Michael Furman
@profboeotia.bsky.social
Ph.D.
Ancient Historian - Thebes and Boeotia
Award-Winning Teacher
Historical Gaming
Pedagogy
Honors Education
Golf ⛳
Hot Takes on Classics and Academia
Ancient Historian - Thebes and Boeotia
Award-Winning Teacher
Historical Gaming
Pedagogy
Honors Education
Golf ⛳
Hot Takes on Classics and Academia
Persians: Lay down your weapons
Spartans: Come and take them
Persians: Bet
Spartans: Come and take them
Persians: Bet
September 1, 2026 at 12:39 AM
Persians: Lay down your weapons
Spartans: Come and take them
Persians: Bet
Spartans: Come and take them
Persians: Bet
Let's ban all these pieces period. The risks are well known, people just delude themselves into believing that they will be the exception to the long odds. Also a special 'shut up' to those who have made 'escaping academia' consulting their cottage industry after writing one of these pieces. Shills.
Alright, I'm putting a line in the stand:
No more 'why I left academia' takes from dudes that never got their monograph out (in book fields).
'oh sure, I got a gold-plated academic job and bailed out in advance of the tenure decision without a book out, but it was BECAUSE OF WOKE!!'
Sure, buddy.
No more 'why I left academia' takes from dudes that never got their monograph out (in book fields).
'oh sure, I got a gold-plated academic job and bailed out in advance of the tenure decision without a book out, but it was BECAUSE OF WOKE!!'
Sure, buddy.
August 10, 2026 at 4:41 PM
Let's ban all these pieces period. The risks are well known, people just delude themselves into believing that they will be the exception to the long odds. Also a special 'shut up' to those who have made 'escaping academia' consulting their cottage industry after writing one of these pieces. Shills.
Literally all you needed to say was 'If you like the movie, the book is SO much better, here's where to find it'
August 1, 2026 at 10:06 AM
Literally all you needed to say was 'If you like the movie, the book is SO much better, here's where to find it'
Certain people: We need to bring back the Classics and make people learn their virtues from the ancients. Make everyone read Plato!
*Whips out Aristophanes' speech from Symposium*
Those same people: OK. Wait. Not like that...
*Whips out Aristophanes' speech from Symposium*
Those same people: OK. Wait. Not like that...
July 30, 2026 at 1:12 PM
Certain people: We need to bring back the Classics and make people learn their virtues from the ancients. Make everyone read Plato!
*Whips out Aristophanes' speech from Symposium*
Those same people: OK. Wait. Not like that...
*Whips out Aristophanes' speech from Symposium*
Those same people: OK. Wait. Not like that...
Also, while I'm on a roll with being judgy, it is wild to me that there are still institutions with Classics chairs named for Basil Gildersleeve
July 28, 2026 at 8:04 PM
Also, while I'm on a roll with being judgy, it is wild to me that there are still institutions with Classics chairs named for Basil Gildersleeve
YES. Are there uninformed opinions? Yeah. But any interest is good interest and if classicists can become more practiced and effective at talking about their field to the public because of this then that is only a good thing.
Brother all I really care about is that a lot of people are interested in/talking about classical antiquity.
July 28, 2026 at 7:36 PM
YES. Are there uninformed opinions? Yeah. But any interest is good interest and if classicists can become more practiced and effective at talking about their field to the public because of this then that is only a good thing.
Ok buckle up here is my review of the Odyssey coming from someone that is not as expert on the text itself as many of my fellow classicists who have reviewed it, but who asks his students to think a lot about how the ancient past is continually adapted and reshaped to suit modern audiences:
July 28, 2026 at 5:57 PM
Ok buckle up here is my review of the Odyssey coming from someone that is not as expert on the text itself as many of my fellow classicists who have reviewed it, but who asks his students to think a lot about how the ancient past is continually adapted and reshaped to suit modern audiences:
Fulfilling my responsibility as a Classicist and going to see the Odyssey. No spoilers please I hope this Odysseus guy makes it home in the end.
July 28, 2026 at 12:17 PM
Fulfilling my responsibility as a Classicist and going to see the Odyssey. No spoilers please I hope this Odysseus guy makes it home in the end.
Loved getting to blab about the greatness of Thebes! Thank you for having me on!
Athenocentrism? I don't know her. Massive thanks to @profboeotia.bsky.social for tackling the big ask of cramming centuries of history and myth into a single episode with such aplomb. I think this makes a pretty perfect Thebes primer.
⚠️NEW EPISODE⚠️
@profboeotia.bsky.social joins 101 to give a history of the Greek polis of Thebes.
This episode has some myth, some military history, some archaeology...
Tune in to get an understanding of a city whose fortunes were more up and down than an elevator...
@profboeotia.bsky.social joins 101 to give a history of the Greek polis of Thebes.
This episode has some myth, some military history, some archaeology...
