Dr. Mikaila
@mmlarthur.bsky.social
Sociologist of Higher Education. Union president. Teacher. Failed repairer of broken worlds. Fresserin. RIer.
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3180-4058
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3180-4058
Pinned
Dr. Mikaila
@mmlarthur.bsky.social
· Nov 11
Jumping on the reintroduction bandwagon: I am a sociologist of higher education & a faculty union president here in RI. I tend to talk about higher ed, organizing, local politics, speculative fiction, vegan food, Judaism, and disability. Glad to find you here.
Reposted by Dr. Mikaila
I propose we hereafter refer to tech company surveillance proponents as COINTELBROs.
6. I worked in this column while also finishing the final stages of our documentary on the Black Panther Party. It wasn’t hard to imagine COINTELPRO with an algorithm in a post citizens united landscape. Hoover would be vibrating at this kind of power.
February 3, 2026 at 2:10 PM
I propose we hereafter refer to tech company surveillance proponents as COINTELBROs.
Reposted by Dr. Mikaila
Do you have to be a social scientist to know how funny this is?
February 3, 2026 at 2:18 PM
Do you have to be a social scientist to know how funny this is?
Reposted by Dr. Mikaila
Someone tell the nursing home where the Holocaust survivors wanted to know if they needed to hide their Haitian caregivers from ICE.
Judge Reyes starts with a comparison: George Washington versus Kristi Noem.
February 3, 2026 at 2:12 AM
Someone tell the nursing home where the Holocaust survivors wanted to know if they needed to hide their Haitian caregivers from ICE.
Reposted by Dr. Mikaila
You can lament "conservative incursions" into higher ed governance and curricula all you want, but you're the ones who opened the door to the bad-faith Right and silently cheered as they attacked those programs you thought 'went too far' with 'identity politics'. You sold the rest of us out. +
February 2, 2026 at 5:40 PM
You can lament "conservative incursions" into higher ed governance and curricula all you want, but you're the ones who opened the door to the bad-faith Right and silently cheered as they attacked those programs you thought 'went too far' with 'identity politics'. You sold the rest of us out. +
Know any folks who have worked as Chief Diversity Officers in higher ed and who identify as Black or African American? Here's a survey.
www.linkedin.com/posts/ksbrig...
www.linkedin.com/posts/ksbrig...
The Experiences of Black Chief Diversity Officers During the Second Trump Administration | Kimberly Bright
Happy Black History Month!
I am excited to share that I have just launched the second phase of my dissertation study, “Black Chief Diversity Officers on College Campuses and Their Experiences of Race...
www.linkedin.com
February 2, 2026 at 9:44 PM
Know any folks who have worked as Chief Diversity Officers in higher ed and who identify as Black or African American? Here's a survey.
www.linkedin.com/posts/ksbrig...
www.linkedin.com/posts/ksbrig...
Surprised by the names listed for the agents involved in shooting Alex Pretti? I'm not. Because I'm reading Irene Vega's "Bordering on Indifference." Learn about her work at press.princeton.edu/ideas/irene-... & read the book on Hoopla or order at press.princeton.edu/books/paperb...
Irene Vega on Bordering on Indifference
In her new book, Bordering on Indifference, Irene Vega tells the story of how U.S. Border Patrol Agents and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Officers come into the work, how they are trained ...
press.princeton.edu
February 2, 2026 at 12:15 AM
Surprised by the names listed for the agents involved in shooting Alex Pretti? I'm not. Because I'm reading Irene Vega's "Bordering on Indifference." Learn about her work at press.princeton.edu/ideas/irene-... & read the book on Hoopla or order at press.princeton.edu/books/paperb...
Surprised by the names listed for the agents involved in shooting Alex Pretti? I'm not. Because I'm reading Irene Vega's "Bordering on Indifference." Learn about her work at press.princeton.edu/ideas/irene-... & read the book on Hoopla or order at press.princeton.edu/books/paperb...
Irene Vega on Bordering on Indifference
In her new book, Bordering on Indifference, Irene Vega tells the story of how U.S. Border Patrol Agents and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Officers come into the work, how they are trained ...
press.princeton.edu
February 2, 2026 at 12:14 AM
Surprised by the names listed for the agents involved in shooting Alex Pretti? I'm not. Because I'm reading Irene Vega's "Bordering on Indifference." Learn about her work at press.princeton.edu/ideas/irene-... & read the book on Hoopla or order at press.princeton.edu/books/paperb...
Reposted by Dr. Mikaila
I have eaten
the gerrymanders
that were in
the state election board
and which
you were probably
saving
for the midterms
Forgive me
they were delicious
so risky
and so conservative
the gerrymanders
that were in
the state election board
and which
you were probably
saving
for the midterms
Forgive me
they were delicious
so risky
and so conservative
February 1, 2026 at 5:07 AM
I have eaten
the gerrymanders
that were in
the state election board
and which
you were probably
saving
for the midterms
Forgive me
they were delicious
so risky
and so conservative
the gerrymanders
that were in
the state election board
and which
you were probably
saving
for the midterms
Forgive me
they were delicious
so risky
and so conservative
Reposted by Dr. Mikaila
Historically, it wasn't always this way (as Viviana Zelizer's work shows). But, in the contemporary US, kids are seen as more precious and thus more worthy of protection than adults are. Which means that if people stop caring about the children, there's little hope for them caring about the adults.
