Augusta McMahon
@augustamcmahon.bsky.social
Mesopotamian archaeologist at Univ of Chicago; former Univ of Cambridge; ancient urbanism; Tell Brak and Nippur; Co-Editor, Iraq Journal; distance runner.
Reposted by Augusta McMahon
Can’t believe all these people are running a marathon through "war torn" Chicago today
October 12, 2025 at 7:27 PM
Can’t believe all these people are running a marathon through "war torn" Chicago today
Reposted by Augusta McMahon
AAUP President Todd Wolfson unpacks the dangerous consequences of the Trump administration’s compact, which aims to exert ideological control over universities and colleges. As Wolfson makes clear, this partisan incursion into higher education affects ALL sectors.
@proftwolf.bsky.social
@proftwolf.bsky.social
October 3, 2025 at 8:55 PM
AAUP President Todd Wolfson unpacks the dangerous consequences of the Trump administration’s compact, which aims to exert ideological control over universities and colleges. As Wolfson makes clear, this partisan incursion into higher education affects ALL sectors.
@proftwolf.bsky.social
@proftwolf.bsky.social
Reposted by Augusta McMahon
Babylonian map of the world (© The Trustees of the British Museum) and c. AD 1620 Portuguese map of Basra, Iraq (© Hugo Refachinho / CC BY-SA 4.0). Despite both depicting the Shaṭṭ al-ʿArab river, they are completely different, showcasing maps' subjectivity
🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
🏺 #Archaeology
🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
🏺 #Archaeology
September 12, 2025 at 8:30 PM
Babylonian map of the world (© The Trustees of the British Museum) and c. AD 1620 Portuguese map of Basra, Iraq (© Hugo Refachinho / CC BY-SA 4.0). Despite both depicting the Shaṭṭ al-ʿArab river, they are completely different, showcasing maps' subjectivity
🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
🏺 #Archaeology
🆓 doi.org/10.15184/aqy...
🏺 #Archaeology
This. Many colleagues want to be helpful but clearly should just say no. Nagging reviewers is the worst part of my editor job.
Peer reviewers are exhausted. It's common to spend *months* inviting reviewers, getting refusals, inviting more, maybe 12 or more, then 2 agree but 1 doesn't complete, so you go again. That's why your paper is in limbo. I'm very sorry, it's awful, but it's also an untenable academic labour issue.
September 7, 2025 at 12:44 PM
This. Many colleagues want to be helpful but clearly should just say no. Nagging reviewers is the worst part of my editor job.
No, we’d prefer to accept PhD applicants for 2026, but the previously lucky departments have joined with the unlucky in solidarity. Awesome colleagues! www.insidehighered.com/news/admissi...
More UChicago Ph.D. Programs Will Pause Admissions
The arts and humanities dean said “nearly all” faculty leaders preferred “a broader pause for the division.” Some social sciences programs also aren’t accepting new students.
www.insidehighered.com
August 24, 2025 at 2:03 AM
No, we’d prefer to accept PhD applicants for 2026, but the previously lucky departments have joined with the unlucky in solidarity. Awesome colleagues! www.insidehighered.com/news/admissi...
A lot of overlap with subjects for which PhD admissions are paused for 2026 at UChicago. We are not unionised.
A massive attack on several humanities units (Arabic Studies, Judaic Studies, Holocaust Studies, Classics, Religion, German & Scandinavian, Russian/East European/Eurasian Studies) *and* tenure now unfolding at the University of Oregon (a blue state!). Closure of units and faculty layoffs threatened.
August 19, 2025 at 8:49 AM
A lot of overlap with subjects for which PhD admissions are paused for 2026 at UChicago. We are not unionised.
No PhD admissions for Middle Eastern Studies at UChicago in 2026. MES includes modern and all aspects of the ancient Near East: cuneiform languages, Egyptology, archaeology 🏺 www.insidehighered.com/news/busines...
UChicago Freezing Ph.D. Admissions for Multiple Programs
The indebted institution tasked committees of faculty and staff with planning for changes. But this week, a dean forged ahead and announced broad cuts. Two other units are also pausing admissions.
www.insidehighered.com
August 15, 2025 at 8:04 PM
No PhD admissions for Middle Eastern Studies at UChicago in 2026. MES includes modern and all aspects of the ancient Near East: cuneiform languages, Egyptology, archaeology 🏺 www.insidehighered.com/news/busines...
