iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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Jacob T. Levy @jacobtlevy.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

[sighs in Socrates]

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Derek Barker @dwmbarker.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

Is the America 250 discourse - even the takes made in good faith - failing to tell the full truth of the nation's past? Important question to consider.

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Melvin Rogers @prorogers.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

At 250 years, America is being offered three origin stories, refusal, recovery, and ethno-nationalist sovereignty. All three ask us to stop trusting one another. In my new piece, I reflect on the stakes of our fascination with origin stories. Have a read: www.anativeson.org/p/the-idolat...

anativeson.org

The Idolatry of Origins: America at 250 Years

by Melvin L. Rogers, Edna and Richard Salomon Distinguished Professor, Brown University

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Matt Grossmann @mattgrossmann.bsky.social · 12/07/2026

AAU institutions reported a 15% drop in PhD admissions this year, after an 11% drop the prior year www.nytimes.com/2026/07/06/u...

nytimes.com

Decline of Ph.D. Admissions Could Imperil a ‘Generation of New Talent’

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Paul Crider @paulcrider.liberalcurrents.com · 10/07/2026

Always worth your while to listen to @prorogers.bsky.social!

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Melvin Rogers @prorogers.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

That was a wonderful conversation!!

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Princeton Audio @princetonaudio.bsky.social · 19/06/2026

This Juneteenth, listen to Black stories, told by Black voices. To Build a Black Future, written by Christopher Paul Harris and read by Landon Woodson: buff.ly/RzdjKYr The Darkened Light of Faith, written by @prorogers.bsky.social and read by Diontae Black: buff.ly/g6W87Oa BOGO with code AUDIO26!

To Build a Black Future: The Radical Politics of Joy, Pain, and Care by Christopher Paul Harris, read by Landon Woodson

The Darkened Light of Faith: Race, Democracy, and Freedom in African American Political Thought by Melvin L. Rogers, read by Diontae Black

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Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life @gucstpubliclife.bsky.social · 18/06/2026

The video from our dialogue “250 Years Towards Racial Justice: Progress, Promise, and Challenges” with Bishop-elect Robert Boxie III, Melvin Rogers (@prorogers.bsky.social), Diann Rust-Tierney, and Kimberly Mazyck is now available: youtube.com/watch?v=2Zh_m3Hc-LI #RacialJustice250CST #Juneteenth

youtube.com

250 Years Towards Racial Justice: Progress, Promise, and Challenges

YouTube video by Global Georgetown

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Melvin Rogers @prorogers.bsky.social · 05/06/2026

Looking forward to this conversation!!

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Melvin Rogers @prorogers.bsky.social · 05/05/2026

So honored to be part of this group!

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Melvin Rogers @prorogers.bsky.social · 02/05/2026

It is great to receive good personal news. The Darkened Light of Faith keeps giving.

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Derek Gottlieb @derekgottliebphd.com · 17/03/2026

Tapping the @prorogers.bsky.social /Baldwin sign: "To be a moral monster is to betray, we might say, the demand of thick relationships that define our shared political lives. This is the price of innocence and what makes it a crime."

those
he calls moral monsters. Similar to Wells’s use of “barbaric,” he does
not deploy the term as determinative of who and what white Americans
are fated to be. This is why, as he says, it is a terrible indictment because
he thinks (and we ought
not to think otherwise)
his listeners can recognize
the offense his claim represents—the
offense to their character and way of
being in the world. He demands that citizens be discursively agile—that
they see the figurative use of the language as getting as close as possible
to
a terrible transformation of the self. What makes it a terrible indictment
in another sense is the implication: many white Americans have shut off
in themselves that part of them that responds to the pain of others,
in particular
civic others.
To be a moral monster is to betray, we might say, the
demand of thick relationships that define our shared political
lives. This is
the price of innocence and what makes it a crime.

Nothing short of rebirth is required—a
reawakening by embracing the
nation’s trauma as also what the nation is. Baldwin’s plea is that Americans
assume a different
attitude, critically embrace their past, and allow
both to structure a collective vision of responsibility. But just as Myrdal’s
view involved a picture of innocence against which Baldwin rails, I want to
suggest it also involved a narrow conception of responsibility inadequate
to the fullness of history. Baldwin offers us more.

