David Laurence
@davidlaurence.bsky.social
Reposted by David Laurence
James Merrill House accepts applications for its 2026-2027 residencies from Oct 1, 2025 to Jan 12, 2026. Decisions made by mid-March. The residency provides living and working space for a writer to complete a project of literary or academic merit. Learn more by visiting jamesmerrillhouse.org.
October 7, 2025 at 2:25 PM
James Merrill House accepts applications for its 2026-2027 residencies from Oct 1, 2025 to Jan 12, 2026. Decisions made by mid-March. The residency provides living and working space for a writer to complete a project of literary or academic merit. Learn more by visiting jamesmerrillhouse.org.
Reposted by David Laurence
“What struck me about that video when I saw it was that so many politicians communicate by focusing on what they’re telling you. But what was fascinating about Mamdani’s campaign is that he turned the act of listening into a form of broadcasting.”
Anybody who is in the campaign business -- or just wants to understand better how elections get won now -- should listen to this episode, on how political attention works today [giftie] www.nytimes.com/2025/06/28/o...
Opinion | Mamdani, Trump and the End of the Old Politics
www.nytimes.com
June 30, 2025 at 2:14 PM
“What struck me about that video when I saw it was that so many politicians communicate by focusing on what they’re telling you. But what was fascinating about Mamdani’s campaign is that he turned the act of listening into a form of broadcasting.”
Am I deceived, or does this whole exchange bear the earmarks of a very familiar kind of moral panic that’s recurrent around school and education?
AI is evil, obviously, but really this is the end result of 50 years of instrumentalizing education
Speechless.
May 7, 2025 at 2:54 PM
Am I deceived, or does this whole exchange bear the earmarks of a very familiar kind of moral panic that’s recurrent around school and education?
Reposted by David Laurence
“A new humanities department survey (HDS) demonstrates both the challenges the field faces today and the resilience of many departments in the face of those difficulties.” bit.ly/HDS4_Intro
The Academic Humanities Today: Findings from the 2024 Department Survey
Download the Summary Report (PDF). The academic humanities have been beset by challenges over the past fifteen years: degrees awarded in most disciplines fell by more than 25%, colleges and universit...
bit.ly
April 24, 2025 at 1:40 PM
“A new humanities department survey (HDS) demonstrates both the challenges the field faces today and the resilience of many departments in the face of those difficulties.” bit.ly/HDS4_Intro
Reposted by David Laurence
“You don’t read or overhear the voice in the poem, you are the voice in the poem.”
Helen Vendler
"One could say that artists are people who think naturally in highly patterned ways." ~ Helen Vendler
Helen Vendler
"One could say that artists are people who think naturally in highly patterned ways." ~ Helen Vendler
Helen Vendler Quote
For the mind and the imagination, bookstores aren't enough, college courses aren't enough, the Internet isn't enough. Those resources are all governed by the tastes and needs of the moment. Only libra...
www.azquotes.com
April 23, 2025 at 4:21 PM
“You don’t read or overhear the voice in the poem, you are the voice in the poem.”
Helen Vendler
"One could say that artists are people who think naturally in highly patterned ways." ~ Helen Vendler
Helen Vendler
"One could say that artists are people who think naturally in highly patterned ways." ~ Helen Vendler
Reposted by David Laurence
As of Friday, there have been 46 cases in which federal judges have blocked Trump policies.
The rulings in those cases have come from 39 different judges appointed by 5 different presidents (of both parties) to 11 different district courts across 7 different circuits.
Maybe it's not the judges?
The rulings in those cases have come from 39 different judges appointed by 5 different presidents (of both parties) to 11 different district courts across 7 different circuits.
Maybe it's not the judges?
March 30, 2025 at 1:15 PM
As of Friday, there have been 46 cases in which federal judges have blocked Trump policies.
The rulings in those cases have come from 39 different judges appointed by 5 different presidents (of both parties) to 11 different district courts across 7 different circuits.
Maybe it's not the judges?
The rulings in those cases have come from 39 different judges appointed by 5 different presidents (of both parties) to 11 different district courts across 7 different circuits.
Maybe it's not the judges?
Reposted by David Laurence
Fyi, my new piece in @bostonreview.bsky.social about the history of calling Social Security a “Ponzi scheme,” and how attacks on Social Security have often marked the opening wedge of a broader war on public goods.
www.bostonreview.net/articles/soc...
www.bostonreview.net/articles/soc...
