Tim Lubin @timlubin.bsky.social · 10/09/2026How often do you get ancient parricide, infanticide, assassination, bad debt, and oral sex all in a single issue of a scholarly journal? The pecular thrills of the deep dive. 010
Reposted by Tim LubinAmerican Society for Premodern Asia @aspa1842.bsky.social · 24/07/2026"We are on the cusp of a dramatic shift in perspective": global antiquity and global Middle Ages are getting more attention. We at ASPA have been right on it for the last 184 years! aeon.co/essays/uncov... @aeon.co 052
Tim Lubin @timlubin.bsky.social · 23/07/2026India's potent new youth movement, the "Cockroach Janta Party," is satire turned serious protest. The state's attempt to silence them on xTwitter failed. Will their success grow? www.npr.org/2026/07/20/nx-s1-5889515/india-gen-z-cockroach-party-protests @cockroachjparty.bsky.socialnpr.orgIndia's Gen Z 'Cockroach People's Party' started as satire but is serious about changeThey call themselves the "cockroaches" and they're on the march — demanding action against corruption, amid a shortage of opportunities for young people in India. 010
Tim Lubin @timlubin.bsky.social · 20/07/2026The Indian govt has trumped up a phantom pretext for defunding the venerable Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS). It will be a major loss: the CSDS has been a hub for serious thought and analysis. indianexpress.com/article/opin...indianexpress.comYogendra Yadav writes: Demolition of CSDS has begun, due process can waitAs in bulldozer justice, the formal justification is an act of post-facto creativity. Once the target, the punishment and the excuse were fixed, the ICSSR appointed a committee to prepare grounds for ... 110
Tim Lubin @timlubin.bsky.social · 18/07/2026Springer Verlag, one of a handful of leading academic publishers, is honoring the chief billionaire opponent of democracy. (h/t @elisafreschi.bsky.social) 062
Tim Lubin @timlubin.bsky.social · 13/07/2026I really appreciate Frank Bruni's clear-headed assessment of the harms caused by grade-inflation in the US: pernicious and irresistible ... unless a "deflationary" policy change is coordinated across academe, as he recommends. www.nytimes.com/2026/07/13/o...nytimes.comOpinion | I Teach at an Elite College and I Inflate Grades. Help Me. (Gift Article)Easy A’s are an easy out. 010
Tim Lubin @timlubin.bsky.social · 12/07/2026Jarrah Sastrawan's new book (also in OA pdf) is a fascinating and groundbreaking study of how cultural knowledge was produced and transmitted, textually and otherwise, in 5th–15th-c. Java, with valuable insights on historiography.ucpress.eduThe Precarious Past in Premodern Java by Wayan Sastrawan - PaperScholarship is a powerful tool for changing how people think, plan, and govern. By giving voice to bright minds and bold ideas, we seek to foster understanding and drive progressive change. 0103
Tim Lubin @timlubin.bsky.social · 17/06/2026And now Carlo Ginzburg, leading exponent of microhistory, has passed today. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlo_G...en.wikipedia.orgCarlo Ginzburg - Wikipedia 031
Tim Lubin @timlubin.bsky.social · 17/06/2026In the last few days, we have lost some important voices. Robert A.F. Thurman, a former teacher of mine at Columbia, is one. A close friend of the Dalai Lama's and a co-founder of Tibet House. savetibet.org/ict-mourns-t...savetibet.orgICT mourns the passing of Robert Thurman, an iconic Tibetan Buddhist scholar and lifelong advocate for TibetJune 17, 2026 The Tibet world suffered a major loss 080
Tim Lubin @timlubin.bsky.social · 13/06/2026We are ruled by monsters.nytimes.comWomen Who Fled Iran Are to Be Deported to Central African Republic, Lawyers Say 000
