Erica Fretwell
@ericafretwell.bsky.social
UAlbany English | The Art of Slight Living, 1900/2000 (in progress) | Sensory Experiments: Psychophysics, Race, and the Aesthetics of Feeling (Duke UP) | she/her
Reposted by Erica Fretwell
An author asked for guidance on how to write a response to reader reports. My answer was pretty quick and dirty for practical reasons, but here's what I said. It ends with a link to much more thorough, helpful advice:
Responses can take the form of a letter to the editor/press . . . 1/?
Responses can take the form of a letter to the editor/press . . . 1/?
December 31, 2025 at 2:28 PM
An author asked for guidance on how to write a response to reader reports. My answer was pretty quick and dirty for practical reasons, but here's what I said. It ends with a link to much more thorough, helpful advice:
Responses can take the form of a letter to the editor/press . . . 1/?
Responses can take the form of a letter to the editor/press . . . 1/?
Reposted by Erica Fretwell
This is one of the most beautiful things I have witnessed, the craft here is impeccable.
August 13, 2025 at 6:06 AM
This is one of the most beautiful things I have witnessed, the craft here is impeccable.
Reposted by Erica Fretwell
there were only 24 years between these two events and yet the second one happened 32 years ago
December 30, 2025 at 3:29 PM
there were only 24 years between these two events and yet the second one happened 32 years ago
Reposted by Erica Fretwell
if tumblr dies I need this video to make it's seasonal rotation here instead just in case, Happy holidays 🎄
December 18, 2025 at 2:05 AM
if tumblr dies I need this video to make it's seasonal rotation here instead just in case, Happy holidays 🎄
Reposted by Erica Fretwell
People may not realize that this is the birth place of Ethnic Studies and the first Black Studies program. SFSU is a school of historic significance.
December 23, 2025 at 12:55 PM
People may not realize that this is the birth place of Ethnic Studies and the first Black Studies program. SFSU is a school of historic significance.
Rick Steves is a real one!
It’s the “season of love and giving”…but this year, doesn’t it seem more like a “season of fear and taking”? Like many of you, I’ve been saddened by the human impact of draconian government budget cuts and how angry many housed Americans are at unhoused Americans.
🧵 1 of 9
🧵 1 of 9
December 21, 2025 at 2:27 PM
Rick Steves is a real one!
Reposted by Erica Fretwell
Funny animal videos no longer being trustworthy just fucking sucks all around. I love the wonder of animal behavior and what it says about the experience of being alive. It's because it happened in reality that it's so fun. It's not fun if it was just made up. There's no wonder there.
December 19, 2025 at 2:26 AM
Funny animal videos no longer being trustworthy just fucking sucks all around. I love the wonder of animal behavior and what it says about the experience of being alive. It's because it happened in reality that it's so fun. It's not fun if it was just made up. There's no wonder there.
Gen Alpha is so brave. The courage it takes to perform "Smells Like Teen Spirit" at the holiday concert to an audience of Gen X/Millennial parents!
December 19, 2025 at 1:21 PM
Gen Alpha is so brave. The courage it takes to perform "Smells Like Teen Spirit" at the holiday concert to an audience of Gen X/Millennial parents!
Reposted by Erica Fretwell
UAlbany, one of those, NY state universities, has been hovering around 4 percent tenure track Black faculty since ever. I am THE Black tenure track political scientists. These folks are just little liars.
You’ll never guess who else experienced ‘racism’ on the job market despite their unimpeachable academic credentials.
December 18, 2025 at 11:26 PM
UAlbany, one of those, NY state universities, has been hovering around 4 percent tenure track Black faculty since ever. I am THE Black tenure track political scientists. These folks are just little liars.
It's true!
Sarah Wasserman, assistant dean for faculty affairs, was named co-editor of the eminent Oxford Studies in American Literary History book series. The scholar of 20th- and 21st-century American literature will lead the series alongside @ericafretwell.bsky.social of the University of Albany.
Wasserman Appointed Co-Editor of Oxford’s American Literary History Series | Faculty of Arts and Sciences
The prestigious book series offers an expansive approach to American literary and cultural history.
fas.dartmouth.edu
December 17, 2025 at 2:44 PM
It's true!