Social Security Is Not a Ponzi Scheme - Boston Review
Today’s attacks are just the latest form of backlash to the New Deal.
www.bostonreview.net
March 12, 2025 at 2:36 PM
Fyi, my new piece in @bostonreview.bsky.social about the history of calling Social Security a “Ponzi scheme,” and how attacks on Social Security have often marked the opening wedge of a broader war on public goods.
www.bostonreview.net/articles/soc...
www.bostonreview.net/articles/soc...
Reposted by David Laurence
1/14 Our current constitutional crisis cannot be solved by voting Democrat or by removing president from office- this is a problem that will persist until we fix our information infrastructure.
Please hear me out.
Please hear me out.
February 26, 2025 at 5:30 PM
1/14 Our current constitutional crisis cannot be solved by voting Democrat or by removing president from office- this is a problem that will persist until we fix our information infrastructure.
Please hear me out.
Please hear me out.
Reposted by David Laurence
Effective-
- Create space for R's to oppose nominees
- Build pressure on R's to oppose Trump policies or flip on bills
- Strengthen Dems' '25 and '26 electoral response
- Buttress legal challenges to Trump actions
These actually help but rarely solve, and let's be real- you're already mad at me
- Create space for R's to oppose nominees
- Build pressure on R's to oppose Trump policies or flip on bills
- Strengthen Dems' '25 and '26 electoral response
- Buttress legal challenges to Trump actions
These actually help but rarely solve, and let's be real- you're already mad at me
February 1, 2025 at 5:54 PM
Effective-
- Create space for R's to oppose nominees
- Build pressure on R's to oppose Trump policies or flip on bills
- Strengthen Dems' '25 and '26 electoral response
- Buttress legal challenges to Trump actions
These actually help but rarely solve, and let's be real- you're already mad at me
- Create space for R's to oppose nominees
- Build pressure on R's to oppose Trump policies or flip on bills
- Strengthen Dems' '25 and '26 electoral response
- Buttress legal challenges to Trump actions
These actually help but rarely solve, and let's be real- you're already mad at me
Reposted by David Laurence
I am adding this AI statement to my syllabus. My philosophy is up with the joy of language, down with punitive threats. I hope this approach is inspiring for students.
January 22, 2025 at 5:06 PM
I am adding this AI statement to my syllabus. My philosophy is up with the joy of language, down with punitive threats. I hope this approach is inspiring for students.
Reposted by David Laurence
anyone who thinks Harold Bloom’s canon was too hierarchical and exclusionary to bear ought to pay attention to the corporate curricula narrowing the range of reading materials in schools
January 22, 2025 at 1:13 AM
anyone who thinks Harold Bloom’s canon was too hierarchical and exclusionary to bear ought to pay attention to the corporate curricula narrowing the range of reading materials in schools
Reposted by David Laurence
Nothing about the public space—politics, journalism, media, and entertainment—encourages or cultivates epistemic humility in society.
January 17, 2025 at 1:21 PM
Nothing about the public space—politics, journalism, media, and entertainment—encourages or cultivates epistemic humility in society.
Reposted by David Laurence
I learned how to create a pivot table in a 4 hour class I took from home. I learned to think about what problems needed a pivot table and how to summarize that information for different audiences as a humanities undergraduate.
January 3, 2025 at 5:30 AM
I learned how to create a pivot table in a 4 hour class I took from home. I learned to think about what problems needed a pivot table and how to summarize that information for different audiences as a humanities undergraduate.
Reposted by David Laurence
Reposted by David Laurence
I know why we are accelerating into disaster instead but it would be nice to say: school is for slowing down and rebuilding an attention span through books
December 13, 2024 at 1:12 PM
I know why we are accelerating into disaster instead but it would be nice to say: school is for slowing down and rebuilding an attention span through books
Reposted by David Laurence
Reposted by David Laurence
Walk on Air Against Your Better Judgment
What Seamus Heaney gave me
www.theatlantic.com
December 9, 2024 at 2:15 PM
Reposted by David Laurence
it's not that I want a canon per se, it's that I want robust conversation about which books are so worth teaching, one might call them indispensable
December 6, 2024 at 1:08 PM
it's not that I want a canon per se, it's that I want robust conversation about which books are so worth teaching, one might call them indispensable
A propos of nothing, Harvard President Charles Eliot on baseball: “This year I’m told the team did well because one pitcher had a fine curve ball. I understand that a curve ball is thrown with a deliberate attempt to deceive. Surely this is not an ability we should want to foster at Harvard.”
November 21, 2024 at 5:26 PM
A propos of nothing, Harvard President Charles Eliot on baseball: “This year I’m told the team did well because one pitcher had a fine curve ball. I understand that a curve ball is thrown with a deliberate attempt to deceive. Surely this is not an ability we should want to foster at Harvard.”