January 31, 2026 at 1:13 PM
Historically, it wasn't always this way (as Viviana Zelizer's work shows). But, in the contemporary US, kids are seen as more precious and thus more worthy of protection than adults are. Which means that if people stop caring about the children, there's little hope for them caring about the adults.
Recordings of class, other than those done as disability accommodations & kept for only personal use, should be understood as violations of intellectual property law just as recordings of live theatre are. It's time we changed the law to protect faculty intellectual property.
"I agree this thing is bad, but what about this other bad thing?"
I think students secretly recording class should be kicked out of class. (For one thing, it's a privacy violation of the other students.) And yes, it's authoritarian - old school McCarthyism.
Now, do we agree both things are bad?
I think students secretly recording class should be kicked out of class. (For one thing, it's a privacy violation of the other students.) And yes, it's authoritarian - old school McCarthyism.
Now, do we agree both things are bad?
If students shouting down campus speakers is authoritarian, what is students secretly recording professors and getting them added to the Dangerous Professor List so they get harassed, threatened, and/or fired?
January 31, 2026 at 6:08 AM
Recordings of class, other than those done as disability accommodations & kept for only personal use, should be understood as violations of intellectual property law just as recordings of live theatre are. It's time we changed the law to protect faculty intellectual property.
Reposted by Dr. Mikaila
The origin story of our current moment in American fascism is the creation of white fraternities—which exempted a piece of campus from race and gender integration and allowed the most powerful students to bond over their hateful ideologies and group violence.
January 30, 2026 at 11:44 PM
The origin story of our current moment in American fascism is the creation of white fraternities—which exempted a piece of campus from race and gender integration and allowed the most powerful students to bond over their hateful ideologies and group violence.
Nevermind the jobs you had, tell me five courses you took in college:
*Yiddish 2
*Bonds of Intimacy in the Ancient World
*Histories of World Theatre
*Science Writing
*Ethics and Public Policy
*Yiddish 2
*Bonds of Intimacy in the Ancient World
*Histories of World Theatre
*Science Writing
*Ethics and Public Policy
Never mind the jobs you had, tell me five classes you took in college:
*Yiddish 101
*Modern Racism
*3-D Calculus
*Weightlifting
*Murder in Fiction
*Yiddish 101
*Modern Racism
*3-D Calculus
*Weightlifting
*Murder in Fiction
Never mind the jobs you had, tell me five classes you took in college. Dessert Islands, Writing in the Documentary Tradition, Political Communication, 20th Century Jewish Writers, Positive Psychology.
January 31, 2026 at 3:25 AM
Nevermind the jobs you had, tell me five courses you took in college:
*Yiddish 2
*Bonds of Intimacy in the Ancient World
*Histories of World Theatre
*Science Writing
*Ethics and Public Policy
*Yiddish 2
*Bonds of Intimacy in the Ancient World
*Histories of World Theatre
*Science Writing
*Ethics and Public Policy
Reposted by Dr. Mikaila
I was in a meeting recently where someone was wondering aloud about why sociology has faced more political scrutiny than econ and psych. And I think it's that sociology centers the social (i.e., systemic) causes of human outcomes, thus directly challenging the individualism on which fascism thrives.
January 29, 2026 at 11:12 AM
I was in a meeting recently where someone was wondering aloud about why sociology has faced more political scrutiny than econ and psych. And I think it's that sociology centers the social (i.e., systemic) causes of human outcomes, thus directly challenging the individualism on which fascism thrives.
Anyone know a RI bookstore that would be up for this?
I have heard of a Scottish bookstore where you pay for the room above the store and then you get to sell books during your stay. Proceeds from your sales go to some mix of charities. I need this vacation but cannot travel internationally for 3 years for no reason so I need someone to make this here.
January 28, 2026 at 9:04 PM
Anyone know a RI bookstore that would be up for this?
Reposted by Dr. Mikaila
Line-item vetoes don't actually save money, they just make it easier for governors to veto money for policies they dislike.
With the ability to make line-item vetoes, R.I.’s governor can help keep costs down - The Boston Globe
Every decision we make should move us toward a future where Rhode Islanders can afford to live, work, and retire here, writes Governor Daniel McKee.
www.bostonglobe.com
January 28, 2026 at 4:00 PM
Line-item vetoes don't actually save money, they just make it easier for governors to veto money for policies they dislike.
pubs.lib.umn.edu/index.php/dh...
CFP--Special Issue on Women of Color in the Academy: Being the Lonely Only.
CFP--Special Issue on Women of Color in the Academy: Being the Lonely Only.
Dear Higher Education: Letters from the Social Justice Mountain
<p>A <a href="https://pubs.lib.umn.edu/index.php/dhe/cfp">Call for Papers</a> is currently open.</p>
<p><em>Dear Higher Education: Letters from the Social Justice Mountain</em> speaks to a sociopoliti...
pubs.lib.umn.edu
January 28, 2026 at 3:37 AM
pubs.lib.umn.edu/index.php/dh...
