Mallory Szymanski
@malszy.bsky.social
Historian. Educator. Organizer. Writes about police violence, community resilience, and limits of reform. Co-founder Upstate NY Policing Research Consortium (UNY-PRC). Editor, @cliocontemporary.bsky.social. Knitter. Jewelry maker. Pro wrestling fan.
Reposted by Mallory Szymanski
Had a blast writing this piece for @cliocontemporary.bsky.social!
Great advice from @mingsga.bsky.social on using comps to craft your dissertation prospectus!
"When you’re getting ready to draft your dissertation prospectus, your comprehensive exams can be a helpful tool."
In the next piece in our "Comps Series," @mingsga.bsky.social gives advice on using comps to create your dissertation prospectus.
In the next piece in our "Comps Series," @mingsga.bsky.social gives advice on using comps to create your dissertation prospectus.
November 3, 2025 at 12:43 PM
Had a blast writing this piece for @cliocontemporary.bsky.social!
Reposted by Mallory Szymanski
On the 50th Anniversary of the Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, Jerald Podair shares the broader significance of the tragedy, not just on the lives of those involved, but on the broader implications it represented for the post-WWII US economy. 🗃️
clioandthecontemporary.com/2025/11/10/w...
clioandthecontemporary.com/2025/11/10/w...
What the Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald Can Teach Us Fifty Years Later
Fifty years ago the ore freighter Edmund Fitzgerald sank in a Lake Superior storm. But more than the “gales of November” wrecked the Fitz. The ship was also the casualty of a globalizing neoliberal…
clioandthecontemporary.com
November 10, 2025 at 1:47 PM
On the 50th Anniversary of the Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, Jerald Podair shares the broader significance of the tragedy, not just on the lives of those involved, but on the broader implications it represented for the post-WWII US economy. 🗃️
clioandthecontemporary.com/2025/11/10/w...
clioandthecontemporary.com/2025/11/10/w...
Check out Clio’s latest from our very own @oaverettephillips.bsky.social with fantastic advice for PhD students. Check it out!
Our "Comps Series," continues with @oaverettephillips.bsky.social giving advice on taking your oral and written exams: "The written and oral portions of your comprehensive exams may seem daunting, but try to remember that when you get to this step you are ready."
Written & Oral Comps
The written and oral portions of your comprehensive exams may seem daunting, but try to remember that when you get to this step you are ready.
clioandthecontemporary.com
October 30, 2025 at 7:33 PM
Check out Clio’s latest from our very own @oaverettephillips.bsky.social with fantastic advice for PhD students. Check it out!
Today!! 4pm EST in-person at @binghamtonu.bsky.social and on Zoom. Come let us tell you about the good archival trouble we’re getting into. 😇🗃️#academicsky
The UNY-PRC Digital Archive will house materials about state violence that are not dependent on state resources or perspectives.
We facilitate collaborative and comparative research, and we are looking for partners in NYS and beyond.
Learn more on Zoom Mon. Oct 27 4-5pm EST. bit.ly/4mVbdAd
We facilitate collaborative and comparative research, and we are looking for partners in NYS and beyond.
Learn more on Zoom Mon. Oct 27 4-5pm EST. bit.ly/4mVbdAd
October 27, 2025 at 4:29 PM
Today!! 4pm EST in-person at @binghamtonu.bsky.social and on Zoom. Come let us tell you about the good archival trouble we’re getting into. 😇🗃️#academicsky
From @keanuheydari.bsky.social : “The comprehensive exam is a strange hybrid: part intellectual calisthenics, part memory sport, part existential reckoning.”
This is so useful for current and prospective graduate students. 🗃️
This is so useful for current and prospective graduate students. 🗃️
In the second piece of our "Comps Series" @keanuheydari.bsky.social gives advice on how to read and remember for comps: "Read with precision, take structured notes, test your memory, and lean on community—the process is as much formation as it is evaluation."
