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Katharine Gerbner @ktgerbs.bsky.social · 17/12/2025

Philly-area friends: I'm going to be at BOOKED in Chestnut Hill this FRIDAY Dec 19 from 5:30-6:30 for an ARCHIVAL IRRUPTIONS (Duke UP 2025) book event! More info at the BOOKED website along with an RSVP link, as space is limited. Hope to see you there! www.bookedch.com/events-2/eve...

bookedch.com

Author’s Event: Archival Interruptions — booked.

Local author Katharine Gerbner will be joining us in the shop from 5:30-6:30 pm on Friday, December 19th to introduce her book followed by a Q&A and book signing with refreshments

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Katharine Gerbner @ktgerbs.bsky.social · 15/12/2025

Thrilled that ARCHIVAL IRRUPTIONS is part of the top 10 #Slaveryarchive best books of 2025 - highly recommend the other books on this list as well!

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Karin Wulf @kawulf.bsky.social · 03/12/2025

Friends, please share? Brown2026 is advertising for its 3rd year of fellowships. Would love to have you consider this opportunity to work with us as we face 2026. Link to position and application info in the thread: And more info about the initiative is here: brown2026democracy.brown.edu 1/

Text description in a screenshot of the Interfolio ad.

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Amalia S. Levi, PhD @amaliasl.bsky.social · 02/12/2025

"You find yourself in an archive. You are there because you are seeking something... You expect order, you need order. Instead, you find instability, difficulty, and danger. Your plans fall apart and time unravels. You have been lured in; it is a labyrinth." Edmund de Waal, an Archive

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Amalia S. Levi, PhD @amaliasl.bsky.social · 30/11/2025

Some great books and articles on archives and libraries that came out in 2025. In no specific order. 🧵

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Duke University Press @dukepress.bsky.social · 21/11/2025

#AARSBL2025 kicks off tomorrow! On our blog today, you can find everything you need to know about how to browse and save on our books and journals in #ReligiousStudies buff.ly/8ITPFAp

Text reads, "American Academy of Religion-Society for Biblical Literature 2025 Conference Exhibit. Use code AAR25 for 40% off when you order from dukeupress.edu." Background features assorted book and journal covers arranged in columns.

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Katharine Gerbner @ktgerbs.bsky.social · 14/11/2025

Thanks to everyone who came to the virtual launch of ARCHIVAL IRRUPTIONS! I’m posting a slide from my presentation for those who are wondering what an “irruption” is – if you don’t know, you are NOT alone! An “irruption” means “the act of breaking in or breaking through.”

Slide showing the definition of Archival Irruption

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Katharine Gerbner @ktgerbs.bsky.social · 11/11/2025

Tomorrow, Nov. 12 is the virtual book launch for ARCHIVAL IRRUPTIONS (Duke University Press, 2025). Please join me at 6pm Central (7pm ET)! The event is part of the University of Minnesota’s History Book Club and you can register here: cla.umn.edu/history/news...

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Duke University Press @dukepress.bsky.social · 01/11/2025

The Weekly Read is "Archival Irruptions" by @ktgerbs.bsky.social, which traces how British colonial authorities in mid-eighteenth-century Jamaica came to criminalize Obeah, a religious practice held by enslaved Africans. Read the entire book now, for free! buff.ly/rccy0qL

Cover of Archival Irruptions: Constructing Religion and Criminalizing Obeah in Eighteenth-Century Jamaica by Katharine Gerbner. Features an image of an old handwritten ledger or registry page with rows and columns filled with cursive names and annotations and what appears to be an ink smudge at the bottom. The title is overlaid in large black serif font with the subtitle below in smaller black text and the author's name is at the bottom. A vertical red stripe runs along the left edge of the cover.

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Katharine Gerbner @ktgerbs.bsky.social · 23/10/2025

Santa Barbara friends! Please join me for a book talk on ARCHIVAL IRRUPTIONS tomorrow at 1pm at UC Santa Barbara, HSSB 1174. The event is free and open to the public. Hope to see you there!

