Maura Elizabeth Cunningham
@mauracunningham.bsky.social
She/her. China historian and writer in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Also reader, knitter, Phillies/Flyers fan, road tripper.
https://mauracunningham.org/
https://mauracunningham.org/
Big AP investigation by Aniruddha Ghosal and @dakekang.bsky.social on the export of Chinese surveillance technology to Nepal, once an important haven for Tibetan refugees. Today, a digital dragnet has effectively sealed the border and placed Nepal's Tibetan community under constant monitoring.
US tech enabled China’s surveillance empire. Now Tibetan refugees in Nepal are paying the price
Nepal is just one of at least 150 countries to which Chinese companies are supplying surveillance technology, from cameras in Vietnam to censorship firewalls in Pakistan to citywide monitoring…
apnews.com
December 29, 2025 at 12:15 PM
Big AP investigation by Aniruddha Ghosal and @dakekang.bsky.social on the export of Chinese surveillance technology to Nepal, once an important haven for Tibetan refugees. Today, a digital dragnet has effectively sealed the border and placed Nepal's Tibetan community under constant monitoring.
Reposted by Maura Elizabeth Cunningham
To finish off 2025, here's a roundup of the nonfiction titles that really grabbed me, that made me think, and that I wanted to share with others. More to come in 2026.
2025 Book Reviews in Review
Have you ever heard someone say “The days are long, but the years are short” about how it feels to raise children? That’s how 2025 has felt to me—kind of a slog on a daily basis, but I can’t believ…
mauracunningham.org
December 28, 2025 at 4:53 PM
To finish off 2025, here's a roundup of the nonfiction titles that really grabbed me, that made me think, and that I wanted to share with others. More to come in 2026.
Reposted by Maura Elizabeth Cunningham
"It was Christmas week: we took to no settled employment, but spent it in a sort of merry domestic dissipation."
--Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre
--Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre
December 29, 2025 at 1:09 AM
"It was Christmas week: we took to no settled employment, but spent it in a sort of merry domestic dissipation."
--Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre
--Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre
Reposted by Maura Elizabeth Cunningham
Meanwhile, there are only a handful of historians of modern Indonesia at US universities and half a dozen schools where you can study Indonesian, the language spoken by the fourth largest country in the world and the inhabitants of the world‘s largest city.
December 28, 2025 at 9:40 PM
Meanwhile, there are only a handful of historians of modern Indonesia at US universities and half a dozen schools where you can study Indonesian, the language spoken by the fourth largest country in the world and the inhabitants of the world‘s largest city.
I must know some people who can offer @pekingmikenyt.bsky.social helpful recommendations on this one.
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 7:29 PM
I must know some people who can offer @pekingmikenyt.bsky.social helpful recommendations on this one.
One week from (checks calendar) *right now*, @josephtorigian.bsky.social and I will be at Three Cats Restaurant in Clawson, MI talking about THE PARTY'S INTERESTS COME FIRST. You, too, could be eating brunch (cornflake French toast!!) and learning about the life of Xi Zhongxun. Join us.
December 28, 2025 at 6:41 PM
One week from (checks calendar) *right now*, @josephtorigian.bsky.social and I will be at Three Cats Restaurant in Clawson, MI talking about THE PARTY'S INTERESTS COME FIRST. You, too, could be eating brunch (cornflake French toast!!) and learning about the life of Xi Zhongxun. Join us.
To finish off 2025, here's a roundup of the nonfiction titles that really grabbed me, that made me think, and that I wanted to share with others. More to come in 2026.
2025 Book Reviews in Review
Have you ever heard someone say “The days are long, but the years are short” about how it feels to raise children? That’s how 2025 has felt to me—kind of a slog on a daily basis, but I can’t believ…
mauracunningham.org
December 28, 2025 at 4:53 PM
To finish off 2025, here's a roundup of the nonfiction titles that really grabbed me, that made me think, and that I wanted to share with others. More to come in 2026.
“What I care deeply about is building this kind of bridge for veterans to go home.” @heldavidson.bsky.social reports on a Taiwan borough chief who brings the ashes of KMT veterans back to their final resting place in the PRC.