CFP--Special Issue on Women of Color in the Academy: Being the Lonely Only.
CFP--Special Issue on Women of Color in the Academy: Being the Lonely Only.
Reposted by Dr. Mikaila
I guess their brand is "no analogies allowed." Maybe when they say "never again" they mean it in the metaphysical sense that events can literally only happen once. Needless to say, making antisemitism this precious does not serve the interests of actual Jews (nor immigrants persecuted by MAGA).
January 27, 2026 at 10:27 PM
I guess their brand is "no analogies allowed." Maybe when they say "never again" they mean it in the metaphysical sense that events can literally only happen once. Needless to say, making antisemitism this precious does not serve the interests of actual Jews (nor immigrants persecuted by MAGA).
Reposted by Dr. Mikaila
No small irony that many of the same people in RI right now saying that authorities should always be respected will issue paeans to those who burned the Gaspee come June.
On Foundings: 254 years later, my town holds a parade every year celebrating the night fed up Rhode Islanders captured and burned a customs enforcement ship after heavy handed official harrassment. No one ever snitched. #GaspeeAffair
January 25, 2026 at 4:21 AM
No small irony that many of the same people in RI right now saying that authorities should always be respected will issue paeans to those who burned the Gaspee come June.
Reposted by Dr. Mikaila
If you're in New York, please take two minutes right now to call Governor Hochul and tell her to support and sign New York 4 All, which would prevent state and local agencies from collaborating with ICE.
518-474-8390.
This is important.
518-474-8390.
This is important.
January 24, 2026 at 8:09 PM
If you're in New York, please take two minutes right now to call Governor Hochul and tell her to support and sign New York 4 All, which would prevent state and local agencies from collaborating with ICE.
518-474-8390.
This is important.
518-474-8390.
This is important.
Reposted by Dr. Mikaila
This is seriously making me think about the French Revolution. One out of every twelve people in Bristol RI doesn’t have enough food to eat.
How much do you want to bet one of the crimes police will report on their new radios, thanks to Gabe Amo, will be a hungry person stealing food?
How much do you want to bet one of the crimes police will report on their new radios, thanks to Gabe Amo, will be a hungry person stealing food?
January 24, 2026 at 9:45 PM
This is seriously making me think about the French Revolution. One out of every twelve people in Bristol RI doesn’t have enough food to eat.
How much do you want to bet one of the crimes police will report on their new radios, thanks to Gabe Amo, will be a hungry person stealing food?
How much do you want to bet one of the crimes police will report on their new radios, thanks to Gabe Amo, will be a hungry person stealing food?
Reposted by Dr. Mikaila
One way to think about it is that the state has a "monopoly on the legitimate use of force." But if you can show that the state is illegitimately using violence, then the state loses one of its core functions. It ceases, in some sense, to be a state.
Nonviolence is, in fact, working. This administration is weaker than it was a year ago. More and more of the public is becoming galvanized against it; its agents are being impeded.
Do you honestly think people in the civil rights movement and other nonviolent movements faced no violence themselves? They practiced nonviolence because it works, because the oppressor wants a shooting war, which is the war it will win
January 24, 2026 at 10:05 PM
One way to think about it is that the state has a "monopoly on the legitimate use of force." But if you can show that the state is illegitimately using violence, then the state loses one of its core functions. It ceases, in some sense, to be a state.
Reposted by Dr. Mikaila
Rhode Island when? @govdanmckee.bsky.social
California to join WHO health network in rebuke of Trump
California to join WHO health network in rebuke of Trump
It’s Gavin Newsom’s latest counter to the Republican president.
dlvr.it
January 24, 2026 at 1:31 PM
Rhode Island when? @govdanmckee.bsky.social
Reposted by Dr. Mikaila
A question that also should've been asked in 2023, 2024, and 2025.
January 24, 2026 at 7:33 PM
A question that also should've been asked in 2023, 2024, and 2025.
www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
"They came with
the wrong shoes
for revolution.
Still,
they showed up....
These are your coffee-stained saints
who rise not with trumpets
but with Advil.
They stand
and wait
creased like maps
of a country
that doesn’t exist anymore."
"They came with
the wrong shoes
for revolution.
Still,
they showed up....
These are your coffee-stained saints
who rise not with trumpets
but with Advil.
They stand
and wait
creased like maps
of a country
that doesn’t exist anymore."
“Psalm for the Slightly Tilted”
“This is not / a good year. / But it has / witnesses.”
www.newyorker.com
January 24, 2026 at 2:44 AM
www.newyorker.com/magazine/202...
"They came with
the wrong shoes
for revolution.
Still,
they showed up....
These are your coffee-stained saints
who rise not with trumpets
but with Advil.
They stand
and wait
creased like maps
of a country
that doesn’t exist anymore."
"They came with
the wrong shoes
for revolution.
Still,
they showed up....
These are your coffee-stained saints
who rise not with trumpets
but with Advil.
They stand
and wait
creased like maps
of a country
that doesn’t exist anymore."