Joseph Cermatori
@cermatori.bsky.social
criticism - literature, art, & performance 🌿
associate professor @ skidmore college
www.josephcermatori.com
associate professor @ skidmore college
www.josephcermatori.com
Reposted by Joseph Cermatori
The amount is meaningless — less than one day of salary. But the principle is important: once the armed services are paid by the oligarchs, they become a private militia, and we no longer have a country.
www.nytimes.com/live/2025/10...
www.nytimes.com/live/2025/10...
Trump Administration Live Updates: Pentagon Accepts $130 Million Donation to Help Pay Troops During Shutdown
www.nytimes.com
October 24, 2025 at 9:18 PM
The amount is meaningless — less than one day of salary. But the principle is important: once the armed services are paid by the oligarchs, they become a private militia, and we no longer have a country.
www.nytimes.com/live/2025/10...
www.nytimes.com/live/2025/10...
Reposted by Joseph Cermatori
What do these corporate donors expect in return for their money?
It looks like bribery for special favors from the Trump administration.
It looks like bribery for special favors from the Trump administration.
October 25, 2025 at 5:05 PM
What do these corporate donors expect in return for their money?
It looks like bribery for special favors from the Trump administration.
It looks like bribery for special favors from the Trump administration.
Reposted by Joseph Cermatori
Wow. Harvard nuking its PhD programs
- Science PhD admissions reduced by more than 75%
- Arts & Humanities reduced by about 60%
- Social Sciences by 50–70%
- History by 60%
- Biology by 75%
- The German department will lose all PhD seats
- Sociology from six PhD students to zero
- Science PhD admissions reduced by more than 75%
- Arts & Humanities reduced by about 60%
- Social Sciences by 50–70%
- History by 60%
- Biology by 75%
- The German department will lose all PhD seats
- Sociology from six PhD students to zero
Harvard FAS Cuts Ph.D. Seats By More Than Half Across Next Two Admissions Cycles | News | The Harvard Crimson
The Faculty of Arts and Sciences slashed the number of Ph.D. student admissions slots for the Science division by more than 75 percent and for the Arts & Humanities division by about 60 percent for th...
www.thecrimson.com
October 21, 2025 at 5:11 PM
Wow. Harvard nuking its PhD programs
- Science PhD admissions reduced by more than 75%
- Arts & Humanities reduced by about 60%
- Social Sciences by 50–70%
- History by 60%
- Biology by 75%
- The German department will lose all PhD seats
- Sociology from six PhD students to zero
- Science PhD admissions reduced by more than 75%
- Arts & Humanities reduced by about 60%
- Social Sciences by 50–70%
- History by 60%
- Biology by 75%
- The German department will lose all PhD seats
- Sociology from six PhD students to zero
Reposted by Joseph Cermatori
UNTIL IT’S DONE, Ep. 4: Sylvia Rivera
In the 1970s, queer New Yorkers had been pushed to the margins of NYC. Our trans neighbors faced immense cruelty. But in Sylvia Rivera, they found a champion.
As we combat Trump’s politics of darkness, her legacy can light the path forward.
In the 1970s, queer New Yorkers had been pushed to the margins of NYC. Our trans neighbors faced immense cruelty. But in Sylvia Rivera, they found a champion.
As we combat Trump’s politics of darkness, her legacy can light the path forward.
October 11, 2025 at 12:33 PM
UNTIL IT’S DONE, Ep. 4: Sylvia Rivera
In the 1970s, queer New Yorkers had been pushed to the margins of NYC. Our trans neighbors faced immense cruelty. But in Sylvia Rivera, they found a champion.
As we combat Trump’s politics of darkness, her legacy can light the path forward.
In the 1970s, queer New Yorkers had been pushed to the margins of NYC. Our trans neighbors faced immense cruelty. But in Sylvia Rivera, they found a champion.
As we combat Trump’s politics of darkness, her legacy can light the path forward.
