Brandon W. Hawk
@brandonwhawk.bsky.social
Professor of English at Rhode Island College (views my own). I’m a nerd for medieval things, biblical apocrypha, Star Wars, LotR, & Magic (TCG). He/him.
“Read some fucking apocrypha.”
https://linktr.ee/brandonwhawk
“Read some fucking apocrypha.”
https://linktr.ee/brandonwhawk
One day at a time.
December 23, 2025 at 3:03 AM
One day at a time.
With time alone this weekend & over the holidays, & wanting to frolic in the holiday media-viewing spirit, I'm looking for holiday movie recommendations (esp for some that might not be obvious). Anyone have suggestions?
December 21, 2025 at 12:22 AM
With time alone this weekend & over the holidays, & wanting to frolic in the holiday media-viewing spirit, I'm looking for holiday movie recommendations (esp for some that might not be obvious). Anyone have suggestions?
It’s a cold, wet, dark day, grades are submitted, & my oldest is out from school sick with me today, so we’re snuggled up watching Christmas movies like Red One (my choice) & Krampus (her request because she wanted to watch a scary movie).
December 19, 2025 at 6:25 PM
It’s a cold, wet, dark day, grades are submitted, & my oldest is out from school sick with me today, so we’re snuggled up watching Christmas movies like Red One (my choice) & Krampus (her request because she wanted to watch a scary movie).
"Documentaries." You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means. #Christmas #holidays
December 19, 2025 at 4:36 PM
"Documentaries." You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means. #Christmas #holidays
Reposted by Brandon W. Hawk
Someone put this on a coffee mug yet?
"But I am very poorly today & very stupid & hate everybody & everything. One lives only to make blunders."
- Charles Darwin
I know how you felt, Charles; I know how you felt.
www.darwinproject.ac.uk/darwins-bad-...
- Charles Darwin
I know how you felt, Charles; I know how you felt.
www.darwinproject.ac.uk/darwins-bad-...
Darwin's bad days
Despite being a prolific worker who had many successes with his scientific theorising and experimenting, even Darwin had some bad days. These times when nothing appeared to be going right are well ill...
www.darwinproject.ac.uk
December 18, 2025 at 7:04 PM
Someone put this on a coffee mug yet?
Reposted by Brandon W. Hawk
It's time! Behold the Christmas hedgehog! From Verdun, Bibl. mun., ms. 0107, f. 008. Our thanks as always to @etreharne.bsky.social who found her.
December 18, 2025 at 3:29 PM
It's time! Behold the Christmas hedgehog! From Verdun, Bibl. mun., ms. 0107, f. 008. Our thanks as always to @etreharne.bsky.social who found her.
Grades submitted. That's a wrap on fall 2025. Let's nail the coffin & bury it.
December 18, 2025 at 6:16 PM
Grades submitted. That's a wrap on fall 2025. Let's nail the coffin & bury it.
Reposted by Brandon W. Hawk
it's incredibly lovely to see that CLOSE READING FOR THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY is on the year-end list for @publicbooks.bsky.social not once but TWICE!!
thank you to @njdames.bsky.social and @leahprice.hcommons.social.ap.brid.gy!!
and among such amazing books!!!
www.publicbooks.org/public-picks...
thank you to @njdames.bsky.social and @leahprice.hcommons.social.ap.brid.gy!!
and among such amazing books!!!
www.publicbooks.org/public-picks...
Public Picks 2025 - Public Books
What were the books of 2025 that dazzled, challenged, and inspired us? For this, the 13th-annual edition of Public Picks, section editors for Global Black
www.publicbooks.org
December 18, 2025 at 5:45 PM
it's incredibly lovely to see that CLOSE READING FOR THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY is on the year-end list for @publicbooks.bsky.social not once but TWICE!!
thank you to @njdames.bsky.social and @leahprice.hcommons.social.ap.brid.gy!!
and among such amazing books!!!
www.publicbooks.org/public-picks...
thank you to @njdames.bsky.social and @leahprice.hcommons.social.ap.brid.gy!!
and among such amazing books!!!
www.publicbooks.org/public-picks...
Reposted by Brandon W. Hawk
„many of the traditional ways to get academic jobs just aren't there anymore.“ exactly, the academic job market is more or less gone, or in a state of implosion at least.
I have a secure academic job in a library. I worked very hard to get that job. I was also very, very lucky. And the path I used to get the job no longer exists. I think that last doesn't get discussed enough: many of the traditional ways to get academic jobs just aren't there anymore.