Book talk on "Constructing Religion and Defining Crime"

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Sarah Pawlicki @skpawlicki.bsky.social · 16/10/2025

I'm so looking forward to reading this and continuing to learn from @ktgerbs.bsky.social!

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Jason Herbert @herberthistory.bsky.social · 15/10/2025

One of my amazing former professors @ktgerbs.bsky.social has a new book out and even though I no longer need a curve (I barely survived—it was HARD and I am BARELY SMART), you can get it for 30% with code E25GRBNR. Enjoy, kids. www.dukeupress.edu/archival-irr...

dukeupress.edu

Archival Irruptions: Constructing Religion and Criminalizing Obeah in Eighteenth-Century Jamaica

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Katharine Gerbner @ktgerbs.bsky.social · 15/10/2025

We are so lucky to have @lollardfish.bsky.social in the History dept at UMN and now we are even luckier to have his incredible voice and perspective as an Op-Ed contributor to the @startribune.com .

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Katharine Gerbner @ktgerbs.bsky.social · 15/10/2025

I am THRILLED to announce that ARCHIVAL IRRUPTIONS is officially published with @dukepress.bsky.social! For those who would like to order the book, you can get 30% off using coupon code E25GRBNR at this link: www.dukeupress.edu/archival-irr...

dukeupress.edu

Archival Irruptions: Constructing Religion and Criminalizing Obeah in Eighteenth-Century Jamaica

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Calvin Schermerhorn @calscherm.bsky.social · 15/10/2025

Congratulations and happy Pub Day to @ktgerbs.bsky.social "Archival Irruptions" tells a new history of Obeah, an Afro-Caribbean religion that was criminalized in 1760 after the largest slave revolt in the 18th century British Empire www.dukeupress.edu/archival-irr...

dukeupress.edu

Archival Irruptions: Constructing Religion and Criminalizing Obeah in Eighteenth-Century Jamaica

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Brooke Newman @brookenewman.bsky.social · 13/10/2025

Congratulations to @ktgerbs.bsky.social —her new book tracing how British colonial authorities in mid-18th c. Jamaica came to criminalize Obeah, a religious practice held by enslaved Africans, is out this month. Can’t wait to read and assign it!!

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Katharine Gerbner @ktgerbs.bsky.social · 01/10/2025

I'm thrilled that my book is coming out this month, and even more thrilled to be on this fall lineup from @dukepress.bsky.social - so many amazing authors and titles! Check out the whole fall lineup here: dukeupress.wordpress.com/2025/10/01/n...

dukeupress.wordpress.com

New Books in October

As the fall season rolls in, curl up with a new book! Check out our list of titles coming out in October for some reading inspiration. Part love story, part homage to jazz, and part guide to creati…

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Katharine Gerbner @ktgerbs.bsky.social · 25/09/2025

@dukepress.bsky.social is running a new book promotion, and Archival Irruptions is 30% off!

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Katharine Gerbner @ktgerbs.bsky.social · 23/09/2025

With a new book coming out, I finally got around to updating my website. I'm thrilled with the new design - plus, my bio now includes the accurate number of children! (Last edit to my previous website was 7 years ago...) Check it out! www.katharinegerbner.com

katharinegerbner.com

Katharine Gerbner, Historian of Religion

Katharine Gerbner is a historian who examines how religion shapes – and is shaped by – race, politics, and technology.

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Katharine Gerbner @ktgerbs.bsky.social · 23/09/2025

Nothing quite like opening an unexpected package and finding your own book inside! The official pub date isn't until mid-Oct, but Archival Irruptions @dukepress.bsky.social is now real and in 3D!

Photo of the book Archival Irruptions by Katharine Gerbner

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Duke University Press @dukepress.bsky.social · 03/09/2025

In "Archival Irruptions," @ktgerbs.bsky.social traces how British colonial authorities in Jamaica criminalized Obeah, a religious practice held by enslaved Africans. Read the introduction for free now. buff.ly/3JlgBEt

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Katharine Gerbner @ktgerbs.bsky.social · 29/08/2025

Come be my colleague at the University of Minnesota -- we are hiring! @umn-rels.bsky.social The Religious Studies program at UMN is searching for a new TT position in Buddhist Studies. Please circulate widely!