(blasting Tame Impala in my Honda CRV while drinking a cortado)
Me: I'm not bourgoie millennial cliche I'm not a bourgie millennial cliche I'm not a bourgie millennial cliche I'm not a bourgie millennial cliche I'm not a bourgie millennial cliche I'm n
Me: I'm not bourgoie millennial cliche I'm not a bourgie millennial cliche I'm not a bourgie millennial cliche I'm not a bourgie millennial cliche I'm not a bourgie millennial cliche I'm n
December 16, 2025 at 2:13 PM
(blasting Tame Impala in my Honda CRV while drinking a cortado)
Me: I'm not bourgoie millennial cliche I'm not a bourgie millennial cliche I'm not a bourgie millennial cliche I'm not a bourgie millennial cliche I'm not a bourgie millennial cliche I'm n
Me: I'm not bourgoie millennial cliche I'm not a bourgie millennial cliche I'm not a bourgie millennial cliche I'm not a bourgie millennial cliche I'm not a bourgie millennial cliche I'm n
Reposted by Erica Fretwell
NEW special issue of Critical Quarterly, 'Paper and Poetry: Interventions in Theory and Practice', brilliantly edited by @georginaemw.bsky.social and Orietta da Rodd. This is an outstanding collection that we are proud to publish in CQ! onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/14678705...
Special Issue: Paper and Poetry: Interventions in Theory and Practice: Critical Quarterly: Vol 67, No 3
Critical Quarterly is a literary reviews journal recognized globally for its unique combination of literary criticism, cultural studies, poetry, and fiction.
onlinelibrary.wiley.com
December 15, 2025 at 2:15 PM
NEW special issue of Critical Quarterly, 'Paper and Poetry: Interventions in Theory and Practice', brilliantly edited by @georginaemw.bsky.social and Orietta da Rodd. This is an outstanding collection that we are proud to publish in CQ! onlinelibrary.wiley.com/toc/14678705...
Did not foresee the fashion industry adopting the word "edit" as a catchword for sartorial curation. Can't wait to see what it does with 'proofread.'
December 9, 2025 at 5:16 PM
Did not foresee the fashion industry adopting the word "edit" as a catchword for sartorial curation. Can't wait to see what it does with 'proofread.'
Reposted by Erica Fretwell
CRUCIAL! by Stephanie Foote
"I...lived through the devastation of a solid public university by a professional grifter who imagines himself as a visionary, and who takes every opportunity to express his vision. That person was Gordon Gee, and the university he destroyed was West Virginia University"
"I...lived through the devastation of a solid public university by a professional grifter who imagines himself as a visionary, and who takes every opportunity to express his vision. That person was Gordon Gee, and the university he destroyed was West Virginia University"
Project MUSE - Almost Heaven: West Virginia University and the Transcendental Grifter
muse.jhu.edu
December 5, 2025 at 6:04 PM
CRUCIAL! by Stephanie Foote
"I...lived through the devastation of a solid public university by a professional grifter who imagines himself as a visionary, and who takes every opportunity to express his vision. That person was Gordon Gee, and the university he destroyed was West Virginia University"
"I...lived through the devastation of a solid public university by a professional grifter who imagines himself as a visionary, and who takes every opportunity to express his vision. That person was Gordon Gee, and the university he destroyed was West Virginia University"
Reposted by Erica Fretwell
‘Effective Altruism did not originate in the clean room of a thought experiment but in the matrix of compromise we call a social world … from conversations among elites and has necessarily been molded by the pressures on them and the opportunities afforded them.’
By @benwurgaft.bsky.social
By @benwurgaft.bsky.social
Opinion | How a Thought Experiment Changed the World
Peter Singer and the roots of effective altruism.
www.chronicle.com
November 23, 2025 at 1:05 PM
‘Effective Altruism did not originate in the clean room of a thought experiment but in the matrix of compromise we call a social world … from conversations among elites and has necessarily been molded by the pressures on them and the opportunities afforded them.’
