Mark R. Cheathem
@markcheathem.bsky.social
Historian, documentary editor, and writer. Views are my own. https://linktr.ee/markcheathem
Reposted by Mark R. Cheathem
Hey crowdsource question here. What is a really great, highly readable book about the progressive era in US history. Like from 1890-1914 or thereabouts.
December 28, 2025 at 7:10 PM
Hey crowdsource question here. What is a really great, highly readable book about the progressive era in US history. Like from 1890-1914 or thereabouts.
Reposted by Mark R. Cheathem
In search of books to assign my U.S. History 1876-present class. The students will be mostly non-majors. Your recommendations please!
December 27, 2025 at 11:06 PM
In search of books to assign my U.S. History 1876-present class. The students will be mostly non-majors. Your recommendations please!
Reposted by Mark R. Cheathem
looking up the source of quotes, whether for a book or a video script, is great for figuring out when a quote everyone "knows" and has repeated for ages is actually just weird bullshit someone else made up
July 31, 2025 at 7:12 AM
looking up the source of quotes, whether for a book or a video script, is great for figuring out when a quote everyone "knows" and has repeated for ages is actually just weird bullshit someone else made up
Reposted by Mark R. Cheathem
Okay, #Academicsky & #Skystorians, tell me your most prized course policy.
You know, the one you think every course should have & you tell everyone about. The one that helps keep your sanity when teaching in the Age of AI or makes being an underpaid adjunct more manageable.
Tell me your secrets.
You know, the one you think every course should have & you tell everyone about. The one that helps keep your sanity when teaching in the Age of AI or makes being an underpaid adjunct more manageable.
Tell me your secrets.
December 24, 2025 at 4:27 AM
Okay, #Academicsky & #Skystorians, tell me your most prized course policy.
You know, the one you think every course should have & you tell everyone about. The one that helps keep your sanity when teaching in the Age of AI or makes being an underpaid adjunct more manageable.
Tell me your secrets.
You know, the one you think every course should have & you tell everyone about. The one that helps keep your sanity when teaching in the Age of AI or makes being an underpaid adjunct more manageable.
Tell me your secrets.
Reposted by Mark R. Cheathem
It's #Festivus again, and to help make the Airing of Grievances bright, I've prepared the following assessment rubric, which you may apply to your own or your family's grievances.
The rubric evaluates grievances by four core standards: Specificity, Pertinence, Applicability, and Use of Language.
The rubric evaluates grievances by four core standards: Specificity, Pertinence, Applicability, and Use of Language.
December 23, 2024 at 4:58 PM
It's #Festivus again, and to help make the Airing of Grievances bright, I've prepared the following assessment rubric, which you may apply to your own or your family's grievances.
The rubric evaluates grievances by four core standards: Specificity, Pertinence, Applicability, and Use of Language.
The rubric evaluates grievances by four core standards: Specificity, Pertinence, Applicability, and Use of Language.
Reposted by Mark R. Cheathem
Hey #vastearlyamerica folks! @jtomlin.bsky.social and I are trying to organize a panel for the NEHA conference at Middlebury College in April, on some topic in religion and early America. We's love to get a third paper (and a chair?) if you're interested!
December 21, 2025 at 9:20 PM
Hey #vastearlyamerica folks! @jtomlin.bsky.social and I are trying to organize a panel for the NEHA conference at Middlebury College in April, on some topic in religion and early America. We's love to get a third paper (and a chair?) if you're interested!
Reposted by Mark R. Cheathem
When we say "no, everything hasn't been digitized," I need you to understand that we really mean is that virtually nothing has been digitized. This is because the realm of primary sources that historians use is incomprehensibly large.
Seems like it's worth posting this one again.
Why Do Historians Still Have To Go To Archives?
Why do historians go to archives? Hasn’t everything already been digitized?
contingentmagazine.org
December 22, 2025 at 1:40 AM
When we say "no, everything hasn't been digitized," I need you to understand that we really mean is that virtually nothing has been digitized. This is because the realm of primary sources that historians use is incomprehensibly large.
