Dr. Rachel Schine
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rachelschine.bsky.social
Dr. Rachel Schine
@rachelschine.bsky.social
11K followers 2.2K following 13K posts
Studying Ge’ez for fun. Feed me and I'll go away.

Maked this: https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/B/bo236340054.html

Professes Arabic and History @ UMD
Now haunting @ IAS at Princeton

https://www.ias.edu/scholars/rachel-schine
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rachelschine.bsky.social
Dr. Rachel Schine @rachelschine.bsky.social · Oct 3
My article shows how we can use postcolonial lenses to navigate something we as yet don't know how to acknowledge or talk about well: premodern, non-European people doing things that look a lot like what we now call blackface.
read.dukeupress.edu/jmems/articl...
Performing Blackness in the Medieval Muslim Metropolis: Arabic Literature and Tropicalization
This essay aims to chart a path between premodern blackface performance and postcolonial theory that escapes colonial teleologies. It analyzes moments from the Abbasid through Mamluk era (ca. 750–1517...
read.dukeupress.edu
Reposted by Dr. Rachel Schine
jentaub.bsky.social
I just phoned Alan Garber, the president of Harvard University and left a message with his staff requesting that he address the allegations from the Crimson concerning Larry Summers. I provided my name, year of law school graduation, and expressed concern for the students in his classes.
a group of soldiers are standing in a row wearing helmets and armor .
ALT: a group of soldiers are standing in a row wearing helmets and armor .
media.tenor.com
November 17, 2025 at 4:48 PM
Reposted by Dr. Rachel Schine
alisonfisk.bsky.social
Something lovely to start the week! 🐙🏺❤️

Ancient clay pots with octopus decoration, made by artisans from Bronze Age Crete some 3,500 years ago!

Heraklion Archaeological Museum 📷 by me

#Archaeology
My photo collage shows four pottery vessels, all a creamy yellow in colour, with black painted decoration depicting underwater sea-life featuring lively stylised octopuses with writhing tentacles (arms), All on display at Heraklion Archaeological Museum, Crete. Top L - Minoan pithoid storage jar decorated in the “Marine Style” with wide-eyes octopus, argonauts, rocks, and coral. Rounded top tapering down to a narrower base. Short cyclindrical neck flaring out at the mouth with black wavy decoration reminiscent of waves. Loop handles attached to the shoulders of the body. Height 55 cm. From Zakros. 1500-1450 BC Top R - Minoan flask with a rounded body, short cyclindrical neck which flares at the rim, and two small curved handles attached between the top of the spout and the shoulders of the body. Decorated in “Marine Style” which depicts an almost cartoon-like octopus with wide eyes and sucker-lined tentacles which writhe around the vase. Other decorative sea-motifs include sea urchins, seaweed and rocks. Height 27cm. From Palaikastro, 1500-1450 BC Bottom L - alabastron, broad at the base, swelling outwards into a fuller belly before narrowing near the top with a very short cyclindrical neck and a wider flat rimmed mouth. Decorated in “Marine Style” with a wide-eyed octopus among rocks. From Knossos Little Palace, 1450-1370 BC Bottom R - krater with rounded body narrowing at the bottom towards the foot. Wide flaring mouth and rim with black painted wavy decoration, and two sturdy handles attached on each side between the top of the mouth and shoulders of the vessel. Decorated with a central very stylised wide-eyed octopus whose tentacles loop up and down around the body of the pot, 1370-1300 BC
November 17, 2025 at 11:04 AM
Reposted by Dr. Rachel Schine
calscherm.bsky.social
Out now, The American Revolution and the Fate of the World by @rickbell.bsky.social A wide angle view of a global event that never loses focus on the Revolution itself. Check it out!
www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/752265...
November 16, 2025 at 7:52 PM
rachelschine.bsky.social
One of my friends baked me the most insane birthday cake. The frosting is orange and ginger. Literally none of you are as important to me as this frosting.
November 17, 2025 at 1:13 AM
Reposted by Dr. Rachel Schine
sarahebond.bsky.social
“Faces in the Crowds: The So-Called Fayyum Portraits and the Aftereffects of Photography” From @emuehlbe.bsky.social’s new book, Things Unseen, on UC Press’ website for free!
www.luminosoa.org/chapters/m/1... A few of my own pics of Fayyum portraits below from Yale University Art Gallery.
onset Attributed to the Saint Louis Painter Portrait of an Old Woman Egyptian, Roman, late 3rd-4th century A.D. Tempera on wood HOBO* data logger temp/RH/light/ext channel Ruth Elizabeth White Fund 2011.102.1 Portrait of a Youth Egyptian, Roman, 1st-2nd century A.D. Encaustic on wood Gift of the Associates in Fine Arts 1939.263 Portrait of a Bearded Man Egyptian, Roman, and century A.D. Encaustic on wood Gift of the Associates in Fine Arts 1939.264 onset Attributed to the Saint Louis Painter Portrait of an Old Woman Egyptian, Roman, late 3rd-4th century A.D. Tempera on wood HOBO* data logger temp/RH/light/ext channel Ruth Elizabeth White Fund 2011.102.1 Portrait of a Bearded Man Egyptian, Roman, and century A.D. Encaustic on wood Gift of the Associates in Fine Arts 1939.264 Portrait of a Youth Egyptian, Roman, 1st-2nd century A.D. Encaustic on wood Gift of the Associates in Fine Arts 1939.263
November 16, 2025 at 3:48 PM
Reposted by Dr. Rachel Schine
rhaplord.bsky.social
The historic architecture of Ethiopia and Eritrea: a complete overview

www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/the-histor...
The historic architecture of Ethiopia and Eritrea: a complete overview
The modern countries of Ethiopia and Eritrea are home to some of the best-known historic architectural monuments in Africa.
www.africanhistoryextra.com
November 16, 2025 at 4:42 PM
Reposted by Dr. Rachel Schine
vox-magica.bsky.social
indeed, for every academic abuser and enabler: i promise there’s an amazing grad student out there who is doing work that’s as good or better.

