Pat Lawrence
@patslawrence.bsky.social
Studying censorship, nationalism, and pol. rhet. Books: Out of the Gutters (UT Press 2025), Obscene Gestures (Fordham UP 2022). Views are mine and not my institution's.
I think I can share this link, right? Vote for me for MLA Academic Freedom Delegate. nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com?url=https%3A...
Member Log-In
Login page for members of the Modern Language Association.
nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com
November 19, 2025 at 5:19 PM
I think I can share this link, right? Vote for me for MLA Academic Freedom Delegate. nam02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com?url=https%3A...
Hey everybody, if you're an MLA friend, please consider casting your vote for me in the current election. I'm up for the Academic Freedom professional issues seat on the delegate assembly. I want to get up there and keep our right to write safe.
November 14, 2025 at 1:28 AM
Hey everybody, if you're an MLA friend, please consider casting your vote for me in the current election. I'm up for the Academic Freedom professional issues seat on the delegate assembly. I want to get up there and keep our right to write safe.
If you're interested in comics censorship, you could check out this fascinating DH project on comic book burnings: storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/7dee...
The Comic Book Burnings Project
Documenting and Mapping Fires in America, 1945-1955
storymaps.arcgis.com
October 20, 2025 at 3:06 PM
If you're interested in comics censorship, you could check out this fascinating DH project on comic book burnings: storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/7dee...
Reposted by Pat Lawrence
It's 2025
Patrick S. Lawrence discusses the resurgence in comic and book censorship.
muse.jhu.edu/pub/30/artic...
@projectmuse.bsky.social #politics #ComicStudies #comics #censorship #history #activism #solidarity #UniversityPress #2025 #freedom #ComicBooks #BannedBooks #CensorshipSucks
Patrick S. Lawrence discusses the resurgence in comic and book censorship.
muse.jhu.edu/pub/30/artic...
@projectmuse.bsky.social #politics #ComicStudies #comics #censorship #history #activism #solidarity #UniversityPress #2025 #freedom #ComicBooks #BannedBooks #CensorshipSucks
October 13, 2025 at 8:37 PM
It's 2025
Patrick S. Lawrence discusses the resurgence in comic and book censorship.
muse.jhu.edu/pub/30/artic...
@projectmuse.bsky.social #politics #ComicStudies #comics #censorship #history #activism #solidarity #UniversityPress #2025 #freedom #ComicBooks #BannedBooks #CensorshipSucks
Patrick S. Lawrence discusses the resurgence in comic and book censorship.
muse.jhu.edu/pub/30/artic...
@projectmuse.bsky.social #politics #ComicStudies #comics #censorship #history #activism #solidarity #UniversityPress #2025 #freedom #ComicBooks #BannedBooks #CensorshipSucks
Here's a convenient link to register for the Zoom for my talk tomorrow. Come learn about comics censorship of today and yesteryear: sc-edu.zoom.us/meeting/regi...
October 13, 2025 at 3:23 PM
Here's a convenient link to register for the Zoom for my talk tomorrow. Come learn about comics censorship of today and yesteryear: sc-edu.zoom.us/meeting/regi...
I'm doing a talk about Out of the Gutters next week. It's on Zoom if you want to hear me and the inimitable Jorge Santos talk about comics censorship! drive.google.com/file/d/1hirU...
Comics_Studies_Talks_Flyer.pdf
drive.google.com
October 9, 2025 at 2:31 PM
I'm doing a talk about Out of the Gutters next week. It's on Zoom if you want to hear me and the inimitable Jorge Santos talk about comics censorship! drive.google.com/file/d/1hirU...
Reposted by Pat Lawrence
Comics Studies Conferences in a Time of Crisis
Andrew J. Kunka considers the fallout of the presidential administration’s recent actions.
muse.jhu.edu/pub/30/artic...
@projectmuse.bsky.social #politics #AmericanPolitics #ComicStudies #comics #DEI #activism #comic #students #education #presidents
Andrew J. Kunka considers the fallout of the presidential administration’s recent actions.
muse.jhu.edu/pub/30/artic...
@projectmuse.bsky.social #politics #AmericanPolitics #ComicStudies #comics #DEI #activism #comic #students #education #presidents
October 8, 2025 at 12:41 PM
Comics Studies Conferences in a Time of Crisis
Andrew J. Kunka considers the fallout of the presidential administration’s recent actions.
muse.jhu.edu/pub/30/artic...
@projectmuse.bsky.social #politics #AmericanPolitics #ComicStudies #comics #DEI #activism #comic #students #education #presidents
Andrew J. Kunka considers the fallout of the presidential administration’s recent actions.
muse.jhu.edu/pub/30/artic...
@projectmuse.bsky.social #politics #AmericanPolitics #ComicStudies #comics #DEI #activism #comic #students #education #presidents
Look at this cool collection of comics with @benpassmore.bsky.social Ebony Flowers, and others. With an intro by @qianawhitted.bsky.social www.shenandoahliterary.org/74-1-2/#comi...
