Michel Estefan
@mestefan.bsky.social
Associate Professor of Teaching & Director of Undergraduate Studies, Dept. of Sociology, University of California, San Diego. Views are my own.
I had such a great time talking about writing and publishing with my #SSSP colleagues today! Huge thanks to Hadi Khoshneviss for the invite!
For folks who couldn’t make it, here are three key takeaways from my remarks:
For folks who couldn’t make it, here are three key takeaways from my remarks:
November 11, 2025 at 6:41 PM
I had such a great time talking about writing and publishing with my #SSSP colleagues today! Huge thanks to Hadi Khoshneviss for the invite!
For folks who couldn’t make it, here are three key takeaways from my remarks:
For folks who couldn’t make it, here are three key takeaways from my remarks:
I’m doing a thing with SSSP colleagues tomorrow! Join us! 9am PST / 12pm EST.
#publishing #academiclife #highered #sssp #sociology
#publishing #academiclife #highered #sssp #sociology
November 10, 2025 at 7:39 PM
I’m doing a thing with SSSP colleagues tomorrow! Join us! 9am PST / 12pm EST.
#publishing #academiclife #highered #sssp #sociology
#publishing #academiclife #highered #sssp #sociology
The finding from this paper: PhDs are an engine of innovation. Want more patents? Produce more folks with PhDs.
drive.google.com/file/d/1Ueuz...
drive.google.com/file/d/1Ueuz...
November 9, 2025 at 5:50 PM
The finding from this paper: PhDs are an engine of innovation. Want more patents? Produce more folks with PhDs.
drive.google.com/file/d/1Ueuz...
drive.google.com/file/d/1Ueuz...
Fascinating episode! It’s part of a series that takes one month of 1933 per episode, tracing the rise of Nazism in Germany.
Episode 70 -- Project 1933, Part II: March 15 to April 15
open.spotify.com
November 7, 2025 at 5:13 PM
Fascinating episode! It’s part of a series that takes one month of 1933 per episode, tracing the rise of Nazism in Germany.
Everyone has a right to live a life with dignity. College degree or no college degree. No argument there. But if you’re one of those college degree critics, at least get the data right.
College education
Lane Kenworthy, The Good SocietyMarch 2025 For much of the past century, America’s colleges and universities have been the envy of the world. That’s still true when it comes to research…
lanekenworthy.net
November 7, 2025 at 3:04 AM
Everyone has a right to live a life with dignity. College degree or no college degree. No argument there. But if you’re one of those college degree critics, at least get the data right.
Faculty colleagues: hear about AI straight from college students themselves. A must-listen for anyone teaching in 2025.
#Ai #HigherEd #teaching #pedagogy
#Ai #HigherEd #teaching #pedagogy
How Do Students Feel About Their AI Use? It's Complicated
open.spotify.com
November 6, 2025 at 10:59 PM
"Two things need to be said after reading The Anxious Generation. First, this book is going to sell a lot of copies, because Jonathan Haidt is telling a scary story about children’s development that many parents are primed to believe.
The great rewiring: is social media really behind an epidemic of teenage mental illness?
The evidence is equivocal on whether screen time is to blame for rising levels of teen depression and anxiety — and rising hysteria could distract us from tackling the real causes.
www.nature.com
November 4, 2025 at 4:36 PM
"Two things need to be said after reading The Anxious Generation. First, this book is going to sell a lot of copies, because Jonathan Haidt is telling a scary story about children’s development that many parents are primed to believe.
😎✊#UC
“When it comes to producing high-earning graduates with less student debt, the University of California is the best of the best, a new Forbes ranking finds, placing UC campuses in all 3 top spots among public universities in the country.”
“When it comes to producing high-earning graduates with less student debt, the University of California is the best of the best, a new Forbes ranking finds, placing UC campuses in all 3 top spots among public universities in the country.”
University of California is the best public university in the country, Forbes finds
The 2026 America’s Top Colleges list features an all-UC top 3 and eight campuses in the top 30 for producing successful, low-debt graduates.
www.universityofcalifornia.edu
November 3, 2025 at 9:34 PM
😎✊#UC
“When it comes to producing high-earning graduates with less student debt, the University of California is the best of the best, a new Forbes ranking finds, placing UC campuses in all 3 top spots among public universities in the country.”
