Reposted by Deena VarnerMicah Schwartzman @micahschwartzman.bsky.social · 13/09/2026In a concurrence to his own majority opinion in a Title VII vaccine exemption case, a Ninth Circuit judge claims that the administrative state is “inherently hostil[e]” to religion because administrators rely on rational and secular reasons to make decisions. /1 cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/op... 146126
Deena Varner @deena-varner.bsky.social · 02/09/2026In case you missed it, administrators in Texas destroying their own universities are being paid millions of dollars for the privilege. Texas A&M and Texas Tech were #1 & #3 in 2025: www.chronicle.com/article/pres... #academicfreedom #censorshipchronicle.comHow Much Are Public-College Presidents Paid?Explore our updated dataset of base pay, bonuses, and benefits for 172 chief executives at public doctoral universities and systems in 2025. 054
Deena Varner @deena-varner.bsky.social · 30/08/2026In 2024, Greg Abbot issued Executive Order GA-48: Relating to the hardening of state government. Given the more recent censorship of academic research and teaching in the state, I wanted to put this EO into conversation with those restrictions. gov.texas.gov/uploads/file...gov.texas.gov 122
Reposted by Deena VarnerTexas Conference of the AAUP @texasaaup.bsky.social · 26/08/2026⭐️ NEW from The Higher Ed Advocate: “censorship devalues a university degree…eliminat[ing] topics like race, gender, sexuality, and social inequality from the university curriculum…will leave Texas students ill-equipped to face not only the workforce but life itself.” 🗣️🗣️substack.comCensored Universities Cannot Offer Degrees of ValueWhat determines whether a college degree is worth it? 01811
Deena Varner @deena-varner.bsky.social · 23/08/2026"Fear of serious injury cannot alone justify suppression of free speech and assembly. Men feared witches and burnt women. It is the function of speech to free men from the bondage of irrational fears." — Justice Louis Brandeis, Whitney v. California (1927) 011
Deena Varner @deena-varner.bsky.social · 18/08/2026Today’s document: The Heritage Foundation’s Model State Legislation to Codify the Federal Higher Education Compact (Aug 4. 2026). www.heritage.org/model-legisl...heritage.orgModel State Legislation to Codify the Federal Higher Education Compact/* --- Hide the CMS's own (empty) references accordion --- */ section.article__references { display: none; } /* --- Outline lists. Change the one padding value to adjust the indent of every level at o... 142
Reposted by Deena VarnerDan Silverman @dmsilverman.bsky.social · 08/08/2026New study shows that — contra widely accepted narratives — there is NO EVIDENCE that professors change their students’ politics and make them more liberal through their teaching 61786451
Reposted by Deena VarnerChocobone💀Skare🎺Paradie🪦 @chocoboskaparadise.bsky.social · 12/08/2026Friendly reminder 11268117663
Deena Varner @deena-varner.bsky.social · 06/08/2026Thanks to The Higher Ed Advocate for giving us a space to talk about what's happening. 152
Deena Varner @deena-varner.bsky.social · 04/08/2026On my very long and dread-filled drive back to Texas—where Gilead is a preferred model of governance—I am inspired by colleagues at TAMU who refuse to bend the knee www.aclutx.org/press-releas...aclutx.orgACLU of Texas, Professors Sue Texas A&M System Over Censorship Policy, Detail Violations of Academic Freedom - ACLU of TexasFaculty have been instructed to remove educational materials — like the film “Moonlight” and writings by Plato — from syllabi following policy banning race, gender, and sexual orientation related topi... 031
Reposted by Deena VarnerDon Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 03/08/2026Being a strong advocate of institutional neutrality and also advocating for using political ideology as a key criterion for hiring are not logically consistent positions. 69926
Deena Varner @deena-varner.bsky.social · 03/08/2026Today’s document: the AG's July 23 Federal Law Protections for Religious Liberty memo. What is the constitutional vision it constructs, and what are its assumptions about government, institutions, and individual rights embedded in its language? 123
Reposted by Deena VarnerLeila Green Little @ifightforbooks.bsky.social · 28/07/2026There’s lots more to read at padlet.com/lalubean/lei..., and here’s my most recent appearance from the Netherlands. youtu.be/jNDwyc-hMwUpadlet.comLeila Green Little, et al., v. Llano County, et al.News coverage 021
Deena Varner @deena-varner.bsky.social · 24/07/2026The Fifth Circuit’s recent opinion (Debrow) (along with Hemani) has me thinking about a question that is and isn't about guns. 100
Deena Varner @deena-varner.bsky.social · 24/07/2026Probably the truest lesson from Appiah’s "report," and advice that he should take: “But without input from those trained in a discipline, concepts and claims can easily float free of a proper understanding.” higheredstatementofprinciples.com/state-of-sch...higheredstatementofprinciples.comLiterary StudiesKwame Anthony Appiah1 Academic literary scholarship in the United States covers a vast range of languages and genres. A large number of scholars write and teach about literature written in English around the world, many focusing especially on British and North American writing. But you can also study: literature in many other European languages, from […] 100