“The crisis in criticism is not just about fewer jobs but about the intellectual health of of our culture. If we let art criticism become an exclusive club for the well-connected and well-funded, we risk creating an echo chamber that flatters power...” @nyobserver.bsky.social #artswriting #criticism
The Death of the Full-Time Critic and What It Means for the Future of Art Writing
If we let art criticism become an exclusive club for the well-connected and well-funded, we risk creating an echo chamber that flatters power rather than interrogates it.
observer.com
August 30, 2025 at 9:41 AM
“The crisis in criticism is not just about fewer jobs but about the intellectual health of of our culture. If we let art criticism become an exclusive club for the well-connected and well-funded, we risk creating an echo chamber that flatters power...” @nyobserver.bsky.social #artswriting #criticism
Dispatch from the University of Chicago: “The university’s trustees and leaders view it preeminently as a tax-free technology incubator, and its debt load is so great that it is abandoning ideals it once held dear in order to sustain that goal. We are simply choosing not to be a university.”
The Crisis of the University Started Long Before Trump
The University of Chicago is in crisis. Under extraordinary financial strain, it has diminished its faculty-student ratio and hired hundreds of “lecturers”: teachers whom it pays little and whom it do...
www.compactmag.com
August 30, 2025 at 9:30 AM
Dispatch from the University of Chicago: “The university’s trustees and leaders view it preeminently as a tax-free technology incubator, and its debt load is so great that it is abandoning ideals it once held dear in order to sustain that goal. We are simply choosing not to be a university.”
Portait of the sculptor Alessandro Vittoria, Giovanni Battista Moroni, 1551-1552, oil on canvas, 87.5 cm × 70 cm (34.4 in × 28 in), Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna. #portraiture #arthistory #moroni
August 22, 2025 at 3:45 PM
Portait of the sculptor Alessandro Vittoria, Giovanni Battista Moroni, 1551-1552, oil on canvas, 87.5 cm × 70 cm (34.4 in × 28 in), Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna. #portraiture #arthistory #moroni
(1/14)
So many tributes these past few days in honor of Robert Wilson (1941–2025) — widely hailed as the most significant American theater director of his generation. Here’s a memorial thread. #RobertWilson #avantgarde #contrmporary #opera #performance #theaterhistory #theater #InMemoriam
So many tributes these past few days in honor of Robert Wilson (1941–2025) — widely hailed as the most significant American theater director of his generation. Here’s a memorial thread. #RobertWilson #avantgarde #contrmporary #opera #performance #theaterhistory #theater #InMemoriam
August 5, 2025 at 1:25 PM
(1/14)
So many tributes these past few days in honor of Robert Wilson (1941–2025) — widely hailed as the most significant American theater director of his generation. Here’s a memorial thread. #RobertWilson #avantgarde #contrmporary #opera #performance #theaterhistory #theater #InMemoriam
So many tributes these past few days in honor of Robert Wilson (1941–2025) — widely hailed as the most significant American theater director of his generation. Here’s a memorial thread. #RobertWilson #avantgarde #contrmporary #opera #performance #theaterhistory #theater #InMemoriam
Reposted by Joseph Cermatori
We should be ok then:
May 8, 2025 at 8:57 PM
We should be ok then:
Reposted by Joseph Cermatori
Early design for Bernini's baldacchino in St. Peter's, topped by the Risen Christ (rather than orb with cross as executed). #HappyEaster
April 20, 2025 at 7:56 AM
Early design for Bernini's baldacchino in St. Peter's, topped by the Risen Christ (rather than orb with cross as executed). #HappyEaster
Turns out Millennial Grey was a thing in the 1420s too…
Saint Barbara reading, Robert Campin, 1428
(Museo Nacional Del Prado)
(Museo Nacional Del Prado)
March 6, 2025 at 5:21 PM
Turns out Millennial Grey was a thing in the 1420s too…
Reposted by Joseph Cermatori
We are living in a new branch of history, created by Covid and only now, five years later, really coming into view. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Opinion | How Covid Remade Our America, Five Years Later
It feels as if the pandemic is behind us. But we’re living in the world it made.
www.nytimes.com
March 4, 2025 at 8:59 PM
We are living in a new branch of history, created by Covid and only now, five years later, really coming into view. www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Needed a momentary break from the headlines, the gloom, and the doom, so took a daytrip into the city to catch Cy Twombly at the Gagosian, and Isabelle Huppert and Robert Wilson at NYU’s Skirball Center. 💛 #cytwombly #isabellehuppert #robertwilson #contemporaryart #nyc #nyu
March 5, 2025 at 12:00 AM
Needed a momentary break from the headlines, the gloom, and the doom, so took a daytrip into the city to catch Cy Twombly at the Gagosian, and Isabelle Huppert and Robert Wilson at NYU’s Skirball Center. 💛 #cytwombly #isabellehuppert #robertwilson #contemporaryart #nyc #nyu
Really wishing I lived in London right now, not least of all so I could go catch Jonathan Bailey play Richard II at the Bridge Theater. I meannnnnn....
www.nytimes.com/2025/02/18/t...
#williamshakespeare #theater #londontheater #jonathanbailey
www.nytimes.com/2025/02/18/t...
#williamshakespeare #theater #londontheater #jonathanbailey
February 26, 2025 at 12:46 AM
Really wishing I lived in London right now, not least of all so I could go catch Jonathan Bailey play Richard II at the Bridge Theater. I meannnnnn....
www.nytimes.com/2025/02/18/t...
#williamshakespeare #theater #londontheater #jonathanbailey
www.nytimes.com/2025/02/18/t...
#williamshakespeare #theater #londontheater #jonathanbailey
Butler: “Those who celebrate his defiance and sadism are as claimed by his logic as those who are paralyzed with outrage. Perhaps it is time to stand apart from these passions to see how they work, but also to find passions of our own.”
—
@theguardian.com, 6 Feb 2025 #RefuseFascism #DemocracyNow
—
@theguardian.com, 6 Feb 2025 #RefuseFascism #DemocracyNow
Trump is unleashing sadism upon the world. But we cannot get overwhelmed | Judith Butler
Those who celebrate his defiance and sadism are as claimed by his logic as those who are paralyzed with outrage
www.theguardian.com
February 21, 2025 at 12:13 PM
Butler: “Those who celebrate his defiance and sadism are as claimed by his logic as those who are paralyzed with outrage. Perhaps it is time to stand apart from these passions to see how they work, but also to find passions of our own.”
—
@theguardian.com, 6 Feb 2025 #RefuseFascism #DemocracyNow
—
@theguardian.com, 6 Feb 2025 #RefuseFascism #DemocracyNow
Reposted by Joseph Cermatori
Useful reading, with some much needed perspective and recommendations.
*9. Prepare for a long fight*
“This is the fight of our generation, and it will take time.”
#defenddemocracy #refusefascism
*9. Prepare for a long fight*
“This is the fight of our generation, and it will take time.”
#defenddemocracy #refusefascism
Ten Things We Can All Do to Protect Democracy
From Marc | The most common question I receive is how everyday citizens can help in the fight for democracy.
www.democracydocket.com
February 13, 2025 at 2:19 AM
Useful reading, with some much needed perspective and recommendations.
*9. Prepare for a long fight*
“This is the fight of our generation, and it will take time.”
#defenddemocracy #refusefascism
*9. Prepare for a long fight*
“This is the fight of our generation, and it will take time.”
#defenddemocracy #refusefascism
Spending the afternoon in editor mode, working to prepare a new collection of the nonfiction writings of Thornton Wilder. Here he is with Gertrude Stein, visiting her summer home in Bilignin, France, ca. 1937/1938. #thorntonwilder #gertrudestein #moderndrama #modernism
February 16, 2025 at 9:43 PM
Spending the afternoon in editor mode, working to prepare a new collection of the nonfiction writings of Thornton Wilder. Here he is with Gertrude Stein, visiting her summer home in Bilignin, France, ca. 1937/1938. #thorntonwilder #gertrudestein #moderndrama #modernism
New research from Microsoft and Carnegie Mellon University “finds that as humans increasingly rely on generative AI in their work, they use less critical thinking, which can ‘result in the deterioration of cognitive faculties that ought to be preserved.’” #brainrot #forreal
Microsoft Study Finds AI Makes Human Cognition “Atrophied and Unprepared”
Researchers find that the more people use AI at their job, the less critical thinking they use.
www.404media.co
February 13, 2025 at 2:38 AM
Useful reading, with some much needed perspective and recommendations.
*9. Prepare for a long fight*
“This is the fight of our generation, and it will take time.”
#defenddemocracy #refusefascism
*9. Prepare for a long fight*
“This is the fight of our generation, and it will take time.”
