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Sukaina

@sukaina.bsky.social
600 followers 1.2K following 39 posts

Philosophy prof at UPenn working in moral psychology, normative ethics, and Ancient Greek philosophy // www.sukaina-hirji.com

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Sukaina @sukaina.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
all of this to say: no, we did not get too woke! it is not a mistake to fight aggressively for social justice!!! the mistake is to let yourself be convinced you can achieve largely material goals through largely symbolic means!
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Sukaina @sukaina.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Thrilled to tell you that my paper “Protests as World Making Projects” with bestie Lidal Dror is now forthcoming and available open access on early online view at Nous 🧵 onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
Protests as World‐Making Projects
On one common way of distinguishing forms of protest, civil disobedience is a communicative act that aims to achieve its goals through moral persuasion, whereas direct action has as its goal to direc...
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The Drift @thedriftmag.com · 19/08/2026
Andrew Baker was also a “token black professor” at Bates College. But his perspective on the events Tyler Austin Harper recounts in his Atlantic cover story is very different. Read Baker’s side of the story online today. newsletter.thedriftmag.com/p/racism-and...
newsletter.thedriftmag.com
Racism and labor at Bates: the other side of the story
Andrew Baker responds to Tyler Austin Harper
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Artie Vierkant @avierkant.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
“This book is about why all superhero movies are the same, why in 2021 Disney sent lobbyists to stop the Biden administration from sharing the coronavirus vaccine with the Third World, and why the explanation for those two things is the same” @vickyacab.bsky.social
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Dissent Magazine @dissentmag.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
The choices that Christopher Nolan makes in his adaptation of “The Odyssey” go well beyond the politics of representation, peeking behind the curtain of the story itself and ideologies it has served.
dissentmagazine.org
The Odyssey Belongs to All of Us - Dissent Magazine
In many ways, Christopher Nolan’s film is not a faithful adaptation. But it takes seriously both what the text is doing and how it has been read since. Why, then, have Emily Wilson and other scholars been so dismissive?
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Sukaina @sukaina.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
i think we actually need to just be more explicit about what the stakes are. there are a lot of theoretical debates (eg gender) that have v high costs but settle very little that matters in the real world and i wish it was more of a practice/expectation to be clear about this
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Sukaina @sukaina.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
yes and part of how this propaganda works is that people who will never be convinced of anything will insist that it is illiberal or anti intellectual of you not to engage, that refusing to engage is equivalent to deplatforming or cancelling, that their opinions are the only ones that matter /1
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Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
Over the last few days I've watched highly politically engaged, educated people who are otherwise clear and careful thinkers attempting to litigate the obvious facts of the matter with respect to the late Arday's obvious layers of misconduct, taking their turn wheeling the horse into the gates. 11/
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Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social · 16/08/2026
Philosophers often bring up the "principle of charity": a willingness to assume good faith in an interlocutor and treat them accordingly. It's good to do in many circumstances. But it is worth formulating a principle of not being a fucking mark. If not during the rise of fascism, then when? 12/
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Dissent Magazine @dissentmag.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
Christopher Nolan’s “The Odyssey” is the story of an empire in decline—one that resonates with American viewers in the midst of Donald Trump’s second presidency, nearly three years into a live-streamed genocide in Palestine bankrolled by our own government.
dissentmagazine.org
The Odyssey Belongs to All of Us - Dissent Magazine
In many ways, Christopher Nolan’s film is not a faithful adaptation. But it takes seriously both what the text is doing and how it has been read since. Why, then, have Emily Wilson and other scholars been so dismissive?
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Sukaina @sukaina.bsky.social · 15/08/2026
Sad to hear of David Charles’ passing. Back when I was post undergrad, working in restaurants and figuring out what to do with my life, I went to visit a friend in Oxford and David let me sit in on his Aristotle class. It was really formative for me. He was so kind and loved what he did.
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Dissent Magazine @dissentmag.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Christopher Nolan’s Odysseus is, of course, us—a nation coming to terms with the fact that it cannot return to how it once understood itself because of the violence it has inflicted on the world. It is the story of an empire in decline.