December 17, 2025 at 2:35 PM
„many of the traditional ways to get academic jobs just aren't there anymore.“ exactly, the academic job market is more or less gone, or in a state of implosion at least.
Reposted by Brandon W. Hawk
This is the choice that those with power have made—
This is the life they want for our children and us.
It will continue until we change who is in power or how power functions here.
This is the life they want for our children and us.
It will continue until we change who is in power or how power functions here.
so far tonight msnbc has interviewed two students from brown university that are also survivors of separate high school shootings.
insanity.
insanity.
December 14, 2025 at 3:18 AM
This is the choice that those with power have made—
This is the life they want for our children and us.
It will continue until we change who is in power or how power functions here.
This is the life they want for our children and us.
It will continue until we change who is in power or how power functions here.
Icymi, be sure to check out this wonderful seasonally appropriate article on traditions in biblical #apocrypha about #Jesus as a child! #holidays #Christmas
This is a fantastic article about the representation of #Jesus as a child in biblical #apocrypha & medieval traditions! It's perfectly in time for the #holidays. #Christmas #MedievalSky
"The Bible says little about Jesus’ childhood – but that didn’t stop medieval Christians from enjoying tales of him as holy ‘rascal’" - CMS Alum Mary Dzon writes for @ca.theconversation.com.
theconversation.com/the-bible-sa...
theconversation.com/the-bible-sa...
December 13, 2025 at 6:25 PM
Icymi, be sure to check out this wonderful seasonally appropriate article on traditions in biblical #apocrypha about #Jesus as a child! #holidays #Christmas
Reposted by Brandon W. Hawk
There isn't a single problem "solved" by edtech that couldn't be fixed with smaller classes led by well-paid teachers given real academic freedom
December 12, 2025 at 6:23 PM
There isn't a single problem "solved" by edtech that couldn't be fixed with smaller classes led by well-paid teachers given real academic freedom
This is a fantastic article about the representation of #Jesus as a child in biblical #apocrypha & medieval traditions! It's perfectly in time for the #holidays. #Christmas #MedievalSky
"The Bible says little about Jesus’ childhood – but that didn’t stop medieval Christians from enjoying tales of him as holy ‘rascal’" - CMS Alum Mary Dzon writes for @ca.theconversation.com.
theconversation.com/the-bible-sa...
theconversation.com/the-bible-sa...
The Bible says little about Jesus’ childhood – but that didn’t stop medieval Christians from enjoying tales of him as holy ‘rascal’
Legends about Jesus’ early years that circulated in medieval Europe often drew on apocryphal texts.
theconversation.com
December 12, 2025 at 9:56 PM
This is a fantastic article about the representation of #Jesus as a child in biblical #apocrypha & medieval traditions! It's perfectly in time for the #holidays. #Christmas #MedievalSky
Reposted by Brandon W. Hawk
I have friends and family in both administration and faculty positions at struggling schools. This is exactly right. Cutting majors just leads to a death spiral of dropping enrollment. I don't know that anyone has found a solution, but the thing they keep doing is exactly what DOES NOT WORK.
You know why these glowing stories about innovative austerity by university administration pisses off all the faculty? All of them? It's not because it's about firing faculty--you've clearly never been to a faculty meeting if you think there's solidarity internally! It's actually much simpler!
December 9, 2025 at 5:47 PM
I have friends and family in both administration and faculty positions at struggling schools. This is exactly right. Cutting majors just leads to a death spiral of dropping enrollment. I don't know that anyone has found a solution, but the thing they keep doing is exactly what DOES NOT WORK.
Reposted by Brandon W. Hawk
This is also why they're adopting AI. There's an entire media apparatus telling them this is what students and businesses want--DEGREES in JOBS, what every STUDENT WANTS, except for the fact that they don't really--so this is where the money goes! Because everyone is flailing & the admin are scared.
December 9, 2025 at 4:58 PM
This is also why they're adopting AI. There's an entire media apparatus telling them this is what students and businesses want--DEGREES in JOBS, what every STUDENT WANTS, except for the fact that they don't really--so this is where the money goes! Because everyone is flailing & the admin are scared.
Remember: they've already done this before, with Computer Science, Programming, & other related "STEM" initiatives in the 2000s. Now those majors get the shaft & the pivot is to others like "Cybersecurity" & "Artificial Intelligence" because they're the rage of the moment.
As I was just saying.
They will scale up random “schools” based on market speculation and then close them down when demand wanes. Thats the plan.
They will scale up random “schools” based on market speculation and then close them down when demand wanes. Thats the plan.