Volume 74, Numbers 1 & 2
Shenandoah has been publishing great writing for 75 years. Located at Washington and Lee University, the magazine is part of the English Department and is a tool used to teach students the art and cra...
www.shenandoahliterary.org
September 15, 2025 at 5:30 PM
Look at this cool collection of comics with @benpassmore.bsky.social Ebony Flowers, and others. With an intro by @qianawhitted.bsky.social www.shenandoahliterary.org/74-1-2/#comi...
I'm in here! Feels awesome.
Check out the exciting new issue of Inks on Project Muse at the link in our bio!
@projectmuse.bsky.social #UniversityPress #ComicStudies #comic #censorship #superhero #HumanRights #equality #literature #GraphicNovel #academic #ComicArt #ideology #LatinxComics #QueerStudies #feminism #politics
@projectmuse.bsky.social #UniversityPress #ComicStudies #comic #censorship #superhero #HumanRights #equality #literature #GraphicNovel #academic #ComicArt #ideology #LatinxComics #QueerStudies #feminism #politics
September 10, 2025 at 2:45 PM
I'm in here! Feels awesome.
Censorship history, like a lot of things these days, is looking like a recurring loop. I wrote about it for Inks: muse.jhu.edu/pub/30/artic...
muse.jhu.edu
September 10, 2025 at 12:48 PM
Censorship history, like a lot of things these days, is looking like a recurring loop. I wrote about it for Inks: muse.jhu.edu/pub/30/artic...
An ominous bit about the EO on flag burning, which invokes fighting words doctrine to say some kinds of speech are so offensive they should be illegal: the original fighting words case upheld the conviction of Chaplinsky for calling someone a fascist: www.oyez.org/cases/1940-1...
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www.oyez.org
August 27, 2025 at 5:46 PM
An ominous bit about the EO on flag burning, which invokes fighting words doctrine to say some kinds of speech are so offensive they should be illegal: the original fighting words case upheld the conviction of Chaplinsky for calling someone a fascist: www.oyez.org/cases/1940-1...
The EO on flag burning is a constitutional mess—invoking fighting words isn’t going to get them around Texas v. Johnson. What strikes me, though, is that I discussed this precise possibility with students in my free speech class last spring; here’s what they said: (1/5)
August 26, 2025 at 9:55 PM
The EO on flag burning is a constitutional mess—invoking fighting words isn’t going to get them around Texas v. Johnson. What strikes me, though, is that I discussed this precise possibility with students in my free speech class last spring; here’s what they said: (1/5)
Kind of torn saying this, but "I Remember You" covered by the Ataris might be better than "Live Wire" covered by Boy Sets Fire. These are the hair-metal-covered-by-punk/hardcore-bands hot takes that keep me up at night.
August 26, 2025 at 10:58 AM
Kind of torn saying this, but "I Remember You" covered by the Ataris might be better than "Live Wire" covered by Boy Sets Fire. These are the hair-metal-covered-by-punk/hardcore-bands hot takes that keep me up at night.
Reposted by Pat Lawrence
Banned Books Week is October 5-11. With some organization this could be a watershed year for activism. Here are some ideas for events you can hold in your district, at your library, at the bookstore. Get started now to make the week powerful docs.google.com/document/d/e...
Banned Books Week October 5-11th, 2025
docs.google.com
August 21, 2025 at 1:39 PM
Banned Books Week is October 5-11. With some organization this could be a watershed year for activism. Here are some ideas for events you can hold in your district, at your library, at the bookstore. Get started now to make the week powerful docs.google.com/document/d/e...
It was very cool to see that @jordanscarroll.bsky.social won the Hugo Award for Best Related Work this year. Such a big accomplishment--and if you're looking to read more of his work, he has an insightful take on Charles Burns's Black Hole in Out of the Gutters from @utexaspress.bsky.social
August 20, 2025 at 2:52 PM
It was very cool to see that @jordanscarroll.bsky.social won the Hugo Award for Best Related Work this year. Such a big accomplishment--and if you're looking to read more of his work, he has an insightful take on Charles Burns's Black Hole in Out of the Gutters from @utexaspress.bsky.social
This commonly emerges from the lines drawn around certain kinds of protest in the interest of property, facilities, order, and landscapes. In some enforcement environments, it seems like no big deal, but it leaves enough wiggle room for punitive, chilling, and arbitrary suppression of speech.
Just in time to welcome students to campus…
President Carter & OSU admin continue the assault on free speech by banning the time honored tradition of chalking on campus. Whether governments or administrators, once they start rolling back free speech, they don’t stop.
fod.osu.edu/news/2025/08...
President Carter & OSU admin continue the assault on free speech by banning the time honored tradition of chalking on campus. Whether governments or administrators, once they start rolling back free speech, they don’t stop.
fod.osu.edu/news/2025/08...
Chalking Not Permitted on Campus | Facilities Operations and Development
fod.osu.edu
August 15, 2025 at 1:43 PM
This commonly emerges from the lines drawn around certain kinds of protest in the interest of property, facilities, order, and landscapes. In some enforcement environments, it seems like no big deal, but it leaves enough wiggle room for punitive, chilling, and arbitrary suppression of speech.
