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Whit

@drwhit.bsky.social
200 followers 141 following 1.4K posts

Historian. Currently working in history education advocacy. Constantly searching for metaphors. Adaptation requires hope. Also @drwhit@historians.social.

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Whit @drwhit.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
Good morning, all. I'm back! Starting late for the blockbuster Texas SBOE meeting, during which we can expect the large majority of the board to continue jamming their enormous, costly, ill-advised, slapdash, Christian Nationalist social studies standards revision for 5.5 million kids in Texas.
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American Historical Association @historians.org · 29/04/2026
What do students miss when US history lessons stop at Vietnam? Join our State of the Field for Busy Teachers event on May 6 at 1:45 p.m. ET on teaching recent US history, from themes and sources to classroom strategies. With Gregory Daddis, Sage Gray, Mindy Lawrence, and Lee Vinsel. Register now.
historians.org
State of the Field for Busy Teachers: Post-1970s US History – AHA
State of the Field for Busy Teachers: Post-1970s US History AHA Learn Wednesday, May 6, 1:45–3 p.m. ET Secondary teachers interviewed and surveyed for the AHA's American Lesson Plan (2024) consistentl...
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American Historical Association @historians.org · 04/05/2026
Growing up in Germany, Katharina Matro “was confronted with my country’s history without mercy. It’s made me a more informed citizen, a more politically aware citizen, a more critical thinker.” #FreedomToLearn #HonestHistory
youtube.com
Teaching with Integrity: Confronting a Nation's Past
YouTube video by American Historical Association
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American Historical Association @historians.org · 29/04/2026
The 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.org
AHA Opposes Restrictions on Teaching and Learning at Texas Tech University - AHA
The 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...
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Whit @drwhit.bsky.social · 08/04/2026
Good morning, everyone. The Board will take up social studies standards again today. Here's yesterday's coverage. The details get fuzzier towards the end because I was so tired, sorry. I can't vouch for how coherent it is, since the Board adjourned around 1:20 AM CT. Threads below:
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Whit @drwhit.bsky.social · 08/04/2026
When we get back from break, we're proceeding to discussion of the social studies revision with content advisors. If you'd like to see coverage of the public testimony that preceded, visit this thread. We reached 105 testifiers by my count. bsky.app/profile/drwh...
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Whit @drwhit.bsky.social · 08/04/2026
So Kinsey said something about them trying to amend it at 11 PM tonight, and that may be optimistic. It seems more likely that they will adjourn after testimony.
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Whit @drwhit.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
Okay, that went quick. We're on item 3. You can catch up with what happened on the literary lists here. bsky.app/profile/drwh...
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Whit @drwhit.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
Okay, coming over here for the discussion on the literary lists. We're still on the first item. If you want to see the rundown for the public testimony on the literary lists that began at 8 AM CT and ended around 4 PM CT, go here: bsky.app/profile/did:...
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Whit @drwhit.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
Good evening, everyone! Just a heads-up: we've got a whopper of a Texas SBOE meeting tomorrow. Things are getting to a dramatic pitch on the social studies standards revision and the literacy lists. Watch this thread tomorrow at 9 AM CT ⬇️. I'll be here all day so you don't have to.
sboe.texas.gov
Meeting Agenda — Current | State Board of Education
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Whit @drwhit.bsky.social · 08/03/2026
Historians with the scoop: “… the letters went unnoticed until Nick Davis, a 23-year-old master’s student at Cambridge University, stumbled upon them last year while researching his history dissertation on Iraq.“ Timely reading.
thetimes.com
Paul Bremer ran Iraq for Bush. His emails show what really happened
‘I am now officially the government of Iraq,’ Bremer wrote to his wife in private messages from 2003 unearthed by The Sunday Times. In frank detail, they show the dangers of waging war without the rig...
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Whit @drwhit.bsky.social · 23/02/2026
Follow this thread for more Texas updates on the social studies revision this week. The SBOE called an emergency meeting on Wednesday 2/25 at 8 AM CT (and may overflow into Thursday, 2/26). It promises to be energetic and likely contentious. See the agenda below. Civics is also on the docket.
sboe.texas.gov
February 2026 Committee of the Full Board Special Called Meeting | State Board of Education
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Whit @drwhit.bsky.social · 30/01/2026
Good morning. Here's the thread from yesterday. It abruptly stops because the SBOE abruptly stopped. Brief recap and live thread of today's proceedings below. ⬇️
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Whit @drwhit.bsky.social · 29/01/2026
Good afternoon, everybody. Texas SBOE meeting began at 1 PM CT, so I'm a little late to catch up. While I get set up, here's my (enormous) thread from yesterday covering the SBOE meeting. tbsky.app/profile/drwh...
