Elise Wang
@elisewang.bsky.social
medievalist. law & history (old) | conspiracy theories (old and new) | taiwan (new and yet to be) | chicago —> los angeles
carnegie fellow ‘24-‘26, writing a book on medieval conspiracy theories
elisedwang.com
carnegie fellow ‘24-‘26, writing a book on medieval conspiracy theories
elisedwang.com
Pinned
Elise Wang
@elisewang.bsky.social
· Jul 4
Someone asked for a thread of my medieval story times (twist my arm!), so here they are. I’ll pin and add as I go!
I propose to make universal the old policy of the Blackfriars conference at the American Shakespeare Center:
If you do not end your paper on time, you will be forced to exit, pursued by a bear. Literally, a bear will come take your paper from you.
If you do not end your paper on time, you will be forced to exit, pursued by a bear. Literally, a bear will come take your paper from you.
February 16, 2026 at 1:14 AM
I propose to make universal the old policy of the Blackfriars conference at the American Shakespeare Center:
If you do not end your paper on time, you will be forced to exit, pursued by a bear. Literally, a bear will come take your paper from you.
If you do not end your paper on time, you will be forced to exit, pursued by a bear. Literally, a bear will come take your paper from you.
I might have a PhD but nothing I can teach my kids compares to hard-won childhood skills.
Just now it was how to properly load a Pez dispenser and my children (rightly) treated this like deep lore
Just now it was how to properly load a Pez dispenser and my children (rightly) treated this like deep lore
February 15, 2026 at 1:38 AM
I might have a PhD but nothing I can teach my kids compares to hard-won childhood skills.
Just now it was how to properly load a Pez dispenser and my children (rightly) treated this like deep lore
Just now it was how to properly load a Pez dispenser and my children (rightly) treated this like deep lore
Reposted by Elise Wang
Roses are red
Violets are blue
If you’re born here
You’re a citizen too
Violets are blue
If you’re born here
You’re a citizen too
a cartoon character holding a scroll of the u.s. constitution says hello i 'm the u.s. constitution
ALT: a cartoon character holding a scroll of the u.s. constitution says hello i 'm the u.s. constitution
media.tenor.com
February 14, 2026 at 11:49 PM
Roses are red
Violets are blue
If you’re born here
You’re a citizen too
Violets are blue
If you’re born here
You’re a citizen too
poetry
February 14, 2026 at 11:42 PM
poetry
Everyone drop your best archives music here
I don't know what y'all listen to in the archives, but I have The Knocks feat. Mallrat--R U High?--on loop while I read through Cotton Mather's copy of White Kennett's Bibliothecae Americanae primoridia next to me, and I'm delighted.
February 14, 2026 at 6:19 PM
Everyone drop your best archives music here
Reposted by Elise Wang
Ok I see you UCLA Faculty Association and the Council of University of California Faculty Associations, pushing your university to be better and creating the space for this to happen!
NEW: The Trump administration has dropped its appeal of a federal court order blocking its $1.2-billion settlement demand to UCLA over alleged campus civil rights violations: www.latimes.com/california/s...
Trump administration drops its appeal of court order blocking $1.2-billion UCLA settlement
The Trump administration dropped its appeal of a major higher education case in which a federal judge blocked its $1.2-billion settlement proposal to UCLA over alleged civil rights violations. But it ...
www.latimes.com
February 14, 2026 at 1:50 AM
Ok I see you UCLA Faculty Association and the Council of University of California Faculty Associations, pushing your university to be better and creating the space for this to happen!
As everyone knows, gender and sex are different but gender and race are the same thing
This is AWFUL. Univ of Texas is consolidating 4 depts into 1: African and African Diaspora Studies and Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies, American Studies, and Mexican American and Latino Studies will become "a Social and Cultural Analysis department." www.texastribune.org/2026/02/12/t...
UT-Austin to merge race, ethnic and gender study programs
More than 800 students are pursuing degrees in the affected departments, which include African, Latino and gender studies.
www.texastribune.org
February 12, 2026 at 6:54 PM
As everyone knows, gender and sex are different but gender and race are the same thing
Reposted by Elise Wang
Guy who doesn’t know anything thinks you shouldn’t either.
Ex-Google exec says degrees in law and medicine are a waste of time because they take so long to complete that AI will catch up by graduation | Fortune
“Higher education as we know it is on the verge of becoming obsolete,” the former Google AI leader told Fortune.
fortune.com
February 11, 2026 at 5:15 PM
Guy who doesn’t know anything thinks you shouldn’t either.
