Robert Paulett
@robertpaulett.bsky.social
Historian of early America and bits of Britain. Apostate southerner. Yells about maps, St. Louis, and higher ed.
Pinned
Quick intro for new followers: I teach broadly in the histories of early modern North America and the world. I study the visual and material underpinnings of imperial political systems in 18th-century Britain/North America. In general, the weirder the argument, the happier I am.
The millions our admin spent on branding, completely squandered by picking a dumb press fight with the student paper.
What happened to an SIUE student editor when he stood up for the First Amendment rights of his fellow student journalists? An administrator called police on him. Now national student press organizations are coming to his defense. See link to my column in first comment.
September 18, 2026 at 4:03 PM
The millions our admin spent on branding, completely squandered by picking a dumb press fight with the student paper.
Seems bad that St. Louis’s entire moral infrastructure rests on one single, kinda shabby coffee shop.
September 17, 2026 at 2:52 AM
Seems bad that St. Louis’s entire moral infrastructure rests on one single, kinda shabby coffee shop.
As a historian there is a comfort in knowing previous eras certainly had their rationalist-AI-sex-cult equivalents but oops there’s no record so guess we can keep pretending events turned on simple things like wheat blights or plague or whatever.
I know it may seem cruel, but it is time: the normies have to be told about Aella, before it’s too late for democracy.
I wish I was making a joke.
I wish I was making a joke.
September 16, 2026 at 1:19 AM
As a historian there is a comfort in knowing previous eras certainly had their rationalist-AI-sex-cult equivalents but oops there’s no record so guess we can keep pretending events turned on simple things like wheat blights or plague or whatever.
FIRE’s people must be on campus if this is getting to the Chronicle. Our admins are not ready for this.
SIUE official calls cops on student journalist over innocuous email criticizing administration interference
SIUE official calls cops on student journalist over innocuous email criticizing administration interference
* The Chronicle of Higher Education…
Dylan Hembrough was in class when he got the email: He had been reported to the university police by an administrator at Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville. The surprise email sent Hembrough, the editor in chief of the campus newspaper, the closest he’d been to a panic attack in years. [...]
dlvr.it
September 14, 2026 at 7:04 PM
FIRE’s people must be on campus if this is getting to the Chronicle. Our admins are not ready for this.
Reposted by Robert Paulett
3. That college is about reading for “the workforce.” No, it’s about development for the adult force. Of which work is a part. 4/
September 13, 2026 at 11:55 AM
3. That college is about reading for “the workforce.” No, it’s about development for the adult force. Of which work is a part. 4/
Whatever, I got mahjong three times tonight and can’t none of you tell me nothing.
September 13, 2026 at 5:12 AM
Whatever, I got mahjong three times tonight and can’t none of you tell me nothing.
And every blue-state admin is looking at this and thinking “Gotta catch up to that!”
The policy changes "included eliminating all references to tenure in school policy, changes to the academic calendar, reducing access to specialized classes and transferring authority over curriculum from faculty experts to administrators."
www.kosu.org/usao-regents...
www.kosu.org/usao-regents...
Regents at Oklahoma liberal arts college approve major policy changes, despite protest
The University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma Board of Regents made major policy and structural changes on Thursday. Hundreds of people watched, urging them to reconsider.
www.kosu.org
September 12, 2026 at 8:59 PM
And every blue-state admin is looking at this and thinking “Gotta catch up to that!”
Seriously, what percentage of the current economy is basically people pointing a (metaphorical) gun at higher ed and demanding money?
"In 2022, Wiley removed over 1,300 ebooks from academic library collections; [they said] perpetual access is not an option for subscribed content. In 2025, Clarivate,... announced they would stop offering libraries perpetual access licenses for ebooks and primary-source digital collections."
Consumers Are Worried About the Loss of Physical Media Ownership. Libraries Are Leading the Conversation. — Association of Research Libraries
Sally Sax is head, Collection Strategy and Partnerships, MacOdrum Library, Carleton University. In a recent Atlantic Monthly article about Sony’s plan to end physical sales of PlayStation console game...
www.arl.org
September 12, 2026 at 6:35 PM
Seriously, what percentage of the current economy is basically people pointing a (metaphorical) gun at higher ed and demanding money?
Even for just old-fashioned pork barrel political reasons, these board members should be run out of town for sending taxpayer dollars to Silicon Valley instead of keeping them in Amherst.
So rather than increase faculty payroll and lower student:teacher ratios, UMass would rather spend it on Claude. I would argue that a better investment would be hiring 100-200 tenure-line faculty.