“When it comes to producing high-earning graduates with less student debt, the University of California is the best of the best, a new Forbes ranking finds, placing UC campuses in all 3 top spots among public universities in the country.”
I’ve noticed a funny pattern in my TikTok feed about dog training. Puppy-stage videos are all about positive reinforcement—building trust, using treats and toys to redirect behavior. Basically, it’s the gentle-parenting paradigm but for dogs.
November 2, 2025 at 5:47 PM
I’ve noticed a funny pattern in my TikTok feed about dog training. Puppy-stage videos are all about positive reinforcement—building trust, using treats and toys to redirect behavior. Basically, it’s the gentle-parenting paradigm but for dogs.
Should have thought of this last night after turning off the porch light didn’t work to signal that we were out of candy. #keptringingdoorbell
h/t Matthew Hunt
h/t Matthew Hunt
November 1, 2025 at 5:11 PM
Should have thought of this last night after turning off the porch light didn’t work to signal that we were out of candy. #keptringingdoorbell
h/t Matthew Hunt
h/t Matthew Hunt
Student today: “You look tired, professor.”
Me: “Correct.”
Exhibit A:
Me: “Correct.”
Exhibit A:
October 30, 2025 at 7:17 PM
Student today: “You look tired, professor.”
Me: “Correct.”
Exhibit A:
Me: “Correct.”
Exhibit A:
Fantastic episode if you want to understand why the Right has such a fraught relationship with American universities.
Highly recommend the podcast overall—and conservatives especially might enjoy it (you know, viewpoint diversity and all that).
open.spotify.com/episode/1ADs...
Highly recommend the podcast overall—and conservatives especially might enjoy it (you know, viewpoint diversity and all that).
open.spotify.com/episode/1ADs...
Episode 74: The Trustees (with Lauren Lassabe Shepherd)
open.spotify.com
October 30, 2025 at 6:51 PM
Fantastic episode if you want to understand why the Right has such a fraught relationship with American universities.
Highly recommend the podcast overall—and conservatives especially might enjoy it (you know, viewpoint diversity and all that).
open.spotify.com/episode/1ADs...
Highly recommend the podcast overall—and conservatives especially might enjoy it (you know, viewpoint diversity and all that).
open.spotify.com/episode/1ADs...
I deserve an award for empirically disproving rational choice theory.
Faced with persistent social pressure from a tiny but determined human in my home, I made an emotionally driven decision to acquire a puppy.
Faced with persistent social pressure from a tiny but determined human in my home, I made an emotionally driven decision to acquire a puppy.
October 25, 2025 at 1:38 AM
I deserve an award for empirically disproving rational choice theory.
Faced with persistent social pressure from a tiny but determined human in my home, I made an emotionally driven decision to acquire a puppy.
Faced with persistent social pressure from a tiny but determined human in my home, I made an emotionally driven decision to acquire a puppy.
Reposted by Michel Estefan
Thank you for joining us @mestefan.bsky.social, @kylethegreen.bsky.social, @shamuskhan.bsky.social, Jonnie Lotesta, Myron Strong, and @lisawade.bsky.social
October 22, 2025 at 8:15 PM
Thank you for joining us @mestefan.bsky.social, @kylethegreen.bsky.social, @shamuskhan.bsky.social, Jonnie Lotesta, Myron Strong, and @lisawade.bsky.social
This is tomorrow! Join us!
October 21, 2025 at 4:24 PM
This is tomorrow! Join us!
👏
MIT is first school to reject Trump administration's agenda in exchange for funding benefits
"With respect, we cannot support the proposed approach to addressing the issues facing higher education,” the Massachusetts Institute of Technology president wrote in a letter.
www.nbcnews.com
October 11, 2025 at 2:45 PM
👏
Reposted by Michel Estefan
Essential reading by @sivav.bsky.social
“Any university leader who signs on to this compact wld betray everything good and solid about the university & would do deep and permanent harm to the United States & the world.”
