David Porter
@dcporter.bsky.social
Qing historian, résidant à Montréal
Reposted by David Porter
Many Chinese people came—or hope to come—to the US for its freedoms and because it is is a gentler, more humane society where the government respects human rights, unlike in China. The Trump administration is doing the CCP’s best propaganda to ruin America’s reputation.
Last week, ICE arrested and separated a father and son after a routine check-in. Six-year-old Yuanxin had just enrolled in the first grade at an elementary school in Astoria. Now he's in custody, alone. ICE won't say where. This cruelty serves no one. It must end.
December 3, 2025 at 1:14 AM
Many Chinese people came—or hope to come—to the US for its freedoms and because it is is a gentler, more humane society where the government respects human rights, unlike in China. The Trump administration is doing the CCP’s best propaganda to ruin America’s reputation.
The weekly 驻京办 dinner club that a few friends and I founded 10 years ago is still going strong and eating well, as nicely reflected in this piece by a current participant www.eastside.asia/articles/the...
The Beijing government offices where you can eat your way across China — Beijing, China ✦ eastside.asia
The first thing I did once I landed in Beijing after a year of living away was to hop into a taxi with some urgency.
www.eastside.asia
December 2, 2025 at 10:51 PM
The weekly 驻京办 dinner club that a few friends and I founded 10 years ago is still going strong and eating well, as nicely reflected in this piece by a current participant www.eastside.asia/articles/the...
Reposted by David Porter
Apparently every Chinese academic in any field of “interest” to the PLA is getting their visa rejected for, more or less, presumptively being a spy. My friend’s visa is denied because she studies “neuroscience.” What she actually studies is jaw pain - but ICE is flatly rejecting all appeals.
Just got the word that the Trump administration is throwing a brilliant medical researcher friend of mine out of the country because they’re Chinese. Insane and unreal. Literally doing research in the US to help the US
December 2, 2025 at 9:30 PM
Apparently every Chinese academic in any field of “interest” to the PLA is getting their visa rejected for, more or less, presumptively being a spy. My friend’s visa is denied because she studies “neuroscience.” What she actually studies is jaw pain - but ICE is flatly rejecting all appeals.
Important to understand the basic principles of Chinese history: when determining whether territories like Tibet, Xinjiang, etc. are historically integral part of China, it's essential to treat dynasties ruled by Inner Asians (like Yuan and Qing) as Chinese.
Sachs is not interested in historical accuracy or insight. He is simply shilling for Xi.
November 28, 2025 at 5:36 PM
Important to understand the basic principles of Chinese history: when determining whether territories like Tibet, Xinjiang, etc. are historically integral part of China, it's essential to treat dynasties ruled by Inner Asians (like Yuan and Qing) as Chinese.
Really should have stopped assigning To Live (movie version) in classes after becoming a father - now basically the whole second half of the film turns me into a sobbing mess
November 26, 2025 at 3:39 AM
Really should have stopped assigning To Live (movie version) in classes after becoming a father - now basically the whole second half of the film turns me into a sobbing mess
Reposted by David Porter
Personnel Management and Political Reform in Early Nineteenth-Century China - myself, Amy Gordanier, and Hou Yueran presenting, with David Porter @dcporter.bsky.social offering comments. 10:30 am on Saturday 3/14.
The #AAS2026 preliminary conference program is online ... start browsing the nearly *600 sessions*, planning your schedule, and seeing all that our gathering in Vancouver has to offer!
buff.ly/gItXtM1
buff.ly/gItXtM1
November 24, 2025 at 4:00 PM
Personnel Management and Political Reform in Early Nineteenth-Century China - myself, Amy Gordanier, and Hou Yueran presenting, with David Porter @dcporter.bsky.social offering comments. 10:30 am on Saturday 3/14.
Reposted by David Porter
In case you missed it, Kerry Brown wrote a book that plagiarized Shelley Rigger’s classic book title.
I, along with others who were asked to review Kerry’s manuscript, said verbatim to change the title.
In the most tacky and unprofessional fashion, he stole her title anyway.
I, along with others who were asked to review Kerry’s manuscript, said verbatim to change the title.
In the most tacky and unprofessional fashion, he stole her title anyway.
November 5, 2025 at 1:44 PM
In case you missed it, Kerry Brown wrote a book that plagiarized Shelley Rigger’s classic book title.
I, along with others who were asked to review Kerry’s manuscript, said verbatim to change the title.
In the most tacky and unprofessional fashion, he stole her title anyway.
I, along with others who were asked to review Kerry’s manuscript, said verbatim to change the title.
In the most tacky and unprofessional fashion, he stole her title anyway.
