@mgraziano.bsky.social
Religious Studies prof at University of Northern Iowa. Law, Public Education, National Security. Book on CIA & American religion. Probably drinking coffee. https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/E/bo80657461.html Views are my own
Exciting update from our program, where @burnidge.bsky.social is going great work
iowacapitaldispatch.com/2026/05/26/u...
iowacapitaldispatch.com/2026/05/26/u...
University of Northern Iowa to lead collaborative religious studies initiative • Iowa Capital Dispatch
UNI professor Cara Burnidge will lead a collaborative religious studies initiative with University of Iowa and Iowa State University faculty.
iowacapitaldispatch.com
May 27, 2026 at 3:02 PM
Exciting update from our program, where @burnidge.bsky.social is going great work
iowacapitaldispatch.com/2026/05/26/u...
iowacapitaldispatch.com/2026/05/26/u...
Reposted
In this thread, Zach is getting at the fundamental tension of higher education: many (not all) students are coming to us for a credential. Our job is to get them to learn certain skills and ways of thinking before we give them that credential. This leads to an unfortunate tension.
Not sure if this is a hot take, but the apparently frequent cheating or borderline cheating with Ai in University seems to me less about Ai and more about how sick the system has gotten.
Compare for example to learning from a teacher to graft trees. In that case, cheating would be absurd. Why?
Compare for example to learning from a teacher to graft trees. In that case, cheating would be absurd. Why?
May 27, 2026 at 12:19 PM
In this thread, Zach is getting at the fundamental tension of higher education: many (not all) students are coming to us for a credential. Our job is to get them to learn certain skills and ways of thinking before we give them that credential. This leads to an unfortunate tension.
Reposted
You know about the resources posted at the REL Toolbox? Now managed by @seedpods.bsky.social, the site has grown. Go see. Anyone leading a Dept in the Humanities will find it helpful.
reltoolbox.ua.edu
reltoolbox.ua.edu
May 19, 2026 at 10:08 PM
You know about the resources posted at the REL Toolbox? Now managed by @seedpods.bsky.social, the site has grown. Go see. Anyone leading a Dept in the Humanities will find it helpful.
reltoolbox.ua.edu
reltoolbox.ua.edu
Looking forward to talking with @mccutcheonsays.bsky.social about our work reimagining Religious Studies & the Humanities at UNI. April 29 at 3pm ET.
Registration link: aarweb.org/event/strate...
Registration link: aarweb.org/event/strate...
April 20, 2026 at 6:59 PM
Looking forward to talking with @mccutcheonsays.bsky.social about our work reimagining Religious Studies & the Humanities at UNI. April 29 at 3pm ET.
Registration link: aarweb.org/event/strate...
Registration link: aarweb.org/event/strate...
Reposted
This "Into the Stacks" feature was very fun to contribute to, in large part because it gave me a chance to highlight all of the wonderful work that @shafrhistorians.bsky.social have been doing in the past few decades to integrate religion more holistically into the study of U.S. foreign relations. 🗃️
Ten scholars revisit Jon Butler’s 2004 Journal of American History article, “Jack-in-the-Box Faith: The Religion Problem in Modern American History,” evaluating how it inspired historians to embed religion in “mainstream” modern U.S. history, and its legacy amidst historiographical trends.
March 4, 2026 at 6:24 PM
This "Into the Stacks" feature was very fun to contribute to, in large part because it gave me a chance to highlight all of the wonderful work that @shafrhistorians.bsky.social have been doing in the past few decades to integrate religion more holistically into the study of U.S. foreign relations. 🗃️
Reposted
The closing of African American Studies and GWSS at Iowa is absolutely heartbreaking. It is such an important time to study these subjects. Words really cannot express how upsetting this decision is. www.thegazette.com/higher-educa...
UI African American, Gender Studies faculty prepare for program closures
University of Iowa faculty in African American Studies and Gender, Women's, and Sexuality Studies are preparing for closure of their programs following a review of "low-enrollment" degrees and majors ...
www.thegazette.com
February 25, 2026 at 10:36 PM
The closing of African American Studies and GWSS at Iowa is absolutely heartbreaking. It is such an important time to study these subjects. Words really cannot express how upsetting this decision is. www.thegazette.com/higher-educa...
Looking forward to this @naasr.bsky.social conversation with @mccutcheonsays.bsky.social & Leslie Dorrough Smith on Thursday.
Interested in the future of Religious Studies & the Humanities? I hope you'll join us.
Interested in the future of Religious Studies & the Humanities? I hope you'll join us.
February 24, 2026 at 4:39 PM
Looking forward to this @naasr.bsky.social conversation with @mccutcheonsays.bsky.social & Leslie Dorrough Smith on Thursday.
