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Jess Masters

@jessmasters.bsky.social
166 followers 174 following 49 posts

English PhD & sessional academic, U Sydney | Modernist Studies Association Grad Student Rep | Australian Modernist Studies Network exec | never not thinking about form |

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Reposted by Jess Masters
Jessica Smith @thedaybooks.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
It’s nice to see everyone’s textual analysis of The Odyssey It’s almost like the humanities give you entertainment, feelings, pleasure, and fun/interesting stuff to talk about, as well as lenses into both past and current society
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Brian Glavey @glavey.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
So I'm starting a podcast about friendship and aesthetic experience called "Some Marvelous Experience." I've posted a brief teaser that explains a little bit about the main idea and will drop the first episode soon. Please subscribe and help me spread the word! podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s...
podcasts.apple.com
Some Marvelous Experience
Arts Podcast · Updated Biweekly · A podcast about friendship and art hosted by Brian Glavey. For each episode I'll talk to a pair of friends about a work of art or aesthetic experience that they share...
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Rebecca Colesworthy @rcolesworthy.bsky.social · 05/05/2026
Calling all contingent and indie modernist studies scholars! @moderniststudies.bsky.social has a NEW(-ish?) essay prize for contingent & indie scholars sponsored by @cupress.bsky.social. Deadline for submissions is 5/15. Go go go! Self-nom! You rock! www.moderniststudies.org/prizes/nomin...
moderniststudies.org
The Modernist Studies Association is devoted to the study of the arts in their social, political, cultural, and intellectual contexts from the later nineteenth through the mid-twentieth century. The o...
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Nissa Ren Cannon @nissaren.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
Hello contingent and independent modernists! We're about 10 days out from the deadline of the @moderniststudies.bsky.social 's first annual CCIS essay prize, and we hope you'll submit! www.moderniststudies.org/prizes/nomin...
moderniststudies.org
The Modernist Studies Association is devoted to the study of the arts in their social, political, cultural, and intellectual contexts from the later nineteenth through the mid-twentieth century. The o...
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Bo Thompson @gaudipern.bsky.social · 02/04/2026
Can you read English cursive? Ever wanted to volunteer from the comfort of home for a useful cause? Have I got an offer for you... The Newberry Library in Chicago is always in need of transcribers to help decipher historical handwritten documents. If this is you, learn more about it below:
share.google
If you read cursive, the Newberry has a job for you.
The Newberry Library in Chicago is scouting transcribers to demystify its handwritten collection. As Dan Kelly wrote in yesterday’s Chicago, the archive’s hunt for “living Rosetta…
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Lori Emerson @loriemerson.net · 25/03/2026
OH MY HEART...the Oberlin Luddites Reject "The Year of AI Exploration"! 💚
photograph or a poster on cream colored paper. "Dear President Ambar,
we are writing to you on a typewriter that is over 70 years old. This is a
machine that we all know well. With it, we misspell words without the crutch of spell check or generative AI and we think intently about every phrase we pound out. As we force ourselves, for once, to slow down, we engage in a cognitive dialogue with ourselves. We do not seek perfection because we know that education is about the growing and challenging of our young minds' potential, not the chasing of institutional 'gold-star' approval. We do not believe that your so-called 'Year of AI Exploration; providing enterprise ChatGPT and Google Gemini subscriptions to every Oberlin student aligns with our college's founding principles. You claim that this year will be one of experimentation, not adoption. But even just one semester of accepted (encouraged even) chat bot use will jettison our student body down a lazy and irredeemable tunnel of intellectual destruction. We are a college grounded in learning and labor, which now risks straying from these rooted ideals. With ChatGPT at the helm, our emails, essays,and discussion posts will be generated for us, not by us. And let's not fool ourselves. This is precisely what these platforms will be used for by our busy, anxious student body. We see your vision for this year as.advancing the college's 'businessification'--an alarming trend also seen in the takeover of our beloved library cafe by a 'bookstore' with no books in stock and an app replacing customer service. In one instance, the college assumes we want efficiency at all costs through automated rather than hand pulled coffee. In the other lies the false belief that we simply desire to turn in an essay, regardless of how little we've written of it." there's more that doesn't fit in the 2000 character limit :(
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Jess Masters @jessmasters.bsky.social · 23/03/2026
Calling all modernist grads! If you've ever stared at a draft and wondered why it can't just write itself, MSA's publication mentorship might be for you! @mmodernity.bsky.social @fimassociation.bsky.social @modernistudies.bsky.social @modernism-asia.bsky.social
moderniststudies.org
Mentorship
The Modernist Studies Association is devoted to the study of the arts in their social, political, cultural, and intellectual contexts from the later nineteenth through the mid-twentieth century. The o...