Tune in to get an understanding of a city whose fortunes were more up and down than an elevator...
June 24, 2026 at 7:12 PM
Loved getting to blab about the greatness of Thebes! Thank you for having me on!
Idk 'What could make Yale think it speaks for higher ed' @chronicle.com it's not like 3 of the 6 pieces featured on this section of your website today are either about or in response to someone or something at Yale...
May 12, 2026 at 4:54 PM
Idk 'What could make Yale think it speaks for higher ed' @chronicle.com it's not like 3 of the 6 pieces featured on this section of your website today are either about or in response to someone or something at Yale...
On this St Patrick's Day I would like to remind everyone that this glorious song exists
youtu.be/DerVmiZeUDw?...
youtu.be/DerVmiZeUDw?...
Corrigan Brothers - There's No One As Irish As Barack Obama
YouTube video by CorriganBrothersVEVO
youtu.be
March 17, 2026 at 3:53 PM
On this St Patrick's Day I would like to remind everyone that this glorious song exists
youtu.be/DerVmiZeUDw?...
youtu.be/DerVmiZeUDw?...
Calling the collective brainpower of Classics! I'm designing a scholarship critique assignment with clear examples where a scholar's personal biases drove their narrative of the past. Obvious examples to me:
Basil Gildersleeve
William Tarn
Victor Davis Hanson
Who else??
#ancientsky #classicssky
Basil Gildersleeve
William Tarn
Victor Davis Hanson
Who else??
#ancientsky #classicssky
December 17, 2025 at 2:03 PM
Calling the collective brainpower of Classics! I'm designing a scholarship critique assignment with clear examples where a scholar's personal biases drove their narrative of the past. Obvious examples to me:
Basil Gildersleeve
William Tarn
Victor Davis Hanson
Who else??
#ancientsky #classicssky
Basil Gildersleeve
William Tarn
Victor Davis Hanson
Who else??
#ancientsky #classicssky
I think a good place to start is not even asking for recommendation letters until very late in the process. It introduces more bias and begs questions about status and prestige.
It's so much wasted labor on everyone's part to require them up front
It's so much wasted labor on everyone's part to require them up front
October 16, 2025 at 3:10 PM
I think a good place to start is not even asking for recommendation letters until very late in the process. It introduces more bias and begs questions about status and prestige.
It's so much wasted labor on everyone's part to require them up front
It's so much wasted labor on everyone's part to require them up front
Having run multiple faculty searches now I can say this with confidence:
There is absolutely no reason you can't inform unsuccessful candidates in a timely manner after every stage of the search process. It takes about five minutes to write and send blanket rejections through your HR portal...
There is absolutely no reason you can't inform unsuccessful candidates in a timely manner after every stage of the search process. It takes about five minutes to write and send blanket rejections through your HR portal...
October 12, 2025 at 1:49 AM
Having run multiple faculty searches now I can say this with confidence:
There is absolutely no reason you can't inform unsuccessful candidates in a timely manner after every stage of the search process. It takes about five minutes to write and send blanket rejections through your HR portal...
There is absolutely no reason you can't inform unsuccessful candidates in a timely manner after every stage of the search process. It takes about five minutes to write and send blanket rejections through your HR portal...
This so much. It makes me so angry to hear jokes about this. What does it say about you and your relationship with your students that your position is essentially 'my students are lying to me until they prove they aren't.' Some basic humanity in this scenario costs you nothing.
reminder, based on recent experiences: when all your undergraduates claim that their grandparents are dying, that's because their grandparents really are dying, that's just the age when a lot of people lose their grandparents.
October 4, 2025 at 7:56 PM
This so much. It makes me so angry to hear jokes about this. What does it say about you and your relationship with your students that your position is essentially 'my students are lying to me until they prove they aren't.' Some basic humanity in this scenario costs you nothing.
The Emmys snubbing ALL the main actors in Andor is absolutely insane!
July 16, 2025 at 4:16 PM
The Emmys snubbing ALL the main actors in Andor is absolutely insane!
Talk about ruining a valid issue with the wrong messenger. #Academicsky
Whining about teaching 76 students a semester and then having the audacity to complain you don't make as much as a high school teacher with the same degree (but more credentials)? GTFO
www.chronicle.com/article/my-u...
Whining about teaching 76 students a semester and then having the audacity to complain you don't make as much as a high school teacher with the same degree (but more credentials)? GTFO
www.chronicle.com/article/my-u...
My University Values Football More Than Education
At the University of Colorado at Boulder, athletics gets all the attention — and funding.
www.chronicle.com
June 18, 2025 at 12:51 PM
Talk about ruining a valid issue with the wrong messenger. #Academicsky
Whining about teaching 76 students a semester and then having the audacity to complain you don't make as much as a high school teacher with the same degree (but more credentials)? GTFO
www.chronicle.com/article/my-u...