Reposted by Tim LubinAmerican Society for Premodern Asia @aspa1842.bsky.social · 11/06/2026Issue 146:2 of JASPA (former JAOS) is out online lockwoodonlinejournals.com/index.php/ja... on: Karna in Jain epic, Song of a Yue Person, Old Persian Hinduš & Gandāra, Chan in Tangut, Hymn to Ninurta as Savior, Uriah the Hittite, Shah Safi Safavi, al-Ghazālī on pleasure, & Jingjiao stele Christians 043
Tim Lubin @timlubin.bsky.social · 30/03/2026Reconnecting Balinese Manuscripts with Local Voices: WikiSami University Workshops in Bali diff.wikimedia.org/2026/03/28/r...diff.wikimedia.orgReconnecting Balinese Manuscripts with Local Voices: WikiSami University Workshops in BaliWikiSami Workshop at Universitas Hindu Indonesia, Bali (Kasu Wardana CC BY 4.0) WikiSami (Sum of All Manuscripts Bali) is a Wikimedia-supported initiative that aims to identify and reconnect Baline… 110
Tim Lubin @timlubin.bsky.social · 07/03/2026Still time to submit comments to the FCC in opposition to Reflect Orbital's request for approval to help put a million orbital data centers into space: aas.org/posts/advoca... (SpaceX also has filed to do so, but the deadline for public comments has passed.) If you care, speak up! 002
Reposted by Tim LubinAmerican Society for Premodern Asia @aspa1842.bsky.social · 06/03/2026Issue 146:1 of JASPA (former JAOS) is out online lockwoodonlinejournals.com/index.php/ja...: on quranic reading in Andalus, holy tombs in Cairo, Tamil temple endowments, vratyas in Atharva Veda, military bounties in China, Mori Ōgai’s Dancing Girl, child-slaves in Egypt, Sumerian wordplay, & more! 022
Tim Lubin @timlubin.bsky.social · 17/01/2026This talk by Vasudha Narayanan on connections between India and Cambodia in 1st millennium religion and art will be worth tuning in for. www.sai.uni-heidelberg.de/en/events-at...sai.uni-heidelberg.deThe Churning of the Milk Ocean - South Asia Institute 040
Reposted by Tim LubinMekhola Gomes @oldthingsarefun.bsky.social · 04/12/2025My article on kinship ties, Buddhism, and early medieval states has just been published. Available open access: doi.org/10.1163/9789...doi.orgChapter 7 Ties of Blood on Monuments of Piety: Buddhism, Kinship, and Rule in Āndhradeśa"Chapter 7 Ties of Blood on Monuments of Piety: Buddhism, Kinship, and Rule in Āndhradeśa" published on 27 Nov 2025 by Brill. 073
Tim Lubin @timlubin.bsky.social · 02/01/2026"Under the Spell of the Batur Volcano," a fascinating study by Brigitta Hauser-Schäublin of a Balinese Hindu temple beside Lake Batur in the caldera of a volcano came out days before I drove a scooter up the twisting road from the coast to see it (pics below). OA Book link: brill.com/display/titl... 020
Reposted by Tim LubinAmerican Society for Premodern Asia @aspa1842.bsky.social · 12/12/2025Issue 145:4 of the JAOS is out online doi.org/10.7817/jaos... , with articles on: Yahwists in Elephantine, oracular law in Assyria, syntax in Qur'anic interpretation, r vs rr in Khotan, Mongol text of the 1413 Tyr stele, Old Chinese parts of speech, Song dynasty incense trade, and more! 053
Tim Lubin @timlubin.bsky.social · 07/12/202511 in-depth studies on inscriptions from early Āndhradeśa in South India, touching on coins, pottery, grant charters, memorial stones, and religious pluralism (Buddhist, Jainist, and Hindu). Open Access download from Brill: brill.com/edcollbook-o... (this is v. 2, the studies; v. 1, also available). 030
Reposted by Tim LubinAmerican Society for Premodern Asia @aspa1842.bsky.social · 07/12/2025The American Society for Premodern Asia web portal is now live on our new domain name: www.aspa1842.org 053
