eileen chengyin chow
@chowleen.bsky.social
@chowleen most elsewhere; my old tweets reappear here at odd times.
Duke prof, APSI Dir+DGS, Duke Story Lab founder. DUP Sinotheory, LAReviewOfBooks board. Shewo Institute 舍我紀念館 Director, Biographical Lit 傳記文學 publisher
周成蔭 #everynightapoem
Duke prof, APSI Dir+DGS, Duke Story Lab founder. DUP Sinotheory, LAReviewOfBooks board. Shewo Institute 舍我紀念館 Director, Biographical Lit 傳記文學 publisher
周成蔭 #everynightapoem
Pinned
I, however,
Have such meagre power,
Clutching at a
Moment,
While you control
An hour.
But your hour is
A stone.
My moment is
A flower.
-Langston Hughes, "Poet to Bigot"
#everynightapoem As ever.
Have such meagre power,
Clutching at a
Moment,
While you control
An hour.
But your hour is
A stone.
My moment is
A flower.
-Langston Hughes, "Poet to Bigot"
#everynightapoem As ever.
Reposted by eileen chengyin chow
Photo by Pierre Lavie. Yes this is me. And I threw my Leica. It landed on the bass plate with hardly a scratch. Another Photographer grabbed it along with my phone and I was able to track him later. I was held face down tear gas deployed right in front of me and pepper sprayed directly into the eye.
January 17, 2026 at 2:57 PM
Photo by Pierre Lavie. Yes this is me. And I threw my Leica. It landed on the bass plate with hardly a scratch. Another Photographer grabbed it along with my phone and I was able to track him later. I was held face down tear gas deployed right in front of me and pepper sprayed directly into the eye.
Only just managed to watch #LaChimera (Alice Rohrwacher, 2023) - and twice in a row! - still reeling at what an impossibly good film it was.
January 18, 2026 at 12:39 AM
Only just managed to watch #LaChimera (Alice Rohrwacher, 2023) - and twice in a row! - still reeling at what an impossibly good film it was.
Happy birthday @zeets.bsky.social (and read his book)!
A book I loved so much I brought it along with me throughout my summer travels - finished reading it a second time at Shaolin Temple in Henan, China.
Go read it. "The Minotaur at Calle Lanza" by @zeets.bsky.social
#peripatetic #amreading
Go read it. "The Minotaur at Calle Lanza" by @zeets.bsky.social
#peripatetic #amreading
January 18, 2026 at 12:33 AM
Happy birthday @zeets.bsky.social (and read his book)!
Reposted by eileen chengyin chow
My colleague Paul Maddox has paused his scientific career to run for Congress in NC's 11th District. Its the district where he grew up and where his mom and brother live. He saw how Hurricane Helene devastated the region and saw Trump's sad response 1/n
www.maddoxforcongress.com
www.maddoxforcongress.com
Paul Maddox for Congress, NC-11
Paul Maddox, professor, entrepreneur, and world-renowned cancer researcher, is running for Congress because working families in Western North Carolina deserve a representative who cares for all our co...
www.maddoxforcongress.com
January 17, 2026 at 5:07 PM
My colleague Paul Maddox has paused his scientific career to run for Congress in NC's 11th District. Its the district where he grew up and where his mom and brother live. He saw how Hurricane Helene devastated the region and saw Trump's sad response 1/n
www.maddoxforcongress.com
www.maddoxforcongress.com
Reposted by eileen chengyin chow
Seeing folks talk about 2016 and just wanted to chime in to say 2016 fucking sucked for me. I spent so many goddamn hours trying to block Trump from winning that I fell behind on all my work and got carpal tunnel syndrome from so much textbanking, and that monster won.
January 17, 2026 at 5:33 PM
Seeing folks talk about 2016 and just wanted to chime in to say 2016 fucking sucked for me. I spent so many goddamn hours trying to block Trump from winning that I fell behind on all my work and got carpal tunnel syndrome from so much textbanking, and that monster won.
Reposted by eileen chengyin chow
I found this to be an empowering read.
Thank you @nbedera.bsky.social and everyone on the ground engaged in ICE Watch.
Thank you @nbedera.bsky.social and everyone on the ground engaged in ICE Watch.
For @msnownews.bsky.social, I wrote an article about how ICE Watch is grounded in sociological theories of violence prevention.
The reality is that most men will only commit public violence in extremely specific scenarios and ICE Watch disrupts the conditions necessary for escalation.