UChicago’s phoenix is flying backwards into the ashes. #AcademicSky www.chronicle.com/article/they...
They’re Killing the Humanities On Purpose
The crisis is not one of resources but of values.
www.chronicle.com
August 13, 2025 at 9:44 PM
UChicago’s phoenix is flying backwards into the ashes. #AcademicSky www.chronicle.com/article/they...
Reposted by Augusta McMahon
The government is “using levers of power that are completely unrelated to the underlying allegations…Cutting off research for diabetes, cancer, heart disease will not improve the safety of Jewish faculty & students on campus & will not address antisemitism.”
—Mia McIver, AAUP Executive Director
—Mia McIver, AAUP Executive Director
With Grant Cuts, Trump Pressures UCLA to Make Deal
Like it did for prestigious private universities, the administration has cut off federal grants for UCLA, alleging it failed to address antisemitism. The UC system must tell the DOJ by today whether i...
www.insidehighered.com
August 5, 2025 at 2:58 PM
The government is “using levers of power that are completely unrelated to the underlying allegations…Cutting off research for diabetes, cancer, heart disease will not improve the safety of Jewish faculty & students on campus & will not address antisemitism.”
—Mia McIver, AAUP Executive Director
—Mia McIver, AAUP Executive Director
Reposted by Augusta McMahon
FEATURED JOB: Klarman Postdoctoral Fellowship [Up to 3-Year Appointment] College of Arts & Sciences, Cornell University - New York
networks.h-net.org/jobs/68922/c...
#edusky #academicsky #humanities #socialsciences
networks.h-net.org/jobs/68922/c...
#edusky #academicsky #humanities #socialsciences
August 1, 2025 at 5:07 PM
FEATURED JOB: Klarman Postdoctoral Fellowship [Up to 3-Year Appointment] College of Arts & Sciences, Cornell University - New York
networks.h-net.org/jobs/68922/c...
#edusky #academicsky #humanities #socialsciences
networks.h-net.org/jobs/68922/c...
#edusky #academicsky #humanities #socialsciences
Reposted by Augusta McMahon
If you want to hear the latest news from one of Iraq's most iconic sites, and how excavations work, episode 77 is for you
So nice to chat to @jonjtaylor.bsky.social about our 2025 #Nippur excavations. Check out Episode 77! www.wedgepod.org/episode-list/
Episode list - Thin End of the Wedge
COMING SOON! Tina Greenfield — zooarchaeology Augusta McMahon — Chicago excavations at Nippur The Lagash Archaeological Project — fieldwork at Lagash Jana Mynářová — cuneiform in Egypt Christina Tsoup...
www.wedgepod.org
July 29, 2025 at 8:40 AM
If you want to hear the latest news from one of Iraq's most iconic sites, and how excavations work, episode 77 is for you
Reposted by Augusta McMahon
New volume of IRAQ Vol. 86 (2024) www.cambridge.org/core/journal... @universitypress.cambridge.org @augustamcmahon.bsky.social @petramcreamer.bsky.social
July 22, 2025 at 1:11 AM
New volume of IRAQ Vol. 86 (2024) www.cambridge.org/core/journal... @universitypress.cambridge.org @augustamcmahon.bsky.social @petramcreamer.bsky.social
Reposted by Augusta McMahon
Reposted by Augusta McMahon
Day 3 of the Summer Institute begins!
“Academic freedom is a job condition, not a privilege…this is a matter of democratic education.”
—Rana Jaleel, Chair of AAUP’s Committee A on Academic Freedom & Tenure, Morning Plenary “Protecting Academic Freedom: How to Build an Effective Issue Campaign.”
“Academic freedom is a job condition, not a privilege…this is a matter of democratic education.”
—Rana Jaleel, Chair of AAUP’s Committee A on Academic Freedom & Tenure, Morning Plenary “Protecting Academic Freedom: How to Build an Effective Issue Campaign.”
July 19, 2025 at 1:37 PM
Day 3 of the Summer Institute begins!
“Academic freedom is a job condition, not a privilege…this is a matter of democratic education.”
—Rana Jaleel, Chair of AAUP’s Committee A on Academic Freedom & Tenure, Morning Plenary “Protecting Academic Freedom: How to Build an Effective Issue Campaign.”
“Academic freedom is a job condition, not a privilege…this is a matter of democratic education.”
—Rana Jaleel, Chair of AAUP’s Committee A on Academic Freedom & Tenure, Morning Plenary “Protecting Academic Freedom: How to Build an Effective Issue Campaign.”
