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Nathan S. French @innesseff.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Totally. Islamic studies, for example: Al-Ghazali (d. 1111), author, "The Incoherence of the Philosophers." Ibn Rushd (Averroes, d. 1198), author, "The Incoherence of the Incoherence." And, don't get me started on Ibn Taymiyya.

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Nathan S. French @innesseff.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

This will absolutely harm academic programs in the study of religion. Some (Reddit) will rejoice. But our REL majors went into careers in law, medicine, etc. Their salaries are *way* over what the IRS reports for the degree. Not all REL majors are clergy, folks. www.reddit.com/r/academia/s...

reddit.com

From the academia community on Reddit: Trump Moves to Cut Off Student Loans for Tons of Degrees

Explore this post and more from the academia community

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Nathan S. French @innesseff.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Wrapping up a first draft translation of Ibn al-Mubārak's (d. 181/797) book of narrations, the Kitāb al-Jihād. Among the earliest collections on the subject. Putting this out there because a) I'm excited to finally get a feel for publishing things again; b) it's such a journey of a text.

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Nathan S. French @innesseff.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

So, like, imagine that there's a field, right? It's made up of these people -- scholars -- who use all sorts of disciplinary methods. Methods like anthropology, sociology, philosophy, history, and so many more! They study religion. Now imagine *QUOTING THEM* in your story about *techno-religion.*

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Nathan S. French @innesseff.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Ok, sure, another "A.I. is destroying college" warning. Might we also try how the cellphone has destroyed college classrooms? And, common college spaces? Let's start there. Step foot in a hallway or classroom before class -- complete phone stares, no discussion. www.nytimes.com/2026/09/15/u...

nytimes.com

Universities Sound Warnings About A.I. Even as They Embrace It

As A.I. upends education, university leaders have been all over the map about how to respond. It can be very confusing for students.

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Kevin Reuning @reuning.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

I'll post more about this tomorrow, but I've spent the last few weeks trying to do some social network analysis on the most recent "OpenAI Swarm" You can do some interesting things with the data to identify how the different "Agents" interacted. kevinreuning.com/blog/ai_swar...

kevinreuning.com

OpenAI Swarm – Kevin Reuning

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Nathan S. French @innesseff.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Learned today that my public institution in a red state will no longer offer courses in biblical studies after this term. It's a weird feeling. Several of the legislators who created this odd environment for higher ed won't stop talking about how students need to study great texts. But, here we are.

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Nathan S. French @innesseff.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

I told some friends a few weeks ago, that in the next two years, I could see the President demanding that a state be named after him. That, or he conditions DC statehood or Puerto Rican statehood (if voted) on his name -- "Washington, DJT," for example. Once again, I need a polymarket account.

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Nathan S. French @innesseff.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

I once joked that much as the Navy as "Anchors Aweigh" and the Marine Corps has the "Marine Hymn," the Space Force will have the "Imperial March" from Star Wars. How do I open a Polymarket account?

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Nathan S. French @innesseff.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Oof. Between the return of “madrasa” as a codeword and Rep. Mike Johnson alluding to taqiyya, it seems like some folks decided to rollout the dumb stuff again — 25 years after 9/11

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Nathan S. French @innesseff.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

“What all this means is that the attack on the study of Religion is part of a broader attempt to exclude certain people from the public sphere, therefore limiting their very ability to participate in our democratic society” Kudos to @profgabriele.com and @vox-magica.bsky.social

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Nathan S. French @innesseff.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

I love that Mr T studied philosophy and theology because now both philosophy and religious studies departments across the country will claim him — all the while back-talking each other at every turn. LOL. Pity the fools, man. Pity the fools.

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Nathan S. French @innesseff.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Saw a lot of posts on here about an arrest today being like a “Night of the Long Knives.” Not an expert here, but this feels more like an “Early Afternoon of the Short Plastic Spork.”

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Nathan S. French @innesseff.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

So will there be a push to name a state — or D.C. — as “Trump” in the next two years?

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Dan Chibnall @bookowl.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

Great piece in the Chronicle about AI & writing with an especially important section quoting Prof. David Perry @lollardfish.bsky.social www.chronicle.com/article/prof...

