James A. Benn

@jamesabenn.bsky.social

1.7K followers 2.5K following 750 posts

Medieval Chinese Religions. McMaster Uni. Burning for the Buddha (Hawai'i 2007) pback 2016; Tea in China (Hawai'i, 2015), Chinese trans. 2019. Canadian, obvs.

Videos

Political science 34%

Sociology 34%

Posts Replies Media Videos

Reposted by James A. Benn

Center for Digital Humanities @princetoncdh.bsky.social · 13h

Our friends at Princeton EAS are hosting Jianqing Chen Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. for "Love as/in Game, or Chinese Streaming Media in the Age of Involution." Looks interesting!

Details here: eap.princeton.edu/events/love-...

Love as/in Game, or Chinese Streaming Media in the Age of Involution

Around 2021, involution (in Chinese: neijuan) emerged as a widely used term in everyday discourse to critique the culture of overwork in contemporary China, which pushes younger generations into relen...

eap.princeton.edu

Reposted by James A. Benn

Craig Clunas @craigclunas.bsky.social · 13h

Sir Edmund Backhouse sends a telegram from Peking to @bodleian.ox.ac.uk , February 1926. Says it all, really.

James A. Benn @jamesabenn.bsky.social · 13h

I’m so proud of our students

Reposted by James A. Benn

Nico Mara-McKay 🦇 (they/iel) @nicomaramckay.com · 14h

TMU Library is hosting the 6th annual Black Histories Wikipedia Edit-a-thon. Theme: Toronto music scene.

Date: Thurs., 26 Feb.
Time: 12-3 pm
Location: TMU Libraries Collaboratory (LIB 387)

Free + free lunch.

Register here: calendar.library.torontomu.ca/event/3977359

(no affiliation)

BLACK HISTORIES Wikipedia Edit-A-Thon
Celebrate Black History Month at Toronto Metropolitan University by learning to edit Wikipedia. Anyone can make a difference by helping to improve coverage of Black histories online. Our theme this year is the Toronto music scene.
12PM: Keynote Presentation with Sans Ted. The event will begin with a keynote by Sam Tecle, a leading scholar in Black and Diaspora Studies at TMU. His talk will examine how Black youth from Toronto's most marginalized and ignored communities use hip hop in creative and complex ways to make the statement: we are here, and you cannot ignore us. 1PM-3PM: Wikipedia Editing Open editing session with optional Wikipedia training provided. Drop-in and out anytime. Location: Library Co!laboratory (LIB 387), Toronto Metropolitan University (3rd Floor of the SLC Building, 341 Yonge Street.) This event is free and open to the public. Bring your laptop! Laptops will also be available for loan. Lunch provided. Participants will be eligible to win gift cards to A Different Booklist.
Toronto Libraries Metropolitl University
THURS., FEB. 26 12 - 3 P.M.
I

Sponsored by:
WIKIMEDIA.

Reposted by James A. Benn

1946 News @80yearsago.bsky.social · 14h

[February 9th, 1946] Operation "Daddy" began as the liner Mauretania quietly arrived in Halifax with 943 dependents of Canadian servicemen. The lack of crowds was noted, as over 48,000 dependents are expected in the coming months.

Reposted by James A. Benn

American Council of Learned Societies @acls1919.bsky.social · 15h

ACLS celebrates #BlackHistoryMonth with updates to our Black Histories, Black Futures scholarly resource list: https://bit.ly/49DwBCV

Thanks to all the awardees who contributed new and additional works! #BHM

Black History, Black Futures Resource List

For Black History Month, ACLS highlights scholarly resources on the hidden and lesser known histories of the Black American experience.

bit.ly

Reposted by James A. Benn

McMaster Religious Studies @mcmasterreligion.bsky.social · 17h

Check out Dr. Katharine Fitzgerald’s (McMaster PhD 2023) recent article, “Threatened bodies: Gender and trauma in the narratives of Judith and Susanna,” in the Journal for the Study of the Pseudepigrapha!

journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1...

Reposted by James A. Benn

Association for Asian Studies @asianstudies.org · 17h

With a plethora of restaurants, shops, and cultural attractions like the Chinese Canadian Museum and Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden, Vancouver's Chinatown offers something for every #AAS2026 visitor!

https://www.vancouver-chinatown.com/

View of Vancouver's Chinatown entrance gate with pedestrians and vehicles on a sunny day.

Reposted by James A. Benn

The Digital Orientalist @digitalorientalist.bsky.social · 18h

Over the years, Miyagawa So (University of Tsukuba), one of DO’s most prolific contributors, has written extensively on digital initiatives related to various ancient African languages and scripts, including Demotic, Egyptian Hieratic, Coptic, and Nubian.