So nice to chat to @jonjtaylor.bsky.social about our 2025 #Nippur excavations. Check out Episode 77! www.wedgepod.org/episode-list/
Episode list - Thin End of the Wedge
COMING SOON! Tina Greenfield — zooarchaeology Augusta McMahon — Chicago excavations at Nippur The Lagash Archaeological Project — fieldwork at Lagash Jana Mynářová — cuneiform in Egypt Christina Tsoup...
www.wedgepod.org
July 10, 2025 at 2:59 AM
So nice to chat to @jonjtaylor.bsky.social about our 2025 #Nippur excavations. Check out Episode 77! www.wedgepod.org/episode-list/
More archaeology of archaeology. ‘His Majesty’ [#NotMyKing either] in this case was George VI. #Nippur #PostExcavation 🏺
June 30, 2025 at 10:11 PM
More archaeology of archaeology. ‘His Majesty’ [#NotMyKing either] in this case was George VI. #Nippur #PostExcavation 🏺
Reposted by Augusta McMahon
I want to take a moment to share an excerpt from the Declaration of Independence's grievances against King George III.
Sound familiar?
Sound familiar?
June 13, 2025 at 9:21 PM
I want to take a moment to share an excerpt from the Declaration of Independence's grievances against King George III.
Sound familiar?
Sound familiar?
Every damn day I read things like this and it’s like a continuous stream of stories from The Onion. Except it’s not. Where is Congress?
Kristi Noem just testified "Habeas corpus is a constitutional right that the POTUS has to remove people from this country."
FALSE
Habeas corpus is the exact opposite. It's the constitutional right of people to not be detained by the Govt w/o due process. MAGA fascists are so insufferably ignorant.
FALSE
Habeas corpus is the exact opposite. It's the constitutional right of people to not be detained by the Govt w/o due process. MAGA fascists are so insufferably ignorant.
May 20, 2025 at 10:46 PM
Every damn day I read things like this and it’s like a continuous stream of stories from The Onion. Except it’s not. Where is Congress?
Reposted by Augusta McMahon
Happy May 1st! Academics, keep fighting the regimes and budget cuts. Education should not be devalued. And neither should research. Try to opt out of projects that involve highly predatory journals or publishers. They charge top tier & we get nothing? Enough! Our labor matters! #academicsky
May 1, 2025 at 11:18 AM
Happy May 1st! Academics, keep fighting the regimes and budget cuts. Education should not be devalued. And neither should research. Try to opt out of projects that involve highly predatory journals or publishers. They charge top tier & we get nothing? Enough! Our labor matters! #academicsky
Reposted by Augusta McMahon
Trump’s executive order on accreditation is yet another attempt to dictate what is taught, learned, & said by college instructors & students.
Threats to remove accreditors are transparent attempts to consolidate power in the hands of the administration in order to stifle teaching & research.
🧵
Threats to remove accreditors are transparent attempts to consolidate power in the hands of the administration in order to stifle teaching & research.
🧵
EO on Accreditation Opens the Door for Rampant Corruption and Political Interference
President Donald Trump’s executive order on accreditation is yet another attempt to dictate what is taught, learned, said and done by college students and instructors. Threats to remove accreditors fr...
www.aaup.org
April 24, 2025 at 2:48 AM
Trump’s executive order on accreditation is yet another attempt to dictate what is taught, learned, & said by college instructors & students.
Threats to remove accreditors are transparent attempts to consolidate power in the hands of the administration in order to stifle teaching & research.
🧵
Threats to remove accreditors are transparent attempts to consolidate power in the hands of the administration in order to stifle teaching & research.
🧵
Reposted by Augusta McMahon
“If a pact is formed, the universities shall “commit meaningful funding to a shared or distributed defense fund”. The fund will be in turn used to provide “immediate and strategic support to any member institution under direct political or legal infringement.”
#defendhighered
#defendhighered
US universities’ faculty unite to defend academic freedom after Trump’s attacks
Indiana University leads the push for a pact among 18 institutions as Donald Trump targets diversity
www.theguardian.com
April 17, 2025 at 1:17 AM
“If a pact is formed, the universities shall “commit meaningful funding to a shared or distributed defense fund”. The fund will be in turn used to provide “immediate and strategic support to any member institution under direct political or legal infringement.”
#defendhighered
#defendhighered