Jessie Starling
@jstarling.bsky.social
Chair of Religious Studies at Lewis & Clark | Author of Guardians of the Buddha's Home | Research interests: being a Buddhist laywoman in modern Japan; ethics and emotions in religious volunteerism; religion in public in contemporary Japan
Reposted by Jessie Starling
It’s useful to think about things like this in numbers of tenure track professors.
$33M is 358 assistant professors. Or about fourteen percent of the total number of full-time faculty at Michigan State.
$33M is 358 assistant professors. Or about fourteen percent of the total number of full-time faculty at Michigan State.
SOURCES: Michigan State is firing head coach Jonathan Smith, @theathletic.com has learned.
He went 9-15 in two seasons, including 1-8 in the Big Ten this year. (ESPN first reported).
MSU players meeting called for 2:45. Smith has a $33 million buyout (with offset).
He went 9-15 in two seasons, including 1-8 in the Big Ten this year. (ESPN first reported).
MSU players meeting called for 2:45. Smith has a $33 million buyout (with offset).
December 1, 2025 at 12:05 AM
It’s useful to think about things like this in numbers of tenure track professors.
$33M is 358 assistant professors. Or about fourteen percent of the total number of full-time faculty at Michigan State.
$33M is 358 assistant professors. Or about fourteen percent of the total number of full-time faculty at Michigan State.
Reposted by Jessie Starling
Former UVA president Jim Ryan, who resigned over the summer due to pressure from the Trump Administration, just shared this 12-page letter with the Faculty Senate, detailing his experience with the Board of Visitors and DOJ.
It's a surreal--and troubling--read.
drive.google.com/file/d/1Is6x...
It's a surreal--and troubling--read.
drive.google.com/file/d/1Is6x...
November 14, 2025 at 2:15 PM
Former UVA president Jim Ryan, who resigned over the summer due to pressure from the Trump Administration, just shared this 12-page letter with the Faculty Senate, detailing his experience with the Board of Visitors and DOJ.
It's a surreal--and troubling--read.
drive.google.com/file/d/1Is6x...
It's a surreal--and troubling--read.
drive.google.com/file/d/1Is6x...
Reposted by Jessie Starling
Universities must cut ties with OpenAI. And no, "cocaine is available on the streets, there's no reason we shouldn't dispense it in the dorms" is not a good argument.
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/28/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/28/o...
Opinion | I Led Product Safety at OpenAI. Don’t Trust Its Claims About ‘Erotica.’
www.nytimes.com
October 28, 2025 at 12:57 PM
Universities must cut ties with OpenAI. And no, "cocaine is available on the streets, there's no reason we shouldn't dispense it in the dorms" is not a good argument.
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/28/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/28/o...
Join me at Lewis & Clark next year to teach 3-5 courses in Korean Studies!
lewisandclark.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/Faculty/job/...
lewisandclark.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/Faculty/job/...
Visiting Assistant Professor in Korean Studies
Lewis & Clark College of Arts & Sciences The College of Arts and Sciences at Lewis & Clark College is a private liberal arts college with 2,000 undergraduates, located in the southwest hil...
lewisandclark.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com
October 23, 2025 at 3:54 AM
Join me at Lewis & Clark next year to teach 3-5 courses in Korean Studies!
lewisandclark.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/Faculty/job/...
lewisandclark.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/Faculty/job/...