‘Ferryman of the souls’: the man who helps Taiwan’s dead return home to China
Liu De-wen operates at a sensitive space in Taiwan’s history, as Beijing demands reunification with the island
www.theguardian.com
December 28, 2025 at 3:15 PM
“What I care deeply about is building this kind of bridge for veterans to go home.” @heldavidson.bsky.social reports on a Taiwan borough chief who brings the ashes of KMT veterans back to their final resting place in the PRC.
2025 Book Reviews in Review
Have you ever heard someone say “The days are long, but the years are short” about how it feels to raise children? That’s how 2025 has felt to me—kind of a slog on a daily basis, but I can’t believe that we’re now almost at the end. I decided against writing any sort of…
Have you ever heard someone say “The days are long, but the years are short” about how it feels to raise children? That’s how 2025 has felt to me—kind of a slog on a daily basis, but I can’t believe that we’re now almost at the end. I decided against writing any sort of…
2025 Book Reviews in Review
Have you ever heard someone say “The days are long, but the years are short” about how it feels to raise children? That’s how 2025 has felt to me—kind of a slog on a daily basis, but I can’t believe that we’re now almost at the end. I decided against writing any sort of annual review summary or top-picks list for 2025.
mauracunningham.org
December 28, 2025 at 12:06 PM
2025 Book Reviews in Review
Have you ever heard someone say “The days are long, but the years are short” about how it feels to raise children? That’s how 2025 has felt to me—kind of a slog on a daily basis, but I can’t believe that we’re now almost at the end. I decided against writing any sort of…
Have you ever heard someone say “The days are long, but the years are short” about how it feels to raise children? That’s how 2025 has felt to me—kind of a slog on a daily basis, but I can’t believe that we’re now almost at the end. I decided against writing any sort of…
Reposted by Maura Elizabeth Cunningham
My book, The Future That Was: A History of Third World Feminism Against Authoritarianism, will be out March 17, 2026
It is now available for pre-order from @princetonupress.bsky.social and other online booksellers! cart.press.princeton.edu/checkout/car...
press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...
It is now available for pre-order from @princetonupress.bsky.social and other online booksellers! cart.press.princeton.edu/checkout/car...
press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...
December 27, 2025 at 5:19 PM
My book, The Future That Was: A History of Third World Feminism Against Authoritarianism, will be out March 17, 2026
It is now available for pre-order from @princetonupress.bsky.social and other online booksellers! cart.press.princeton.edu/checkout/car...
press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...
It is now available for pre-order from @princetonupress.bsky.social and other online booksellers! cart.press.princeton.edu/checkout/car...
press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...
Reposted by Maura Elizabeth Cunningham
On February 5, join @yilingliu85.bsky.social and @afrawang.bsky.social to discuss the recent history of censorship on the Chinese internet, how its users elude surveillance to talk (somewhat) freely within the Great Firewall, and Liu's new book, "The Wall Dancers."
Yi-Ling Liu: China’s Internet Censorship
Register now to hear Yi-Ling Liu talk about this transformational chapter of China’s modern history, and the individuals who shaped it, from entrepreneurs to activists, bloggers to artists.
asiasociety.org
December 21, 2025 at 8:12 PM
On February 5, join @yilingliu85.bsky.social and @afrawang.bsky.social to discuss the recent history of censorship on the Chinese internet, how its users elude surveillance to talk (somewhat) freely within the Great Firewall, and Liu's new book, "The Wall Dancers."
Reposted by Maura Elizabeth Cunningham
We are always looking for submissions, all year around!
Are you working on #DH in the fields of Asian, N. African and Middle Eastern studies? Send us your notes, intro pieces and more. All info on our website, digitalorientalist.com
Are you working on #DH in the fields of Asian, N. African and Middle Eastern studies? Send us your notes, intro pieces and more. All info on our website, digitalorientalist.com
The Digital Orientalist
Practical examples and theoretical reflections on the do's and don'ts of using digital tools for your study and research in African and Asian Studies.
digitalorientalist.com
December 23, 2025 at 1:27 PM
We are always looking for submissions, all year around!
Are you working on #DH in the fields of Asian, N. African and Middle Eastern studies? Send us your notes, intro pieces and more. All info on our website, digitalorientalist.com
Are you working on #DH in the fields of Asian, N. African and Middle Eastern studies? Send us your notes, intro pieces and more. All info on our website, digitalorientalist.com
Reposted by Maura Elizabeth Cunningham
I think this is a really important point. When folks say "no AI" they often don’t mean "I can conceive of no possible use for AI"—they mean "the use cases I’ve been shown do not begin to justify the harms"—that’s not something you respond to by offering another narrow use case
So when I say there is *zero* utility for LLMs, I don't mean there are zero use cases. I mean there are zero use cases that even begin to make up for the damage that's being done.