Reposted by Pat Lawrence
The faculty of the Department of Women’s and Gender Studies at the University of South Carolina, Columbia campus, invites applications for two 9-month, full-time, tenure-track positions at the rank of Assistant Professor to begin August 16, 2026.
www.indeed.com/m/viewjob?jk...
www.indeed.com/m/viewjob?jk...
Assistant Professor - Richland, SC - Indeed.com
University of South Carolina
www.indeed.com
August 12, 2025 at 11:48 AM
The faculty of the Department of Women’s and Gender Studies at the University of South Carolina, Columbia campus, invites applications for two 9-month, full-time, tenure-track positions at the rank of Assistant Professor to begin August 16, 2026.
www.indeed.com/m/viewjob?jk...
www.indeed.com/m/viewjob?jk...
Reading Catharine Beecher's "An Essay on Slavery and Abolitionism, with Reference to the Duty of American Females" and ... she is complaining about cancel culture?
July 25, 2025 at 5:30 PM
Reading Catharine Beecher's "An Essay on Slavery and Abolitionism, with Reference to the Duty of American Females" and ... she is complaining about cancel culture?
So Providence was cool, and #SHEAR2025 was hugely generative. I have gained a ton of perspective on how historians do their work and a lot of respect for the knowledge they produce. So cool to be a part of all this. I'm impressed.
July 19, 2025 at 12:50 AM
So Providence was cool, and #SHEAR2025 was hugely generative. I have gained a ton of perspective on how historians do their work and a lot of respect for the knowledge they produce. So cool to be a part of all this. I'm impressed.
rn I'm reading the excellent writing by the scholars I get to work with at the #shear2025 2BWW. I'm getting a ton of insight about the early republic and new ways to think about my methodology, archive, and argumentation. As a noob in this area, I'm stoked for this chance to deepen my work.
July 11, 2025 at 4:23 PM
rn I'm reading the excellent writing by the scholars I get to work with at the #shear2025 2BWW. I'm getting a ton of insight about the early republic and new ways to think about my methodology, archive, and argumentation. As a noob in this area, I'm stoked for this chance to deepen my work.
UT Press is offering a pretty steep discount on Out of the Gutters rn, so it's a cool time to pick up the collection I edited with Jorge Santos. It's urgent and timely and all the things because censorship, sigh, is going on all around us.
OUT OF THE GUTTERS, one of UTP's newest releases, takes a closer look at the panels we read and explores what happens between them. 🧵
July 11, 2025 at 2:57 PM
UT Press is offering a pretty steep discount on Out of the Gutters rn, so it's a cool time to pick up the collection I edited with Jorge Santos. It's urgent and timely and all the things because censorship, sigh, is going on all around us.
Reposted by Pat Lawrence
Proud of the AAUP at USC Columbia for speaking out in defense of academic freedom and faculty voices in governance. 🧵
www.postandcourier.com/education-la...
www.postandcourier.com/education-la...
USC joins effort to form new accreditor amid conservative criticism of ‘woke accreditation cartel’
The University of South Carolina is working with five other state's public college systems like Florida and Texas to create its own accreditation agency.
www.postandcourier.com
June 27, 2025 at 10:39 PM
Proud of the AAUP at USC Columbia for speaking out in defense of academic freedom and faculty voices in governance. 🧵
www.postandcourier.com/education-la...
www.postandcourier.com/education-la...
Biff Bam Pop called Out of the Gutters "the right book for right now." I'm glad they think so (and it's a great write-up of the book), but writing about censorship and having the book feel relevant in the present is not always fun.
biffbampop.com/2025/06/22/h...
biffbampop.com/2025/06/22/h...
Out of the Gutters: Obscenity, Censorship, and Transgression in American Comics
"Out of the Gutters: Obscenity, Censorship, and Transgression in American Comics" serves as an important historical document as well as a guidebook.
biffbampop.com
June 25, 2025 at 9:33 PM
Biff Bam Pop called Out of the Gutters "the right book for right now." I'm glad they think so (and it's a great write-up of the book), but writing about censorship and having the book feel relevant in the present is not always fun.
biffbampop.com/2025/06/22/h...
biffbampop.com/2025/06/22/h...
This week's reading has been the Dred Scott decision. Taney's specious originalism has the same "our hands are tied" vibe that's pretty common in political rhetoric that excuses white supremacy. But the originalism + judicial activism combo in the ruling is pretty telling, too.
June 17, 2025 at 3:40 PM
This week's reading has been the Dred Scott decision. Taney's specious originalism has the same "our hands are tied" vibe that's pretty common in political rhetoric that excuses white supremacy. But the originalism + judicial activism combo in the ruling is pretty telling, too.
Today is release day for OotG! Here is the book half in the dirt. Thanks to all the people who made the book possible, especially my co-editor Jorge Santos and @utexaspress.bsky.social utpress.utexas.edu/9781477331804/
June 10, 2025 at 2:20 PM
Today is release day for OotG! Here is the book half in the dirt. Thanks to all the people who made the book possible, especially my co-editor Jorge Santos and @utexaspress.bsky.social utpress.utexas.edu/9781477331804/