The reality is that most men will only commit public violence in extremely specific scenarios and ICE Watch disrupts the conditions necessary for escalation.
Opinion | I'm a Minneapolis sociologist who studies violence. Here's how ICE observers are helping.
Research into how violence occurs shows that disapproval from the people around you can help reduce it.
www.ms.now
January 17, 2026 at 4:41 AM
I found this to be an empowering read.
Thank you @nbedera.bsky.social and everyone on the ground engaged in ICE Watch.
Thank you @nbedera.bsky.social and everyone on the ground engaged in ICE Watch.
Reposted by eileen chengyin chow
“Sustained by what we have inherited from the past and what we witness, we will have the courage to resist and continue resisting in as yet unimaginable circumstances. We will learn how to wait in solidarity.”
-John Berger, Confabulations, "How to Resist A State of Forgetting"
#everynightapoem
-John Berger, Confabulations, "How to Resist A State of Forgetting"
#everynightapoem
January 16, 2026 at 11:25 PM
“Sustained by what we have inherited from the past and what we witness, we will have the courage to resist and continue resisting in as yet unimaginable circumstances. We will learn how to wait in solidarity.”
-John Berger, Confabulations, "How to Resist A State of Forgetting"
#everynightapoem
-John Berger, Confabulations, "How to Resist A State of Forgetting"
#everynightapoem
Reposted by eileen chengyin chow
"Texts from nature, from the universe, and they remind us that symmetry co-exists with chaos, that ingenuities outflank fatalities, that what is desired is more reassuring than what is promised."
-John Berger, "How to Resist A State of Forgetting"
[Robert Smithson, designs for Spiral Jetty, 1970]
-John Berger, "How to Resist A State of Forgetting"
[Robert Smithson, designs for Spiral Jetty, 1970]
January 16, 2026 at 11:22 PM
"Texts from nature, from the universe, and they remind us that symmetry co-exists with chaos, that ingenuities outflank fatalities, that what is desired is more reassuring than what is promised."
-John Berger, "How to Resist A State of Forgetting"
[Robert Smithson, designs for Spiral Jetty, 1970]
-John Berger, "How to Resist A State of Forgetting"
[Robert Smithson, designs for Spiral Jetty, 1970]
Reposted by eileen chengyin chow
"Those who are ready to protest against, and resist, what is happening today are legion, but the political means for doing so are for the moment unclear or absent.
How to wait in this state of forgetfulness?”
John Berger, from "Confabulations (2016), his final book
#everynightapoem #ofsorts
How to wait in this state of forgetfulness?”
John Berger, from "Confabulations (2016), his final book
#everynightapoem #ofsorts
January 16, 2026 at 11:17 PM
"Those who are ready to protest against, and resist, what is happening today are legion, but the political means for doing so are for the moment unclear or absent.
How to wait in this state of forgetfulness?”
John Berger, from "Confabulations (2016), his final book
#everynightapoem #ofsorts
How to wait in this state of forgetfulness?”
John Berger, from "Confabulations (2016), his final book
#everynightapoem #ofsorts
Reposted by eileen chengyin chow
Reposting to remind myself.
“Write for your dead. Tell them a story. What are you doing with this life? Let them hold you accountable.
..Be sure you write for the living too. The ones you love, and the ones who are coming for your life."
-Alexander Chee
Read the whole essay. I will, with my students today.
#everynightapoem
..Be sure you write for the living too. The ones you love, and the ones who are coming for your life."
-Alexander Chee
Read the whole essay. I will, with my students today.
#everynightapoem
January 17, 2026 at 4:44 AM
Reposting to remind myself.
I found this to be an empowering read.
Thank you @nbedera.bsky.social and everyone on the ground engaged in ICE Watch.
Thank you @nbedera.bsky.social and everyone on the ground engaged in ICE Watch.
For @msnownews.bsky.social, I wrote an article about how ICE Watch is grounded in sociological theories of violence prevention.
The reality is that most men will only commit public violence in extremely specific scenarios and ICE Watch disrupts the conditions necessary for escalation.
The reality is that most men will only commit public violence in extremely specific scenarios and ICE Watch disrupts the conditions necessary for escalation.
Opinion | I'm a Minneapolis sociologist who studies violence. Here's how ICE observers are helping.
Research into how violence occurs shows that disapproval from the people around you can help reduce it.
www.ms.now
January 17, 2026 at 4:41 AM
I found this to be an empowering read.