Reposted by Mark R. Cheathem
Great news! @llassabe.bsky.social and I signed a contract for our edited volume, Degrees of Liberation: Public History, Campus Activism, and the Fight for Educational Justice. The book shows how campus activism drives change and advances public history work with communities. @sunypress.bsky.social
December 21, 2025 at 1:12 AM
Great news! @llassabe.bsky.social and I signed a contract for our edited volume, Degrees of Liberation: Public History, Campus Activism, and the Fight for Educational Justice. The book shows how campus activism drives change and advances public history work with communities. @sunypress.bsky.social
Reposted by Mark R. Cheathem
I think this post nails the actual problem, for researchers at least—AI hallucinations would simply not be a problem in academic work if we’d not normalized citation-as-signaling rather than actual engagement—you can only cite a fake paper if you’re not in the habit of reading the papers you cite
Do not cite an academic paper unless you’ve read it
AI Is Inventing Academic Papers That Don't Exist -- And They're Being Cited in Real Journals
Academic articles from authors using large language model are creating an ecosystem of fake research that threatens human knowledge itself.
www.rollingstone.com
December 19, 2025 at 7:01 PM
I think this post nails the actual problem, for researchers at least—AI hallucinations would simply not be a problem in academic work if we’d not normalized citation-as-signaling rather than actual engagement—you can only cite a fake paper if you’re not in the habit of reading the papers you cite
Reposted by Mark R. Cheathem
Do not cite an academic paper unless you’ve read it
AI Is Inventing Academic Papers That Don't Exist -- And They're Being Cited in Real Journals
Academic articles from authors using large language model are creating an ecosystem of fake research that threatens human knowledge itself.
www.rollingstone.com
December 19, 2025 at 4:46 PM
Do not cite an academic paper unless you’ve read it
Reposted by Mark R. Cheathem
My forthcoming book—
For which I began research in 2006.
Is now posted on the website for Princeton University Press.
Cover will be added soon.
The King’s Slaves: The British Empire & the Origins of American Slavery
For which I began research in 2006.
Is now posted on the website for Princeton University Press.
Cover will be added soon.
The King’s Slaves: The British Empire & the Origins of American Slavery
The King's Slaves
A provocative account of how empire and absolutism institutionalized slavery in America
press.princeton.edu
December 18, 2025 at 11:14 PM
My forthcoming book—
For which I began research in 2006.
Is now posted on the website for Princeton University Press.
Cover will be added soon.
The King’s Slaves: The British Empire & the Origins of American Slavery
For which I began research in 2006.
Is now posted on the website for Princeton University Press.
Cover will be added soon.
The King’s Slaves: The British Empire & the Origins of American Slavery
Reposted by Mark R. Cheathem
Took me five years… but I finally got to graduate with the silliest hat academia has to offer
December 18, 2025 at 4:18 PM
Took me five years… but I finally got to graduate with the silliest hat academia has to offer
Reposted by Mark R. Cheathem
Anyone know of a site that has the complete text or images of the plaques for the new "Presidential Walk of Fame"? Looking for one particular president . . . 😉
December 18, 2025 at 4:21 PM
Anyone know of a site that has the complete text or images of the plaques for the new "Presidential Walk of Fame"? Looking for one particular president . . . 😉
Reposted by Mark R. Cheathem
A very niche request: Anyone know of good maps that show shipping routes in the 1820s from the U.S. eastern coast to the U.K.? Or other sources that describe the routes and expected travel times of packet ships across the Atlantic Ocean?🗃️
December 16, 2025 at 9:42 PM
A very niche request: Anyone know of good maps that show shipping routes in the 1820s from the U.S. eastern coast to the U.K.? Or other sources that describe the routes and expected travel times of packet ships across the Atlantic Ocean?🗃️
Reposted by Mark R. Cheathem
The New Netherland Institute announces a new, semester-long fellowship to study the Dutch in/and the American Revolution. Applications are due 2/1/26. For more information and to apply, visit www.newnetherlandinstitute.org/application/...
Image: St Eustatius, View of Fort Orange, ca. 1860.
Image: St Eustatius, View of Fort Orange, ca. 1860.
December 16, 2025 at 2:29 PM
The New Netherland Institute announces a new, semester-long fellowship to study the Dutch in/and the American Revolution. Applications are due 2/1/26. For more information and to apply, visit www.newnetherlandinstitute.org/application/...
Image: St Eustatius, View of Fort Orange, ca. 1860.
Image: St Eustatius, View of Fort Orange, ca. 1860.