By @benwurgaft.bsky.social
By @benwurgaft.bsky.social
Reposted by Erica Fretwell
Watching Mamdani's victory speech, I'm struck by his—and his campaign's—unabashed vision of the US as an immigrant society, a culture built from the ground up from diversity. It is a complete rejection and reversal of the search for a white-washed homogeneity that the political right projects.
November 5, 2025 at 4:47 AM
Watching Mamdani's victory speech, I'm struck by his—and his campaign's—unabashed vision of the US as an immigrant society, a culture built from the ground up from diversity. It is a complete rejection and reversal of the search for a white-washed homogeneity that the political right projects.
Reposted by Erica Fretwell
I love that Mamdani is what the right claimed Obama was: A Muslim socialist born in Africa. The right practically manifested Mamdani into existence.
November 5, 2025 at 2:25 PM
I love that Mamdani is what the right claimed Obama was: A Muslim socialist born in Africa. The right practically manifested Mamdani into existence.
the day began with dick in a box and ended with zohran in office!!!!! not used to this good feeling! gonna bottle it up
November 5, 2025 at 2:45 AM
the day began with dick in a box and ended with zohran in office!!!!! not used to this good feeling! gonna bottle it up
Today my kid became a tween. He said, "Please don't put strawberries in the oatmeal again, Mom. They don't fit the vibe."
November 4, 2025 at 2:53 PM
Today my kid became a tween. He said, "Please don't put strawberries in the oatmeal again, Mom. They don't fit the vibe."
Miriam speaks truth (as always). A few years ago it really hit hard how foreign my students feel to me (and I them). One response is to be a jackass who blames the difference on them. Another option is humility. We should all strive for the latter.
Thinking about the Jill Lepore “students got difficult in 2016” thing: there’s a point for all of us when “youth opinion,” such as it is, no longer feels intuitive. It happened for me in the last few years. To understand where they’re coming from, you might have to do a little research.
November 1, 2025 at 4:19 PM
Miriam speaks truth (as always). A few years ago it really hit hard how foreign my students feel to me (and I them). One response is to be a jackass who blames the difference on them. Another option is humility. We should all strive for the latter.
Reposted by Erica Fretwell
I have an essay contrasting theory camps and communist ones in the latest issue PMLA, which reflects on the 1983 Illinois Marxism and the Interpretation of Culture conference. I sketch a material history of the perilous assumption that professional actions necessarily constitute political activity.
Theory Camp versus Commie Camp | PMLA | Cambridge Core
Theory Camp versus Commie Camp - Volume 140 Issue 3
www.cambridge.org
October 30, 2025 at 12:28 AM
I have an essay contrasting theory camps and communist ones in the latest issue PMLA, which reflects on the 1983 Illinois Marxism and the Interpretation of Culture conference. I sketch a material history of the perilous assumption that professional actions necessarily constitute political activity.
Reposted by Erica Fretwell
Who robbed the Louvre right answers only
October 19, 2025 at 10:18 PM
Who robbed the Louvre right answers only
Reposted by Erica Fretwell
Happy anniversary of the Sudden Departure to all who celebrate. For an @atpost45.bsky.social cluster edited by @ericafretwell.bsky.social and @annakrauthamer.bsky.social, I wrote about the trauma of living to tell (and retell) the tale.
post45.org/2025/01/bein...
post45.org/2025/01/bein...
October 14, 2025 at 7:33 PM
Happy anniversary of the Sudden Departure to all who celebrate. For an @atpost45.bsky.social cluster edited by @ericafretwell.bsky.social and @annakrauthamer.bsky.social, I wrote about the trauma of living to tell (and retell) the tale.
post45.org/2025/01/bein...
post45.org/2025/01/bein...
bring back a thousand little geocities
apparently it's a place where things are happening but i have zero desire to get on substack
October 5, 2025 at 10:16 PM
bring back a thousand little geocities
Of all the individual actions we're told to do that don't actually do anything to solve the climate crisis (relative to the damage done by corporations and private jets), stomping on a lantern fly that has no business being in harlem really does feel like doing something.
September 28, 2025 at 11:58 PM
Of all the individual actions we're told to do that don't actually do anything to solve the climate crisis (relative to the damage done by corporations and private jets), stomping on a lantern fly that has no business being in harlem really does feel like doing something.