Constitution gives the University of Auburn system and University of Alabama system, which includes UAB, greater autonomy than other public higher ed institutions, meaning they might be able legally to refuse to follow the law if they desired to. The Gulf of America Act doesn't say they're exempt. The systems didn't respond to requests for comment this week.
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Brendan Cantwell @cantb.bsky.social · 43m
The state of Alabama imposed a state law that requires pubic schools and universities to use the term “Gulf of America.” And obvious and flagrant authoritarian move and textbook example of what Barrett Taylor and I call postliberal governance. www.insidehighered.com/news/governm...
insidehighered.com
Alabama’s New “Gulf of America” Mandate Impacts Colleges
Republican lawmakers say faculty can only call it the Gulf of Mexico for “historical purposes” in academic courses. Journalists are constrained by the restriction, too.
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Brendan Cantwell @cantb.bsky.social · 13h
“Bub, no one is a Mets fan but some people are masochists”
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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 13h
interesting that conservatives were militantly “we must reward hustle” when the target was affirmative action at elite universities and now, when faced with the success of south asians and other groups, it is “i think we are too meritocratic”
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Brendan Cantwell @cantb.bsky.social · 13h
Dispatches from NIMBY country: The City of East Lansing is preventing a land owner from converting a privately owned parking lot into housing, so the land has closed the parking lot.
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Brendan Cantwell @cantb.bsky.social · 14h
I’m not saying private foundation support for social science and education research is bad. Not at all. I’m just saying that it’s not a substitute for public research funding and it definitely gives foundations more leverage over researchers, disciplines, and institutions.
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Brendan Cantwell @cantb.bsky.social · 14h
Even when private foundations do a good job of supporting important work, they tend to be more narrow and rely more on networks and relationships relative to open calls and peer review. They can also be highly motivated, pushing preferred solutions and even ideologies. 
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Brendan Cantwell @cantb.bsky.social · 14h
The NSF abandoning social science and education researcher is of course a blow to these disciplines, to their universities, and a major barrier to a generation of scholars. It also surrender a large amount of influence over these disciplines to private foundations. Why does they matter?
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Brendan Cantwell @cantb.bsky.social · 14h
Live look in to your university’s administration
static.klipy.com
Mr Bean Listening: Funny Ear Plugs
Alt: Mr Bean Listening: Funny Ear Plugs
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Anil Dash @anildash.com · 05/10/2026
I can’t emphasize this enough — “AI” wasn’t born corrupt and toxic. For ~75 years, it was mathematicians and scientists doing interesting, thoughtful work and trying to solve problems, making only the usual human mistakes. What “AI” did to machine learning is as tragic as what it did to artists.
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ryan cooper @ryanlcooper.com · 06/10/2026
turns out GM was right, Americans piss and moan that there aren’t any cheap EVs but they will not buy them if you make one www.motortrend.com/news/2027-ch...
motortrend.com
Owners of the 2027 Chevrolet Bolt May Be in Rare Company
GM may build only about 35,000 examples of the 2027 Chevrolet Bolt before ending production, making America’s most affordable EV also a somewhat rare one-year-only model.
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Brendan Cantwell @cantb.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Yankees playoff defense
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Brendan Cantwell @cantb.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Michiganders who vote for a constitutional convention because elected university trustees annoy them are like people who would amputate their arm because of a splinter in their finger.
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Brendan Cantwell @cantb.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
I had cold weather knees today for the first time this season…. I’m not even 50. This is why people move to Florida, sigh
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Brendan Cantwell @cantb.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Good. But let’s see if there’s follow through
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Brendan Cantwell @cantb.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
I know The Onion is enjoying a renaissance, but reality kind of makes it obsolete.
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Mia Murphy 🏳️‍⚧️ @miamurphy.com · 05/10/2026
The true origin is the legislature itself, which recommended that UM be given autonomy and an elected board in an 1840. Prior to that, the corrupt frontier legislature nearly killed UM. The independence allowed UM to flourish, and it was deemed good for the other major state-focused universities.
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Brendan Cantwell @cantb.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Set aside all the structure for a moment and it’s hard to escape the conclusion that also people are unserious and maybe bad
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Brendan Cantwell @cantb.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Yeah I think its pretty widespread
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Brendan Cantwell @cantb.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
The stream of book promotion scams tells me (a) grifting is a too big share of economic activity; (b) academic authors are thirsty and therefore vulnerable.
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Brendan Cantwell @cantb.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
horrific event punctuates discourse -> revealed as endemic/structural -> widespread calls for reform & transformation -> instant reactionary backlash -> reactionary ideas normalized and legitimated -> elite concensious that things went too far forms -> status quo shifts to pre-punctuation or worse 🔂
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Brendan Cantwell @cantb.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Why are the cities in Brazil so right wing? Is it because that’s where white people are?