Tim Lubin @timlubin.bsky.social · 02/12/2025Astonishing finds excavated at Berenike in Egypt include Buddha images & other artifacts from India and some made locally in Indian style, plus a bilingual Sanskrit & Greek dedicatory inscription found near a marble Buddha head in an Isis temple courtyard. publications.dainst.org/journals/jdi... 26428
Tim Lubin @timlubin.bsky.social · 25/11/2025Important group of new studies on the "Kawi culture" that grew out of the use of the Old Javanese in the 8th-15th c. as a cosmopolitan vernacular by speakers of various languages, esp. in Java & Bali. Lots of exciting new work in this field. Wacana 26(3), free download: scholarhub.ui.ac.id/wacana/ 043
Reposted by Tim Lubinsepoy @sepoy.bsky.social · 05/11/2025Edel Rodriguez’s “Mayor Mamdani” (November 4, 2025) www.newyorker.com/culture/cove... 0195
Tim Lubin @timlubin.bsky.social · 11/10/2025Few examples suvive of written statute law from early S&SE Asia, but I propose that one might infer the existence of generally applicable, enforceable laws from immunities granted in charters: "Customary Legalism: Rules of Law in Early India, Java, and Bali" www.ioc.u-tokyo.ac.jp/news/news.ph...ioc.u-tokyo.ac.jp東文研セミナー 「Customary Legalism: Rules of Law in Early India, Java, and Bali (A Lecture by Prof. Timothy Lubin)」が開催されました報告 2025年9月24日に、当研究所訪問研究員であるTimothy Lubin教授(Washington and Lee University)を講師とする東文研セミナー「Customary Legalism: Rules of Law in Early India, Java, and Bali 」を開催した。 031
Tim Lubin @timlubin.bsky.social · 10/09/2025Rioting and arson have engulfed Kathmandu in the wake of the govt's aborted attempt to censor or block access to social media. These brave souls sat out to protect Nepal's cultural heritage. 040
Tim Lubin @timlubin.bsky.social · 10/09/2025Provincialising Dharma: Studies on Legal Issues in the Himalaya, a collection of essays exploring the Himalayan regional dimensions of dharma, historically & today, is out: www.asiainstitutetorino.it/cis/CIS_10.pdf including my piece, "Sacred Law as a Device of State-Building in Gorkhali Nepal." 020
Reposted by Tim LubinAmerican Society for Premodern Asia @aspa1842.bsky.social · 05/09/2025JAOS 145.3 is out: doi.org/10.7817/jaos..., articles on: autobiog of becoming, Ming women's anger, an old term for foreigners in China, cuneiform word lists, neo-Babylonian chronicles, the epic of Aqhat, Tabari's poetic license, bustling Buddhist monasteries, the aims of Sanskrit doxography, & more! 032
Tim Lubin @timlubin.bsky.social · 24/07/2025"‘Yala Toilet Frog’ named for departing Tea Board chairman." “I’m deeply gratified...” says Pethiyagoda. "If [those I've annoyed find] a frog in the toilet, I'm sure their actions will speak louder than words. Or they can simply drop the matter.” archives1.dailynews.lk/2018/03/21/l...archives1.dailynews.lk 000
Reposted by Tim LubinAmerican Society for Premodern Asia @aspa1842.bsky.social · 14/06/2025Issue 145:2 of the JAOS is out online: doi.org/10.7817/jaos... with articles on: Regal code-switching in the Deccan, r-clusters in Gandhari, omens in Song shu, 3 Qing compendia on cats, the Semitic perfect tense, Joseph in Egypt, counting lines in Erra, basmala as cosmic design, and gendering sex! 061
Tim Lubin @timlubin.bsky.social · 06/06/2025Superb new OA article by Jarrah Sastrawan sorts through the complex issues of provenance, "ownership," and violence as they bear on #cultural #heritage claims & repatriation, by exploring the precolonial history of the "Lombok Treasure" & "Lombok Collection" of manuscripts. doi.org/10.1163/2213...doi.orgViolence in the LibraryAbstract There are mounting campaigns to repatriate cultural heritage objects that were wrongfully seized under colonial rule. Studying the history of these objects before their encounters with coloni... 030