A very niche request: Anyone know of good maps that show shipping routes in the 1820s from the U.S. eastern coast to the U.K.? Or other sources that describe the routes and expected travel times of packet ships across the Atlantic Ocean?🗃️
December 16, 2025 at 9:42 PM
A very niche request: Anyone know of good maps that show shipping routes in the 1820s from the U.S. eastern coast to the U.K.? Or other sources that describe the routes and expected travel times of packet ships across the Atlantic Ocean?🗃️
Reposted by Mark R. Cheathem
Sarah Weicksel’s upcoming book, A Nation Unraveled, comes out from @uncpress.bsky.social on January 6. So the @historians.org staff took the opportunity today to celebrate her accomplishment before the holidays and #AHA26. uncpress.org/978146968914...
December 16, 2025 at 5:23 PM
Sarah Weicksel’s upcoming book, A Nation Unraveled, comes out from @uncpress.bsky.social on January 6. So the @historians.org staff took the opportunity today to celebrate her accomplishment before the holidays and #AHA26. uncpress.org/978146968914...
Reposted by Mark R. Cheathem
Speaking of the W. Hodding Carter III imprint, we just got page proofs in for our inaugural title, @gauthamrao.bsky.social's WHITE POWER: POLICING AMERICAN SLAVERY.
WHO. NEEDS. A. GALLEY?!
WHO. NEEDS. A. GALLEY?!
December 15, 2025 at 8:18 PM
Speaking of the W. Hodding Carter III imprint, we just got page proofs in for our inaugural title, @gauthamrao.bsky.social's WHITE POWER: POLICING AMERICAN SLAVERY.
WHO. NEEDS. A. GALLEY?!
WHO. NEEDS. A. GALLEY?!
Reposted by Mark R. Cheathem
Totally surreal that after 12 years of working on this thing, it’s out of my hands.
Coming to you in the Hodding Carter III imprint at @uncpress.bsky.social next fall!
Huge thanks to @simpsonvos.bsky.social & the many, many people who helped along the way.
Coming to you in the Hodding Carter III imprint at @uncpress.bsky.social next fall!
Huge thanks to @simpsonvos.bsky.social & the many, many people who helped along the way.
December 15, 2025 at 6:18 PM
Totally surreal that after 12 years of working on this thing, it’s out of my hands.
Coming to you in the Hodding Carter III imprint at @uncpress.bsky.social next fall!
Huge thanks to @simpsonvos.bsky.social & the many, many people who helped along the way.
Coming to you in the Hodding Carter III imprint at @uncpress.bsky.social next fall!
Huge thanks to @simpsonvos.bsky.social & the many, many people who helped along the way.
Reposted by Mark R. Cheathem
If you are buying books this Holiday Season, make sure to support university presses. Lots of great deals. open.substack.com/pub/kevinmle...
Buy University Press Books This Holiday Season
Whatever success I can claim as a published author is the result of editors at academic publishers believing in and supporting my projects.
open.substack.com
December 14, 2025 at 3:47 PM
If you are buying books this Holiday Season, make sure to support university presses. Lots of great deals. open.substack.com/pub/kevinmle...
Reposted by Mark R. Cheathem
There isn't a single problem "solved" by edtech that couldn't be fixed with smaller classes led by well-paid teachers given real academic freedom
December 12, 2025 at 6:23 PM
There isn't a single problem "solved" by edtech that couldn't be fixed with smaller classes led by well-paid teachers given real academic freedom
Reposted by Mark R. Cheathem
Visit our website (vanburenpapers.org) or contact us if you want to be added to the newsletter subscription list, which comes out in June and December.
Home | Papers of Martin Van Buren
vanburenpapers.org
December 12, 2025 at 7:19 PM
Visit our website (vanburenpapers.org) or contact us if you want to be added to the newsletter subscription list, which comes out in June and December.
Reposted by Mark R. Cheathem
Our December 2025 newsletter is out! In it you will find updates about the project, including an in-depth look at one of Van Buren's letters and an interview with one of our former student interns!
us17.campaign-archive.com?u=d991be5c79...
us17.campaign-archive.com?u=d991be5c79...
December 12, 2025 at 7:19 PM
Our December 2025 newsletter is out! In it you will find updates about the project, including an in-depth look at one of Van Buren's letters and an interview with one of our former student interns!
us17.campaign-archive.com?u=d991be5c79...
us17.campaign-archive.com?u=d991be5c79...
Reposted by Mark R. Cheathem
Reposted by Mark R. Cheathem
If the A-Team is wanted by the government, why do they drive such a distinctive van?
December 12, 2025 at 3:06 AM
If the A-Team is wanted by the government, why do they drive such a distinctive van?