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Jason S. Canon @uncanonical.net · 12/03/2026

I'm thrilled to share my new podcast at the just-launched Liberalism.org. Now: Chandran Kukathas Next: Elizabeth Anderson and Jacob Levy Soon: Ed Glaeser, Simone Chambers, Melvin Rogers, Mikayla Novak, Theodore Schatzki Listen: pod.link/aHR0cHM6Ly9h...

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Melvin Rogers @prorogers.bsky.social · 03/02/2026

It was an honor to chat with Lucas Morel about the Declaration of Independence and the Push for Racial Equality. Grateful for the invitation from the National Constitution Center. Have a listen. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ocwb...

youtube.com

The Declaration of Independence and the Push for Racial Equality

YouTube video by National Constitution Center

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Melvin Rogers @prorogers.bsky.social · 02/02/2026

In honor of Black History Month!!

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Melvin Rogers @prorogers.bsky.social · 17/11/2025

So satisfying to read these three together. There is a rich conversation taking place. 😀

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Melvin Rogers @prorogers.bsky.social · 17/11/2025

So satisfying to read these three together. There is a rich conversation taking place. 😀

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Melvin Rogers @prorogers.bsky.social · 16/11/2025

So proud to work on this book series with Christia Mercer: Oxford New Histories of Philosophy. @esglaude.bsky.social @nneka.bsky.social

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Eddie S. Glaude @esglaude.bsky.social · 11/11/2025

So excited to have this book on my hands. Thanks to @prorogers.bsky.social and Christia Mercer and their wonderful work editing the Oxford Nee Histories of Philosophy series. We also have another volume of his writings on the way!

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Derek Gottlieb @derekgottliebphd.com · 29/10/2025

@prorogers.bsky.social on James Baldwin making a similar point:

Similar to Wells’s use of “barbaric,” he does not deploy the term as determinative of who and what white Americans are fated to be. This is why, as he says, it is a terrible indictment because he thinks (and we ought not to think otherwise) his listeners can recognize the offense his claim represents—the offense to their character and way of being in the world. He demands that citizens be discursively agile—that they see the figurative use of the language as getting as close as possible to a terrible transformation of the self. What makes it a terrible indictment in another sense is the implication: many white Americans have shut off in themselves that part of them that responds to the pain of others, in particular civic others. To be a moral monster is to betray, we might say, the demand of thick relationships that define our shared political lives. This is the price of innocence and what makes it a crime.

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jon ben-menachem @jbenmenachem.com · 21/10/2025

Wow. Harvard nuking its PhD programs - Science PhD admissions reduced by more than 75% - Arts & Humanities reduced by about 60% - Social Sciences by 50–70% - History by 60% - Biology by 75% - The German department will lose all PhD seats - Sociology from six PhD students to zero

thecrimson.com

Harvard FAS Cuts Ph.D. Seats By More Than Half Across Next Two Admissions Cycles | News | The Harvard Crimson

The Faculty of Arts and Sciences slashed the number of Ph.D. student admissions slots for the Science division by more than 75 percent and for the Arts & Humanities division by about 60 percent for th...

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Melvin Rogers @prorogers.bsky.social · 28/09/2025

Was asked about “viewpoint diversity.” It may sound like pluralism, but it means auditing faculty for ideological balance—confusing scholarship with partisan accounting. Pluralism rests on rigorous debate and critique, not political mandates, and rarely welcomes every opinion under the sun.

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Bonnie Honig @bonniehonig.bsky.social · 27/09/2025

My contribution to this is to say as often as possible “nothing worth studying at a university level has (only) two sides”

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Melvin Rogers @prorogers.bsky.social · 10/07/2025

This is now out. I love working on this series.

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Melvin Rogers @prorogers.bsky.social · 11/06/2025

"If you campaign to move university faculty to the right in the name of institutional pluralism, why not—with the same vociferousness—call for greater economic and ideological diversity among university trustees, university presidents, corporate boardrooms...?" www.commondreams.org/opinion/univ...

commondreams.org

What Must Universities Become Today in Face of Trump? | Common Dreams

In sliding too close to the regime that now attacks them, too many universities have lost much of the leverage needed to marshal wider public support for their most noble agendas.