Tim Lubin @timlubin.bsky.social · 01/06/2025A delightful bit on the world's oldest map of the world. www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUxF...youtube.comThe Babylonian Map of the World with Irving Finkel | Curator’s Corner S9 Ep5YouTube video by The British Museum 000
Tim Lubin @timlubin.bsky.social · 22/04/2025Posted a forthcoming study of how the Gorkha kings deployed Hindu sacred law (dharma) in 18th- & early 19th-c. Nepal to integrate ethnic groups as castes within a multiethnic kingdom — in the shadow of late Mughal/early Company-raj India. papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.... 041
Reposted by Tim LubinRobin Bernstein @robinmbernstein.bsky.social · 15/04/2025To everyone (justifiably) applauding @harvard.edu 's response to the fed. administration's demands: that letter is only part of the story. Harvard's new website went public in coordination with Harvard Pres. #AlanGarber 's letter. It's completely revamped--and it's brilliant. www.harvard.edu. (1/8)harvard.eduHarvard UniversityHarvard University is devoted to excellence in teaching, learning, and research, and to developing leaders who make a difference globally. 27422
Tim Lubin @timlubin.bsky.social · 16/04/2025After the decades of agony that uprooted the monarchy at last, violent agitation to restore it cannot be merely "the people’s discontent with Nepal's political establishment." The yearning for a king is the yearning for the old order by those who benefited from it. www.himalmag.com/podcast/nepa...himalmag.comPranaya Rana on Nepal’s royalist resurgence: State of Southasia #21In early March this year, a massive gathering of some 10,000 royalist supporters gathered to greet Nepal's former king, Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah, as he returne 010
Reposted by Tim LubinMekhola Gomes @oldthingsarefun.bsky.social · 16/04/2025Fascinating Mughal order reveals a history of 18th century India the right-wing doesn’t want you to know!thehindu.comOver 250-years-old Mughal document throws light on tax waiver for pilgrims at AllahabadDiscover a 250-year-old firman from Mughal Emperor Shah Alam II granting religious autonomy to Ganga pilgrims. 053
Reposted by Tim LubinAmerican Society for Premodern Asia @aspa1842.bsky.social · 13/04/2025At the 235th Meeting yesterday, we voted to continue our work under a new name: the American Society for Premodern Asia. We invite all scholars who work on languages, literatures, history, and material culture of West, Central, South, and East Asia, and North Africa join us! #ancient #medieval #asia 1156
Reposted by Tim LubinAmerican Council of Learned Societies @acls1919.bsky.social · 04/04/2025ACLS President Joy Connolly has published a new opinion piece in the @chronicle.com calling for collaboration among higher education institutions in response to the current political climate: bit.ly/3E9Fdaqbit.lyJoy Connolly Calls for Collaboration Among Higher Education Institutions in Chronicle Op-EdIn The Chronicle of Higher Education, Joy Connolly calls for collaboration among higher education institutions in responding to the current political climate. 1116
Reposted by Tim LubinHimal Southasian @himalsouthasian.bsky.social · 07/04/2025Discontent does only so much to explain the revival of royalist politics in Nepal. Amish Raj Mulmi writes about what's fuelling the recent violent pro-monarchy protests:himalmag.comThe incomplete end of Nepal’s Hindu monarchyPro-monarchy protests reveal Nepal’s incomplete transition from Hindu kingdom to secular republic, fuelled by nationalist myths and Hindutva 001