Reading, Remembering, and Reorienting for Comprehensive Exams
Comprehensive exams are less about recalling every detail of every book than about building a durable system of arguments, interventions, and stakes. Read with precision, take structured notes, tes…
clioandthecontemporary.com
October 22, 2025 at 4:11 PM
From @keanuheydari.bsky.social : “The comprehensive exam is a strange hybrid: part intellectual calisthenics, part memory sport, part existential reckoning.”
This is so useful for current and prospective graduate students. 🗃️
This is so useful for current and prospective graduate students. 🗃️
Not that I’m rushing the snow, but I am so ready the for cozy, uninterrupted writing time that wintry January in Upstate NY can offer.
Only two rooms left! Join us in a cozy (massive!) Upstate NY home. Let us cook for you and support your writing in a semi-structured week of writing. uny-prc.org/writing-grou... #academicsky 🗃️
October 21, 2025 at 6:27 PM
Not that I’m rushing the snow, but I am so ready the for cozy, uninterrupted writing time that wintry January in Upstate NY can offer.
Let this help demystify this rite of grad school passage. We called it quals at UF, and whew, it was one of the toughest periods of my professional life.
In the first piece of our "Comps Series" Summer Perritt explains just what comps are: "'Comps,' can be confusing and intimidating for graduate students, the first step to conquering Comps, and the fear they elicit, is to understand what they are, what they are designed to test, and how they work."
What are Comps?
Comprehensive Exams, or ‘Comps,’ can be confusing and intimidating for graduate students, but the first step to conquering Comps, and the fear they elicit, is to understand what they ar…
clioandthecontemporary.com
October 20, 2025 at 5:49 PM
Let this help demystify this rite of grad school passage. We called it quals at UF, and whew, it was one of the toughest periods of my professional life.
Reposted by Mallory Szymanski
The AHA, @socialstudies.org, and @oah.org encourage our members and other supporters of a full account of history to submit comments on the proposed patriotic education funding priority by October 17, 2025. Learn more and take action here 🗃️:
Action Alert: Submit Comments on Proposed Patriotic Education Funding Priority
The American Historical Association (AHA), National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS), and Organization of American Historians (OAH) jointly encourage our members and other supporters of a full ac...
www.historians.org
October 15, 2025 at 1:30 PM
The AHA, @socialstudies.org, and @oah.org encourage our members and other supporters of a full account of history to submit comments on the proposed patriotic education funding priority by October 17, 2025. Learn more and take action here 🗃️:
Police and carceral history from the margins. We’re building the ship as we sail it at @unyprc.bsky.social, & we love collaborating. Come see what we are up to, and join us. 🗃️ #academicsky
UNY-PRC has developed a digital archive that helps bring together materials from system-affected people alongside hard-to-access state records on policing, alongside state records that are often difficult to access by researchers. Everyone is welcome to join.
Register at bit.ly/4mVbdAd
#academicsky
Register at bit.ly/4mVbdAd
#academicsky
October 15, 2025 at 7:58 PM
Police and carceral history from the margins. We’re building the ship as we sail it at @unyprc.bsky.social, & we love collaborating. Come see what we are up to, and join us. 🗃️ #academicsky
I'm pretty sure mentors tried to tell me many of these things, but seeing them written here makes them so real. Also, King captures something I had not thought of: how my undergrad at an enormous R1 shapes my perception of "what professors do," even now in mid career at a SLAC. #academicsky 🗃️
In our second guide @cliocontemporary.bsky.social
editor Sarah King provides advice to students considering PhD programs: "Embarking on a PhD in history can be incredibly rewarding, but before you apply, it's best to have a clear-eyed view of academia as a whole..."
editor Sarah King provides advice to students considering PhD programs: "Embarking on a PhD in history can be incredibly rewarding, but before you apply, it's best to have a clear-eyed view of academia as a whole..."
What to Think About When Thinking About Grad School: So, you want to do a PhD?