Read more on our blog ⬇️

Reposted by James A. Benn

Worn On This Day @wornonthisday.bsky.social · 19h

Worn #onthisday in 1918 by Virginia Bradfield at her #wedding to Harold Ward in Detroit, MI. Per the @freep.com, she wore "a Lucile model of white tulle and silver, the skirt modeled on rather short lines, the tulle veil which enveloped the girlish figure forming the train." #OTD 📷 The Henry Ford

Reposted by Rosemary A. Joyce, James A. Benn

Leah McElrath @leahmcelrath.bsky.social · 1d

Mortality rates were so high on sugar plantations during slavery that slaveholders used to coerce enslaved people working other crops like cotton with threats to sell them or their loved ones to sugar plantations.

That’s where the term “sold down the river” came from.

Reposted by James A. Benn

The Fake History Hunter @fakehistoryhunter.net · 1d

www.independent.co.uk/news/science...

Archaeologists bring 3,500-year-old fragrances used by ancient Egyptians back to life

Advance could lead to multisensory museum experiences in future

www.independent.co.uk

James A. Benn @jamesabenn.bsky.social · 1d

Vic is a good professor who would always do the right thing.

Reposted by James A. Benn

Devin Heroux @devinheroux.bsky.social · 1d

One last update (maybe) in the Maddie Schizas and professor story

This is from Maddie’s instagram story late this evening. Her prof’s first and only instagram post — watching Maddie compete in the team event for Canada tonight.

Caption: “I’m so proud of you Maddie!”

Reposted by James A. Benn

Tina Fetner @fetner.bsky.social · 1d

McMaster Sociology understood the assignment.

www.cbc.ca/sports/olymp...

Canada's Madeline Schizas gets university assignment extension at Olympics | CBC Sports

Canadian figure skater and McMaster University student Madeline Schizas was granted an extension on her sociology assignment one day after going viral with her request on Instagram.

www.cbc.ca

Reposted by James A. Benn

SunRaUniverse @sunrauniverse.bsky.social · 1d

I want to explore the ultra dimensions of being. We must move beyond life and death considering they are not essential in the universe.
(Sun Ra)

Nick Pettigrew @nick-pettigrew.bsky.social · 1d

I'm convinced AI is our generation's radium - a discovery with genuinely useful applications in specific, controlled circumstances that we stupidly put in everything from kid's toys to toothpaste until we realised the harm far too late where future generations will ask if we were out of our minds.

Dan Nguyen @dancow.bsky.social · 1d

VC, founder, dumbass

@Nick_Davidov
Asked Claude Cowork organize my wife's desktop, it stated doing it, asked for a permission to delete temp office files, I granted it, and then it goes "ooops"
Turns out it tried renaming and accidentally deleted a folder with all of the photos my wife made on her camera for the last 15 years. All photos of kids, their illustrations, friends' weddings, travel, everything.
It's not in trash, it was done via terminal It's not in iCloud, it already synced the new file structure.
She didn't have Time Machine.
Disc recovery tools can't see anything.
I called Apple and they pointed me to a feature in iCloud allowing to retrieve files that were saved before but are no longer on iCloud Drive (they keep them for 30 days).
I'm now watching it load tens of thousands of files. I nearly had a heart attack.

Nick Davidov • @Nick_Davidov
VC, founder, DVC.ai - backing repeat founders with a community of 200 engineers. e/acc/OSS. Perplexity, Higgsfield, Animation, Etched. Husband to @msdavidova

Reposted by James A. Benn

Ancient Egyptian Prayer Bot @egyptianprayerbot.bsky.social · 1d

I know my heart, I have gained power over my heart, I have gained power over my two hands and arms, I have gained power over my feet, I have gained the power to do what pleaseth my Ka. (BDB)

James A. Benn @jamesabenn.bsky.social · 1d

Important news for all @mcmasteruniversity.bsky.social olympians

Reposted by James A. Benn

Devin Heroux @devinheroux.bsky.social · 1d

EXTENSION GRANTED

Just a short time ago Canadian figure skater Maddie Schizas with the updated we were all waiting for.

Her prof has granted her an extension on her assignment. I’ll ask about the exact response tonight after she skates.

Reposted by James A. Benn

Paulina (Paula) Kolata @paulakolata.bsky.social · 1d

On March 6, we’re delighted to be hosting @levimclaughlin.bsky.social at Harvard for his Japan Forum talk, sharing his expertise and insights as Japan’s political landscape rearranges post-elections. If you’re in the area, please join us!

