Courtney (Dr. Version)
@cakrolik.bsky.social
• medieval historian • history of medicine • unapologetic cat gal • quick with a gif • “she probably deserves a raise” - student eval • Tar Heel • feels WAY too much • thoughts are mine and mine alone •
Pinned
Okay #AcademicSky, #HistorySky, etc:
There's a lot of chatter abt how we're moving forward with assignments in the "Age of AI." Especially for those of us in writing disciplines.
I also want to hear what YOU'RE doing. Let's create a master resource thread-list here!
There's a lot of chatter abt how we're moving forward with assignments in the "Age of AI." Especially for those of us in writing disciplines.
I also want to hear what YOU'RE doing. Let's create a master resource thread-list here!
Reposted by Courtney (Dr. Version)
Y’all. I’m at wits end. The lack of reading (let alone being able to read for anything beyond content). How are you handling this? How do we do our jobs? Do we have to just teach … reading now? Literacy? Content comprehension?
February 9, 2026 at 10:56 PM
Y’all. I’m at wits end. The lack of reading (let alone being able to read for anything beyond content). How are you handling this? How do we do our jobs? Do we have to just teach … reading now? Literacy? Content comprehension?
Y’all. I’m at wits end. The lack of reading (let alone being able to read for anything beyond content). How are you handling this? How do we do our jobs? Do we have to just teach … reading now? Literacy? Content comprehension?
February 9, 2026 at 10:56 PM
Y’all. I’m at wits end. The lack of reading (let alone being able to read for anything beyond content). How are you handling this? How do we do our jobs? Do we have to just teach … reading now? Literacy? Content comprehension?
I’m just a professor, standing in front of her classroom, begging them to read the syllabus.
The eternal question of why do I have to make a syllabus if no one ever consults it?
February 9, 2026 at 4:54 PM
I’m just a professor, standing in front of her classroom, begging them to read the syllabus.
The eternal question of why do I have to make a syllabus if no one ever consults it?
February 9, 2026 at 4:15 PM
The eternal question of why do I have to make a syllabus if no one ever consults it?
Check in on your friends teaching online these days (especially asynchronously). It can be a nightmare out there when students don't see you as a real person and treat you like you don't really exist. Especially your female friends.
February 6, 2026 at 2:55 AM
Check in on your friends teaching online these days (especially asynchronously). It can be a nightmare out there when students don't see you as a real person and treat you like you don't really exist. Especially your female friends.
Online tests. They think no one actually checks the videos. Leaned right into the camera, said that amidst a lot of other vitriol.
February 5, 2026 at 11:33 PM
Online tests. They think no one actually checks the videos. Leaned right into the camera, said that amidst a lot of other vitriol.
I snorted. Chicago Style needs a new name.
Ironic really. We should probably call it C̶h̶i̶c̶a̶g̶o̶ now.
February 5, 2026 at 1:14 AM
I snorted. Chicago Style needs a new name.
Reposted by Courtney (Dr. Version)
Love when students try to wield “you have a 1 star on rate my prof” like it’s a big deal?
Sir, it’s a 1.8 and I wear that like a badge of honor when my complaints are “you have to read (a lot),” “if you cheat, she catches and reports you” & “history should be easy”
I’d love to have just 1 star!
Sir, it’s a 1.8 and I wear that like a badge of honor when my complaints are “you have to read (a lot),” “if you cheat, she catches and reports you” & “history should be easy”
I’d love to have just 1 star!
February 3, 2026 at 3:13 PM
Love when students try to wield “you have a 1 star on rate my prof” like it’s a big deal?
Sir, it’s a 1.8 and I wear that like a badge of honor when my complaints are “you have to read (a lot),” “if you cheat, she catches and reports you” & “history should be easy”
I’d love to have just 1 star!
Sir, it’s a 1.8 and I wear that like a badge of honor when my complaints are “you have to read (a lot),” “if you cheat, she catches and reports you” & “history should be easy”
I’d love to have just 1 star!
Wait. We don't include publication location any more in #ChicagoStyleCitations?! Since when?!
February 4, 2026 at 6:43 PM
Wait. We don't include publication location any more in #ChicagoStyleCitations?! Since when?!