Reposted by Tim LubinNeil Lewis, Jr. @neillewisjr.bsky.social · 07/04/2025I hope other university alliances start pooling resources and engaging in the kinds of collective action Rutgers is proposing here for the Big Ten. senate.rutgers.edu/report/resol... 151221353
Tim Lubin @timlubin.bsky.social · 07/04/2025New insights on how Śiva worship took shape in early India and Nepal! 062
Tim Lubin @timlubin.bsky.social · 25/03/2025Columbia University (bis alma mater mea!) caves fecklessly to brutal government tyranny. An ill omen for American academia ... until someone dares to resist. robertreich.substack.com/p/the-shame-...robertreich.substack.comThe shame of Columbia UniversityIn surrendering to Trump, it's opening all universities to Trump's tyranny 020
Tim Lubin @timlubin.bsky.social · 21/03/2025Columbia U. faces a demand to sacrifice its academic freedom in exchange for $400M in federal funds. Too steep a price.theatlantic.comA Warning for Columbia UniversitySurrendering to the Trump administration’s $400 million ransom demand would be a disaster for higher education and for the United States. 021
Tim Lubin @timlubin.bsky.social · 21/03/2025Eminent Sanskritist Sheldon Pollock, the former MESAAS dept head at Columbia, writes that "like a mob boss, the government threatens to cut off two of the university’s fingers: academic freedom and faculty governance."theguardian.comThe US government has sent Columbia University a ransom note | Sheldon PollockLike a mob boss, the government threatens to cut off two of the university’s fingers: academic freedom and faculty governance 022
Reposted by Tim LubinERC Synergy MANTRAMS Project @mantrams.bsky.social · 04/03/2025Special Project launch event (hybrid) at the The SOAS Centre of Yoga Studies with the three Principal Investigators of the ERC Synergy MANTRAMS Project, Carola Lorea, Finnian Gerety, and Borayin Larios. Register for (free) tickets… 1/ 193
Tim Lubin @timlubin.bsky.social · 02/03/2025Follow @stlubin.bsky.social for visionary images of how ecosystems and human systems overlap. s3.amazonaws.com/images.icomp... 010
Tim Lubin @timlubin.bsky.social · 02/03/2025Works from the series "After Audubon" and "Watershed" (laurestevenslubin.com/series/after...) are on view at The Branch Museum in Richmond, Va. for the next three months as part of the exhibition "Re-Think Landscape Design": branchmuseum.org/re-think-lan... 010
Tim Lubin @timlubin.bsky.social · 28/02/2025Don't miss this talk "Historicising Caste, Decolonizing Slavery." by the fabulous Indrani Chatterjee Friday morning 10 EST. Register here: tinyurl.com/22rvht8ftinyurl.comMicrosoft Virtual Events Powered by TeamsMicrosoft Virtual Events Powered by Teams 151
Reposted by Tim LubinAmerican Society for Premodern Asia @aspa1842.bsky.social · 27/02/2025The first JAOS issue 2025 is out online: lockwoodonlinejournals.com/index.php/ja... with articles on: early Muslim converts; the 1st world history; Tamil God in Sanskrit; Atiśa in Tangut mss; Yang Ningshi's calligraphy; Han verse; Amarna politics; Mesopotamian hermeneutics; & Aramaic cadastres! 121
Reposted by Tim LubinArash Zeini @arashzeini.com · 24/02/2025Geschockt über den Ausgang der Wahlen? Es ist an der Zeit, sich mit der Vergangenheit zu beschäftigen – auch in der Iranistik oder ähnlichen Disziplinen. Shocked by the outcome of the German elections? It may be time to engage with the past of our disciplines. www.biblioiranica.info/two-mirrors/biblioiranica.infoTwo MirrorsA while ago, I introduced two memoirs—one by Peter Brown and the other by Averil Cameron. Reflecting on the past and the origins of our discipline is as important as reading about the trajectories … 042