tbsky.app
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Whit @drwhit.bsky.social · 28/01/2026
Good morning, all. I’m back to cover today’s Texas SBOE meeting. Livestream and agenda are at the link below. They’re planning to get started at 9 AM CT. I aim to cover all of it, with special attention to item 5 on the social studies standards. Follow this thread for more. ⬇️
sboe.texas.gov
Meeting Agenda — Current | State Board of Education
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Whit @drwhit.bsky.social · 26/11/2025
I love it when historians are really cookin’, gettin’ pithy and (relatively) raucous in their prose. From Kim Allen Scott’s article, “Plague on the Homefront: Arkansas and the Great Influenza Epidemic of 1918” (1988):
“Now bear in mind that, in spite of any evidence to the contrary, pigs are not people, but the evidence does suggest that the swine virus, which is still circulating among America’s porkers, is a descendent of the terrible killer of 1918.”
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lauren @lauren.rotatingsandwiches.com · 26/11/2025
you just can't have a meaningful conversation about the potential benefits of "AI" while this stuff is happening. it's like trying to talk about how useful an airplane might be during a hijacking
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Whit @drwhit.bsky.social · 20/11/2025
Good morning, everyone. If you missed my live-posting about the Texas SBOE meeting on social studies standards, among other things, here's the thread from yesterday. Quick note: Quotations are sometimes edited a bit down but are accurate. Other indirect quotes should be taken as paraphrasing.
tbsky.app
Whit (@drwhit.bsky.social)
Thanks for joining me. I need to spend some time with all this new information. More thoughts to come when I can bear to look at a screen again. #
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Whit @drwhit.bsky.social · 19/11/2025
Good morning! Texas is revising its K-12 social studies standards (TEKS) for 5.5 million kids, & the State Board of Education (SBOE) is meeting today to discuss their progress today. I will be live-tweeting (posting?) about anything that concerns social studies. Follow this thread for updates!
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Laura Ansley @lmansley.bsky.social · 10/09/2025
Loved working on this piece with @drwhit.bsky.social!
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American Historical Association @historians.org · 01/05/2025
@acls1919.bsky.social, the AHA, & @modernlanguage.bsky.social filed a lawsuit in federal district court today, seeking to reverse the recent actions of the NEH to devastate the agency, including the elimination of grant programs, staff, and entire divisions and programs. 🗃️
historians.org
American Council of Learned Societies, American Historical Association, and Modern Language Association File Lawsuit Alleging Illegal Dismantling of National Endowment for the Humanities - AHA
Lawsuit aims to reinstate NEH grant programs, divisions, and staff. For Immediate Release / May 1, 2025 (New York, NY) — The American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS), the American Historical Assoc...
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Tressie McMillan Cottom @tressiemcphd.bsky.social · 31/03/2025
It’s so weird how we’re all just working like this is still a normal country.
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Aaron Reichlin-Melnick @reichlinmelnick.bsky.social · 18/03/2025
Totally agree with this. Flying a person to a third country that they may never have been to, directly into a prison where they are going to be forced to do hard labor, is not a deportation; it's something else entirely.
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Whit @drwhit.bsky.social · 01/03/2025
If you've tried accessing federal databases and have noticed anything limiting, missing, etc., tell these folks. And if you use federal databases, they're folks to follow on the status of those.
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American Statistical Association Office of Science Policy @asa-scipol.bsky.social · 26/02/2025
Do you have information on the health of the federal statistical agencies, or want to follow updates? Please visit this webpage, contribute information, & spread the word on this effort to help ensure the availability, credibility, & objectivity of federal statistics. www.amstat.org/the-nations-...
amstat.org
The Nation's Data at Risk Year Two - Ongoing Monitoring
The American Statistical Association is the world’s largest community of statisticians, the “Big Tent for Statistics.
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Whit @drwhit.bsky.social · 01/03/2025
I’ve been playing Fallout 4 and have been surprised at how comforting it is to be POST-apocalyptic. Nice to be reminded that 1) there IS an after and 2) people will continue to live.
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Whit @drwhit.bsky.social · 20/02/2025
When it comes to written arguments, you have to choose your battles with people who respect the rules of combat. If you’re writing for people who read anything & everything you didn’t say into what you’re saying, you’re not going to win them over that way. Spend your time where it’s valuable.
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Whit @drwhit.bsky.social · 20/02/2025
Was Homer calling a cat?