Embarking on a PhD in history can be incredibly rewarding, but before you apply, it’s best to have a clear-eyed view of academia as a whole (including the various types of universities where …
clioandthecontemporary.com
October 14, 2025 at 9:36 PM
I'm pretty sure mentors tried to tell me many of these things, but seeing them written here makes them so real. Also, King captures something I had not thought of: how my undergrad at an enormous R1 shapes my perception of "what professors do," even now in mid career at a SLAC. #academicsky 🗃️
Add this to your Proseminars and Historians' Craft syllabi. #academicsky 🗃️
In the first of two guides @cliocontemporary.bsky.social editor Sarah King provides advice to help "students figure out what about grad school appeals to them, what degrees they actually need to do the things they love, and whether they're in the right place to start grad school now."
What to Think About When Thinking About Grad School: Questions to Guide Undergrads Contemplating a Master’s or PhD
Considering an MA or PhD in history? This guide helps students figure out what about grad school appeals to them, what degrees they actually need to do the things they love, and whether they’…
clioandthecontemporary.com
October 14, 2025 at 9:29 PM
Add this to your Proseminars and Historians' Craft syllabi. #academicsky 🗃️
We have two rooms still available. Come write and commune with us. My favorite (optional) part: ending each day with a hot tub soak in the snow!
Applications open for January 3-9, 2026 Retreat in Central NY. Start 2026 by making substantial progress on your writing project. We provide nourishing food and hot coffee. You bring the brain power and writing materials. #skystorians #AcademicSky
uny-prc.org/writing-grou...
uny-prc.org/writing-grou...
UNY-PRC Writing Retreats - Upstate New York Policing Research Consortium
Come write with us. Escape to a beautiful home in Upstate New York with other folks writing about policing, the carceral state, liberation, and related fields. Enjoy semi-structured morning and aftern...
uny-prc.org
October 13, 2025 at 9:57 PM
We have two rooms still available. Come write and commune with us. My favorite (optional) part: ending each day with a hot tub soak in the snow!
#academicsky 🗃️
For when you need something smart to read to distract you from the news.
For when you need something smart to read to distract you from the news.
Today is the 50th anniversary of the "Thrilla in Manila" fight between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier. Suzuko Morikawa shows their face-off to be a "crucible cultural conflict" that extended beyond the ring and captured the tensions of the mid-1970s. 🗃️
clioandthecontemporary.com/2025/10/01/t...
Today is the 50th anniversary of the "Thrilla in Manila" fight between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier. Suzuko Morikawa shows their face-off to be a "crucible cultural conflict" that extended beyond the ring and captured the tensions of the mid-1970s. 🗃️
clioandthecontemporary.com/2025/10/01/t...
The “Thrilla in Manila” at 50: A Retrospective on Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, and the Power of Their “Calculated Blaze”
At the 50th anniversary of the fight, the “Thrilla in Manila” emerges as not only the story of two extraordinary boxers’ pushing themselves to their physical limits, but also embodies creativity an…
clioandthecontemporary.com
October 1, 2025 at 9:31 PM
#academicsky 🗃️
For when you need something smart to read to distract you from the news.
For when you need something smart to read to distract you from the news.
Today! 🗃️ #academicsky
Sign up to join our monthly workshop. We are filling spots for spring semester, so contact us to workshop your paper in progress. We’re a friendly and helpful group.
Sign up to join our monthly workshop. We are filling spots for spring semester, so contact us to workshop your paper in progress. We’re a friendly and helpful group.
September 18, 2025 at 11:02 AM
Today! 🗃️ #academicsky
Sign up to join our monthly workshop. We are filling spots for spring semester, so contact us to workshop your paper in progress. We’re a friendly and helpful group.
Sign up to join our monthly workshop. We are filling spots for spring semester, so contact us to workshop your paper in progress. We’re a friendly and helpful group.
Buckle up. 🗃️
McCarthyism in your news feed? Check out @gvaughnjoy.bsky.social's latest, "'Are you now or have you ever been a member of the Tom Hanks fan club?': Modern McCarthyism in America," which explores recent echoes of the McCarthy era in Hollywood and academia.