Thank you @nbedera.bsky.social and everyone on the ground engaged in ICE Watch.
Thank you @nbedera.bsky.social and everyone on the ground engaged in ICE Watch.
This is what we did in Durham in November and December when ICE came to NC. I was so impressed with how longtime civic, church, school organizations joined together to instantly make it happen. And it was bc there was a deep awareness of history among activists in NC.
January 17, 2026 at 4:08 AM
This is what we did in Durham in November and December when ICE came to NC. I was so impressed with how longtime civic, church, school organizations joined together to instantly make it happen. And it was bc there was a deep awareness of history among activists in NC.
Reposted by eileen chengyin chow
C’est pas comme ça qu’on décrit son travail, mais pour moi M. Lynch était pas mal la définition du “cute”.
Vale David Lynch, creator of worlds.
I've always liked this exchange ("Where do ideas come from?") he had with Paul Holdengraber.
#storyworlds #davidlynch
youtu.be/Fxr-7O1Bfxg?...
I've always liked this exchange ("Where do ideas come from?") he had with Paul Holdengraber.
#storyworlds #davidlynch
youtu.be/Fxr-7O1Bfxg?...
David Lynch: Where do ideas come from?
YouTube video by BAMorg
youtu.be
January 17, 2026 at 2:15 AM
C’est pas comme ça qu’on décrit son travail, mais pour moi M. Lynch était pas mal la définition du “cute”.
David Lynch died a year ago today.
January 17, 2026 at 1:59 AM
David Lynch died a year ago today.
Reposted by eileen chengyin chow
Vale David Lynch, creator of worlds.
I've always liked this exchange ("Where do ideas come from?") he had with Paul Holdengraber.
#storyworlds #davidlynch
youtu.be/Fxr-7O1Bfxg?...
I've always liked this exchange ("Where do ideas come from?") he had with Paul Holdengraber.
#storyworlds #davidlynch
youtu.be/Fxr-7O1Bfxg?...
David Lynch: Where do ideas come from?
YouTube video by BAMorg
youtu.be
January 16, 2025 at 8:22 PM
Vale David Lynch, creator of worlds.
I've always liked this exchange ("Where do ideas come from?") he had with Paul Holdengraber.
#storyworlds #davidlynch
youtu.be/Fxr-7O1Bfxg?...
I've always liked this exchange ("Where do ideas come from?") he had with Paul Holdengraber.
#storyworlds #davidlynch
youtu.be/Fxr-7O1Bfxg?...
“Sustained by what we have inherited from the past and what we witness, we will have the courage to resist and continue resisting in as yet unimaginable circumstances. We will learn how to wait in solidarity.”
-John Berger, Confabulations, "How to Resist A State of Forgetting"
#everynightapoem
-John Berger, Confabulations, "How to Resist A State of Forgetting"
#everynightapoem
January 16, 2026 at 11:25 PM
“Sustained by what we have inherited from the past and what we witness, we will have the courage to resist and continue resisting in as yet unimaginable circumstances. We will learn how to wait in solidarity.”
-John Berger, Confabulations, "How to Resist A State of Forgetting"
#everynightapoem
-John Berger, Confabulations, "How to Resist A State of Forgetting"
#everynightapoem
"Texts from nature, from the universe, and they remind us that symmetry co-exists with chaos, that ingenuities outflank fatalities, that what is desired is more reassuring than what is promised."
-John Berger, "How to Resist A State of Forgetting"
[Robert Smithson, designs for Spiral Jetty, 1970]
-John Berger, "How to Resist A State of Forgetting"
[Robert Smithson, designs for Spiral Jetty, 1970]
January 16, 2026 at 11:22 PM
"Texts from nature, from the universe, and they remind us that symmetry co-exists with chaos, that ingenuities outflank fatalities, that what is desired is more reassuring than what is promised."
-John Berger, "How to Resist A State of Forgetting"
[Robert Smithson, designs for Spiral Jetty, 1970]
-John Berger, "How to Resist A State of Forgetting"
[Robert Smithson, designs for Spiral Jetty, 1970]
"Those who are ready to protest against, and resist, what is happening today are legion, but the political means for doing so are for the moment unclear or absent.
How to wait in this state of forgetfulness?”
John Berger, from "Confabulations (2016), his final book
#everynightapoem #ofsorts
How to wait in this state of forgetfulness?”