December 22, 2025 at 9:15 PM
I think this is a really important point. When folks say "no AI" they often don’t mean "I can conceive of no possible use for AI"—they mean "the use cases I’ve been shown do not begin to justify the harms"—that’s not something you respond to by offering another narrow use case
Reposted by Maura Elizabeth Cunningham
Pleased to share the Spring 2026 schedule for the SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY IN ASIA online seminar series @ Harvard!
Talks are over Zoom on Tuesdays, 10:30–11:45 am EST.
REGISTRATION: seow.scholars.harvard.edu/STinAsia
#histstm #histsci #histtech #histmed #envhist #envhum #sts 🧪
Talks are over Zoom on Tuesdays, 10:30–11:45 am EST.
REGISTRATION: seow.scholars.harvard.edu/STinAsia
#histstm #histsci #histtech #histmed #envhist #envhum #sts 🧪
December 22, 2025 at 9:00 PM
Reposted by Maura Elizabeth Cunningham
One final Weekly Wanderings post for 2025, featuring: reviews of two excellent books by Indigenous authors, a Chinese artist doing incredible work in jail, the life of a PLA soldier, a lawyer working to rescue Ukrainian children, and the legacy of British education in Kenya.
Weekly Wanderings: December 21, 2025
Here we are—the shortest day of the year, and the final regular Weekly Wanderings post of 2025, although I’ll pop into your inboxes next Sunday with a year in review sort of thing. Thank you to eve…
mauracunningham.org
December 21, 2025 at 1:08 PM
One final Weekly Wanderings post for 2025, featuring: reviews of two excellent books by Indigenous authors, a Chinese artist doing incredible work in jail, the life of a PLA soldier, a lawyer working to rescue Ukrainian children, and the legacy of British education in Kenya.
Reposted by Maura Elizabeth Cunningham
My entire timeline is anti-AI screeds this morning. Now imagine pulling all that oppositional intellectual energy into working together on some new and cool projects. Anti-AI choir preaching is draining! Let‘s make new stuff challenge 🧐
December 21, 2025 at 5:49 PM
My entire timeline is anti-AI screeds this morning. Now imagine pulling all that oppositional intellectual energy into working together on some new and cool projects. Anti-AI choir preaching is draining! Let‘s make new stuff challenge 🧐
Reposted by Maura Elizabeth Cunningham
My entire second book project emerged from a single document I found in a file I wasn’t looking for. AI cannot substitute our basic methods in history. I am not totally dismissing its possibilities as a tool. I know all too well the lack of funding for cataloging, transcription etc that we face 1/
yes, this is a crucial aspect of research for me - finding useful stuff in the process I wasn’t actually looking for
Not a historian but like to research. The AI might summarize what I'm looking for, but it doesn't find what I'm *not* looking for. The book on the shelf next to the one I wanted. The insight in chapter 6 based on the quote I needed from chapter 4.
