Katharine Gerbner
@ktgerbs.bsky.social
Historian of religion & race, archives, media/tech/comm, politics of education. History Prof & Dir. of Religious Studies @ University of Minnesota. Au: Christian Slavery (2018) and Archival Irruptions (2025). www.katharinegerbner.com
Pinned
Archival Irruptions: Constructing Religion and Criminalizing Obeah in Eighteenth-Century Jamaica
www.dukeupress.edu
I am THRILLED to announce that ARCHIVAL IRRUPTIONS is officially published with @dukepress.bsky.social! For those who would like to order the book, you can get 30% off using coupon code E25GRBNR at this link: www.dukeupress.edu/archival-irr...
Reposted by Katharine Gerbner
The Weekly Read is "Archival Irruptions" by @ktgerbs.bsky.social, which traces how British colonial authorities in mid-eighteenth-century Jamaica came to criminalize Obeah, a religious practice held by enslaved Africans. Read the entire book now, for free!
buff.ly/rccy0qL
buff.ly/rccy0qL
November 1, 2025 at 2:01 PM
The Weekly Read is "Archival Irruptions" by @ktgerbs.bsky.social, which traces how British colonial authorities in mid-eighteenth-century Jamaica came to criminalize Obeah, a religious practice held by enslaved Africans. Read the entire book now, for free!
buff.ly/rccy0qL
buff.ly/rccy0qL
Santa Barbara friends! Please join me for a book talk on ARCHIVAL IRRUPTIONS tomorrow at 1pm at UC Santa Barbara, HSSB 1174. The event is free and open to the public. Hope to see you there!
October 23, 2025 at 8:46 PM
Santa Barbara friends! Please join me for a book talk on ARCHIVAL IRRUPTIONS tomorrow at 1pm at UC Santa Barbara, HSSB 1174. The event is free and open to the public. Hope to see you there!
Reposted by Katharine Gerbner
I'm so looking forward to reading this and continuing to learn from @ktgerbs.bsky.social!
I am THRILLED to announce that ARCHIVAL IRRUPTIONS is officially published with @dukepress.bsky.social! For those who would like to order the book, you can get 30% off using coupon code E25GRBNR at this link: www.dukeupress.edu/archival-irr...
Archival Irruptions: Constructing Religion and Criminalizing Obeah in Eighteenth-Century Jamaica
www.dukeupress.edu
October 16, 2025 at 2:45 PM
I'm so looking forward to reading this and continuing to learn from @ktgerbs.bsky.social!
Reposted by Katharine Gerbner
One of my amazing former professors @ktgerbs.bsky.social has a new book out and even though I no longer need a curve (I barely survived—it was HARD and I am BARELY SMART), you can get it for 30% with code E25GRBNR. Enjoy, kids.
www.dukeupress.edu/archival-irr...
www.dukeupress.edu/archival-irr...
Archival Irruptions: Constructing Religion and Criminalizing Obeah in Eighteenth-Century Jamaica
www.dukeupress.edu
October 15, 2025 at 9:23 PM
One of my amazing former professors @ktgerbs.bsky.social has a new book out and even though I no longer need a curve (I barely survived—it was HARD and I am BARELY SMART), you can get it for 30% with code E25GRBNR. Enjoy, kids.
www.dukeupress.edu/archival-irr...
www.dukeupress.edu/archival-irr...
We are so lucky to have @lollardfish.bsky.social in the History dept at UMN and now we are even luckier to have his incredible voice and perspective as an Op-Ed contributor to the @startribune.com .
I was asked to write a column about my columns, which I found an embarrassing experience. But ... I took the chance to wax rhapsodic about the value of studying the humanities. So that's nice.
Meet David M. Perry, our new contributing columnist focused on history, disabilities and education
He moved back to Minnesota because it is a state that believes in serving the public good. But, he writes, Minnesota is not always at its best.
www.startribune.com
October 15, 2025 at 2:59 PM
We are so lucky to have @lollardfish.bsky.social in the History dept at UMN and now we are even luckier to have his incredible voice and perspective as an Op-Ed contributor to the @startribune.com .
I am THRILLED to announce that ARCHIVAL IRRUPTIONS is officially published with @dukepress.bsky.social! For those who would like to order the book, you can get 30% off using coupon code E25GRBNR at this link: www.dukeupress.edu/archival-irr...