Yes we all agree that this is the reason colleges are in trouble
December 9, 2025 at 4:52 PM
Remember: they've already done this before, with Computer Science, Programming, & other related "STEM" initiatives in the 2000s. Now those majors get the shaft & the pivot is to others like "Cybersecurity" & "Artificial Intelligence" because they're the rage of the moment.
Reposted by Brandon W. Hawk
As I was just saying.
They will scale up random “schools” based on market speculation and then close them down when demand wanes. Thats the plan.
They will scale up random “schools” based on market speculation and then close them down when demand wanes. Thats the plan.
Yes we all agree that this is the reason colleges are in trouble
December 9, 2025 at 4:47 PM
As I was just saying.
They will scale up random “schools” based on market speculation and then close them down when demand wanes. Thats the plan.
They will scale up random “schools” based on market speculation and then close them down when demand wanes. Thats the plan.
Reposted by Brandon W. Hawk
NASSCAL, AELAC, and Beyond Canon are collaborating on a conference/workshop to take place in Regensburg, 8-10 July 2025. The theme is "Early Christian Apocalypticism (II-V saec.): Contours, Contexts, and Social Functions." If you are interested in taking part contact tburke@yorku.ca.
December 9, 2025 at 1:53 PM
NASSCAL, AELAC, and Beyond Canon are collaborating on a conference/workshop to take place in Regensburg, 8-10 July 2025. The theme is "Early Christian Apocalypticism (II-V saec.): Contours, Contexts, and Social Functions." If you are interested in taking part contact tburke@yorku.ca.
Reposted by Brandon W. Hawk
This entire grift relies on convincing people that they don't know how to do the things they have always known how to do, and ironically, if it works, we will, in a very short amount of time, forget how to do all the things we have always known how to do.
Jimmy Fallon: "And do you use ChatGPT when raising your baby?"
Sam Altman: "I cannot imagine figuring out how to raise a newborn without ChatGPT."
Sam Altman: "I cannot imagine figuring out how to raise a newborn without ChatGPT."
December 9, 2025 at 3:40 PM
This entire grift relies on convincing people that they don't know how to do the things they have always known how to do, and ironically, if it works, we will, in a very short amount of time, forget how to do all the things we have always known how to do.
Reposted by Brandon W. Hawk
I mean, in what sense will you be able to say the college “survived”?
December 9, 2025 at 3:50 PM
I mean, in what sense will you be able to say the college “survived”?
Reposted by Brandon W. Hawk
1. Some manuscripts have real character.
They are often not the smartest, shiniest manuscripts, but rather the ones that have seen things. The manuscripts that have really been used (and abused). Today I spent the day with a very charismatic manuscript at the NLS, Edinburgh...🧵
They are often not the smartest, shiniest manuscripts, but rather the ones that have seen things. The manuscripts that have really been used (and abused). Today I spent the day with a very charismatic manuscript at the NLS, Edinburgh...🧵
December 8, 2025 at 8:16 PM
1. Some manuscripts have real character.
They are often not the smartest, shiniest manuscripts, but rather the ones that have seen things. The manuscripts that have really been used (and abused). Today I spent the day with a very charismatic manuscript at the NLS, Edinburgh...🧵
They are often not the smartest, shiniest manuscripts, but rather the ones that have seen things. The manuscripts that have really been used (and abused). Today I spent the day with a very charismatic manuscript at the NLS, Edinburgh...🧵
Probably the funniest part about this post is how many people *in the comments* seem not to get the meme & the point that the Immaculate Conception is about *Mary*... not Jesus....
December 8, 2025 at 8:06 PM
Probably the funniest part about this post is how many people *in the comments* seem not to get the meme & the point that the Immaculate Conception is about *Mary*... not Jesus....
Reposted by Brandon W. Hawk
Happy Feast of the Immaculate Conception!
December 8, 2025 at 2:27 PM
Happy Feast of the Immaculate Conception!
Reposted by Brandon W. Hawk
I believe that the key to a happier life is to read more books, eat more scones, and use more Oxford commas.
December 3, 2025 at 4:08 PM
I believe that the key to a happier life is to read more books, eat more scones, and use more Oxford commas.
'Tis the season to see all sorts of pop-culture references to #Christmas traditions that actually come from biblical #apocrypha! If you want to read more, you should check out some of my favorites, like the Protevangelium of James & the Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew!
December 8, 2025 at 3:48 PM
'Tis the season to see all sorts of pop-culture references to #Christmas traditions that actually come from biblical #apocrypha! If you want to read more, you should check out some of my favorites, like the Protevangelium of James & the Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew!