Audrey Williams
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audreywilliams.bsky.social
Audrey Williams
@audreywilliams.bsky.social
Storyteller and narrative transformation specialist || PhD candidate @ Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution || Currently researching: worldbuilding, music, democracy

I live for a good story.
Reposted by Audrey Williams
Approximately 460 patients and their companions were killed in a horrific massacre at a hospital in el-Fasher, Sudan, on Tuesday, the UN reports, amid a takeover of the North Darfur capital by Rapid Security Forces this week.
460 Killed in Horrific Massacre in Sudan Hospital, WHO Says, Amid RSF Takeover
RSF forces stormed the hospital and killed everyone inside, Sudan Doctors Network said.
truthout.org
October 29, 2025 at 9:15 PM
Reposted by Audrey Williams
Completely unhinged from reality, eager to consolidate his authority into more power, and with the world’s largest military at his command—this should terrify people.

The republic could be saved with only 4 House Republicans and 20 Senate Republicans (+all Dems) to end Donald Trump’s rule.
Trump declares war on Americans: "Our history is filled with military heroes who took on all enemies foreign and domestic. That's what the oath says -- foreign and domestic. Well we also have domestic."
September 30, 2025 at 4:12 PM
Reposted by Audrey Williams
Feeling overwhelmed? Despair? Unending urgency?

My friends feeling this… a few things...🧵
1/6
September 26, 2025 at 11:51 AM
Reposted by Audrey Williams
The Third Reich had an agency called the Reichskulturkammer, "Reich Culture Chamber". All singers, writers, musicians, journalists, and actors had to apply for membership and were ideologically vetted. Expulsion or failure to gain admission resulted in an occupational ban. Jews were not admitted.
September 18, 2025 at 3:35 PM
As a music/conflict researcher, a few years ago, I did a deep dive into “Bella Ciao,” because it is a good example of how a song can have a fairly stable “meaning” (i.e. anti-fascism) and yet travel so far from that core meaning as well.

tntlab.carterschool.gmu.edu/discover/rab...
The Many Lives and Meanings of “Bella Ciao” – Page 2 – The Narrative Transformation Lab
tntlab.carterschool.gmu.edu
September 13, 2025 at 6:00 PM
I'm going over offensive realism with my intro to conflict resolution students today, and I decided to put together a "Who is John Mearsheimer?" slide.

So, I went to his website, and then I saw his actual bio page...and let me tell you, the scream I scrumpt -->
September 8, 2025 at 3:47 PM
I recently came across a postdoctoral fellowship marketed as a unique chance for scholars to do innovative work across disciplines, from STEM to the social sciences to the humanities.

As someone whose research is in a transdisciplinary field (Peace Studies), it was an exciting opp to see.

But…
August 12, 2025 at 1:50 PM
Reposted by Audrey Williams
Swedish Defence University advertises two postdoc positions focused on narrative geopolitics, or how emotional and widely circulated narratives shape international security, great power relations & geostrategic rivalry.

fhs.varbi.com/en/what:job/...

fhs.varbi.com/en/what:job/...

Deadline: 31 Aug
August 2, 2025 at 3:01 AM
Reposted by Audrey Williams
It's difficult to find logic amid the illogical. But, mathematician @katelovesmath.bsky.social offers a unique proposal that could help us survive the lawlessness and pandemonium of the second Trump administration.
Does Chaos Theory Hold the Key to Our Power? - Dame Magazine
On July 2, 2025, CBS’s parent company, Paramount Global, agreed to a $16 million settlement of Donald Trump’s $20 billion lawsuit in which he claimed he suffered “mental anguish” following then-VP Kam...
www.damemagazine.com
July 30, 2025 at 1:39 PM
Reposted by Audrey Williams
“Since AFP was founded in 1944, we have lost journalists in conflicts, some have been injured, others taken prisoner.

But none of us remember witnessing colleagues die of hunger"
A horrifying statement published today by the Editorial Committee of the Agence France-Presse (AFP) news agency.