Reposted by Deena VarnerTexas Conference of the AAUP @texasaaup.bsky.social · 15/07/2026⭐️⭐️An incredible syllabus on the Right wing takeover of higher education using UT Austin as a case study. ⬇️ open.substack.com/pub/highered...open.substack.comSyllabus: The Right-Wing University TakeoverThe Higher Ed Advocate is dedicated to two goals: 1) documenting and analyzing attacks on higher education in Texas and beyond, and 2) defending students’ right to learn and professors’ right to teach... 01513
Deena Varner @deena-varner.bsky.social · 15/07/2026For a bit more on student complaints as the measure of protected speech varnerd.substack.com/p/student-co...varnerd.substack.comStudent Complaints Are Not a Heckler’s VetoWhat Reges v. Cauce Says about Academic Freedom, Complaints, and the Public University 020
Deena Varner @deena-varner.bsky.social · 13/07/20261/15 Live-reading Reges v. Cauce, the Ninth Circuit’s December 2025 academic freedom ruling, as a companion to the Eleventh Circuit's Stop WOKE ruling. The case asks whether UW could discipline a professor for including a parody land acknowledgment in his syllabus. 110
Deena Varner @deena-varner.bsky.social · 08/07/2026Beautiful, and surely well-timed, lawsuit filed against the Texas Tech University System for censorship of the kind the Eleventh Circuit just ruled against. lambdalegal.org/case/america...lambdalegal.orgAmerican Association of University Professors, et al. v. Creighton, et al.Lambda Legal, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF), and Davis Wright Tremaine LLP filed a federal lawsuit challenging censorship policies imposed across the Texas Tech University S... 000
Deena Varner @deena-varner.bsky.social · 08/07/2026This is the academic freedom jurisprudence we've been waiting 100 years for law.justia.com/cases/federa...law.justia.comPernell v. Commissioner of the FL State Board of Education, No. 23-10616 (11th Cir. 2026)Florida enacted a law prohibiting public university professors from endorsing or promoting certain ideas related to race, color, sex, and national origin in classroom instruction. The law, known as th... 273
Reposted by Deena VarnerAmerican Historical Association @historians.org · 29/04/2026The AHA has released a statement opposing the new Texas Tech University Course Content Guidelines, which prohibit content related to sexual orientation & gender identity in undergraduate courses, without defining these terms. Students deserve full and accurate histories. Read the statement:historians.orgAHA Opposes Restrictions on Teaching and Learning at Texas Tech University - AHAThe AHA has released a statement strongly opposing the new Texas Tech University Course Content Guidelines. The guidelines impose a “strict prohibition” on content related to “Sexual Orientation and G... 24924
Reposted by Deena VarnerTorin Monahan @torinmonahan.bsky.social · 09/03/2026Excellent new film review by @deena-varner.bsky.social on Surveillance & Society’s blog, Blink. medium.com/surveillance...medium.comDeputized by Design: Ambient Surveillance and Neoliberal Rescue in ‘Dangerous Animals’In this post, Deena Varner reviews Dangerous Animals (2025), Directed by Sean Byrne. US: IFC Films. Available to stream on Shudder. 041
Reposted by Deena VarnerErin Reed @erininthemorning.com · 23/04/20261. In a draconian new policy, Texas Tech is banning writing about LGBTQ+ topics. The ban is the first don't say gay or trans policy to apply to students themselves. It applies to any thesis/dissertation moving forward. They are using AI to scan everything. Subscribe to support our journalism.erininthemorning.comTexas Tech Issues Ban On Students Writing On LGBTQ+ TopicsThe ban applies to theses and dissertations, and is expected to begin going into effect on a rolling basis. 411142655
Deena Varner @deena-varner.bsky.social · 15/01/2026Texas Tech University System’s censorship of all content related to gender and sexuality is in contravention to Regents' Rules, e.g., 04.04.03: faculty must encourage "free inquiry in the classroom...and maintain a climate of mutual respect which will enhance the free interplay of ideas.” 010
Deena Varner @deena-varner.bsky.social · 02/12/2025It's been radio silence since this memo, excepting a message from the Provost to follow the chain of command (read: don't contact the Provost's office). This is far beyond what we were told to expect in the wake of the previous memo—when we were informed that we had to follow the "law" re: gender. 120
Deena Varner @deena-varner.bsky.social · 02/12/2025I am completely bereft. This has been going on for months, with varying degrees of guidance, but this one takes it. I am terrified of what's happening, for myself, my students, my colleagues, the public I serve. www.texastech.edu/downloads/25...texastech.edu 000
Reposted by Deena VarnerCarceral Geographies Working Group of the RGS-IBG @carceralgeography.bsky.social · 05/06/2025Our first post is an invitation! Join is to explore creative methods in carceral geography with these amazing people. Register here: events.humanitix.com/cgwg-worksho... 143