December 21, 2025 at 4:04 PM
My entire second book project emerged from a single document I found in a file I wasn’t looking for. AI cannot substitute our basic methods in history. I am not totally dismissing its possibilities as a tool. I know all too well the lack of funding for cataloging, transcription etc that we face 1/
Reposted by Maura Elizabeth Cunningham
THE SOLSTICE OCCURRED @ 20251221 10:03 AM
UR ASTRONOMICAL WINTER HAS JUST BEGUN THO UR METEOROLOGICAL WINTER BEGAN 12/1
BUT
UR DAYS WILL NOW BEGIN 2 GET LONGER
CONGRATS U MADE IT
UR ASTRONOMICAL WINTER HAS JUST BEGUN THO UR METEOROLOGICAL WINTER BEGAN 12/1
BUT
UR DAYS WILL NOW BEGIN 2 GET LONGER
CONGRATS U MADE IT
December 21, 2025 at 3:07 PM
THE SOLSTICE OCCURRED @ 20251221 10:03 AM
UR ASTRONOMICAL WINTER HAS JUST BEGUN THO UR METEOROLOGICAL WINTER BEGAN 12/1
BUT
UR DAYS WILL NOW BEGIN 2 GET LONGER
CONGRATS U MADE IT
UR ASTRONOMICAL WINTER HAS JUST BEGUN THO UR METEOROLOGICAL WINTER BEGAN 12/1
BUT
UR DAYS WILL NOW BEGIN 2 GET LONGER
CONGRATS U MADE IT
Reposted by Maura Elizabeth Cunningham
Hey historians, if you're sick of AI and digital slop then come to our Jan 9th #AHA2026 panel at the Field Museum to explore artifacts of the Java Sea Shipwreck collection! 🌊 12th-13th cen recovered objects will be on special display for the session. aha.confex.com/aha/2026/web... @historians.org
December 21, 2025 at 3:30 PM
Hey historians, if you're sick of AI and digital slop then come to our Jan 9th #AHA2026 panel at the Field Museum to explore artifacts of the Java Sea Shipwreck collection! 🌊 12th-13th cen recovered objects will be on special display for the session. aha.confex.com/aha/2026/web... @historians.org
One final Weekly Wanderings post for 2025, featuring: reviews of two excellent books by Indigenous authors, a Chinese artist doing incredible work in jail, the life of a PLA soldier, a lawyer working to rescue Ukrainian children, and the legacy of British education in Kenya.
Weekly Wanderings: December 21, 2025
Here we are—the shortest day of the year, and the final regular Weekly Wanderings post of 2025, although I’ll pop into your inboxes next Sunday with a year in review sort of thing. Thank you to eve…
mauracunningham.org
December 21, 2025 at 1:08 PM
One final Weekly Wanderings post for 2025, featuring: reviews of two excellent books by Indigenous authors, a Chinese artist doing incredible work in jail, the life of a PLA soldier, a lawyer working to rescue Ukrainian children, and the legacy of British education in Kenya.
"Our teachers, armed with red pens that bled judgment all over our pages, were our original algorithms, training us on a specific model of "good" writing. Our model compositions, the perfect essays from past students read aloud to the class, were our training data."
I'm Kenyan. I Don't Write Like ChatGPT. ChatGPT Writes Like Me.
I'm calm. I'm calm. I promise.
marcusolang.substack.com
December 21, 2025 at 12:15 PM
"Our teachers, armed with red pens that bled judgment all over our pages, were our original algorithms, training us on a specific model of "good" writing. Our model compositions, the perfect essays from past students read aloud to the class, were our training data."
Weekly Wanderings: December 21, 2025
Here we are—the shortest day of the year, and the final regular Weekly Wanderings post of 2025, although I’ll pop into your inboxes next Sunday with a year in review sort of thing. Thank you to everyone who has read, clicked, liked, subscribed, etc. I already…
Here we are—the shortest day of the year, and the final regular Weekly Wanderings post of 2025, although I’ll pop into your inboxes next Sunday with a year in review sort of thing. Thank you to everyone who has read, clicked, liked, subscribed, etc. I already…
Weekly Wanderings: December 21, 2025
Here we are—the shortest day of the year, and the final regular Weekly Wanderings post of 2025, although I’ll pop into your inboxes next Sunday with a year in review sort of thing. Thank you to everyone who has read, clicked, liked, subscribed, etc. I already have some writing lined up for 2026, both here and elsewhere, and look forward to sharing these pieces with you in the new year.
mauracunningham.org
December 21, 2025 at 12:02 PM
Weekly Wanderings: December 21, 2025
Here we are—the shortest day of the year, and the final regular Weekly Wanderings post of 2025, although I’ll pop into your inboxes next Sunday with a year in review sort of thing. Thank you to everyone who has read, clicked, liked, subscribed, etc. I already…
Here we are—the shortest day of the year, and the final regular Weekly Wanderings post of 2025, although I’ll pop into your inboxes next Sunday with a year in review sort of thing. Thank you to everyone who has read, clicked, liked, subscribed, etc. I already…
Reposted by Maura Elizabeth Cunningham
(Ebenezer Scrooge on his way to debut his new “fun” persona to the family of the employee he’s impoverished:) Maybe I’ll razz Bob a little bit when I get there. I think we have that kind of relationship
December 14, 2024 at 4:11 PM
(Ebenezer Scrooge on his way to debut his new “fun” persona to the family of the employee he’s impoverished:) Maybe I’ll razz Bob a little bit when I get there. I think we have that kind of relationship