“Are you now or have you ever been a member of the Tom Hanks fan club?”: Modern McCarthyism in America
Recent attacks on Tom Hanks and American universities highlight parallels between our 2025 and the McCarthy era. But our moment has something the Cold War Red Scare didn’t: the benefits of hi…
clioandthecontemporary.com
September 17, 2025 at 5:03 PM
Buckle up. 🗃️
I feel obligated to keep trying to convince my students not to sacrifice their own skill development to AI while in college, but I think I come across as preachy and out of touch. @lornab.bsky.social and T-Pain send a much more compelling message that I plan to adopt into my classrooms.
Looking to persuade your students to develop humanistic writing skills before leaning on AI? Invite T-Pain (sans Auto-Tune) to your class.
@lornab.bsky.social offers a riveting lesson plan about AI and the power of honing our voices. 🗃️#academicsky
clioandthecontemporary.com/2025/09/02/t...
@lornab.bsky.social offers a riveting lesson plan about AI and the power of honing our voices. 🗃️#academicsky
clioandthecontemporary.com/2025/09/02/t...
T-Pain Against the Machine: How Mid-2000s Hip Hop Can Inspire College Students to Skip the AI and Find Their Own Voice
T-Pain’s stunning, stripped-down vocal performance on the Tiny Desk version of “Buy U A Drank (Shawty Snappin’)” makes it clear that he’s got the organic vocal chops to “sound good” without any dig…
clioandthecontemporary.com
September 3, 2025 at 12:54 PM
I feel obligated to keep trying to convince my students not to sacrifice their own skill development to AI while in college, but I think I come across as preachy and out of touch. @lornab.bsky.social and T-Pain send a much more compelling message that I plan to adopt into my classrooms.
Reposted by Mallory Szymanski
This syllabus from Marcus Chatfield introduces the history of delinquency as a legal construct in the U.S. as well as antidelinquency efforts deployed by families, social workers, police departments, judges, clinicians, politicians, and legislators.
clioandthecontemporary.com/2025/08/29/h...
clioandthecontemporary.com/2025/08/29/h...
History of Delinquency – AMH 3931/CCJ 4934
This course introduces the history of delinquency as a legal construct in the United States since 1825. Broadly defined as the adult conception of criminal and problematic youth behavior, we will e…
clioandthecontemporary.com
August 29, 2025 at 4:52 PM
This syllabus from Marcus Chatfield introduces the history of delinquency as a legal construct in the U.S. as well as antidelinquency efforts deployed by families, social workers, police departments, judges, clinicians, politicians, and legislators.
clioandthecontemporary.com/2025/08/29/h...
clioandthecontemporary.com/2025/08/29/h...
This is delightful reading. 🗃️#academicsky
On the heels of the 50th Anniversary of Born to Run, @kirkcurnutt.bsky.social offers Springsteen fans and pop culture scholars an analysis of the ways the noir mood of "Meeting Across the River" reflected something bigger about the 1970s.
clioandthecontemporary.com/2025/08/26/b...
clioandthecontemporary.com/2025/08/26/b...
Noir City vs. The Opera on the Turnpike: As Bruce Springsteen’s Born to Run Turns 50, Its Most Underrated Track Deserves Some Love
“Meeting Across the River” routinely lands last when fans rank their Born to Run favorites. But its noir mood was where the country was heading in the mid-1970s.
clioandthecontemporary.com
August 26, 2025 at 5:18 PM
This is delightful reading. 🗃️#academicsky
Our summer session was so productive. Folks advanced their article, book proposal, op ed, book manuscript, and memoir.
Casual conversation about our progress each week facilitates real-time feedback from other writers, too.
Fall session opens 9/16. Join us. 🗃️ #academicsky #amwriting
Casual conversation about our progress each week facilitates real-time feedback from other writers, too.
Fall session opens 9/16. Join us. 🗃️ #academicsky #amwriting
Prioritize your writing this fall by joining this regular community of committed writers on Zoom. Bring friends. 🗃️ #academicsky
August 25, 2025 at 12:22 PM
Our summer session was so productive. Folks advanced their article, book proposal, op ed, book manuscript, and memoir.