Reposted by Courtney (Dr. Version)
I just signed. #MedievalSky 🗃️ #Humanities
I know that these things generally make little difference, but I would advise medievalists to sign the petition to save Classics and Medieval Studies at the University of Calgary. #medievalsky c.org/gGvyrHcwYt
Can you spare a minute to help this campaign?
Save Classics and Medieval Studies at the University of Calgary!
c.org
February 3, 2026 at 10:03 PM
I just signed. #MedievalSky 🗃️ #Humanities
Love when students try to wield “you have a 1 star on rate my prof” like it’s a big deal?
Sir, it’s a 1.8 and I wear that like a badge of honor when my complaints are “you have to read (a lot),” “if you cheat, she catches and reports you” & “history should be easy”
I’d love to have just 1 star!
Sir, it’s a 1.8 and I wear that like a badge of honor when my complaints are “you have to read (a lot),” “if you cheat, she catches and reports you” & “history should be easy”
I’d love to have just 1 star!
February 3, 2026 at 3:13 PM
Love when students try to wield “you have a 1 star on rate my prof” like it’s a big deal?
Sir, it’s a 1.8 and I wear that like a badge of honor when my complaints are “you have to read (a lot),” “if you cheat, she catches and reports you” & “history should be easy”
I’d love to have just 1 star!
Sir, it’s a 1.8 and I wear that like a badge of honor when my complaints are “you have to read (a lot),” “if you cheat, she catches and reports you” & “history should be easy”
I’d love to have just 1 star!
Reposted by Courtney (Dr. Version)
It’s 2026. There is a measles outbreak in the prison for babies
February 2, 2026 at 7:15 AM
It’s 2026. There is a measles outbreak in the prison for babies
Y’all. Please read this book. No matter your academic discipline, your historic research focus, your level of education. Please read this book.
February 2, 2026 at 2:54 PM
Y’all. Please read this book. No matter your academic discipline, your historic research focus, your level of education. Please read this book.
And now, perhaps one of the best last lines in an academic text that I’ve read in a long time:
“Perhaps, after all, it was those with the least ‘stake in society’ who had the most stake in defending democracy.” (p. 188)
Wow.
“Perhaps, after all, it was those with the least ‘stake in society’ who had the most stake in defending democracy.” (p. 188)
Wow.
February 2, 2026 at 2:53 PM
And now, perhaps one of the best last lines in an academic text that I’ve read in a long time:
“Perhaps, after all, it was those with the least ‘stake in society’ who had the most stake in defending democracy.” (p. 188)
Wow.
“Perhaps, after all, it was those with the least ‘stake in society’ who had the most stake in defending democracy.” (p. 188)
Wow.
(cont. 2/2) “…uncivilized, on the face of the globe where a human being can be burned alive with immunity.” (p. 187)
February 2, 2026 at 2:49 PM
(cont. 2/2) “…uncivilized, on the face of the globe where a human being can be burned alive with immunity.” (p. 187)
“Finally, each of these elements in turn contributed to the unusual sanction American culture conferred on extralegal violence in defense of prevailing relations of power. This country was, after all, as James Weldon Johnson once reminded an impervious Congress, “the only spot, civilized or…” (1/2)
February 2, 2026 at 2:49 PM
“Finally, each of these elements in turn contributed to the unusual sanction American culture conferred on extralegal violence in defense of prevailing relations of power. This country was, after all, as James Weldon Johnson once reminded an impervious Congress, “the only spot, civilized or…” (1/2)
“The ev@ngelical strain so prominent in American culture could also play its part in establishing an indigenous form for the apocalyptic, anti-rational, and Manichean emphases of f@scist thought.” (p. 187)
February 2, 2026 at 2:46 PM
“The ev@ngelical strain so prominent in American culture could also play its part in establishing an indigenous form for the apocalyptic, anti-rational, and Manichean emphases of f@scist thought.” (p. 187)
Reposted by Courtney (Dr. Version)
Yes, I’m a medievalist. But that doesn’t stop me from being curious about the rest of history.
Current non-medieval historical book is “Behind the Mask of Chivalry” and dang is this hard hitting and profound.
Follow along if you like, I’ll share thoughts and observations as I read.
Current non-medieval historical book is “Behind the Mask of Chivalry” and dang is this hard hitting and profound.