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Jess Masters @jessmasters.bsky.social · 16/03/2026
Just the greatest thing, and then Misty Copeland, too.
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Nissa Ren Cannon @nissaren.bsky.social · 10/03/2026
Hey modernists! Planning to go to MLA next year? Want to be part of this conversation? mla.confex.com/mla/2027/web...
mla.confex.com
Presentation: Sustaining Modernist Studies (2027 MLA Annual Convention)
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Cat Manning @catacalypto.bsky.social · 07/03/2026
This reminds me of something Toni Morrison wrote.
You know, they straightened out the Mississippi River in places, to make room for houses and livable acreage. Occasionally the river floods these places. "Floods" is the word they use, but in fact it is not flooding; it is remembering. Remembering where it used to be. All water has a perfect memory and is forever trying to get back to where it was.
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British Association for Modernist Studies (BAMS) @modernistudies.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
We are thrilled to introduce our three new PG Reps, @hettiegarnham.bsky.social, @vedikaushal.bsky.social, and @xyzhao.bsky.social! Please give them a very warm welcome! 👏👏
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derek guy @dieworkwear.bsky.social · 18/02/2026
some of you are looksmaxxing when you need to be booksmaxxing
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Jess Masters @jessmasters.bsky.social · 19/02/2026
Yes. Finally, someone understands my PhD
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Jess Masters @jessmasters.bsky.social · 15/02/2026
V day with my one and only (JSTOR)
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Jess Masters @jessmasters.bsky.social · 10/02/2026
Bad Bunny's halftime show, aside from being fantastic, is a great example of how humanities education & a responsive community discourse supports people to collaboratively identify, analyse, interpret, & finally value meaning from symbolic images & storytelling. Plus, it had Ricky Martin
Bad Bunny during the Superbowl halftime show. He is surrounded by electric poles that symbolise Puerto Rico's power outages.
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Jess Masters @jessmasters.bsky.social · 08/02/2026
I might be slow on the uptake but apparently em-dashes are an AI thing? I—a great lover of the em-dash—refuse to let the algorithm have this. I will retain my overuse—even when unnecessary—
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Modernist Studies in Asia (MSIA) @modernism-asia.bsky.social · 30/01/2026
We are excited to join forces with the Australasian Modernist Studies Network for: "Toxic Modernism / Modernist Intoxication" Hosted at U Adelaide, Nov 19-21; proposals due 24 July. Please spread the word and join us!
CFP DetailsCFP Details (2)CFP Details (3)
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Jess Masters @jessmasters.bsky.social · 26/01/2026
Jane Hirshfield, 'Let Them Not Say' (2014): Let them not say: we did not see it. We saw.
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Jess Masters @jessmasters.bsky.social · 12/01/2026
MLA, looking after the people #MLA2026 #MLA26 @modernlanguage.bsky.social
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Matthew Levay @matthewlevay.bsky.social · 29/12/2025
I don’t do end-of-year publication roundups, but I’m deeply proud of this essay cluster on “Modernism in Comics” that I edited for @mmodernity.bsky.social, and I encourage everyone to spend some time with the brilliant pieces in it.
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Jess Masters @jessmasters.bsky.social · 08/01/2026
Ever been generous? Considered the fraught ethical ways generosity shapes modernist literature/studies? Come to @moderniststudies.bsky.social session "Generous Modernisms" at 1.45pm Friday at #MLA2026! Showcasing work from three continents @amyeelkins.bsky.social @tamlynavery.bsky.social & others.