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Reposted by Melvin Rogers

Verena Erlenbusch-Anderson @verena-erlenbusch.bsky.social · 18/05/2025

Two new book reviews are out in Political Theory: Nick Brommell reviews The Darkened Light of Faith: Race, Democracy, and African American Political Thought, by @prorogers.bsky.social

journals.sagepub.com

Book Review: The Darkened Light of Faith: Race, Democracy, and African American Political Thought, by Melvin L. Rogers - Nick Bromell, 2025

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Princeton Audio @princetonaudio.bsky.social · 07/05/2025

@prorogers.bsky.social's The Darkened Light of Faith is a powerful new account of what a group of 19th- and 20th-century African American activists, intellectuals, and artists can teach us about democracy. 🎧📘 Save 50% on this #audiobook with code BLOOM50: press.princeton.edu/books/audio/...

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Brendan Nyhan @brendannyhan.bsky.social · 23/04/2025

"the prospect of successful opposition to authoritarianism lies primarily in civil society. Many more businesses, law firms, and media organizations will need to step up in opposition, together with many more colleges." www.chronicle.com/article/we-h...

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Melvin Rogers @prorogers.bsky.social · 08/04/2025

When things seem dark, I say paint. It will put a smile on your face. Here are some of my pieces. Enjoy 😀

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Derek Gottlieb @derekgottliebphd.com · 05/04/2025

Reminded of @prorogers.bsky.social on Baldwin:

he calls moral monsters. Similar to Wells’s use of “barbaric,” he does not deploy the term as determinative of who and what white Americans are fated to be. This is why, as he says, it is a terrible indictment because he thinks (and we ought not to think otherwise) his listeners can recognize the offense his claim represents—the offense to their character and way of being in the world. He demands that citizens be discursively agile—that they see the figurative use of the language as getting as close as possible to a terrible transformation of the self. What makes it a terrible indictment in another sense is the implication: many white Americans have shut off in themselves that part of them that responds to the pain of others, in particular civic others. To be a moral monster is to betray, we might say, the demand of thick relationships that define our shared political lives. This is the price of innocence and what makes it a crime.

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Melvin Rogers @prorogers.bsky.social · 31/03/2025

"Objections brought against liberalism ignore that the only alternatives to dependence upon intelligence are either drift and casual improvisation, or the use of coercive force stimulated by unintelligent emotion and fanatical dogmatism--the latter being intolerant by its very constitution." J.Dewey

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Paul Crider @paulcrider.liberalcurrents.com · 27/03/2025

Freedom isn't a passive inheritance, but a struggle to live responsibly with one another. That is hard work when it seems to be our inescapable nature to construct myths and ideologies of inequality and exclusion. I love this essay on Baldwin by @prorogers.bsky.social.

liberalcurrents.com

Existential Liberalism: James Baldwin and the Problem of Freedom

The burden of freedom has always been heavy, and Baldwin forces us to confront whether we are willing to bear it.

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Melvin Rogers @prorogers.bsky.social · 27/03/2025

James Baldwin is a figure many of us have turned to in recent years. I am no exception. In my latest piece for @liberalcurrents.com I offer my thoughts on what Baldwin offers us and why we ought to heed his words. Have a read and let me know what you think.

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Chris Hayes @chrislhayes.bsky.social · 26/03/2025

Unidentified men grabbing someone off the street and putting her in a car because she wrote an op-Ed. This as flatly authoritarian as anything we’ve seen in this country in a very long time.

18263625916135

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Jacob T. Levy @jacobtlevy.bsky.social · 19/03/2025

Excellent excellent excellent from Princeton president and constitutional/ political theorist Chris Eisgruber. There's been far too little of this kind of thing; here's hoping others follow his good example. www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

theatlantic.com

The Cost of the Government’s Attack on Columbia

American universities have given the country prosperity and security. The Trump administration’s attack on academic freedom endangers all of that.

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Adam Gurri @adamgurri.liberalcurrents.com · 26/02/2025

Support @liberalcurrents.com: -Get our essays in your inbox www.liberalcurrents.com#/portal/signup -Become a patron www.patreon.com/c/liberalcur... -Make a donation www.liberalcurrents.com#/portal/supp... pitch us: writers@liberalcurrents.com Follow our writers and patrons: go.bsky.app/QC76CyV

liberalcurrents.com

Liberal Currents

Liberal Currents offers discussion, elucidation, and defense of liberal principles and institutions.

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Melvin Rogers @prorogers.bsky.social · 17/03/2025

I enjoyed this conversation a few weeks back with Timothy McCarty at the University of San Diego. www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tkh...

youtube.com

A Public Conversation about Race, Democracy and the Darkened Light of Faith

YouTube video by USDHumanitiesCenter

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