I have to now be uncharacteristically sincere and say that I was actually very impressed by the Canadian citizenship ceremony, especially the genuine effort to incorporate indigenous perspectives/traditions and that I am very pleased to now be a Canadian
Those who knew me at a certain earlier stage of my life will be pretty amused to learn that this afternoon I will be voluntarily swearing an oath of allegiance to a monarch (and specifically to a king named Charles).
October 31, 2025 at 8:48 PM
I have to now be uncharacteristically sincere and say that I was actually very impressed by the Canadian citizenship ceremony, especially the genuine effort to incorporate indigenous perspectives/traditions and that I am very pleased to now be a Canadian
Those who knew me at a certain earlier stage of my life will be pretty amused to learn that this afternoon I will be voluntarily swearing an oath of allegiance to a monarch (and specifically to a king named Charles).
October 31, 2025 at 1:33 PM
Those who knew me at a certain earlier stage of my life will be pretty amused to learn that this afternoon I will be voluntarily swearing an oath of allegiance to a monarch (and specifically to a king named Charles).
Reposted by David Porter
An LLM-produced essay is tangible proof that a student doesn’t care, and yet responding to it properly requires hour upon hour of careful work. It’s asymmetrical and overwhelming.
October 28, 2025 at 12:57 PM
An LLM-produced essay is tangible proof that a student doesn’t care, and yet responding to it properly requires hour upon hour of careful work. It’s asymmetrical and overwhelming.
Chaos is when your partner reshelves a Wade Giles-romanized Lu Xun translation under H
October 24, 2025 at 12:05 PM
Chaos is when your partner reshelves a Wade Giles-romanized Lu Xun translation under H
Incidentally, many of these are terrific places to eat regional cuisine (the lobbies, which are linked to hotels/restaurants, not the detention systems).
one notable thing is that every province, for instance, has what's essentially a large lobby in Beijing. those are somewhat shrunk since their heyday but still function. they also used to run entire systems of detention aimed at preventing locals from petitioning the central govt.
October 19, 2025 at 7:07 PM
Incidentally, many of these are terrific places to eat regional cuisine (the lobbies, which are linked to hotels/restaurants, not the detention systems).
Reposted by David Porter
This is happening!!!! December 2: just in time for Christmas present season. I am still in the anxiety stage, not yet in the Saoirse Ronan as Jo March watching her book get published scene-stage, but I'm glad other people are excited already!
Excited to dig into Hannah Shepherd's new book, out in December from UC Press:
www.ucpress.edu/books/the-na...
www.ucpress.edu/books/the-na...
October 17, 2025 at 7:51 AM
This is happening!!!! December 2: just in time for Christmas present season. I am still in the anxiety stage, not yet in the Saoirse Ronan as Jo March watching her book get published scene-stage, but I'm glad other people are excited already!
Reposted by David Porter
I think Paul, of blessed posting memory, is entirely right here, and I say this *even though* the young people I know remain highly literate and engaged, because I think his sample is way more representative than mine.
musgrave.substack.com/p/a-post-lit...
musgrave.substack.com/p/a-post-lit...
A Post-Literate Society is a Too-Literal Society
Directness is a virtue and subtlety is lost
musgrave.substack.com
October 9, 2025 at 4:53 PM
I think Paul, of blessed posting memory, is entirely right here, and I say this *even though* the young people I know remain highly literate and engaged, because I think his sample is way more representative than mine.
musgrave.substack.com/p/a-post-lit...
musgrave.substack.com/p/a-post-lit...
Reposted by David Porter
The basic structure of so much commentary, some in the guise of academic study, reduces to:
(1) generative AI products are detrimental to the goals of education
(2) therefore, the goals of education must change.
Without the tacit axiom that AI has authority behind it, that just doesn’t follow.
(1) generative AI products are detrimental to the goals of education
(2) therefore, the goals of education must change.
Without the tacit axiom that AI has authority behind it, that just doesn’t follow.
October 9, 2025 at 12:45 PM
The basic structure of so much commentary, some in the guise of academic study, reduces to:
(1) generative AI products are detrimental to the goals of education
(2) therefore, the goals of education must change.
Without the tacit axiom that AI has authority behind it, that just doesn’t follow.
(1) generative AI products are detrimental to the goals of education
(2) therefore, the goals of education must change.
Without the tacit axiom that AI has authority behind it, that just doesn’t follow.
My review of @historianzhang.bsky.social's excellent Power for a Price is officially out in @hisjournalha.bsky.social onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10....
Power for a Price: The Purchase of Official Appointments in Qing China. By Lawrence Zhang. Cambridge University Press, 2023, 328 pp. $59.95.
Click on the article title to read more.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
October 9, 2025 at 12:14 AM
My review of @historianzhang.bsky.social's excellent Power for a Price is officially out in @hisjournalha.bsky.social onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10....