John Berger, from "Confabulations (2016), his final book
#everynightapoem #ofsorts
January 16, 2026 at 11:17 PM
"Those who are ready to protest against, and resist, what is happening today are legion, but the political means for doing so are for the moment unclear or absent.
How to wait in this state of forgetfulness?”
John Berger, from "Confabulations (2016), his final book
#everynightapoem #ofsorts
How to wait in this state of forgetfulness?”
John Berger, from "Confabulations (2016), his final book
#everynightapoem #ofsorts
Reposted by eileen chengyin chow
There is a precedent for a person getting someone else's Nobel Prize. In 1943, the Norwegian writer Knut Hamsun, gave his Nobel Prize in literature to Joseph Goebbels uwapress.uw.edu/book/9780295...
Knut Hamsun
Awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1920, Knut Hamsun (1859–1952) was a towering figure of Norwegian letters. He was also a Nazi sympathizer and supp...
uwapress.uw.edu
January 16, 2026 at 1:41 PM
There is a precedent for a person getting someone else's Nobel Prize. In 1943, the Norwegian writer Knut Hamsun, gave his Nobel Prize in literature to Joseph Goebbels uwapress.uw.edu/book/9780295...
Reposted by eileen chengyin chow
Bro, people are going to build entire lives around the neighbors they’ve found in these anti-ICE signal chats. Marriages, lifelong friendships, weird hobbies. It is actually breaking my brain. I am almost crying in the club (chat).
January 16, 2026 at 3:19 AM
Bro, people are going to build entire lives around the neighbors they’ve found in these anti-ICE signal chats. Marriages, lifelong friendships, weird hobbies. It is actually breaking my brain. I am almost crying in the club (chat).
A donation thread for helping Minnesota folks
My friends local to Minnesota, whom I trust a great deal, would like to share the following resources that could use support.
PowWowGrounds - Native American Coffee Shop doing direct food and supply aid to their communities-
Venmo @powwowgrounds
www.powwowgrounds.com
PowWowGrounds - Native American Coffee Shop doing direct food and supply aid to their communities-
Venmo @powwowgrounds
www.powwowgrounds.com
Pow Wow Grounds
www.powwowgrounds.com
January 16, 2026 at 5:08 AM
A donation thread for helping Minnesota folks
Reposted by eileen chengyin chow
Hundreds of high schoolers in Northfield walked out of school and to our town square in support of our immigrant neighbors and against the ICE occupation of our state. I’m so unspeakably proud of them (especially of the head organizer who is one of the teens from my parish.) 🕯️
January 15, 2026 at 9:25 PM
Hundreds of high schoolers in Northfield walked out of school and to our town square in support of our immigrant neighbors and against the ICE occupation of our state. I’m so unspeakably proud of them (especially of the head organizer who is one of the teens from my parish.) 🕯️
Thank you Elizabeth - a Minn. colleague has already reached out, from your recommendation!
January 16, 2026 at 1:54 AM
Thank you Elizabeth - a Minn. colleague has already reached out, from your recommendation!
Reposted by eileen chengyin chow
Happy to help in any way. Asian American / Asian diaspora studies and immigration history; narrative studies (film, literature, storytelling); food and migration. Have fun lecture on history of boba if folks just need a break from all this horror and misery. eileen.chow@duke.edu
January 15, 2026 at 8:30 PM
Reposted by eileen chengyin chow
THREAD of offers of guest lectures (via Zoom) for Minneapolis-area classes so faculty can offer their students a top-quality education while dealing with other crises
Seeing tons of extremely generous offers. I'll try to post 'em all here--please add your own w topics you can cover & how to contact
Seeing tons of extremely generous offers. I'll try to post 'em all here--please add your own w topics you can cover & how to contact
Finally, a note to the many professors in my networks: One other specific, small thing you can do from outside of Minneapolis is reach out to colleagues who are heavily affected (because of their own or their family's risk, or because they're very busy protecting neighbors) and offer a guest lecture
January 15, 2026 at 7:43 PM
THREAD of offers of guest lectures (via Zoom) for Minneapolis-area classes so faculty can offer their students a top-quality education while dealing with other crises
Seeing tons of extremely generous offers. I'll try to post 'em all here--please add your own w topics you can cover & how to contact
Seeing tons of extremely generous offers. I'll try to post 'em all here--please add your own w topics you can cover & how to contact