I mean this is horrifying BUT also it gives me nice familiar medieval vibes. At least seven people were executed for trying to poison John XXII, so my only question is where are the Swiss Guards
The newly released Epstein files show that Jeffrey Epstein and Steve Bannon discussed opposition to Pope Francis, including a move that Bannon claimed would "take down Francis."
Epstein files reveal ties to Catholic conservatives' anti-Francis campaign
VATICAN CITY (RNS) — The newly released Epstein files show that Jeffrey Epstein and Steve Bannon discussed opposition to Pope Francis, including a move that Bannon claimed would ‘take down Francis.’
religionnews.com
February 12, 2026 at 7:04 AM
I mean this is horrifying BUT also it gives me nice familiar medieval vibes. At least seven people were executed for trying to poison John XXII, so my only question is where are the Swiss Guards
"structurally sound, strategically unresolved" is a good description of Donovan's coaching
Billy Donovan coaches the game in front of him.
The rest of the league coaches the math.
For @thebigs.bsky.social.
www.thebigs.us/single-post/...
The rest of the league coaches the math.
For @thebigs.bsky.social.
www.thebigs.us/single-post/...
The Bulls Aren't Tanking. They're Losing With Principles.
The Association has never been subtle about what it rewards.When a draft offers players capable of bending a franchise’s arc, the league’s worst teams don’t stumble into position — they manage their w...
www.thebigs.us
February 12, 2026 at 2:22 AM
"structurally sound, strategically unresolved" is a good description of Donovan's coaching
Reposted by Elise Wang
Juana Rodriguez, a U.S. citizen born in Idaho, said she was among those detained. The ACLU said in its news release that her 3-year-old son cried as officers told him to hold on to her pocket.
February 12, 2026 at 1:43 AM
Juana Rodriguez, a U.S. citizen born in Idaho, said she was among those detained. The ACLU said in its news release that her 3-year-old son cried as officers told him to hold on to her pocket.
As someone who works on a machine learning team, the fact that the hype isn’t true is not a left position, it’s an industry position.
And as a historian, I know that whatever you are confidently told is inevitable IS NOT. That’s not how time works.
And as a historian, I know that whatever you are confidently told is inevitable IS NOT. That’s not how time works.
I understand why people are exhausted by AI hype, and why those of us squarely in the corner of "human dignity uber alles" see AI doomerism as self-serving hype, but I *really* think people on the left broadly need to start thinking seriously about the possibiltiy of the hype being...true.
February 11, 2026 at 5:36 PM
As someone who works on a machine learning team, the fact that the hype isn’t true is not a left position, it’s an industry position.
And as a historian, I know that whatever you are confidently told is inevitable IS NOT. That’s not how time works.
And as a historian, I know that whatever you are confidently told is inevitable IS NOT. That’s not how time works.
Reposted by Elise Wang
Hey, Bluesky history nerds! Who are your favorite pre-modern historians on here?
February 10, 2026 at 10:51 PM
Hey, Bluesky history nerds! Who are your favorite pre-modern historians on here?
Reposted by Elise Wang
Historical analogies are arguments. So when someone makes an analogy between today and the Holocaust, or today and anything, think about they are really arguing for. What is the analogy trying to get you to do?
New at @startribune.com
New at @startribune.com
Perry: When is it OK to compare aspects of what’s happening in Minnesota to Nazi Germany?
Gov. Tim Walz has made some such analogies in relation to ICE and has been criticized for it, David M. Perry writes.
www.startribune.com
February 4, 2026 at 12:48 PM
Historical analogies are arguments. So when someone makes an analogy between today and the Holocaust, or today and anything, think about they are really arguing for. What is the analogy trying to get you to do?
New at @startribune.com
New at @startribune.com
It is my birthday today, and nothing would make me happier than if you’d donate to KIND, which provides pro bono representation to children in immigration court:
supportkind.org/get-involved...
supportkind.org/get-involved...
There is no sight that more efficiently puts the lie to immigration “court” than the common sight of children “representing themselves.” Children too small to climb into the chair, children in pajamas who don’t know where they are, children not yet old enough to speak.
Three-year-old child forced to serve as her own attorney in Tucson immigration court
More than a dozen undocumented minors were forced to make their case in front of an immigration judge as the Trump administration ramps up removal proceedings.
coppercourier.com
February 4, 2026 at 5:05 PM
It is my birthday today, and nothing would make me happier than if you’d donate to KIND, which provides pro bono representation to children in immigration court:
supportkind.org/get-involved...
supportkind.org/get-involved...