More info in the link
rijs.fas.harvard.edu/events/relig...

Religion and Politics in Japan Today: How Nippon Kaigi and Soka Gakkai Inform Elections and Policymaking | Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies

Faced with political upheaval, aging support bases, rising regional security concerns, and harsh economic realities, how are influential religion-linked activists now seeking to shape Japan? What are ...

rijs.fas.harvard.edu

Reposted by James A. Benn

Jonathan Westaway @jonwestaway.bsky.social · 1d

Contemporary #Tibetan #Artist Fansack solo Exbition “Psychedelic silk road.”

MSPACE 55 rue du mont cenis 75018 Paris, 6-22 June 2024.

Reposted by John McLaren, Duncan Bell, Christine Kooi , and 2 more John McLaren, Duncan Bell, Christine Kooi, Klaus Oschema, James A. Benn

Sam Ottewill-Soulsby @samottewillsoulsby.bsky.social · 1d

Never forget the anniversary of King Taejong falling off his horse!

Screenshot from Tumblr

User hatingongodot:

“In 1404, King Taejong fell from his horse during a hunting expedition. Embarrassed, looking to his left and right, he commanded, “Do not let the historian find out about this.” To his disappointment, the historian accompanying the hunting party included these words in the annals, in addition to a description of the king’s fall.“

LMFAOOOOOO rip to that guy

User Shitacademicswrite:

i thought maybe this was fake, but there’s even a citation!

Taejong Sillok Book 7. 5th year of King Taejong’s Reign (1404), February 8.

Reposted by James A. Benn

𝕋𝕙𝕖 ℍ𝕚𝕤𝕥𝕠𝕣𝕪 𝕠𝕗 ℂ𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕒 ℙ𝕠𝕕𝕔𝕒𝕤𝕥 @thoc.bsky.social · 2d

As Japan clearly indicates, a slightly more accurate version would be:

"Tea if the guy you bought it from was from Fujian, Cha otherwise..."

Reposted by James A. Benn

RN ship losses @rnshiplosses.bsky.social · 2d

7 Feb 1944 // Midget submarine HMS X.22 was accidentally sunk in the Pentland Firth while being towed to Scapa Flow by submarine HMS Syrtis. As she turned to search for a man overboard, Syrtis hit X.22 and sank her. The man from Syrtis and four men in X.22 were lost. #RoyalNavy #WW2 #NavalHistory

Reposted by James A. Benn

c0nc0rdance @c0nc0rdance.bsky.social · 2d

Let's talk about the time that an 18 YEAR OLD invented the COLOR MAUVE (I am not kidding) and completely revolutionized textiles, fashion & eventually cancer diagnosis.

The teenager was William Henry Perkin, a bit of a prodigy, who at 15 began studying with August Wilhelm von Hofmann at ICL.

William Henry Perkin

In 1856 Perkin accidentally discovered mauvine—the first commercialized synthetic dye—and introduced a new era in the chemical industry.

www.sciencehistory.org

Reposted by James A. Benn

Great art on Bluesky @art.feediverse.org · 2d

Otto Dix, Skull (Schädel) from The War (Der Krieg), (1924) #ottodix #museumofmodernart

Reposted by James A. Benn

paulseesequasis @paulseesequasis.bsky.social · 2d

Just your regular PSA that actor Vincent Price was cool as f*ck: Here he reads Native American student’s poetry in 1967 at the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Price established the Vincent Price Awards in Creative Writing for Native students, a stipend that was in place

Actor Vincent Price reading with Native American students.

Actor Vincent Price in another photo with Native leaders.

Reposted by James A. Benn

Chris Brennan @chrisbrennan.bsky.social · 2d

When you are in a lunar profection year, the daily transits of the Moon to your natal chart become much more potent, as do lunations and eclipses.

Reposted by James A. Benn

Art History Animalia @arthistoryanimalia.bsky.social · 2d

#Baturday 🦇:
#Bat Pendant
#AncientChina, Neolithic, Hongshan Culture (c. 4700-2900 BCE)
8 x 5.5 x 1.5 cm, 95.5g
ID’d as “plum crystal,” presumably plum blossom jade
www.liveauctioneers.com/item/2090285...
ℹ️ bats are auspicious animals in Chinese culture - this little guy was likely a lucky charm 🥰

official auction photo 1 on gradient grey background, front view
small hardstone carved pendant in the form of a bat, with incised details including facial features and ridged wings

official auction photo 1 on gradient grey background, top down facing right view
small hardstone carved pendant in the form of a bat, with incised details including facial features and ridged wings

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