Archival Irruptions: Constructing Religion and Criminalizing Obeah in Eighteenth-Century Jamaica
www.dukeupress.edu
October 15, 2025 at 2:51 PM
I am THRILLED to announce that ARCHIVAL IRRUPTIONS is officially published with @dukepress.bsky.social! For those who would like to order the book, you can get 30% off using coupon code E25GRBNR at this link: www.dukeupress.edu/archival-irr...
Reposted by Katharine Gerbner
Congratulations and happy Pub Day to @ktgerbs.bsky.social "Archival Irruptions" tells a new history of Obeah, an Afro-Caribbean religion that was criminalized in 1760 after the largest slave revolt in the 18th century British Empire
www.dukeupress.edu/archival-irr...
www.dukeupress.edu/archival-irr...
Archival Irruptions: Constructing Religion and Criminalizing Obeah in Eighteenth-Century Jamaica
www.dukeupress.edu
October 15, 2025 at 12:33 AM
Congratulations and happy Pub Day to @ktgerbs.bsky.social "Archival Irruptions" tells a new history of Obeah, an Afro-Caribbean religion that was criminalized in 1760 after the largest slave revolt in the 18th century British Empire
www.dukeupress.edu/archival-irr...
www.dukeupress.edu/archival-irr...
Reposted by Katharine Gerbner
Congratulations to @ktgerbs.bsky.social —her new book tracing how British colonial authorities in mid-18th c. Jamaica came to criminalize Obeah, a religious practice held by enslaved Africans, is out this month. Can’t wait to read and assign it!!
I'm excited to share that my new book ARCHIVAL IRRUPTIONS: Constructing Religion and Criminalizing Obeah in Eighteenth-Century Jamaica is coming out with
@dukepress.bsky.social in October!
@dukepress.bsky.social in October!
October 13, 2025 at 12:41 PM
Congratulations to @ktgerbs.bsky.social —her new book tracing how British colonial authorities in mid-18th c. Jamaica came to criminalize Obeah, a religious practice held by enslaved Africans, is out this month. Can’t wait to read and assign it!!
I'm thrilled that my book is coming out this month, and even more thrilled to be on this fall lineup from @dukepress.bsky.social - so many amazing authors and titles! Check out the whole fall lineup here: dukeupress.wordpress.com/2025/10/01/n...
October 1, 2025 at 10:20 PM
I'm thrilled that my book is coming out this month, and even more thrilled to be on this fall lineup from @dukepress.bsky.social - so many amazing authors and titles! Check out the whole fall lineup here: dukeupress.wordpress.com/2025/10/01/n...
@dukepress.bsky.social is running a new book promotion, and Archival Irruptions is 30% off!
Save 30% on #NewBook "Archival Irruptions," by @ktgerbs.bsky.social, which traces how British colonial authorities in mid-eighteenth-century Jamaica came to criminalize Obeah, a religious practice held by enslaved Africans. #LatAmStudies #BlackStudies buff.ly/da0hJg3
September 25, 2025 at 11:56 AM
@dukepress.bsky.social is running a new book promotion, and Archival Irruptions is 30% off!
With a new book coming out, I finally got around to updating my website. I'm thrilled with the new design - plus, my bio now includes the accurate number of children! (Last edit to my previous website was 7 years ago...)
Check it out! www.katharinegerbner.com
Check it out! www.katharinegerbner.com
Katharine Gerbner, Historian of Religion
Katharine Gerbner is a historian who examines how religion shapes – and is shaped by – race, politics, and technology.
www.katharinegerbner.com
September 23, 2025 at 7:43 PM
With a new book coming out, I finally got around to updating my website. I'm thrilled with the new design - plus, my bio now includes the accurate number of children! (Last edit to my previous website was 7 years ago...)
Check it out! www.katharinegerbner.com
Check it out! www.katharinegerbner.com
Nothing quite like opening an unexpected package and finding your own book inside!
The official pub date isn't until mid-Oct, but Archival Irruptions @dukepress.bsky.social is now real and in 3D!
The official pub date isn't until mid-Oct, but Archival Irruptions @dukepress.bsky.social is now real and in 3D!
September 23, 2025 at 12:10 AM
Nothing quite like opening an unexpected package and finding your own book inside!
The official pub date isn't until mid-Oct, but Archival Irruptions @dukepress.bsky.social is now real and in 3D!