According to a meeting I was in, UMass estimates that if the capacity of these tools were maxed out by student, faculty, staff users, the total cost to the university would be $130,000/day, or about $47 million / year.
September 12, 2026 at 6:24 PM
Even for just old-fashioned pork barrel political reasons, these board members should be run out of town for sending taxpayer dollars to Silicon Valley instead of keeping them in Amherst.
Talking my co-teacher through rubric withdrawal, sponsor-style.
September 12, 2026 at 4:56 PM
Talking my co-teacher through rubric withdrawal, sponsor-style.
Fugaziti
Make a band edible:
The Lemonheads
The Lemonheads
Make a band edible:
Oreo Speedwagon
Oreo Speedwagon
September 12, 2026 at 1:39 AM
Fugaziti
After 9/11 you had to go out and buy a stereo that lit up like a slot machine. It was the law.
September 12, 2026 at 12:27 AM
After 9/11 you had to go out and buy a stereo that lit up like a slot machine. It was the law.
“I bring such innovations as ‘debunking a metaphor that no one thinks is literally true’”
September 11, 2026 at 6:26 PM
“I bring such innovations as ‘debunking a metaphor that no one thinks is literally true’”
I don’t like to think of myself as the last generation of working historian.
I prefer to think of myself as the first generation of folk revivalist historian.
I prefer to think of myself as the first generation of folk revivalist historian.
September 9, 2026 at 2:10 PM
I don’t like to think of myself as the last generation of working historian.
I prefer to think of myself as the first generation of folk revivalist historian.
I prefer to think of myself as the first generation of folk revivalist historian.
Or you could, y’know, just tax some motherfuckers.
Missouri is a long way from hitting sports betting goals. Officials are counting on the NFL.
State officials say they aren't concerned. The NFL season, which kicks off Wednesday, will bring in more than $13 million by the end of November, they say.
www.stltoday.com
September 8, 2026 at 4:37 PM
Or you could, y’know, just tax some motherfuckers.
With its combination of high-toned political and media commentary, oddball pop culture obsessions, and unapologetic smut, Bluesky is clearly the alt-weekly of social media platforms.
September 7, 2026 at 3:22 PM
With its combination of high-toned political and media commentary, oddball pop culture obsessions, and unapologetic smut, Bluesky is clearly the alt-weekly of social media platforms.
Reposted by Robert Paulett
It’s actually ok to be a person who does not enjoy doing research but then you should not be doing research for pay
September 6, 2026 at 10:31 PM
It’s actually ok to be a person who does not enjoy doing research but then you should not be doing research for pay
Well, yeah, that’d be about right.
September 5, 2026 at 12:02 AM
Well, yeah, that’d be about right.
Ah so just doing the same thing and expecting different results.
September 4, 2026 at 1:18 AM
Ah so just doing the same thing and expecting different results.
They finally gave us a New Thing in the humanities building for the first time in 10+ years and it’s…
…soap dispensers you can’t actually put your hands under.
…soap dispensers you can’t actually put your hands under.
September 1, 2026 at 7:18 PM
They finally gave us a New Thing in the humanities building for the first time in 10+ years and it’s…
…soap dispensers you can’t actually put your hands under.
…soap dispensers you can’t actually put your hands under.
Sigh, old enough to remember Ferguson when “stay woke” meant “beware of white moderates who will tie your movement up in language games and tokens of false progress.”
this is a pretty wild exchange with someone seemingly in a moderator position
August 30, 2026 at 6:57 PM
Sigh, old enough to remember Ferguson when “stay woke” meant “beware of white moderates who will tie your movement up in language games and tokens of false progress.”
Skipped the dean’s 2+ hour, 83-slide “state of the college”powerpoint and feeling pretty good about that choice.
August 28, 2026 at 9:42 PM
Skipped the dean’s 2+ hour, 83-slide “state of the college”powerpoint and feeling pretty good about that choice.
Ah, but you forget 65% of half-assed is 32.5%
White House officials have insisted Trump’s ballroom must be finished because it’s already “65% complete.”
White House documents paint a different picture: the project is maybe 25-33% along.
With great @washingtonpost.com team.
White House documents paint a different picture: the project is maybe 25-33% along.
With great @washingtonpost.com team.
The White House says its ballroom is 65% complete. Its documents suggest otherwise.
The claim, made in government filings to the Supreme Court, is contradicted by budget and other records.
www.washingtonpost.com
August 28, 2026 at 7:41 PM
Ah, but you forget 65% of half-assed is 32.5%