But to David Perry, associate director of undergraduate studies in the history department at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities and the author of a book on public scholarship, using AI to “edit” or “condense” is synonymous with using it to write. Cutting down an article or generalizing it for a broader audience is “what writing and thinking is about,” he added.

“Writing complicated things that are accessible to a public audience and that are short enough for public-audience attention spans is hard — it is harder, in many ways, than writing at length and writing only for your 20 most compatible colleagues,” Perry said. “It’s just a practice. You have to decide to put in the work.”

The work of being an academic, Perry said, is to make complicated things coherent. Michael Socolow, chair of the communications and journalism department at the University of Maine at Orono, agreed, calling it a “cop-out” for a writer to say they “only” used AI for the basic mechanics of composition. He added that he’s concerned about what senior academics model for both junior academics and their students when using AI.

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Nathan S. French @innesseff.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

The more of these stories I see, the more I wonder why the NCAA and NAIA are let off the hook. Time for those studies as well.

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Nathan S. French @innesseff.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

There are *so many* states with these religious shield laws and my 101 students are often genuinely surprised to know it.

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Nick Brumfield @nickjbrumfield.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

Optimist: The cup is half full Pessimist: The cup is half empty Ohio Valley: The water in the cup is full of forever chemicals

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Kevin Reuning @reuning.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

>AI adoption raises homework scores by 18% and reduces completion time by 30%, but lowers monthly exam scores by 20% within six months. High-stakes entrance-exam scores fall by 18 and 24%, with the full penalty emerging only after about two years. The losses are largest in social science subjects...

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Nathan S. French @innesseff.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

I'm going to *cautiously* suggest that U.S. students should get literary instruction in the bible -- among other sacred texts -- and that the controversy that would ensue from this *should* be part of the outcome of the experience. Respectful disagreement with another post making the rounds.

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jamelle @jamellebouie.net · 19/08/2026

i both think that students in the US should get literary instruction in the Bible (basically the equivalent of an intro religious studies course) and that doing so would be so controversial that it isn't worth the effort

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Nathan S. French @innesseff.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

Every public higher education institution should have an "Introduction to Religious Studies" course in its general curriculum. A study of constitutional liberties and responsibilities, it's a training to live in one of the most religiously diverse and pluralistic societies in the world. BUT ...

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Nathan S. French @innesseff.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

I didn't say much on the White House's threat to "bomb the shit" out of Oman the first time (!). I've taken students to Oman. Omanis are incredibly welcoming. I've seen first-hand the value of the U.S.-Oman relationship. This is nonsensical. The U.S.-Oman relationship extends over two centuries.

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A. M. Vincent @vincent.northsky.social · 17/08/2026

No one, ever, in all of history, has believed everything written in a religious text or performed all of the actions dictated therein, not because people are imperfect but because that is simply not how religion works, anywhere, ever, for anyone.

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Nathan S. French @innesseff.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Oh, so we are doing “Fahrenheit 451” now, huh?

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Nathan S. French @innesseff.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

Bluesky needs an “up-vote, down-vote” mechanic. It would improve even further in the small community feel of the site.

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Nathan S. French @innesseff.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

This is academia-related, given today’s events, but, hey, you know what? No one should have died. Reach out to the people you care about. For those with a plan, please know you’re loved. People care about you. You might’ve made mistakes, but ultimately we are all the better for having you around.

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Nathan S. French @innesseff.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

Absolutely wild that any social media platform would look at “religion” and say, “No thanks.” But, yeah, here we are. Social media corpos are looking to craft their own niche communities.

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Nathan S. French @innesseff.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

Rethinking Religion (100-level) Rethinking Islam (200-level)

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Nathan S. French @innesseff.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

I keep staring at Lincoln, staring at the floor.

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Nathan S. French @innesseff.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

I start my “Jihadism” class telling students that jihadists have the internet. They see the same videos of U.S. munitions and combat capabilities that Americans are awed by … and they grab rifles anyway. Been thinking about that when Trump expresses “amazement” that Iran hasn’t surrendered.

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Nathan S. French @innesseff.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

All these progressives and liberals looking around for university religion departments to help understand these “motivations” …

static.klipy.com

John Travolta's Confused Pulp Fiction Moment

ALT: John Travolta's Confused Pulp Fiction Moment

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Nathan S. French @innesseff.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

Increasingly of the opinion that higher ed commentators need to start thinking about the U.S. and UK as sharing common material conditions. The circumstances here are the same at a Midwest US R2 as they are at Exeter and others. You could mad lib this substack for any number of US universities.

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Nathan S. French @innesseff.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

A genie? A...a jinn? A jinn, you say? Gosh, if only there was an entire field of study in the humanities -- an Islamic studies, if you will -- that is filled with culturally significant accounts of humans interacting with jinn. Naw, but ya'll cut that department and program, I'm sure. No worries.

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Mateusz Fafinski @calthalas.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

Half the planet is having a massive fight about how to correctly interpret an Ancient Greek poem but go ahead, close some more humanities departments.

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Nathan S. French @innesseff.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

Seeing a lot of "close the tabs" discourse on Bsky[dot]app and let me tell you something, folks. Ya'll need Zotero.

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Nathan S. French @innesseff.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

I'm reminded of a few finance students in my "Islamic Finance & Development" course years ago who meaningfully struggled with Islamic prohibitions on speculation (gharar) in contracts and transactions. The idea that credit default swaps had moral weight was lost. fortune.com/2026/07/26/g...

fortune.com

Gambling becomes America's favorite pastime as Americans spend more on sports bets than movies, arts, museums, and music combined | Fortune

Americans wagered $166 billion on sports last year, more than Hollywood, the music industry, books, and museums combined.

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Nathan S. French @innesseff.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

20% Muslim would be over 65 million Americans. Wild. Interesting that Americans over-estimate for populations with very public lived religiosity (e.g., overt signs of religious dress, fasting, etc) or high institutional presence. Or, for populations very visible online (e.g. atheism)

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Nathan S. French @innesseff.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

Somewhere in Wyoming there are administrators and university board members who aren’t happy about this, but they’re assuaging themselves with statistics about “student demand,” “return on investment,” “initial salary after graduation” and statements like, “We can’t be all things to all people.”

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Nathan S. French @innesseff.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

And, and, and, you’ll be able to watch it in a Tesla, and, and, and, the Tesla will be on Mars, and, and, and … It’s like a 3-year-old’s make-up-a-story. Markets are gonna love it though.

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Nathan S. French @innesseff.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

Will be at AAR this year on a panel about teaching religion in a state shuttering religion programs. For those of us who have been through this, it feels a bit like being a veteran of … something. Re-read the AAR’s “strongly worded letter” to the board of the university. And, man, if that ain’t it.

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Nathan S. French @innesseff.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

“We need a continents cap in international football. The same two continents can’t keep winning it.” Everyone keeps saying it.

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Nathan S. French @innesseff.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

Maybe I'm slow to realizing this, but I'm checking some old backlinks today and I'm realizing that entire swathes of Abu Muhammad al-Maqdisi's "Minbar al-Tawhid wa-l-Jihad" under the old tawhed.ws URL have been removed from the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine and made publicly unaccessible.

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Nathan S. French @innesseff.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

Should’ve seen this coming. Atlanta Falcons? Red and black. Egypt? Wearing red and black. Collapsed lead? Collapsed lead.

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Nathan S. French @innesseff.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

It should be 3-2, lest we forget

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Nathan S. French @innesseff.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

Yep. This is basically a tap the sign post for geriatric U.S. millennials at this point. The USWNT figured this out years ago. The USMNT? Well, more time in Europe, again.

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Nathan S. French @innesseff.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

Rather fun watching the rest of the world learn about CONCACAF football.

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Nathan S. French @innesseff.bsky.social · 04/07/2026

Another year, another chance to form a more perfect Union.

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Nathan S. French @innesseff.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

Ezra Klein had Chris Rufo on his podcast. Rufo raised the subject of seeking fundamental policy directed at the constructed demolition of higher education institutions in the U.S. Klein never asked him a single question about those reforms. Didn’t even engage with it.

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J.M. Berger PRE-ORDER THE POPE'S HITMAN @jmberger.com · 29/06/2026

I'm old enough to remember when the unitary executive was so weak that it couldn't forgive student loans

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