Reposted by Noah BlanCraig Calcaterra @craigcalcaterra.bsky.social · 09/10/2026Aesthetically speaking, the entire crowd in black is probably the best postseason backdrop going. 4494
Noah Blan @noahwblan.bsky.social · 09/10/2026As a White Sox fan this one half inning has already been an eternity. 010
Reposted by Noah BlanBill Kristol @billkristolbulwark.bsky.social · 03/10/2026White Sox win. Pope happy. 1234825
Noah Blan @noahwblan.bsky.social · 03/10/2026Something I’ve noticed at the last 3 shows I’ve been to is that normally when there is a really long line for merch now there is almost no line. There are a bunch of people standing around looking (not buying) and people behind the counter basically asking to help you. Low key recession indicator? 000
Noah Blan @noahwblan.bsky.social · 01/10/2026Things like: Is a ruler (or state) responsible for the natural world? What does power owe people when disaster strikes? Can a duty to care for the land justify control over people? Their answers reflected their worldview, but the questions haven't changed. They're about power and belonging. 2/2 020
Noah Blan @noahwblan.bsky.social · 01/10/2026I couldn’t be happier with the way the book turned out. Working w/ @archumanities.bsky.social was a joy and I’m so grateful they were able to make the book Open Access. I hope lots of folks read it and find the Carolingians’ questions about nature and power as fascinating (& relevant) as I do. 1/2 151
Reposted by Noah BlanCharles West @pseudo-isidore.bsky.social · 30/09/2026Now available in Open Access. 0132
Noah Blan @noahwblan.bsky.social · 24/09/2026After 3 years of 100+ loss seasons, my Chicago White Sox have clinched a spot in the playoffs. 🖤⚾️ 011
Reposted by Noah BlanNE Ohio Regional Sewer District @neorsd.org · 19/09/2026I interrupt your timeline to bring you a wood duck wearing a leash. 14759129
Noah Blan @noahwblan.bsky.social · 16/09/2026I’m thrilled to share that my book Carolingian Ecological Sovereignty is out now with @archumanities.bsky.social ! You can order physical copies now, and the open access versions will be available sometime in early October. www.arc-humanities.org/978180270283... Keep an eye out for updates here 📚arc-humanities.orgCarolingian Ecological Sovereignty - Arc Humanities PressDuring the early Middle Ages, the ecological was political—as it is today. For the Carolingians, the governance of nature was integral to the making of emp... 44722
Noah Blan @noahwblan.bsky.social · 11/09/2026Why is the Netflix NFL broadcast quality so bad? Can they not handle all the streaming? Fuzzy picture. Tinny sound. This is an atrocious product. 001
Noah Blan @noahwblan.bsky.social · 10/09/2026If you’re the next president (regardless of party), you give QatarForce One a reaaallll long look under competent scrutiny and a proper shakedown before using, right? Or maybe just…scrap the whole thing?? 000
Reposted by Noah BlanClaire E. Aubin @ceaubin.com · 03/09/2026TODAY ON @thisguysucked.com: The excellent Jamelle Bouie @jamellebouie.net tells me that George McClellan was a racist coward who deserves to have his name cursed forever. So we tried our best to do that. 20641100
Reposted by Noah BlanDr. Paula R. Curtis @paularcurtis.bsky.social · 19/07/2026My (non-academic) friend/neighbor, slightly high, begged me to sit by the pool with her while she did her SoCal thing but I wanted to read so I ended up reading The Odyssey out loud to her and now she is 1000% IN for the journey. 5847
Reposted by Noah BlanElise Schuenke @troubledminnesotan.bsky.social · 04/06/2026Genuinely one of the most influential graphic novelists of all time and her passing is so heartbreaking. Please read Persepolis if you haven’t, it’s a poignant story of resistance that deserves all the love 9879403
Reposted by Noah BlanCharles West @pseudo-isidore.bsky.social · 24/05/2026If you've already had your doom quotient for the day, I'd recommend skipping this. 074
Noah Blan @noahwblan.bsky.social · 23/05/2026But my point is this: this book has everything. It really shows how and why historians do what we do. And it does it in a way that is entertaining, informative, and compelling. The book is awesome. You should read it. Even if you’re not teaching with it.static.klipy.comBill Hader as Stefon: This Place Has EverythingAlt: Bill Hader as Stefon: This Place Has Everything 1111
Noah Blan @noahwblan.bsky.social · 23/05/2026Now to be clear, I don’t just stop there. Oathbreakers is the spine of my online course and the students get the benefit of my specialized knowledge to fill in gaps. My students still work on primary sources in longer form and collaborate to make sense of them and craft arguments with them. 1101
Noah Blan @noahwblan.bsky.social · 23/05/2026Spoiler: It’s because many modern ideas about the past were shaped by assumptions, biases, and political agendas that still influence how history is understood today. In OB this discussion is not just tacked on but is really skillfully written throughout the book in ways that make this super clear. 1131
Noah Blan @noahwblan.bsky.social · 23/05/2026This is the study of how history is written, interpreted, and debated over time. It matters but often not in ways that are immediately relevant to students. Why should we care how 19th-century Europeans (living in an era of European imperial dominance) thought about the empire we are learning about? 1111
Noah Blan @noahwblan.bsky.social · 23/05/2026If that was as far as the usefulness of OB for teaching went it would already make it highly valuable. One of the hardest things to get at with students in the history lab (as the brilliant @adapalmer.bsky.social labels it—ps do yourself a favor and read Inventing the Renaissance) is historiography. 1132