Casual conversation about our progress each week facilitates real-time feedback from other writers, too.
Fall session opens 9/16. Join us. 🗃️ #academicsky #amwriting
Casual conversation about our progress each week facilitates real-time feedback from other writers, too.
Fall session opens 9/16. Join us. 🗃️ #academicsky #amwriting
Reposted by Mallory Szymanski
I share this syllabus bc I'm one of a tiny handful of university faculty in the UK who teach trans history at a specialist level, & I'd like there to be more of us! I learned the field from scratch post-PhD, bc at my prev institution it was politically necessary - which means that you can too!
Updated my grad syllabus for the new year! The latest version of the weekly schedule and readings is now on the Teaching page of my website: samuelrutherford.com/teaching/
August 16, 2025 at 8:21 AM
I share this syllabus bc I'm one of a tiny handful of university faculty in the UK who teach trans history at a specialist level, & I'd like there to be more of us! I learned the field from scratch post-PhD, bc at my prev institution it was politically necessary - which means that you can too!
Reposted by Mallory Szymanski
What an amazing resource!! Sharing for all those grappling with how to handle AI in the classroom.
Huge thanks to @annakornbluh.bsky.social @ehayot.bsky.social and the other contributors
#History 🗃️
Huge thanks to @annakornbluh.bsky.social @ehayot.bsky.social and the other contributors
#History 🗃️
August 15, 2025 at 7:11 PM
What an amazing resource!! Sharing for all those grappling with how to handle AI in the classroom.
Huge thanks to @annakornbluh.bsky.social @ehayot.bsky.social and the other contributors
#History 🗃️
Huge thanks to @annakornbluh.bsky.social @ehayot.bsky.social and the other contributors
#History 🗃️
Contact us @cliocontemporary.bsky.social with your pitches. 🗃️ #academicsky
Historians, we’re interested in publishing responses to the White House plan to “review” Smithsonian exhibits. DM us if you’d like to write something! 🗃️ #publichistory
August 13, 2025 at 5:16 PM
Contact us @cliocontemporary.bsky.social with your pitches. 🗃️ #academicsky
Reposted by Mallory Szymanski
New version of the Slave Voyages website launched:
www.slavevoyages.org/blog/slavevo...
#History #EnslavedHistory 🗃️
www.slavevoyages.org/blog/slavevo...
#History #EnslavedHistory 🗃️
SlaveVoyages
www.slavevoyages.org
August 13, 2025 at 11:08 AM
New version of the Slave Voyages website launched:
www.slavevoyages.org/blog/slavevo...
#History #EnslavedHistory 🗃️
www.slavevoyages.org/blog/slavevo...
#History #EnslavedHistory 🗃️
Reposted by Mallory Szymanski
Publication day for a book that Matthew and I spent six years on, anguished over, fought for, rewrote twice, and nearly abandoned. I hope it proves useful in continuing important conversations about the ancient world and about the societies we choose to build today.
www.ucpress.edu/books/ancien...
www.ucpress.edu/books/ancien...
August 12, 2025 at 4:45 PM
Publication day for a book that Matthew and I spent six years on, anguished over, fought for, rewrote twice, and nearly abandoned. I hope it proves useful in continuing important conversations about the ancient world and about the societies we choose to build today.
www.ucpress.edu/books/ancien...
www.ucpress.edu/books/ancien...
Reposted by Mallory Szymanski
Historians - as you think about the new semester, consider this first-day exercise as a way to get conversation going about what historians *actually* do, and the context within which we do it. catherinedenial.org/blog/uncateg...
Making the First Day Matter – Cate Denial
catherinedenial.org
July 16, 2025 at 12:48 PM
Historians - as you think about the new semester, consider this first-day exercise as a way to get conversation going about what historians *actually* do, and the context within which we do it. catherinedenial.org/blog/uncateg...