Whining about teaching 76 students a semester and then having the audacity to complain you don't make as much as a high school teacher with the same degree (but more credentials)? GTFO
www.chronicle.com/article/my-u...
I guess Santa finally found a chimney he couldn't contort himself into...
June 3, 2025 at 11:46 PM
I guess Santa finally found a chimney he couldn't contort himself into...
80 years ago today my grandparents, a WAAF who spent months living in a subway tunnel while her city burned above her and a kid from the Bronx who lied above his age and landed in Normandy, celebrated what they thought was the defeat of fascism.
May 8, 2025 at 10:15 AM
80 years ago today my grandparents, a WAAF who spent months living in a subway tunnel while her city burned above her and a kid from the Bronx who lied above his age and landed in Normandy, celebrated what they thought was the defeat of fascism.
If this is true it would be hilarious because it is something straight out of a Percival Everett novel
lithub.com/did-the-puli...
lithub.com/did-the-puli...
Did the Pulitzer Board just overrule the Jury to give Percival Everett the prize?
Earlier today, the 2025 Pulitzer Prizes were announced and Percival Everett’s James was declared the winner for fiction. (You can see all of the winners and finalists here.) This came as no s…
lithub.com
May 6, 2025 at 9:21 PM
If this is true it would be hilarious because it is something straight out of a Percival Everett novel
lithub.com/did-the-puli...
lithub.com/did-the-puli...
Reading through the comments on the annual faculty poll and it's hilariously sad how petty some of them are. Like with so many things to talk about, you chose parking as the hill to die on??
March 31, 2025 at 7:36 PM
Reading through the comments on the annual faculty poll and it's hilariously sad how petty some of them are. Like with so many things to talk about, you chose parking as the hill to die on??
Exactly what I would want in upper administration. The inability to parse complex ideas into tangible positions and not giving enough of a shit about the crowning achievement of your students to sit your ass down and write a meaningful speech just for them to show you actually think about them.
Oh, just reading about how this college president uses AI in academic leadership and wondering why, exactly, they need such salaries?
March 20, 2025 at 7:19 PM
Exactly what I would want in upper administration. The inability to parse complex ideas into tangible positions and not giving enough of a shit about the crowning achievement of your students to sit your ass down and write a meaningful speech just for them to show you actually think about them.
To mark the occasion, I'm starting a series of posts called 'Give Me A (Spring) Break'
Every day I will address some common practice that I have encountered in higher ed pedagogy and then explain why it sucks.
First up: Not accepting late work because students need to 'prepare for the real world'
Every day I will address some common practice that I have encountered in higher ed pedagogy and then explain why it sucks.
First up: Not accepting late work because students need to 'prepare for the real world'
March 10, 2025 at 12:53 AM
To mark the occasion, I'm starting a series of posts called 'Give Me A (Spring) Break'
Every day I will address some common practice that I have encountered in higher ed pedagogy and then explain why it sucks.
First up: Not accepting late work because students need to 'prepare for the real world'
Every day I will address some common practice that I have encountered in higher ed pedagogy and then explain why it sucks.
First up: Not accepting late work because students need to 'prepare for the real world'
She's planning her retirement in advance? She should have tried that with the sequel trilogy.
Talk about being handed the ingredients to Michelin star meal and making chicken nuggets out of it.
www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie...
Talk about being handed the ingredients to Michelin star meal and making chicken nuggets out of it.
www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie...
Lucasfilm Boss Kathleen Kennedy Expected to Retire This Year
The prolific producer has presided over the 'Star Wars' and 'Indiana Jones' franchises through ups and downs since 2012.
www.hollywoodreporter.com
February 25, 2025 at 10:21 PM
She's planning her retirement in advance? She should have tried that with the sequel trilogy.
Talk about being handed the ingredients to Michelin star meal and making chicken nuggets out of it.
www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie...
Talk about being handed the ingredients to Michelin star meal and making chicken nuggets out of it.
www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie...
Oh man am I going to have my Ph.D. in Ancient History revoked if I don't make a pedantic ragebait post about the pic of Matt Damon as Odysseus?
It's a movie, not a documentary. Lighten up. Adaptation is art. If it gets people talking about or interested in the ancient world that's a good thing.
It's a movie, not a documentary. Lighten up. Adaptation is art. If it gets people talking about or interested in the ancient world that's a good thing.
February 19, 2025 at 12:13 PM
Oh man am I going to have my Ph.D. in Ancient History revoked if I don't make a pedantic ragebait post about the pic of Matt Damon as Odysseus?
It's a movie, not a documentary. Lighten up. Adaptation is art. If it gets people talking about or interested in the ancient world that's a good thing.
It's a movie, not a documentary. Lighten up. Adaptation is art. If it gets people talking about or interested in the ancient world that's a good thing.