Deena Varner @deena-varner.bsky.social · 28/05/2025It was lovely working with @virvere.bsky.social on this wonderful review of Carceral Worlds: Legacies, Textures, and Futures, which foregrounds "how people feel and experience [a multiplicity of] carceralities."carceralgeographies.co.ukBook Review: Carceral worlds: Legacies, textures and futuresStuit, H, Turner, J, & Weegels, J. (Eds.). (2024). Carceral worlds: Legacies, textures and futures. Bloomsbury. Reviewed by Virve Repo, Tampere University, Finland Carceral Worlds is an edit… 051
Deena Varner @deena-varner.bsky.social · 22/03/2025This conversation among recent political prisoners captures so many subtleties and contradictions of social life in prison—and a plug for their new book, City Timehardcrackers.comCity Time: A Discussion with David Campbell and Jarrod ShanahanDavid Campbell and Jarrod Shanahan’s new book City Time: On Being Sentenced to Rikers Island (NYU Press, 2025) offers an insightful look into the daily life of one of the most notorious carceral… 010
Reposted by Deena VarnerCharles Ornstein @charlesornstein.bsky.social · 20/02/2025How we did it: Texas Won’t Study How Its Abortion Ban Impacts Women, So We Didpropublica.orgTexas Won’t Study How Its Abortion Ban Impacts Women, So We DidSince Texas banned abortion, no one has studied the statewide effects on pregnant women experiencing complications. Here’s how we sifted through data on millions of pregnancy hospitalizations and anal... 193114564374
Deena Varner @deena-varner.bsky.social · 13/02/2025Ahed’s Knee seems to be about the nationalist/racist/bureaucratic/authoritarian state, but the film within the film (the critique within the critique)—the *sympathy* and *admiration* for Ahed Tamimi—is a brilliant take on the structural relationship between liberalism and state violence.youtube.comAhed's Knee – Official U.S. TrailerYouTube video by Kino Lorber 012
Reposted by Deena VarnerAustin Kocher, PhD @austinkocher.com · 28/12/2024For the last time: The illegal / legal immigrant distinction is a manufactured crisis designed to mask deeper anxieties about white supremacy and generate support for nativist policies. 46319
Deena Varner @deena-varner.bsky.social · 26/12/2024Employees of Texas universities are no longer permitted to travel to China for teaching, research, or any other professional purposes. Greg Abbott has unilaterally crippled ties between American and Chinese academics. gov.texas.gov/uploads/file...gov.texas.gov 110
Reposted by Deena VarnerPrison Policy Initiative @prisonpolicy.org · 29/11/2024This Black Friday, you'll probably notice the effects of inflation on price tags. What might not be so obvious though is its effect on the criminal legal system. Each year, inflation makes the system more punitive – and that's not a good deal. www.prisonpolicy.org/blog/2020/06...prisonpolicy.orgHow inflation makes your state’s criminal justice system harsher today than it was yesterdayThe case for increasing the monetary level for felony theft. 12813
Deena Varner @deena-varner.bsky.social · 26/11/2024Jailbots are like every recent #AI #surveillance horror movie squared. I wonder if someone watched Megan and said, let's do that in prisons! one.npr.org/i/nx-s1-5178...one.npr.org🔊 Listen Now: A look at a pilot program in Georgia that uses 'jailbots' to track inmatesMorning Edition on NPR One | 3:13 020
Deena Varner @deena-varner.bsky.social · 24/11/2024I’m prepping a class about “literature of the fantastic” through the lens of political systems and social control. As the semester winds down, I was able to spend an entire Saturday doing little else but rereading Octavia Butler’s Kindred. 100
Reposted by Deena VarnerUniversity of California Press @ucpress.bsky.social · 22/11/2024Since the 1990s, scholar-activists with lived experience in the criminal legal system have built a global movement. Tietjen Grant explores its history, impact, and future promise. www.ucpress.edu/blog-posts/s...ucpress.eduSystem-affected academics are building a movement — and transforming the academyScholarship is a powerful tool for changing how people think, plan, and govern. By giving voice to bright minds and bold ideas, we seek to foster understanding and drive progressive change. 084
Reposted by Deena VarnerAustin Kocher, PhD @austinkocher.com · 22/11/2024ICE Might Be Reading Your Encrypted Text Messages Paragon is an Israeli firm whose spyware product “Graphite” focuses on breaching encrypted messaging applications such as Telegram and Signal. ICE, the immigration agency, has already acquired the technology. www.newyorker.com/news/news-de...newyorker.comThe Technology the Trump Administration Could Use to Hack Your PhoneOther Western democracies have been roiled by the use of spyware to target political opponents, activists, journalists, and other vulnerable groups. Could it happen here? 54738
Reposted by Deena VarnerS. E. Wigget @sewigget.bsky.social · 17/11/2024I saw this ad last week and ordered the ebooks but also decided I wanted one of the books in paperback: The Black Antifascist Tradition. I figure we can learn a lot from Black people. #books #fascism #antifascism 061
Deena Varner @deena-varner.bsky.social · 22/11/2024Last class today re: narratives inspired by real crime events. While the skills and content of the course were important, students mostly talked about learning how to do literary criticism as a social practice, how to listen attentively and shape their thinking through argument. 020
Deena Varner @deena-varner.bsky.social · 22/11/2024I don't think I can stay on +wi++er much longer 020