"Without immediate intervention, the last reporters in Gaza will die"

Translation from French to English by @cnorristrent.bsky.social:
July 22, 2025 at 12:03 AM
Reposted by Audrey Williams
Despite warnings from the law enforcement not to attend today’s No Kings rally after this mornings shooting of Minnesota lawmakers with the killer on the lose, the No Kings Rally is happening at the Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul.
June 14, 2025 at 6:23 PM
Reposted by Audrey Williams
A Chicago Pope implies the existence of an MLA Pope and APA Pope
May 8, 2025 at 5:36 PM
Reposted by Audrey Williams
BREAKING: A federal judge ordered the Trump administration to release our client Mohsen Mahdawi, a Columbia student unlawfully detained for advocating for Palestinian human rights.

This is the first order mandating the release of a student arrested by Trump in retaliation for their speech.
April 30, 2025 at 3:03 PM
Reposted by Audrey Williams
Despite knowing the people on the search warrant weren't there, the ICE arrest team STILL took this family's phones, laptops, and life savings — and refused to leave a BUSINESS CARD so they could ask to get it back!

This stuff is sadly not unique to ICE; it happens with regular police raids too.
April 29, 2025 at 3:08 PM
I’d like to “yes, and” this and say:

Yes, it’s good that Harvard is going all-in on a message that defends university-based research…

…AND the heavy STEM message it sends, w/ only a little space for humanities (and social sciences), is at least partly responsible for our current political moment.
Harvard redid its whole homepage to push back against the administration’s demands. I mean, this is just a website but I think it’s kind of a great PR move: www.harvard.edu
Harvard University
Harvard University is devoted to excellence in teaching, learning, and research, and to developing leaders who make a difference globally.
www.harvard.edu
April 23, 2025 at 12:57 PM
Reposted by Audrey Williams
Pope Francis has passed away at 88. I will always value his recognition of Islam as a faith that teaches humanity & justice, his demands to end the genocide in Gaza, his recognition of the existential threat of climate change, & his focus on ending poverty. May God have mercy on him.
April 21, 2025 at 11:47 AM
Reposted by Audrey Williams
Seeing police snatch a Turkish PhD student off the street for writing an op-ed was horrifying. And familiar.

With Turkey colleagues @heissenstat.bsky.social + @nicholasdanfort.bsky.social, we wrote about how repression functions by starting with minority groups.

www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
March 29, 2025 at 1:15 PM
Reposted by Audrey Williams
One week left! We’re trying to raise $40,000 to fund our summer programs by 3/28, but we’re facing a gap as we near the finish line. 

Can you give today to fund bold ideas and big dreams? Help our participants have the best summer possible! https://www.octaviaproject.org/support/
March 21, 2025 at 1:03 PM
Well worth the read: “The Path to American Authoritarianism” by Steven Levitsky and Lucan Way

I’m struck by how much citizen non-participation contributes to democratic backsliding. Worried about how this manifests at universities in particular.

www.foreignaffairs.com/united-state...
February 12, 2025 at 2:44 PM
Reposted by Audrey Williams
Amid a nascent "peace process", Nimet Kıraç profiles Turkey's Academics for Peace, who were prosecuted, dismissed and, in some cases, exiled for opposing conflict.

“Maybe the opposite of war is not peace, but justice," Ulaş Bayraktar said.
Punished for taking a stance, Turkey’s peace academics watch new ‘Kurdish opening’ with reservations
MERSİN — It has been seven weeks since Devlet Bahçeli, Turkey’s ultranationalist party leader, shook hands with pro-Kurd DEM Party politicians, signaling the beginning of a new period in a decades-lon...
www.turkeyrecap.com
November 19, 2024 at 2:04 PM
“Abd el-Hadi Fights a Superpower” by Palestinian poet Taha Muhammad Ali (1931-2011)

Full poem: www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/taha-m...
October 7, 2023 at 10:59 PM