Reposted by Jessie Starling
somewhere in portland, there's one person, or a small handful of people, who came up with the inflatable costume idea, and I feel like they deserve our immense respect for defining the obvious developing aesthetic of the contemporary battle against fascism
October 18, 2025 at 11:19 PM
somewhere in portland, there's one person, or a small handful of people, who came up with the inflatable costume idea, and I feel like they deserve our immense respect for defining the obvious developing aesthetic of the contemporary battle against fascism
Reposted by Jessie Starling
UVA says no to the compact
October 17, 2025 at 8:40 PM
UVA says no to the compact
Reposted by Jessie Starling
i am feeling, i am seeing, i am hearing, i am getting the vibes, that students this sem are better than they've been in years because learning offers a rare haven from authoritarianism, a place to convene, commune, think together, refuel for the fight
week 7, in a city under siege for 32 days and counting, and the students who are able to come to class despite the blitz are showing up like their lives depend on those 50 minutes of togetherness, poetry, and big questions
IDK, man. School started 2 weeks ago for us, and once again students remind me that they’re so curious and interested in the world and anxious to ask big questions. We hear that these questions are no longer useful or relevant, but wherever that’s coming from, it’s not what students believe.
October 11, 2025 at 4:10 PM
i am feeling, i am seeing, i am hearing, i am getting the vibes, that students this sem are better than they've been in years because learning offers a rare haven from authoritarianism, a place to convene, commune, think together, refuel for the fight
"This 'compact' is more like an invitation to borrow money from the mob, with substantial control and future penalties assured"
- Siva Vaidhyanathan, media scholar at UVA
newrepublic.com/article/2013...
- Siva Vaidhyanathan, media scholar at UVA
newrepublic.com/article/2013...
Why This Essay Could Cause the University of Virginia to Shut Down
How Linda McMahon’s latest “compact” would do deep and permanent harm to American higher education
newrepublic.com
October 7, 2025 at 2:52 PM
"This 'compact' is more like an invitation to borrow money from the mob, with substantial control and future penalties assured"
- Siva Vaidhyanathan, media scholar at UVA
newrepublic.com/article/2013...
- Siva Vaidhyanathan, media scholar at UVA
newrepublic.com/article/2013...
Reposted by Jessie Starling
under this language charlie kirk would not have been allowed to speak on clemson’s campus
"We stand firmly on the principles of the U.S. Constitution, including the protection of free speech. HOWEVER, that right does not extend to speech that incites harm OR UNDERMINES THE DIGNITY OF OTHERS."
Emphasis added because holy fuck
Emphasis added because holy fuck
![@ClemsonUniv on X: A statement from Clemson University: [image of statement]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:eppsmw5nfmdzhfeymtzd3xbe/bafkreid6n6w5ec7olzm2wahdjop6juf2tpvrean5lqesze2m7xtbpr2laa@jpeg)
September 16, 2025 at 11:47 AM
under this language charlie kirk would not have been allowed to speak on clemson’s campus
Reposted by Jessie Starling
Opinion | I’ve dedicated my career to promoting free speech on college campuses. Here’s why the murder of a red state college dropout by another red state college dropout means it’s time to fire liberal professors in blue states.
September 15, 2025 at 2:53 AM
Opinion | I’ve dedicated my career to promoting free speech on college campuses. Here’s why the murder of a red state college dropout by another red state college dropout means it’s time to fire liberal professors in blue states.
Reposted by Jessie Starling
Each Friday, I summarize what is happening to American science & higher ed. 🧪
This was Week 34:
- UC Berkeley feeds the administration a list of targets
- Dept of Ed rescinds $350M from minority serving institutions
- faculty firings at Texas A&M
& so (SO) much more buttondown.com/liminalcreat...
This was Week 34:
- UC Berkeley feeds the administration a list of targets
- Dept of Ed rescinds $350M from minority serving institutions
- faculty firings at Texas A&M
& so (SO) much more buttondown.com/liminalcreat...
Week 34
Sept 6-12, 2025 - the purpose of a parachute
buttondown.com
September 13, 2025 at 4:55 PM
Each Friday, I summarize what is happening to American science & higher ed. 🧪
This was Week 34:
- UC Berkeley feeds the administration a list of targets
- Dept of Ed rescinds $350M from minority serving institutions
- faculty firings at Texas A&M
& so (SO) much more buttondown.com/liminalcreat...
This was Week 34:
- UC Berkeley feeds the administration a list of targets
- Dept of Ed rescinds $350M from minority serving institutions
- faculty firings at Texas A&M
& so (SO) much more buttondown.com/liminalcreat...