The official pub date isn't until mid-Oct, but Archival Irruptions @dukepress.bsky.social is now real and in 3D!
Reposted by Katharine Gerbner
In "Archival Irruptions," @ktgerbs.bsky.social traces how British colonial authorities in Jamaica criminalized Obeah, a religious practice held by enslaved Africans. Read the introduction for free now. buff.ly/3JlgBEt
September 3, 2025 at 8:10 PM
In "Archival Irruptions," @ktgerbs.bsky.social traces how British colonial authorities in Jamaica criminalized Obeah, a religious practice held by enslaved Africans. Read the introduction for free now. buff.ly/3JlgBEt
Come be my colleague at the University of Minnesota -- we are hiring! @umn-rels.bsky.social
The Religious Studies program at UMN is searching for a new TT position in Buddhist Studies. Please circulate widely!
The Religious Studies program at UMN is searching for a new TT position in Buddhist Studies. Please circulate widely!
August 29, 2025 at 3:45 PM
Come be my colleague at the University of Minnesota -- we are hiring! @umn-rels.bsky.social
The Religious Studies program at UMN is searching for a new TT position in Buddhist Studies. Please circulate widely!
The Religious Studies program at UMN is searching for a new TT position in Buddhist Studies. Please circulate widely!
I'm excited to share that my new book ARCHIVAL IRRUPTIONS: Constructing Religion and Criminalizing Obeah in Eighteenth-Century Jamaica is coming out with
@dukepress.bsky.social in October!
@dukepress.bsky.social in October!
August 27, 2025 at 3:39 PM
I'm excited to share that my new book ARCHIVAL IRRUPTIONS: Constructing Religion and Criminalizing Obeah in Eighteenth-Century Jamaica is coming out with
@dukepress.bsky.social in October!
@dukepress.bsky.social in October!
Reposted by Katharine Gerbner
@ktgerbs.bsky.social provides an essential link in understanding the creation of racialized slavery. She demonstrates how Christians—intentionally & not—tied bondage to status as a Christian and, ultimately, how this tied assumptions about the heathen to enslaved Black people.
2/
2/
June 20, 2025 at 12:17 AM
@ktgerbs.bsky.social provides an essential link in understanding the creation of racialized slavery. She demonstrates how Christians—intentionally & not—tied bondage to status as a Christian and, ultimately, how this tied assumptions about the heathen to enslaved Black people.
2/
2/
My thoughts on @tomtweed.bsky.social's fascinating new book that retells American religious history through the lens of ecologies and technologies.
A new history reconsiders who belongs in American religious history and what should count as religion
barnraisingmedia.com/religion-ame...
barnraisingmedia.com/religion-ame...
What Counts as American Religion?
A new history history offers a corrective to narrow visions of American religion that begin with Plymouth Rock.
barnraisingmedia.com
July 28, 2025 at 8:38 PM
My thoughts on @tomtweed.bsky.social's fascinating new book that retells American religious history through the lens of ecologies and technologies.
Reposted by Katharine Gerbner
Now with explosion of AI:
LLMs draw upon existing cultural texts. They do not generate original ideas, but rather recycle old ones. How do inherent biases of these systems interact with the dynamics above?
What might that mean for individuals and society?
LLMs draw upon existing cultural texts. They do not generate original ideas, but rather recycle old ones. How do inherent biases of these systems interact with the dynamics above?
What might that mean for individuals and society?
January 30, 2025 at 4:42 PM
Now with explosion of AI:
LLMs draw upon existing cultural texts. They do not generate original ideas, but rather recycle old ones. How do inherent biases of these systems interact with the dynamics above?
What might that mean for individuals and society?
LLMs draw upon existing cultural texts. They do not generate original ideas, but rather recycle old ones. How do inherent biases of these systems interact with the dynamics above?
What might that mean for individuals and society?
Reposted by Katharine Gerbner
This comments section is the first time I've felt even a shred of hope in eight days.
From the fednews community on Reddit
Explore this post and more from the fednews community
www.reddit.com
January 29, 2025 at 5:41 AM
This comments section is the first time I've felt even a shred of hope in eight days.