Job posting for Buddhist Studies position at the University of Minnesota

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Katharine Gerbner @ktgerbs.bsky.social · 27/08/2025

I'm excited to share that my new book ARCHIVAL IRRUPTIONS: Constructing Religion and Criminalizing Obeah in Eighteenth-Century Jamaica is coming out with @dukepress.bsky.social in October!

Book cover of Archival Irruptions: Constructing Religion and Criminalizing Obeah in Eighteenth-Century Jamaica

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HR Lady Politics enjoyer (He/Him) @ryanabt.bsky.social · 20/06/2025

@ktgerbs.bsky.social provides an essential link in understanding the creation of racialized slavery. She demonstrates how Christians—intentionally & not—tied bondage to status as a Christian and, ultimately, how this tied assumptions about the heathen to enslaved Black people. 2/

Cover of Katharine Gerbner’s Christian Slavery

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Katharine Gerbner @ktgerbs.bsky.social · 28/07/2025

My thoughts on @tomtweed.bsky.social's fascinating new book that retells American religious history through the lens of ecologies and technologies.

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Dannagal Goldthwaite Young @dannagal.bsky.social · 30/01/2025

Now with explosion of AI: LLMs draw upon existing cultural texts. They do not generate original ideas, but rather recycle old ones. How do inherent biases of these systems interact with the dynamics above? What might that mean for individuals and society?

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Ben Collins @bencollins.bsky.social · 29/01/2025

This comments section is the first time I've felt even a shred of hope in eight days.

reddit.com

From the fednews community on Reddit

Explore this post and more from the fednews community

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Religious Studies at the University of Minnesota @umn-rels.bsky.social · 24/01/2025

We are excited to announce our 2025 Roetzel Family Lecture! See the following poster for more details

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Karin Wulf @kawulf.bsky.social · 19/01/2025

Though I hear people say they may be over them, might be a good day to share 2 Starter Packs for #VastEarlyAmerica #VastEarlyAmericas! 1/ go.bsky.app/RDvzxbj

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Chloe Ireton @chloeireton.bsky.social · 28/11/2024

✍️Slavery and Freedom in Black Thought in the Early Spanish Atlantic 💭 An intellectual history exploring how free & enslaved Black people in the early Atlantic conceptualized & contested ideas about slavery & freedom 🕰️Out on Dec 5th '24 🤫 already available online: www.cambridge.org/core/books/s...

The image is the cover of the book, Slavery and Freedom in Black Thought in the Early Spanish Atlantic by Cambridge University Press.

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Victor Pickard @victorpickard.bsky.social · 27/12/2024

I just made an end-of-year donation to Free Press, a leading media reform organization at the forefront of critically important policy battles, from revitalizing public service journalism to defending a democratic internet. Their invaluable advocacy will be even more essential in the years ahead.

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Katharine Gerbner @ktgerbs.bsky.social · 26/12/2024

Thanks for highlighting this! The backstory: during my research for Christian Slavery (2018), I noticed that every time there was an enslaved uprising in early America or the Caribbean, there was an immediate backlash against Black religious gatherings-whether Christian, Muslim, or African religions

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Katharine Gerbner @ktgerbs.bsky.social · 19/12/2024

Evan Haefeli and Patricia Bonomi have both written about the Dutch churches and slavery in an Atlantic context. There is also an ongoing joint project on Church and Slavery in the Dutch Empire that looks at Reformed Protestantism and slavery. www.pthu.nl/en/news-and-...

pthu.nl

'Church and slavery' research project launched - Protestant Theological University

On 1 January 2023, the NWO research project "Church and Slavery in the Dutch Empire: History, Theology and Heritage" officially started.

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Katharine Gerbner @ktgerbs.bsky.social · 19/12/2024

Thanks for the ref! I also wrote a bibliographic essay on "Church and Slavery" that points to several other important works of scholarship on this topic. Happy to share the PDF for anyone who is paywalled. www.oxfordbibliographies.com/display/docu...

oxfordbibliographies.com

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Katharine Gerbner @ktgerbs.bsky.social · 09/12/2024

Highly recommend reading through this entire thread.