Comment détruire le réseau des universités de recherche du Québec le plus rapidement possible.
Pour Benoît Dubreuil, il faut jeter aux poubelles le volet « diplômés » du PEQ, une voie vers la résidence permanente. #français
Le commissaire à la langue française veut maximum 15 % d’étudiants étrangers par établissement
www.ledevoir.com
October 8, 2025 at 5:51 PM
Comment détruire le réseau des universités de recherche du Québec le plus rapidement possible.
Wow, what a nightmare - I can see this becoming a big problem for those of us in Canada who work in fields where local library resources aren't great. Of course at the moment it doesn't matter for Canadians because the Canada Post strike has killed all ILL entirely anyway
Got a tip recently about how Trump's tariffs are preventing libraries from sharing books, and causing their loaned books to get stuck or lost in other countries: www.404media.co/libraries-ca...
Libraries Can’t Get Their Loaned Books Back Because of Trump’s Tariffs
Libraries have shared their collections internationally for decades. Trump’s tariffs are throwing that system into chaos and can ‘hinder academic progress.’
www.404media.co
October 7, 2025 at 3:49 PM
Wow, what a nightmare - I can see this becoming a big problem for those of us in Canada who work in fields where local library resources aren't great. Of course at the moment it doesn't matter for Canadians because the Canada Post strike has killed all ILL entirely anyway
Current headline practices are going to be such a pain in the ass to deal with for future historians
I hate A/B tested headlines.
On NYT, the homepage says Trump “plays reality TV host” at his cabinet meeting. Click the article and you get a different headline.
Why isn’t there confidence in what the story is? And why isn’t it: Trump forces cabinet to compliment him in dictatorial media spectacle?
On NYT, the homepage says Trump “plays reality TV host” at his cabinet meeting. Click the article and you get a different headline.
Why isn’t there confidence in what the story is? And why isn’t it: Trump forces cabinet to compliment him in dictatorial media spectacle?
August 27, 2025 at 12:52 PM
Current headline practices are going to be such a pain in the ass to deal with for future historians
I'm making a highly principled stand on a matter of relatively small import and refusing to write a book review of a book whose press won't send me a hard copy.
August 26, 2025 at 1:04 AM
I'm making a highly principled stand on a matter of relatively small import and refusing to write a book review of a book whose press won't send me a hard copy.
Strategy for dealing with AI in my giant intro class next term, while not completely giving up on my desire to actually teach skills: students are evaluated entirely by in-class exams, except that there will be a small optional writing intensive section for anyone who actually wants to learn
August 7, 2025 at 11:04 PM
Strategy for dealing with AI in my giant intro class next term, while not completely giving up on my desire to actually teach skills: students are evaluated entirely by in-class exams, except that there will be a small optional writing intensive section for anyone who actually wants to learn
Survey: I'm teaching "Introduction to Chinese Culture" this fall for which I'm trying to combine a historical survey with a weekly focus on a different genre of writing/performance/film. For Qing, I'm thinking I may go with 志怪小說 and 蒲松龄. So what are your favorite stories in the Giles translation?
Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio (Volumes 1 and 2)
gutenberg.org
August 7, 2025 at 7:41 PM
Survey: I'm teaching "Introduction to Chinese Culture" this fall for which I'm trying to combine a historical survey with a weekly focus on a different genre of writing/performance/film. For Qing, I'm thinking I may go with 志怪小說 and 蒲松龄. So what are your favorite stories in the Giles translation?
Reposted by David Porter
It’s not just the dollars. It’s the goodwill the US generates, the connections we create student by student—what a devastating loss
The US could see a 30-40% decline in new international student enrollment, resulting in nearly $7 billion in lost revenue and more than 60,000 fewer American jobs. https://www.nafsa.org/fall-2025-international-student-enrollment-outlook-and-economic-impact
August 3, 2025 at 2:30 PM
It’s not just the dollars. It’s the goodwill the US generates, the connections we create student by student—what a devastating loss
Reposted by David Porter
At @chinabooksreview.com, @thejourneybird.bsky.social writes about the boom-and-bust cycles of China travel guides, from their first heyday in the 1920s to the "extinction event" of Covid shutdowns.
What Happened to China Travel Guides? | China Books Review
Guidebooks for China boomed from the 1980s to the 2010s. Then the Covid pandemic hit. With fewer visitors, and travel guides going out of print in the digital age, what are we missing?
chinabooksreview.com
August 1, 2025 at 11:15 AM
At @chinabooksreview.com, @thejourneybird.bsky.social writes about the boom-and-bust cycles of China travel guides, from their first heyday in the 1920s to the "extinction event" of Covid shutdowns.