Interested in the future of Religious Studies & the Humanities? I hope you'll join us.
Interested in the future of Religious Studies & the Humanities? I hope you'll join us.
“Politics is fully immersed in its postliterate era, and political violence, too, has become illegible.”
Killing in the name of… nothing
The year politics became brainrot
You don’t bring a persuasive argument to a gunfight.
buff.ly
December 31, 2025 at 4:14 PM
“Politics is fully immersed in its postliterate era, and political violence, too, has become illegible.”
Reposted
EXCLUSIVE: @laurenweberhp.bsky.social & I have spent the last year collecting school+county-level vaccination data from across the US and found that only about 28% of counties now have herd immunity for kindergartners from measles—that leaves about 5.2mn kids unprotected.
Gift link: wapo.st/49zDc43
Gift link: wapo.st/49zDc43
U.S. vaccination rates are plunging. Look up where your school stands.
Take a look to see what the kindergarten measles vaccination rates are in your area.
wapo.st
December 31, 2025 at 2:29 PM
EXCLUSIVE: @laurenweberhp.bsky.social & I have spent the last year collecting school+county-level vaccination data from across the US and found that only about 28% of counties now have herd immunity for kindergartners from measles—that leaves about 5.2mn kids unprotected.
Gift link: wapo.st/49zDc43
Gift link: wapo.st/49zDc43
Reposted
i think to understand the meaning of the birthright citizenship clause to the framers of the 14th amendment, you have to understand significance of dred scott to the civil war republican party. dred scott wasn't just a bad ruling, it was understood as a rejection of the declaration itself.
December 6, 2025 at 6:03 PM
i think to understand the meaning of the birthright citizenship clause to the framers of the 14th amendment, you have to understand significance of dred scott to the civil war republican party. dred scott wasn't just a bad ruling, it was understood as a rejection of the declaration itself.
Reposted
How have religious food movements from the early nineteenth century have to do with America’s MAHA health agenda today?
@adriennekrone.bsky.social, author of FREE-RANGE-RELIGION, dives into the history in this recent blog post ⤵️
uncpressblog.com/2025/11/19/h...
@adriennekrone.bsky.social, author of FREE-RANGE-RELIGION, dives into the history in this recent blog post ⤵️
uncpressblog.com/2025/11/19/h...
How Religious Food Movements Paved the Way for MAHA - UNC Press Blog
The following is a guest blog post by Adrienne Krone, author of Free-Range Religion: Alternative Food Movements and Religious Life in the United States which is now available wherever books are sold. ...
uncpressblog.com
November 19, 2025 at 10:29 PM
How have religious food movements from the early nineteenth century have to do with America’s MAHA health agenda today?
@adriennekrone.bsky.social, author of FREE-RANGE-RELIGION, dives into the history in this recent blog post ⤵️
uncpressblog.com/2025/11/19/h...
@adriennekrone.bsky.social, author of FREE-RANGE-RELIGION, dives into the history in this recent blog post ⤵️
uncpressblog.com/2025/11/19/h...
UNI is hiring an Assistant Professor of Instruction focused on Religious Ethics. This is a promotable, renewable position. Happy to answer questions!
uni.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/UNI/job/Main... #acrel #aar #sbl
uni.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/UNI/job/Main... #acrel #aar #sbl
Assistant Professor of Instruction - Religious Ethics
If you are a current University of Northern Iowa employee and would like to apply for this position, login to UNI Works and type “Find Jobs” in the search bar to view and apply for open positions. Ful...
uni.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com
November 4, 2025 at 9:43 PM
UNI is hiring an Assistant Professor of Instruction focused on Religious Ethics. This is a promotable, renewable position. Happy to answer questions!
uni.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/UNI/job/Main... #acrel #aar #sbl
uni.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/UNI/job/Main... #acrel #aar #sbl
Reposted
I say this extremely seriously: one of the main skills children have to learn to be adults is to do things they *don't* find interesting. This is both because many necessary things in life are boring and because sometimes interesting things take time and effort first.
August 21, 2025 at 6:24 AM
I say this extremely seriously: one of the main skills children have to learn to be adults is to do things they *don't* find interesting. This is both because many necessary things in life are boring and because sometimes interesting things take time and effort first.
Good tips and advice here for the inevitable last minute syllabus preps, from @burnidge.bsky.social
Back to School Helps
Cara Burnidge shares four tools she likes to make syllabus prep faster, smarter, and more student-centered
usreligion.substack.com
August 19, 2025 at 12:46 PM
Good tips and advice here for the inevitable last minute syllabus preps, from @burnidge.bsky.social
Reposted
Does anyone have examples of colleges or universities advertising themselves as AI-free or, better, anti-AI?