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Scott Imberman @imbernomics.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
static.klipy.com
Trump Shrek Meme: Some of You May Die
Alt: Trump Shrek Meme: Some of You May Die
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Adam Gurri @adamgurri.liberalcurrents.com · 04/10/2026
I care much more about this than about sports to be clear, like several orders of magnitude more Anyway I’ll note our essay by @cantb.bsky.social is, among other things, about rescuing a funding model
liberalcurrents.com
The Reconstruction Papers
For nearly a century, the conservative movement's white whale was the government the New Deal and the Great Society had built. Republicans chipped away at it but feared the political ramifications of ...
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Brendan Cantwell @cantb.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
horrific event punctuates discourse -> revealed as endemic/structural -> widespread calls for reform & transformation -> instant reactionary backlash -> reactionary ideas normalized and legitimated -> elite concensious that things went too far forms -> status quo shifts to pre-punctuation or worse 🔂
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Dominique Baker @bakerdphd.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
That this is *not* the trust that has been broken astounds me. I gave feedback earlier this year on some restoring trust projects. I mentioned Cornell's president hitting a student and alum with apparently little regret as the type of damage these projects need to care about. Elite impunity matters.
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Brendan Cantwell @cantb.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Universities: faculty should do policy relevant work and engage with policymakers. But apolitically. Your policy work should be neutral, ok?
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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
Impossible to understand how anyone could look at Rufo's career and conclude he was someone engaged in a "forthright defense of meritocracy." Rufo's entire career is built on the idea of purging people who don't think or look like him from positions of power.
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Brendan Cantwell @cantb.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
bsky.app/profile/bubb...
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Brendan Cantwell @cantb.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Mia don’t harm those cute birds
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Brendan Cantwell @cantb.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
America: reaching new lows every day
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Prasad Jallepalli, MD, PhD @prasad.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
disclosure: I do not receive (nor have I applied for) NSF funding NSF is a linchpin in our nation's ability to do science at the grassroots level this is how we grow innovation defunding NSF means the next wave of Americans inspired by Wright Bros. never get off the ground, much less fly high
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Brendan Cantwell @cantb.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Who said neoliberalism is over?
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Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Unless Congress reclaims its power, this will just become the new normal. A good first step would be to impeach Vought. www.nytimes.com/2026/10/02/u...
nytimes.com
National Science Foundation Diverted $1.4 Billion in Science Funds Mandated by Congress
The move, affecting about one-fifth of the National Science Foundation’s primary research budget, is the latest sign of how the White House is asserting more control over grants.
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Brendan Cantwell @cantb.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
By my count there are only 6 women on this list of RightThink reading permitted at the University of Texas. www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty...
insidehighered.com
UT Approves List of 50 Authors for Gen Ed Course
Jane Austen, Frederick Douglass, Adam Smith and Søren Kierkegaard made the cut.
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Brendan Cantwell @cantb.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Thanks for reading! I hope you find it helpful.
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Alex C. Lange @itsalexcl.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Emerging from the deluge that is this forehose of a semester to share a special early delivery of Barrett Taylor and @cantb.bsky.social’s new book! Looking forward to diving in!
Photo of a book with brick and mortar cover vibes entitled _The Postliberal University: Governance, Leadership, and Partisanship in Higher Education_.
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Brendan Cantwell @cantb.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
The lesson: mange with bourbon, not doodles
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Brendan Cantwell @cantb.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
The Track formally known as Tenure
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Brendan Cantwell @cantb.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
A year ago we got a dog in an attempt to cope [gestures broadly]. It turned out to be an expensive proposition because this dog is so high strung she needs at least 3 hours of exercise a day, so we pay for her to get out a few times a week. Anyway, she’s the dirty dog pictured flying over the pack.
Blurry black and white dog, caked in mud, jumping over a tangled cluster of poochies
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Elizabeth (Bit) Meehan, PhD @elizabethbitmeehan.com · 01/10/2026
y'all i'm working on this data collection project looking at dissertations & sometimes I get reminders that we are not all playing the same game (1999 edition)
not the least, I would like to thank my family: my parents, for buying me a lovely condominium at Harvard Street so that I could concentrate on my research with out worrying about paying rents,
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Brendan Cantwell @cantb.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Maybe so. State funding per student, then, will need to go up.
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Brendan Cantwell @cantb.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
These are for in-state only, and there is wide variation, of course
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Brendan Cantwell @cantb.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Sticker shock is real and yet what we know if tuition resets and freezes is that they don’t do a ton to change behavior. They do get a lot of good press tho, which is worth something 
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Brendan Cantwell @cantb.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
High tuition / high aid refers to a model of pricing where sticker price is set way above what most students actually pay so that high income students can partially subsidize the cost for lower income students. 
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