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Katharine Gerbner @ktgerbs.bsky.social · 07/12/2024

I'm teaching "Theory and Method in Religious Studies" for the first time next semester. For those who have taught a version of this course before, curious to hear: what readings would you recommend? What worked well? #ReligiousStudies #StudyOfReligion #Amrel

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African and Black Diaspora Journal @abdjournal.bsky.social · 27/11/2024

If you work on the African diaspora, migration, transnationalism, racialisation and the experience of Black people and people of African descent, consider submitting your research for publication in our journal. #africandiaspora #transnationalism Submit here: www.tandfonline.com/journals/rab...

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Kevin M. Levin @civilwarmemory.bsky.social · 19/11/2024

Picking up on @lollardfish.bsky.social's points about the promotion of new books on social media, here is a 🧵 of some advice that has worked for me: Start early: Don't wait for your book to appear to begin promotion. It should start months in advance. Cultivate your audience with teasers.

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Molly Warsh @mwarsh.bsky.social · 19/11/2024

This is such a generous thing to have done for the early modern scholarly community. Wow!

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Chris Cantwell @cdc29.bsky.social · 19/11/2024

Sharing this again now that I know how feeds work. But my department is hiring a tenure track #PublicHistory position with a preference for someone who specialized in US Indigenous or Latine history. 🗃️ Happy to answer any questions. Please share widely! www.careers.luc.edu/postings/29664

careers.luc.edu

History, Assistant Professor of Public History, Tenure Track

The candidate will have a PhD in History or a closely related field at the time of appointment. Candidates for the position must demonstrate clear potential for excellence in research and teaching, ob...

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Joshua R Greenberg @joshrgreenberg.bsky.social · 19/11/2024

Interested in learning more about Commonplace? Are you wondering how to navigate the site, its history, and how it works under the hood? I recently spoke about these issues and more at the OI Coffeehouse. Check out the discussion and an interesting Q and A session. 🗃️ www.youtube.com/watch?v=60g8...

youtube.com

OI Coffeehouse: Exploring Common Place with Joshua Greenberg

YouTube video by Omohundro Institute

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Study of Religion as an Analytical Discipline Workshop @soraaad.bsky.social · 18/11/2024

An important perspective/reminder regarding blocking, visibility and that there is no private mode here on Bsky. 🧵 - by @chanda.bsky.social

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Paul Prins @paul.urbanmonastic.org · 16/11/2024

I made a feed for #SBL and #AAR discussion ahead of the annual meeting next week. It grabs a bunch of related tags and gives us all one place to look. Check it out and share it! Tags are not case-sensitive, including: #sbl #aar #aarsbl #sblaar #aarsbl24 #sblaar24

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Katharine Gerbner @ktgerbs.bsky.social · 16/11/2024

For those of you who are (like me) trying to find relevant starter packs to connect with others, BlueSky allows you to search to find relevant starter packs here: blueskydirectory.com/starter-pack...

blueskydirectory.com

All - Bluesky Directory

A curated collection of all things relating to the Blue Sky social media platform.

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Katharine Gerbner @ktgerbs.bsky.social · 16/11/2024

exactly how i feel. I think it's crucial to be aware of how a particular technology/social media affects our emotional state. That and knowing/understanding how our content is monetized

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Seth Cotlar @sethcotlar.bsky.social · 15/11/2024

I've been thinking a lot lately about how modern media since the advent of the radio has always been both a means of (often cynically and self-interestedly) influencing AND (ideally) informing people. It's often hard to tell the difference, tho, between cynical influencers and good faith informers.

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Katharine Gerbner @ktgerbs.bsky.social · 15/11/2024

this is fascinating. Also, I love this line from the article, describing the move from Twitter/X to Bluesky as "swapping stilettos for trainers: initially you worry about wimping out, then you wonder why you ever put up with crippled feet for so long." LOL yes.

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Karin Wulf @kawulf.bsky.social · 13/11/2024

Great thread by @publiusorperish.bsky.social on some of the digital histories being produced by Dr. Taylor and others @ Colonial Williamsburg. #VastEarlyAmerica

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