Reposted by Jessie Starling
The president plans to invade Chicago this week. Now to schedule the vet appointment and get the kids’ backpacks ready for school!
August 24, 2025 at 3:45 PM
The president plans to invade Chicago this week. Now to schedule the vet appointment and get the kids’ backpacks ready for school!
Reposted by Jessie Starling
The attack on core departments, tenured, and tenure track faculty is now accelerating in blue states, building upon the assault on NTT colleagues. Far from resisting Trump’s assault on higher ed, University admins in Democratic run states are spraying fuel on the fire to make it burn faster.
A massive attack on several humanities units (Arabic Studies, Judaic Studies, Holocaust Studies, Classics, Religion, German & Scandinavian, Russian/East European/Eurasian Studies) *and* tenure now unfolding at the University of Oregon (a blue state!). Closure of units and faculty layoffs threatened.
August 18, 2025 at 9:16 PM
The attack on core departments, tenured, and tenure track faculty is now accelerating in blue states, building upon the assault on NTT colleagues. Far from resisting Trump’s assault on higher ed, University admins in Democratic run states are spraying fuel on the fire to make it burn faster.
I found this website full of usable resources as well as "solidarity solace for educators who might find themselves inventing wheels alone while their administrators, trustees, and bosses unrelentingly hype AI and nakedly enthuse the negative consequences for educator labor."
good morning happy back to school to all who celebrate, happy one week of summer left to all the syllabus scramblers, happy grr to the quarter system people, here's some help for all of us in the college classroom
against-a-i.com
against-a-i.com
AGAINST AI -
against-a-i.com
August 18, 2025 at 3:41 PM
I found this website full of usable resources as well as "solidarity solace for educators who might find themselves inventing wheels alone while their administrators, trustees, and bosses unrelentingly hype AI and nakedly enthuse the negative consequences for educator labor."
Reposted by Jessie Starling
A fun reminder that a loss of 60,000 jobs in and around academia is ~50% more than all coal mining jobs in the entire country.
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 4, 2025 at 12:02 AM
A fun reminder that a loss of 60,000 jobs in and around academia is ~50% more than all coal mining jobs in the entire country.
I'm so sorry to hear about the troubles at my graduate alma mater. I hope the faculty will keep fighting the good fight, as they have been. www.wsj.com/us-news/educ...
Essay | Paradise Lost at the University of Virginia
Teaching literature is an exercise in freedom. Now ideological demands from the right are putting it in danger.
www.wsj.com
July 12, 2025 at 5:59 PM
I'm so sorry to hear about the troubles at my graduate alma mater. I hope the faculty will keep fighting the good fight, as they have been. www.wsj.com/us-news/educ...
Reposted by Jessie Starling
Fellow authors, I love you, and I know it feels like we don’t have a choice, but B&N and Am*zon both scheduled sales this week to preempt Independent Bookstore Day, a hugely vital source of income for indie bookstores. Please don’t promote their sales; please promote your local indie this week.
April 23, 2025 at 11:52 PM
Fellow authors, I love you, and I know it feels like we don’t have a choice, but B&N and Am*zon both scheduled sales this week to preempt Independent Bookstore Day, a hugely vital source of income for indie bookstores. Please don’t promote their sales; please promote your local indie this week.
Come work with me for a year, and help make sure religion in the ancient world continues to be taught at Lewis & Clark! lewisandclark.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/Facult...
Visiting Assistant Professor in Religious Studies and Classics
Lewis & Clark College of Arts & Sciences The College of Arts and Sciences at Lewis & Clark College is a private liberal arts college with 2,000 undergraduates, located in the southwest hil...
lewisandclark.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com
April 23, 2025 at 11:57 PM
Come work with me for a year, and help make sure religion in the ancient world continues to be taught at Lewis & Clark! lewisandclark.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/Facult...