Noah Blan @noahwblan.bsky.social · 23/05/2026But they don’t stop there. They guide the reader through a primary source examination, reading and contrasting the competing information to show how and why historical actors shaped their stories to fit a certain narrative. What was emphasized, altered, or just plain left out. And why. 1131
Noah Blan @noahwblan.bsky.social · 23/05/2026But the book does more than that. Remember how crucial those primary source discussions are in the physical classroom? Gabriele and Perry know this. They set up each chapter to specifically highlight the actual primary sources (with examples!) from which the story derives. 1121
Noah Blan @noahwblan.bsky.social · 23/05/2026In a survey you have to assume the students don’t really know anything about it but they sort of want to or they wouldn’t be here. OB tells them the narrative story of this family/the empire in bite size chunks. Students get it. They are able to answer questions when we do our chapter walkthroughs. 1111
Noah Blan @noahwblan.bsky.social · 23/05/2026In a class like this I need to deliver content & set up close primary source readings and discussions. Lectures are a bust (imo) & discussions can be hard to just get started let alone sustain and really dig deep into what our historical actors tried to tell us. Here’s where the book comes in. 181
Noah Blan @noahwblan.bsky.social · 23/05/2026I am teaching my Carolingian empire survey class for the second time as an online-only, synchronous (meaning we all meet together virtually like we’re on a work call), 4-week intensive course and trying to sort of recreate the in-person classroom experience. It’s not ideal for lots of reasons. 1101
Noah Blan @noahwblan.bsky.social · 23/05/2026This is a post in which I remind myself and anyone who cares why Oathbreakers (www.harpercollins.com/products/oat...) by @profgabriele.com and @lollardfish.bsky.social is so great to read but also to teach with. But let me back up a bit first to explain why I’m teaching it at all.harpercollins.comOathbreakers“Fascinating.” — The Wall Street Journal “An enlightening portrait of the medieval mindset.” — Publishers Weekly The authors of The Bright Ages return with ... 13310
Reposted by Noah BlanDr. Paula R. Curtis @paularcurtis.bsky.social · 01/05/2026Sometimes you are ready to face the work day and sometimes you are down a rabbit hole looking at 2,000 BCE Japanese pottery that looks like Snorlax before 8AM. 29327
Noah Blan @noahwblan.bsky.social · 18/02/2026Got my TDAP booster today. Cheers to another decade of immunity from nineteenth century diseases! 💉😷 010
Reposted by Noah BlanDr. Paula R. Curtis @paularcurtis.bsky.social · 05/02/2026There isn't a sigh hard enough for these dumbass headlines. Warriors were a SOCIAL GROUP, and later a legal classification. Gender was not relevant to whether one was part of a warrior group/family/etc. You might as well write: THIS JUST IN: WOMEN EXISTED! www.the-independent.com/asia/japan/b...the-independent.comHalf of Japan’s samurai were women, groundbreaking exhibition at British Museum says‘Samurai’ explores over a thousand years of Japanese history related to the elite warrior class 1132798
Noah Blan @noahwblan.bsky.social · 30/01/2026It’s a spread not a sauce but I’m obsessedddtraderjoes.com 120
Reposted by Noah BlanDr. Paula R. Curtis @paularcurtis.bsky.social · 30/01/2026SAUCE CALL! Someone gifted me a yuzu ponzu sauce (!) and it got me thinking, maybe I'm not bored with food, maybe I'm just not punching it up enough with dope sauces. Do you have a sauce that's killer? Smother everything in it? A chimichurri you'd smack on a donut? Tell us us (me) your secrets! 👀 16182
Reposted by Noah BlanDr. Paula R. Curtis @paularcurtis.bsky.social · 12/01/2026Me: Did you miss me? Him: Did you miss ME?????? 3685
Reposted by Noah BlanDr. Paula R. Curtis @paularcurtis.bsky.social · 31/12/2025It's that time of year! Since 2020, when we all started saying "I didn't have that on my bingo board!" I have been collecting the most brain-breaking, exasperating, and otherwise unexpected news throughout the year. But this year felt kind of special, didn't it? Who could keep up? This felt right. 2184
Reposted by Noah BlanErin Grievances @erinbartram.bsky.social · 07/12/2025One argument I used to make to my students about why it was important to learn history (and historical thinking) is that someone was always going to be trying to tell you things were natural or had always been this way and that you needed to be able to see that as an exercise of power. 201862521
Reposted by Noah BlanDr. Paula R. Curtis @paularcurtis.bsky.social · 26/11/2025As course evaluations open, don't forget the importance of telling students *why* evals matter. I like to explain their use for TT faculty vs. contingent faculty and how students contribute to ed processes through them. I also explain biases, with this helpful viz: benschmidt.org/profGender/#... 163
Reposted by Noah BlanThe Tonearm @thetonearm.com · 09/11/2025"He and other teachers hand-picked students who looked like they might be isolated, or might be into darker art and music — kids who might be potential metalheads. More than fifty students initially enrolled. By the end of the first semester, kids were sneaking out of other classes to join."hcn.orgHeavy metal is healing teens on the Blackfeet Nation - High Country NewsIn response to youth suicides, teachers show students the power of headbanging at Fire in the Mountains festival. 13012
Reposted by Noah BlanCharles West @pseudo-isidore.bsky.social · 09/11/2025That Roman database of roads that's been in the news: treat with some caution. 22911