Reposted by Elise Wang
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 4:58 PM
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
Reposted by Elise Wang
This @bostonreview.bsky.social piece by @adambonica.bsky.social and @jakemgrumbach.bsky.social is an absolute must-read, as are many of the responses to it.
Spread this one far and wide.
Spread this one far and wide.
How Not to Defeat Authoritarianism
Moderation used to help Democrats win, but its advantages now have been greatly exaggerated.
www.bostonreview.net
February 3, 2026 at 4:31 PM
This @bostonreview.bsky.social piece by @adambonica.bsky.social and @jakemgrumbach.bsky.social is an absolute must-read, as are many of the responses to it.
Spread this one far and wide.
Spread this one far and wide.
Wait till he hears that the Odyssey wasn’t written in English
Forgive me, Jesus, because I genuinely deeply enjoy how perpetually unhappy and desolate these losers are.
February 3, 2026 at 4:49 AM
Wait till he hears that the Odyssey wasn’t written in English
Reposted by Elise Wang
Sadly, I have a personal ask: ICE kidnapped a staffer who works at my grandson’s daycare this weekend along with two other family members. Can you help the extended families with legal costs & famity support? It would mean a lot to me. I’m just sick about this. www.gofundme.com/f/support-fo...
Donate to Support for Daycare Staff Member Detained by ICE, organized by S E
A staff member of our daycare has been detained by ICE (along with two other fami… S E needs your support for Support for Daycare Staff Member Detained by ICE
www.gofundme.com
February 3, 2026 at 1:45 AM
Sadly, I have a personal ask: ICE kidnapped a staffer who works at my grandson’s daycare this weekend along with two other family members. Can you help the extended families with legal costs & famity support? It would mean a lot to me. I’m just sick about this. www.gofundme.com/f/support-fo...
Reposted by Elise Wang
And, “offensive to Jews” is really insidious, right-wing coded language. Implying that acts of bigotry are only really the concern of the people targeted by the specific act or language.
2/ "Another source briefed on the conversation described Bovino's alleged remarks as an 'antisemitic rant.'"
www.cbsnews.com/news/gregory...
www.cbsnews.com/news/gregory...
Officials in Minnesota allege Bovino used language offensive to Jews on conference call
Top Border Patrol official Gregory Bovino allegedly used language offensive to Jewish federal officials on a recent call, sources said.
www.cbsnews.com
February 2, 2026 at 9:43 PM
And, “offensive to Jews” is really insidious, right-wing coded language. Implying that acts of bigotry are only really the concern of the people targeted by the specific act or language.
8yo is learning about the branches of government and boy is there a lot of “supposedly” and “the idea was” going around the dinner table
February 1, 2026 at 1:26 AM
8yo is learning about the branches of government and boy is there a lot of “supposedly” and “the idea was” going around the dinner table
Never mind the jobs you had, tell me five classes you took in college
The Brontës
Math 55 (this taught me I was not cut out for math)
Atlantic Revolutions
Plato
Tang Dynasty Poetry
The Brontës
Math 55 (this taught me I was not cut out for math)
Atlantic Revolutions
Plato
Tang Dynasty Poetry
January 31, 2026 at 4:12 AM
Never mind the jobs you had, tell me five classes you took in college
The Brontës
Math 55 (this taught me I was not cut out for math)
Atlantic Revolutions
Plato
Tang Dynasty Poetry
The Brontës
Math 55 (this taught me I was not cut out for math)
Atlantic Revolutions
Plato
Tang Dynasty Poetry
Welcome, new followers!
I am a medievalist and, in normal circumstances, I mostly post little stories about the past that I find in my research. Unfortunately, I also live in the present. But I try to only pitch in when I have something useful to say. Abolish ICE.
I am a medievalist and, in normal circumstances, I mostly post little stories about the past that I find in my research. Unfortunately, I also live in the present. But I try to only pitch in when I have something useful to say. Abolish ICE.
January 30, 2026 at 8:37 PM
Welcome, new followers!
I am a medievalist and, in normal circumstances, I mostly post little stories about the past that I find in my research. Unfortunately, I also live in the present. But I try to only pitch in when I have something useful to say. Abolish ICE.
I am a medievalist and, in normal circumstances, I mostly post little stories about the past that I find in my research. Unfortunately, I also live in the present. But I try to only pitch in when I have something useful to say. Abolish ICE.