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Whit @drwhit.bsky.social · 18/02/2025
Painful.
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American Historical Association @historians.org · 05/02/2025
The AHA & the @oah.org have released a joint statement on the presidential executive order “Ending Radical Indoctrination in K–12 Schooling.” “We reject the premise that it is ‘anti-American’ or ‘subversive’ to learn the full history of the United States.” 🗃️
historians.org
AHA–OAH Statement on Executive Order “Ending Radical Indoctrination in K–12 Schooling”
The American Historical Association and the Organization of American Historians (OAH) have released a joint statement on the presidential executive order “Ending Radical Indoctrination in K–12 Schooli...
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Whit @drwhit.bsky.social · 05/02/2025
AI bots are using social media going to make these people seem more supported than they are. They plan to “staff” the government with AI, which is preposterous. Stop using it. Stop engaging with it. Using AI has always been a political act, but now it directly supports this takeover. Refuse it.
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Whit @drwhit.bsky.social · 04/02/2025
What’s the opposite of “no reason in particular”? “All reasons concievable”? Anyway, here’s Umberto Eco’s “Ur-Fascism.” www.nybooks.com/articles/199...
nybooks.com
Ur-Fascism | Umberto Eco
I think it is possible to outline a list of features that are typical of what I would like to call Ur-Fascism, or Eternal Fascism. These features cannot be organized into a system; many of them contra...
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Whit @drwhit.bsky.social · 04/02/2025
Kinda wild that of all the timelines, we ended up in the prequel to Looper.
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Whit @drwhit.bsky.social · 04/02/2025
r/askhistorians on previous times we have deported US citizens. www.reddit.com/r/AskHistori...
reddit.com
During the 1930s, President Hoover had ~1 million Mexican Americans forcibly "repatriated" to Mexico; ~60% of those deported were birthright citizens. What impact did this have on America?
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Whit @drwhit.bsky.social · 04/02/2025
What has been done to government workers, just as employees, is the corporate sensibility the iconoclasts are bringing to the mix. All the evidence you need for why labor rights - putting rails around what is acceptable treatment by our bosses - is ultimately a *constitutional* safeguard.
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Whit @drwhit.bsky.social · 29/01/2025
The mood in the WFH office this morning.
"The horrors persist but so do I."
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Novelty Cistern @noveltycistern.bsky.social · 27/01/2025
ME: *writing in my journal with the sole aim of pissing off future historians and archaeologists* I returned to my home - which is built in the usual style - by the normal way, and prepared and ate dinner in the way I often but not always do
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It's The Big Iron, Charlie Brown @big-iron.bsky.social · 16/01/2025
Honor his memory by doing something strange, unraveling a riddle within yourself, and working on your favorite projects.
David Lynch in sunglasses saying "i hope you all are having a lot of fun working on your favorite projects"
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Whit @drwhit.bsky.social · 16/01/2025
My favorite line in the OG series.
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Peter Labuza @labuzamovies.com · 16/01/2025
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austin_walker @austinwalker.bsky.social · 16/01/2025
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Whit @drwhit.bsky.social · 16/01/2025
RIP David Lynch. Truly sad to say goodbye. What a truly American filmmaker, and what a true artist.
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Whit @drwhit.bsky.social · 16/01/2025
Not completely unexpected, but certainly troubling and deeply annoying. Even if it’s previously been a quiet endeavor, openly embracing the mission of entertainment at a newspaper seems disqualifying. It’s all about access, which means it’s about money. The Post is a just a chess piece.
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Whit @drwhit.bsky.social · 16/01/2025
I've never lived in a multi-story dwelling before, which has given my daily "Where are my shoes?" ritual new dimensionality.
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Whit @drwhit.bsky.social · 16/01/2025
We’ve lost the joy of browsing as a culture. Libraries replacing bookshelves with e-book catalogs. Shelves of random movies at a video rental becoming market-driven “If you liked X, then you might like Y” recs. The internet packages “discovery” as just a widening circle of the familiar.
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Judah Grunstein @judah-grunstein.bsky.social · 16/01/2025
Funny how little has changed in terms of the grievance-bait. "Pious divines and tender-hearted poetesses" is 18th century speak for virtue signalers and snowflakes.
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Whit @drwhit.bsky.social · 15/01/2025
Hi new folks! Just diligently annotating the 2-inch margins of a printed out email before I type a response, which probably tells you a lot about me.
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Whit @drwhit.bsky.social · 15/01/2025
The theme of 2025 is "Pressure makes diamonds."
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