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Tamlyn Avery @tamlynavery.bsky.social · 07/01/2026
Layover in paradise (aka Vancouver), en route to Toronto for #MLA26. Pls join me — plus all 32 puffer jackets I’m rocking as an Aussie bracing her first 🇨🇦 winter 🤪! — this Fri. 145pm for a roundtable on generous modernisms w/ @jessmasters.bsky.social & excellent @moderniststudies.bsky.social folks.
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Jess Masters @jessmasters.bsky.social · 05/01/2026
He must have read À REBOURS (1884)
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Anna Kornbluh @annakornbluh.bsky.social · 01/01/2026
new quarter century more art more good
david lynch meme
okay, let's try that again, but this time good.
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Jess Masters @jessmasters.bsky.social · 31/12/2025
There are worse ways to farewell one year and begin the next than having the toys from Play School serenade Australia with Auld Lang Syne. May 2026 be a kinder year to us all
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Jess Masters @jessmasters.bsky.social · 21/11/2025
Left 2019 as Grease Travolta, leaving 2025 as Pulp Fiction Travolta
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Jess Masters @jessmasters.bsky.social · 15/10/2025
The nested narratives in this
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Modernist Studies Association (MSA) @moderniststudies.bsky.social · 13/10/2025
Believe it or not, it's already time to think about MSA 2026 in Loughborough, UK. The conference will meet July 1-4, and proposals for panels, papers, roundtables, workshops, and seminars is December 1. Please note this MUCH earlier deadline. The CFP is here: www.moderniststudies.org/conference/M...
An image of a Tarot card empress with a crown of stars on a mustard yellow background. The text says: Weird Modernism, BAMS/ MSA 26, 1-4 July 2026. Loughborough University, UK
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Jess Masters @jessmasters.bsky.social · 13/10/2025
The first rule of NYC is obviously mind your business, but the second one appears to be that now it's legal to jaywalk, it's stupid not to
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Jess Masters @jessmasters.bsky.social · 13/10/2025
Now that the amazing and insanely full MSA Boston conference is over, I'm just making sure the place in NYC where EE Cummings would bellow YOU ALRIGHT DJUNA to Barnes across the way is still there (it's there) @moderniststudies.bsky.social
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Jess Masters @jessmasters.bsky.social · 10/10/2025
MSA friends! Come watch me read a (too hastily-written) paper on ekphrastic accumulation at 10.15 on Friday and perhaps, if you're lucky, you may even see me butcher @glavey.bsky.social 's amazing work! The potential for fun is endless @moderniststudies.bsky.social
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Modernist Studies Association (MSA) @moderniststudies.bsky.social · 19/08/2025
Oddballs unite for a Euro summer!
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Jess Masters @jessmasters.bsky.social · 19/08/2025
The CFP for next year's joint MSA/BAMS conference in Loughborough, UK is out! As a longtime oddball, am thrilled for a Euro summer, 'Weird Modernisms'-style @moderniststudies.bsky.social @modernistudies.bsky.social
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Karen Weingarten @kweingarten.bsky.social · 27/07/2025
This graduate mentoring program designed by @jessmasters.bsky.social is a new MSA initiative, and I wish existed when I was a grad student. Pass it along to any graduate students working in modernism or modernist-adjacent fields, like the Harlem Renaissance, 20th-century studies, etc.
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Modernist Studies Association (MSA) @moderniststudies.bsky.social · 27/07/2025
Finally, the MSA Board is excited to announce a new graduate mentoring program! Graduate student MSA members have the opportunity to be paired with a senior faculty member for one-on-one mentoring sessions. More info can be found when you register for the conference. @jessmasters.bsky.social
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Andrea Kaston Tange @aktange.bsky.social · 16/07/2025
Here you go! I'll write some new ones for this semester too. They loved them. The "read without your phone or screens in the room" was a revelation, and many of them decided to keep doing it. They had NO IDEA (& were horrified) how often they interrupt themselves to look at a phone for no reason.
Reading Scenario Experiments. This series of prompts is designed to get you thinking about how the setting for reading affects concentration, comprehension, and even the existential experience of reading. Every week, one of the following prompts will appear on the syllabus. I encourage you to try all of them that you are able. How does a different reading setting affect your mood? Your receptiveness to the prose? Your pleasure or difficulty reading? What are the particular impacts of changing your lighting or surroundings? What do you notice about yourself and about the work you are reading during this experiment? 