Why This Essay Could Cause the University of Virginia to Shut Down newrepublic.com/article/2013... via @newrepublic.com
Why This Essay Could Cause the University of Virginia to Shut Down newrepublic.com/article/2013... via @newrepublic.com
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 2:43 PM
Essential reading by @sivav.bsky.social
Videos on Sora 2 of Bob Ross playing Call of Duty… Ai is definitely going to destroy the world, but at least we’ll all go in a total ASMR lull. 😴
October 7, 2025 at 9:26 PM
Videos on Sora 2 of Bob Ross playing Call of Duty… Ai is definitely going to destroy the world, but at least we’ll all go in a total ASMR lull. 😴
Reposted by Michel Estefan
The argument presented by Allen is both politically naive and historically erroneous. Accepting a compact *for higher education at this point in time* is suicidal. A 🧵
Danielle Allen has proposed many good things for Harvard, so I’m puzzled by her reading of the word “compact” here, as if this would be an agreement freely entered into. She rightly says that, as written, this shouldn’t be agreed to. Maybe leave it there? therenovator.substack.com/p/why-im-exc...
Why I’m Excited About the White House’s Proposal for a Higher Ed Compact
Now we have a chance for collective action
therenovator.substack.com
October 7, 2025 at 12:30 AM
The argument presented by Allen is both politically naive and historically erroneous. Accepting a compact *for higher education at this point in time* is suicidal. A 🧵
Operation: “Logic is Classified” — authorized by the Committee on Unquestionable Decisions.
October 7, 2025 at 6:30 PM
Operation: “Logic is Classified” — authorized by the Committee on Unquestionable Decisions.
While Harvard debates why students won’t come to class, my UCSD students fill the room.
I grade attendance. I don’t podcast. Laptops stay closed. We do pen-and-paper quizzes every week.
I grade attendance. I don’t podcast. Laptops stay closed. We do pen-and-paper quizzes every week.
Harvard Students Skip Class and Still Get High Grades, Faculty Say
www.nytimes.com
October 7, 2025 at 5:27 AM
While Harvard debates why students won’t come to class, my UCSD students fill the room.
I grade attendance. I don’t podcast. Laptops stay closed. We do pen-and-paper quizzes every week.
I grade attendance. I don’t podcast. Laptops stay closed. We do pen-and-paper quizzes every week.
Reposted by Michel Estefan
Looking for a guide to teaching theory? See @mestefan.bsky.social's newest Reflection with First Publics, where he introduces 7 principles that you can adopt in any classroom.
October 3, 2025 at 7:00 PM
Looking for a guide to teaching theory? See @mestefan.bsky.social's newest Reflection with First Publics, where he introduces 7 principles that you can adopt in any classroom.
Reposted by Michel Estefan
🚨🚨red alert, UC colleagues🚨🚨
President Milliken is telegraphing the university’s surrender to the administration’s demands. “Ensuring that UC remains” is administrativeese for “we are giving them all they want”
President Milliken is telegraphing the university’s surrender to the administration’s demands. “Ensuring that UC remains” is administrativeese for “we are giving them all they want”
October 4, 2025 at 12:07 AM
🚨🚨red alert, UC colleagues🚨🚨
President Milliken is telegraphing the university’s surrender to the administration’s demands. “Ensuring that UC remains” is administrativeese for “we are giving them all they want”
President Milliken is telegraphing the university’s surrender to the administration’s demands. “Ensuring that UC remains” is administrativeese for “we are giving them all they want”
Social theory is as hard to teach as it is to learn.
The hardest part? When students do everything right—read every page, show up every time—and still feel theory won’t open up for them.
The hardest part? When students do everything right—read every page, show up every time—and still feel theory won’t open up for them.
Seven Principles for Teaching Social Theory - First Publics
The Society Pages (TSP) is an open-access social science project headquartered in the Department of Sociology at the University of Minnesota
thesocietypages.org
October 3, 2025 at 11:46 PM
Social theory is as hard to teach as it is to learn.
The hardest part? When students do everything right—read every page, show up every time—and still feel theory won’t open up for them.
The hardest part? When students do everything right—read every page, show up every time—and still feel theory won’t open up for them.