#defenddemocracy #refusefascism
Ten Things We Can All Do to Protect Democracy
From Marc | The most common question I receive is how everyday citizens can help in the fight for democracy.
www.democracydocket.com
February 13, 2025 at 2:19 AM
Useful reading, with some much needed perspective and recommendations.
*9. Prepare for a long fight*
“This is the fight of our generation, and it will take time.”
#defenddemocracy #refusefascism
*9. Prepare for a long fight*
“This is the fight of our generation, and it will take time.”
#defenddemocracy #refusefascism
In honor of the birthday today of Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956)—poet, theorist, and dramatist—here’s a YouTube video adaptation of one of his short prose texts, “If Sharks Were Men.” More urgent and disturbing today than any time in recent memory, seems like. 🦈
#brecht #antifascist #refusefascism #HBD
#brecht #antifascist #refusefascism #HBD
If Sharks Were Men by Bertolt Brecht
YouTube video by Boka Art Residence
youtu.be
February 11, 2025 at 1:46 AM
In honor of the birthday today of Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956)—poet, theorist, and dramatist—here’s a YouTube video adaptation of one of his short prose texts, “If Sharks Were Men.” More urgent and disturbing today than any time in recent memory, seems like. 🦈
#brecht #antifascist #refusefascism #HBD
#brecht #antifascist #refusefascism #HBD
Opening this week in Saratoga Springs, NY, a *major* exhibition of queer lives, queer visual art, queer performances, and queer archival practices.
"a field of bloom and hum"
Tang Museum
Feb 14-Jul 20
#queer #queerlives #queerart #queerarchives 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️
Info below: ⬇️ ⬇️
tang.skidmore.edu/exhibitions/...
"a field of bloom and hum"
Tang Museum
Feb 14-Jul 20
#queer #queerlives #queerart #queerarchives 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️
Info below: ⬇️ ⬇️
tang.skidmore.edu/exhibitions/...
February 8, 2025 at 9:17 PM
Opening this week in Saratoga Springs, NY, a *major* exhibition of queer lives, queer visual art, queer performances, and queer archival practices.
"a field of bloom and hum"
Tang Museum
Feb 14-Jul 20
#queer #queerlives #queerart #queerarchives 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️
Info below: ⬇️ ⬇️
tang.skidmore.edu/exhibitions/...
"a field of bloom and hum"
Tang Museum
Feb 14-Jul 20
#queer #queerlives #queerart #queerarchives 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️
Info below: ⬇️ ⬇️
tang.skidmore.edu/exhibitions/...
Here’s the political theorist and historian of reactionary conservatism, Corey Robin, writing on Facebook about recent a recent shift in how left-liberal pundits are responding to our country’s unfolding hostile takeover.
@joriegraham.bsky.social
@joriegraham.bsky.social
February 8, 2025 at 6:03 PM
Here’s the political theorist and historian of reactionary conservatism, Corey Robin, writing on Facebook about recent a recent shift in how left-liberal pundits are responding to our country’s unfolding hostile takeover.
@joriegraham.bsky.social
@joriegraham.bsky.social
Brown & Trinity suspend new MFA admissions: “Audiences have not returned in the way that they were before the pandemic. It’s irresponsible to have students moving through a program that is trying to imagine what its foundational principles are.” www.browndailyherald.com/article/2025...
Brown, Trinity indefinitely pause admissions to MFA program
The Brown/Trinity MFA program is indefinitely halting admissions after a temporary pause since 2023.
www.browndailyherald.com
February 7, 2025 at 6:34 PM
Carlo Dolci,
Salome with the Head of John the Baptist
c.1665-70
(RCT, HM CIII)
Salome with the Head of John the Baptist
c.1665-70
(RCT, HM CIII)
February 4, 2025 at 2:05 PM
H/t @alexanderchee.bsky.social: “They’re shortselling on our destruction.”
"In January, investors have placed 10 times more bets on US stocks falling than equivalent bets that shares in leading American companies would rise, the investment bank said."
Hedge funds bet billions on market crash in Trump’s America
Goldman Sachs reports a surge in short bets against US stocks
www.telegraph.co.uk
February 2, 2025 at 10:40 AM
H/t @alexanderchee.bsky.social: “They’re shortselling on our destruction.”