No indication here of why Dr. Jeon's visa was suddenly revoked. UH states: "We are aware that one University of Houston faculty member has been affected by the SEVIS visa terminations based on his recent status as a doctoral student at (Ohio State)."
Here you go: www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston...
University of Houston confirms math assistant professor had visa revoked
A University of Houston assistant professor is among the foreign scholars whose visas were revoked in recent weeks, officials at the institution confirmed.
www.houstonchronicle.com
April 20, 2025 at 3:15 PM
No indication here of why Dr. Jeon's visa was suddenly revoked. UH states: "We are aware that one University of Houston faculty member has been affected by the SEVIS visa terminations based on his recent status as a doctoral student at (Ohio State)."
Reposted by Jessie Starling
New job:
Postdoctoral Fellowship in Japanese Buddhism
University of California - Berkeley
www.h-net.org/jobs/job_displa...
Postdoctoral Fellowship in Japanese Buddhism
University of California - Berkeley
www.h-net.org/jobs/job_displa...
www.h-net.org
April 2, 2025 at 11:26 PM
New job:
Postdoctoral Fellowship in Japanese Buddhism
University of California - Berkeley
www.h-net.org/jobs/job_displa...
Postdoctoral Fellowship in Japanese Buddhism
University of California - Berkeley
www.h-net.org/jobs/job_displa...
Very happy to have been a part of this great volume that explores exciting new perspectives on Japan, religion, and Japanese religions. If you speak Japanese, have a look at this conversation between the editors of the OG and new Nanzan Guide to Japanese Religions!
Over the weekend, @jjrs-nirc.bsky.social hosted a book talk on "The New Nanzan Guide to Japanese Religions" (2025) with editor Matthew D. McMullen & OG Nanzan Guide editor Paul Swanson.
The event was held in Japanese. The recording is now available on the NIRC YouTube channel!
youtu.be/Q0r7ZgensPo
The event was held in Japanese. The recording is now available on the NIRC YouTube channel!
youtu.be/Q0r7ZgensPo
南山大学と日本宗教の国際的な研究 『The New Nanzan Guide to Japanese Religions』
YouTube video by 宗文研NIRC
youtu.be
March 28, 2025 at 8:09 PM
Very happy to have been a part of this great volume that explores exciting new perspectives on Japan, religion, and Japanese religions. If you speak Japanese, have a look at this conversation between the editors of the OG and new Nanzan Guide to Japanese Religions!
Reposted by Jessie Starling
Did You Work on a Terminated NIH Grant? ProPublica Wants to Hear From You. www.propublica.org/getinvolved/...
Did You Work on a Terminated NIH Grant? ProPublica Wants to Hear From You.
The National Institutes of Health is canceling grants that are seen as conflicting with the Trump administration’s priorities. We want to hear from researchers who have been affected.
www.propublica.org
March 28, 2025 at 6:21 PM
Did You Work on a Terminated NIH Grant? ProPublica Wants to Hear From You. www.propublica.org/getinvolved/...
Reposted by Jessie Starling
This is insane. “Everyone is welcome here” should be the principle guiding every classroom, not a banned phrase
A teacher in Idaho has been told to remove posters reading "Everyone is welcome here" - specifically because it features different skin tones. As I wrote last week, this is a global political movement that has explicitly set the goal of eradicating the very concept of equality.
West Ada teacher stands firm after she’s told to remove ‘Everyone is welcome here’ signs
Sarah Inama said she was told by administrators that her signs “don’t allow people to express differing opinions.”
www.idahostatesman.com
March 16, 2025 at 1:36 AM
This is insane. “Everyone is welcome here” should be the principle guiding every classroom, not a banned phrase
Reposted by Jessie Starling
When I was a teenager in an evangelical church in Arizona, my pastor would have used this as an illustration of the Antichrist.
February 28, 2025 at 2:37 PM
When I was a teenager in an evangelical church in Arizona, my pastor would have used this as an illustration of the Antichrist.