Reposted by Katharine Gerbner
We are excited to announce our 2025 Roetzel Family Lecture! See the following poster for more details
January 24, 2025 at 11:44 PM
We are excited to announce our 2025 Roetzel Family Lecture! See the following poster for more details
Reposted by Katharine Gerbner
Though I hear people say they may be over them, might be a good day to share 2 Starter Packs for #VastEarlyAmerica #VastEarlyAmericas! 1/ go.bsky.app/RDvzxbj
January 19, 2025 at 3:57 PM
Though I hear people say they may be over them, might be a good day to share 2 Starter Packs for #VastEarlyAmerica #VastEarlyAmericas! 1/ go.bsky.app/RDvzxbj
Reposted by Katharine Gerbner
✍️Slavery and Freedom in Black Thought in the Early Spanish Atlantic
💭 An intellectual history exploring how free & enslaved Black people in the early Atlantic conceptualized & contested ideas about slavery & freedom
🕰️Out on Dec 5th '24
🤫 already available online: www.cambridge.org/core/books/s...
💭 An intellectual history exploring how free & enslaved Black people in the early Atlantic conceptualized & contested ideas about slavery & freedom
🕰️Out on Dec 5th '24
🤫 already available online: www.cambridge.org/core/books/s...
November 28, 2024 at 12:33 PM
✍️Slavery and Freedom in Black Thought in the Early Spanish Atlantic
💭 An intellectual history exploring how free & enslaved Black people in the early Atlantic conceptualized & contested ideas about slavery & freedom
🕰️Out on Dec 5th '24
🤫 already available online: www.cambridge.org/core/books/s...
💭 An intellectual history exploring how free & enslaved Black people in the early Atlantic conceptualized & contested ideas about slavery & freedom
🕰️Out on Dec 5th '24
🤫 already available online: www.cambridge.org/core/books/s...
Reposted by Katharine Gerbner
I just made an end-of-year donation to Free Press, a leading media reform organization at the forefront of critically important policy battles, from revitalizing public service journalism to defending a democratic internet. Their invaluable advocacy will be even more essential in the years ahead.
Free Press has ambitious plans for 2025 to combat authoritarianism, fight for Net Neutrality, push back on cuts to public-media funding and more — but we can't do it without you. Donations help ensure we can fight for a just and equitable media system.
https://act.freepress.net/donate/eoy24-double/
https://act.freepress.net/donate/eoy24-double/
December 27, 2024 at 5:57 PM
I just made an end-of-year donation to Free Press, a leading media reform organization at the forefront of critically important policy battles, from revitalizing public service journalism to defending a democratic internet. Their invaluable advocacy will be even more essential in the years ahead.
Thanks for highlighting this! The backstory: during my research for Christian Slavery (2018), I noticed that every time there was an enslaved uprising in early America or the Caribbean, there was an immediate backlash against Black religious gatherings-whether Christian, Muslim, or African religions
Anyway I'm finally digging into this fabulous volume, starting with @ktgerbs.bsky.social on the ways that colonial authorities redefined "religion" to crimimalize gatherings of Black people. There's an M Night Shyamalan-level twist in her conclusion.
December 26, 2024 at 3:36 PM
Thanks for highlighting this! The backstory: during my research for Christian Slavery (2018), I noticed that every time there was an enslaved uprising in early America or the Caribbean, there was an immediate backlash against Black religious gatherings-whether Christian, Muslim, or African religions
Reposted by Katharine Gerbner
Evan Haefeli and Patricia Bonomi have both written about the Dutch churches and slavery in an Atlantic context.
There is also an ongoing joint project on Church and Slavery in the Dutch Empire that looks at Reformed Protestantism and slavery.
www.pthu.nl/en/news-and-...
There is also an ongoing joint project on Church and Slavery in the Dutch Empire that looks at Reformed Protestantism and slavery.
www.pthu.nl/en/news-and-...
'Church and slavery' research project launched - Protestant Theological University
On 1 January 2023, the NWO research project "Church and Slavery in the Dutch Empire: History, Theology and Heritage" officially started.
www.pthu.nl
December 19, 2024 at 5:04 PM
Evan Haefeli and Patricia Bonomi have both written about the Dutch churches and slavery in an Atlantic context.
There is also an ongoing joint project on Church and Slavery in the Dutch Empire that looks at Reformed Protestantism and slavery.
www.pthu.nl/en/news-and-...
There is also an ongoing joint project on Church and Slavery in the Dutch Empire that looks at Reformed Protestantism and slavery.
www.pthu.nl/en/news-and-...