dissentmagazine.org
The Odyssey Belongs to All of Us - Dissent Magazine
In many ways, Christopher Nolan’s film is not a faithful adaptation. But it takes seriously both what the text is doing and how it has been read since. Why, then, have Emily Wilson and other scholars been so dismissive?
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Jennifer M. Morton @jennifermmorton.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
A fantastic piece by my colleague @sukaina.bsky.social about the Odyssey and the academic hot takes. Read it!
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Jill Galvan @jillgal.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Awesome many-pointed analysis of the film and its turmoiled uptake, in a similar spirit to the excellent Defector humanities piece going around but adding a third, public dimension.
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Eric Brown @sophisteuein.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
It's still the Summer, dammit, and that means it is still the Summer of the Odyssey. This will be the best thing you've read about it yet.
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Dissent Magazine @dissentmag.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
For scholars of antiquity, it has been equal parts bewildering and gratifying to see Christopher Nolan’s adaptation of "The Odyssey" stir up such charged reactions. At the heart of the discourse lies a perennial question: Who gets to determine what a text means, and who it is for?
dissentmagazine.org
The Odyssey Belongs to All of Us - Dissent Magazine
In many ways, Christopher Nolan’s film is not a faithful adaptation. But it takes seriously both what the text is doing and how it has been read since. Why, then, have Emily Wilson and other scholars been so dismissive?
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Sukaina @sukaina.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
My take for @dissentmag.bsky.social about the politics of adaptation and why, even though Nolan’s Odyssey is flawed, scholars like (my wonderful colleague) @emilyrcwilson.bsky.social have too quick to dismiss what Nolan is trying to do
dissentmagazine.org
The Odyssey Belongs to All of Us - Dissent Magazine
In many ways, Christopher Nolan’s film is not a faithful adaptation. But it takes seriously both what the text is doing and how it has been read since. Why, then, have Emily Wilson and other scholars ...
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Sukaina @sukaina.bsky.social · 22/07/2026
My take on Nolan’s Odyssey as someone who isn’t an expert: overall I was surprised how much I liked it! Nolan took the text seriously, made real interpretive choices, some of which were smart and interesting. Not everything I’d want but every serious interpretation of an ancient text is a gift imho
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Hannah Čulík-Baird @opietasanimi.com · 08/02/2025
I'm in Santa Barbara today to hear discussion of papers by Erin Lam, Sukaina Hirji, Kelly Nguyen, Hannah Silverblank, and Adriana Vazquez for the "Minoritizing Classics" workshop. How can Classics engage in minoritized perspectives ethically without co-opting or consuming them?
Poster of the Minoritizing Classics colloquium at UCSB, with pictures of the speakers. Colloquium co-organized by Erin Lam and Helen Morales. Confirmed participants include: Sukaina Hirji (Penn); Kelly Nguyen (UCLA); Hannah Silverblank (independent scholar); and Adriana Vazquez (UCLA). What does it mean to do classics and classical reception studies in a time when the need for decolonizing the field has become increasingly urgent? how might classics engage more with minoritized perspectives in ethical ways without co-opting or consuming them? the participants in the colloquium will consider answers to these questions that emerge from their work on critical race studies in classics and reception studies. readings will be circulated in advance.
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Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò @olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social · 03/12/2024
once again sending this starter pack around for those of you local to other places go.bsky.app/2Fq4P6e
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#first-genphilosophers @firstgenphilos.bsky.social · 02/12/2024
NEW POST! "Flourishing in the Academy: Complicity and Compromise" By @jennifermmorton.bsky.social www.firstgenphilosophers.com/contribution... #firstgenphilosophers
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Daniele Lorenzini @danlor.bsky.social · 02/12/2024
Final reminder: The Revolutionary Lives of Frantz Fanon with Adam Shatz and Amber Joseph-Zorn On Wednesday, at 5pm, at Penn. Non-Penn folks please RSVP here: t.ly/nh3uG
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Barrett Emerick @barrettemerick.bsky.social · 25/11/2024
I created a Social Philosophy Starter Pack. Please tell me who I should add (including you)! #philsky
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WRONG or METAPHYSICAL IN NATURE @jsthrill.modphi.com · 27/11/2024
A great starter pack for people who like jokes: go.bsky.app/VhPhrux
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Chris @multiplicityct.bsky.social · 01/12/2024
Looking to connect Bluesky's legion of philosophy PhD students. I've gotten a start based on my followers, please let me know if I should add you! (Apologies if I've missed a mutual here...)
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Sukaina @sukaina.bsky.social · 01/12/2024
wow thank you for sharing 💜💜💜
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