July 15, 2025 at 12:09 PM
Does anyone have examples of colleges or universities advertising themselves as AI-free or, better, anti-AI?
Reposted
The thing is, by refusing to truly engage with the public and to support/value scholars who do, we cede the public understanding of history to these 'history buffs,' - and at the same time, contribute to the decline of our field, as the public doesn't know what we *do* that they should pay for.
my favorite people on tiktok are the folks who call themselves “history buffs” by which they mean they read one book and then uncritically summarize it for their viewers
July 9, 2025 at 6:33 PM
The thing is, by refusing to truly engage with the public and to support/value scholars who do, we cede the public understanding of history to these 'history buffs,' - and at the same time, contribute to the decline of our field, as the public doesn't know what we *do* that they should pay for.
Useful thread on Mahmoud v. Taylor from @scribnerumcp.bsky.social.
5/ Alito’s opinion accepts a false binary from the District Court dissent, which found that “the Board had “force[d] the parents to make a choice—either adhere to their faith or receive a free public education for their children.” But that was not really the question before the court.
June 28, 2025 at 12:55 PM
Useful thread on Mahmoud v. Taylor from @scribnerumcp.bsky.social.
Reposted
There's something really interesting going on here methodologically in Justice Jackson's Medina v. Planned Parenthood dissent. You can see it in one footnote.
In short, Jackson is emphasizing that Black Americans are part of the original "public" about which "originalists" should be concerned.
In short, Jackson is emphasizing that Black Americans are part of the original "public" about which "originalists" should be concerned.
June 26, 2025 at 2:41 PM
There's something really interesting going on here methodologically in Justice Jackson's Medina v. Planned Parenthood dissent. You can see it in one footnote.
In short, Jackson is emphasizing that Black Americans are part of the original "public" about which "originalists" should be concerned.
In short, Jackson is emphasizing that Black Americans are part of the original "public" about which "originalists" should be concerned.
Reposted
amazing q&a with paul krugman
June 25, 2025 at 1:22 PM
amazing q&a with paul krugman
Reposted
"The NHGRI Communications Office, and with it the History of Genomics Program, was completely disbanded on April 2nd. My contractual position was finally terminated on April 28th."
The first piece in our series "The Losses"
The first piece in our series "The Losses"
The Losses: The History of Genomics Program
The archive my colleagues and I have built and maintained since 2012 is inaccessible.
contingentmagazine.org
June 18, 2025 at 11:47 PM
"The NHGRI Communications Office, and with it the History of Genomics Program, was completely disbanded on April 2nd. My contractual position was finally terminated on April 28th."
The first piece in our series "The Losses"
The first piece in our series "The Losses"
Reposted
It's the official publication day for the 25th anniversary edition of Cold War Civil Rights!! New preface sets it in the context of the contemporary global Black Lives Matter movement.
press.princeton.edu/books/paperb...
press.princeton.edu/books/paperb...
Cold War Civil Rights
A Choice Outstanding Academic Title of the YearHow the fight for civil rights in America became an important front in the Cold War
press.princeton.edu
June 17, 2025 at 12:39 PM
It's the official publication day for the 25th anniversary edition of Cold War Civil Rights!! New preface sets it in the context of the contemporary global Black Lives Matter movement.
press.princeton.edu/books/paperb...
press.princeton.edu/books/paperb...
Reposted
BREAKING: A federal judge in Massachusetts (the Reagan-appointed William Young) has declared the Trump administration's cuts to NIH grants — ostensibly over Trump's EOs on gender ideology and DEI — are "illegal" and "void." He's ordering many grants restored.
June 16, 2025 at 6:23 PM
BREAKING: A federal judge in Massachusetts (the Reagan-appointed William Young) has declared the Trump administration's cuts to NIH grants — ostensibly over Trump's EOs on gender ideology and DEI — are "illegal" and "void." He's ordering many grants restored.
Reposted
Melissa Hortman, who was assassinated last night, was the Speaker of the Minnesota House in the 2023-2024 session, when Democrats ran the state government.
That means she had a leading role in shepherding the many landmark reforms that Dems adopted in that period—an important legacy. Brief 🧵.
That means she had a leading role in shepherding the many landmark reforms that Dems adopted in that period—an important legacy. Brief 🧵.
June 14, 2025 at 3:51 PM
Melissa Hortman, who was assassinated last night, was the Speaker of the Minnesota House in the 2023-2024 session, when Democrats ran the state government.
That means she had a leading role in shepherding the many landmark reforms that Dems adopted in that period—an important legacy. Brief 🧵.
That means she had a leading role in shepherding the many landmark reforms that Dems adopted in that period—an important legacy. Brief 🧵.