Follow along if you like, I’ll share thoughts and observations as I read.
November 27, 2025 at 4:00 AM
Yes, I’m a medievalist. But that doesn’t stop me from being curious about the rest of history.
Current non-medieval historical book is “Behind the Mask of Chivalry” and dang is this hard hitting and profound.
Follow along if you like, I’ll share thoughts and observations as I read.
Current non-medieval historical book is “Behind the Mask of Chivalry” and dang is this hard hitting and profound.
Follow along if you like, I’ll share thoughts and observations as I read.
A very simple habit I cannot seem to break my students of is referring to authors by their first name. I don't know why this bugs, but it bugs.
February 2, 2026 at 3:16 AM
A very simple habit I cannot seem to break my students of is referring to authors by their first name. I don't know why this bugs, but it bugs.
Reposted by Courtney (Dr. Version)
Hey, #medievalsky - I just launched Compilatio ( oldbooks.humspace.ucla.edu/index.html ), a quick-and-dirty site that assembles completely digitized #medieval #manuscripts (mostly from UK repositories) in one convenient location. Check it out, and do let me know what you think.
Compilatio - Medieval Manuscripts
oldbooks.humspace.ucla.edu
January 30, 2026 at 5:17 PM
Hey, #medievalsky - I just launched Compilatio ( oldbooks.humspace.ucla.edu/index.html ), a quick-and-dirty site that assembles completely digitized #medieval #manuscripts (mostly from UK repositories) in one convenient location. Check it out, and do let me know what you think.
Not in that I am not going to write them the most GLOWING and TAKE THIS STUDENT sort of letter.
But that I am a legitimate person to ask to do that? Don't you ask adults to do that for you?
But that I am a legitimate person to ask to do that? Don't you ask adults to do that for you?
January 29, 2026 at 11:47 PM
Not in that I am not going to write them the most GLOWING and TAKE THIS STUDENT sort of letter.
But that I am a legitimate person to ask to do that? Don't you ask adults to do that for you?
But that I am a legitimate person to ask to do that? Don't you ask adults to do that for you?
Okay, so you know where I currently am feeling the most imposter syndrome?
With the students who are trusting me to write their letters of recommendation.
With the students who are trusting me to write their letters of recommendation.
January 29, 2026 at 11:46 PM
Okay, so you know where I currently am feeling the most imposter syndrome?
With the students who are trusting me to write their letters of recommendation.
With the students who are trusting me to write their letters of recommendation.
Something ELSE I hate about AI: When students ask for more feedback, one of my first thoughts now is not my usual: "wow, this student really wants to do better! cool!"
No, now it's: "UGH. they want more details so they know how to better train their AI client."
And I hate that for them. AND me.
No, now it's: "UGH. they want more details so they know how to better train their AI client."
And I hate that for them. AND me.
January 29, 2026 at 10:09 PM
Something ELSE I hate about AI: When students ask for more feedback, one of my first thoughts now is not my usual: "wow, this student really wants to do better! cool!"
No, now it's: "UGH. they want more details so they know how to better train their AI client."
And I hate that for them. AND me.
No, now it's: "UGH. they want more details so they know how to better train their AI client."
And I hate that for them. AND me.
Reposted by Courtney (Dr. Version)
For reasons, decided to check in on my Small Business Administration Woman Owned Small Business certification --- and guess what? DOGE wants women to get their spouses to sign off on their certification, despite them not having anything to do with the business!
So that's retrograde.
So that's retrograde.
January 28, 2026 at 8:06 PM
For reasons, decided to check in on my Small Business Administration Woman Owned Small Business certification --- and guess what? DOGE wants women to get their spouses to sign off on their certification, despite them not having anything to do with the business!
So that's retrograde.
So that's retrograde.
“In place of Parliamentary democracy, [H!tler] declared mired in corruption and soft on communism, he called for a strong man to take charge with a plebiscitary mandate. In place of the rule of law, he substituted the calculated paramilitary terror of the brown shirts.” (p. 181)
January 29, 2026 at 2:46 PM
“In place of Parliamentary democracy, [H!tler] declared mired in corruption and soft on communism, he called for a strong man to take charge with a plebiscitary mandate. In place of the rule of law, he substituted the calculated paramilitary terror of the brown shirts.” (p. 181)