1.	read by candlelight (use a small lamp in dorms where no candles are allowed!)
2.	read for one hour without checking any devices, answering texts, etc.
3.	walk out into nature (climb a tree, sit on a rock, grab a spot in a hammock) and read
4.	host a reading night with friends & food (sit in companionable silence, reading without chatting)
5.	read aloud a chapter to someone else
6.	climb into bed at night and read by flashlight under the covers for at least 30 minutes, as if you’ve already been told “lights out” as a kid
7.	reread a chapter and see what new things you notice the second time through
8.	change your ambient-noise level: add music if you normally read in the quiet; or read without music if you are normally a music-listener
9.	read with a sketchpad at hand and sketch scenes, characters, or other elements from the story
10.	practice focused listening: have someone read to you
11.	make yourself a special, fancy snack on a real plate to nibble while eating: pay attention to the cooking or arranging or choosing of ingredients to make it especially appetizing first
12.	make tea (even if you’re not usually a tea drinker), and read and sip
13.	invent a new reading scenario for yourself, or repeat the one you liked the best from this term 

[writing assignment using these prompts follows; text character limit prevents inclusion of it in full]
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Jess Masters @jessmasters.bsky.social · 20/05/2025
Further signs of crisis; www.theguardian.com/science/2025...
theguardian.com
Marked decline in semicolons in English books, study suggests
Usage of punctuation down almost half in two decades as further research finds 67% of British students rarely use it
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The Melville Society @melville-society.bsky.social · 17/05/2025
We’ve run the numbers and seen all the data models. It’s not looking good.
Edited headline about 100 men vs a gorilla that now reads: “Cetology smackdown: could 100 men beat a specific white whale in a fight? Here’s what sub-sub-librarians say”
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Jess Masters @jessmasters.bsky.social · 07/05/2025
This is why I went back to grad school (though also not thyroid)
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Jess Masters @jessmasters.bsky.social · 03/05/2025
Happy democracy sausage day to all who celebrate (Australian Federal election, everyone celebrates, it's mandatory)
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Jess Masters @jessmasters.bsky.social · 29/04/2025
Voting is open for several positions on the MSA Exec Board! Have your say here---
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Jess Masters @jessmasters.bsky.social · 07/04/2025
"That computer, and that software, relied on the skilled, technical, embodied expertise and labor of thousands of women, including women of color."
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Modernist Studies Association (MSA) @moderniststudies.bsky.social · 31/03/2025
The deadline for the 2025 MSA Conference in Boston has been extended to April 15! If you've been thinking of submitting a panel, paper, or roundtable proposal, you now have more time to do so. It will feel good to gather to talk about modernism, the 20th century, and higher education. Join us!
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John Attridge @johnattridge.bsky.social · 04/04/2025
Australasian modernists, the abstract deadline for the AMSN guaranteed panel at MSA 2025 is one week away. Join us in Boston! amsn.org.au/events/
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Matthew Levay @matthewlevay.bsky.social · 18/03/2025
Nothing has made me feel more connected to my field, and more proactive in helping to preserve the things I value in it, than serving on the MSA Board. If you’re interested, I cannot recommend it enough.
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Modernist Studies Association (MSA) @moderniststudies.bsky.social · 07/03/2025
MSA Members! Are you interested in serving on the MSA Board, which runs our organization? We need you! There are four positions open: 2nd VP, Treasurer, Vice Program Chair, and Contingent Faculty Rep. Nominations are open until April 21. More info here: www.moderniststudies.org/about/board-...
moderniststudies.org
Board Nominations
The Modernist Studies Association is devoted to the study of the arts in their social, political, cultural, and intellectual contexts from the later nineteenth through the mid-twentieth century. The o...
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Jess Masters @jessmasters.bsky.social · 18/03/2025
The Wallflower Avant-Garde by @glavey.bsky.social is one of those texts I return to, again and again, when thinking about all things shapely excess, multiplicity in motion, living paintings, and how queer ekphrasis bends our notions of word and image. If I could use it as a pillow, I would.
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