we’ve let the myth of the lone genius guy carry on too long. it’s caused so much harm, in so many ways.
gregpak.net Greg Pak @gregpak.net · 1d
I refuse to believe that Larry Summers' expertise and skills are indispensable in any way. Please find another economist and policy expert, @americanprogress.bsky.social. There are loads out there.
November 16, 2025 at 1:36 PM
Reposted by Dr. Rachel Schine
mattboot.bsky.social
papyrus drawing of ancient egyptian goddess nut personification of the sky arching her body over gods who are underneath her the "mumbrella" scene in bluey where chili the mom is doing what seems to be downward dog pose while bluey and bingo shelter under her
November 15, 2025 at 4:33 PM
Reposted by Dr. Rachel Schine
peterromaskiewicz.bsky.social
Contemporary artist Tokuhiro Kawai depicts cats as furry saints!
Current show "Altarpiece of Cat Adoration" in Tokyo now: tinyurl.com/2ew694rh
#caturday
November 15, 2025 at 11:52 PM
Reposted by Dr. Rachel Schine
lauraskh.bsky.social
This new LOTM Starter Pack is slowly starting to grow. It takes some time and searching, but today, the latest additions are people who have been interviewed for the @languageonthemove.bsky.social podcast.
Key takeaways: there are quite a few episodes and only some are on Bluesky, but they include:
November 12, 2025 at 2:56 AM
rachelschine.bsky.social
I really get not liking my work, but criticizing me for using familiar language to introduce concepts that i then extensively clarify as culturally/linguistically/temporally particular is stupid. There’s so much better stuff to get mad at me about!
November 15, 2025 at 10:26 PM
Reposted by Dr. Rachel Schine
matildaf.bsky.social
Nice one, Zadie Smith.
writeups.org Writeups.org @writeups.org · 5d
With alt text.
You know a country by its values. By what a country values. And it turns out thatwhat a country values can change overtime. Sometimes, though, there's a sort of cognitive delay between the country you think you are in, and the country you've actually become. For example, you can keep selling yourself, to foreigners, as the country of William Shakespeare and Jane Austen, and luring busloads of tourists to Stratford-upon-Avon and Bath, and put a statue of George Orwell in front of the BBC, and imagine yourself a cultured and literate nation, which the rest of the world admires for its devotion to the written word - but if you then chronically underfund your cultural institutions, and treat your cultural workers with contempt, many people will suspect you of being full of it. And as the decades pass - and fewer and fewer Shakespeares and Austens and Orwells emerge from your little island - even more people will begin to suspect that in truth you do not value culture at all, and are in fact running a giant heritage museum in which the only cultural workers you respect are the dead ones.
November 12, 2025 at 9:34 AM
Reposted by Dr. Rachel Schine
ericcalderwood.bsky.social
Congratulations to @rachelschine.bsky.social!
monicamedhist.bsky.social Monica H Green @monicamedhist.bsky.social · 2d
Congratulations to @rachelschine.bsky.social for winning the Best Book Award from the Middle East Medievalists association for her book, Black Knights: Arabic Epic and the Making of Medieval Race! Brava!!! 🍾🍾🍾

Here's the link, if you haven't already read it: press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/bo...
Black Knights
A new account of racial logics in premodern Islamic literature.   In Black Knights, Rachel Schine reveals how the Arabic-speaking world developed a different form of racial knowledge than their Europe...
press.uchicago.edu
November 15, 2025 at 4:01 PM
Reposted by Dr. Rachel Schine
ndiscenza1.bsky.social
Let me add my congratulations to @rachelschine.bsky.social!
🎉
monicamedhist.bsky.social Monica H Green @monicamedhist.bsky.social · 2d
Congratulations to @rachelschine.bsky.social for winning the Best Book Award from the Middle East Medievalists association for her book, Black Knights: Arabic Epic and the Making of Medieval Race! Brava!!! 🍾🍾🍾

Here's the link, if you haven't already read it: press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/bo...
Black Knights
A new account of racial logics in premodern Islamic literature.   In Black Knights, Rachel Schine reveals how the Arabic-speaking world developed a different form of racial knowledge than their Europe...
press.uchicago.edu
November 15, 2025 at 12:17 AM
rachelschine.bsky.social
Rhiannon is being too nice, as usual, which is why we like her… 🥹
rhigarthjones.bsky.social Rhiannon Garth Jones @rhigarthjones.bsky.social · 2d
Delighted to see this book get the @mideastmedieval.bsky.social Best Book Award - it is *excellent* and made me have frankly far, far too many interesting thoughts (dangerous).

See for yourself, if you haven't already!
monicamedhist.bsky.social Monica H Green @monicamedhist.bsky.social · 2d
Congratulations to @rachelschine.bsky.social for winning the Best Book Award from the Middle East Medievalists association for her book, Black Knights: Arabic Epic and the Making of Medieval Race! Brava!!! 🍾🍾🍾

Here's the link, if you haven't already read it: press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/bo...
November 14, 2025 at 10:35 PM
Reposted by Dr. Rachel Schine
eugene-smelyansky.bsky.social
Congratulations, @rachelschine.bsky.social! So well deserved!
monicamedhist.bsky.social Monica H Green @monicamedhist.bsky.social · 2d
Congratulations to @rachelschine.bsky.social for winning the Best Book Award from the Middle East Medievalists association for her book, Black Knights: Arabic Epic and the Making of Medieval Race! Brava!!! 🍾🍾🍾

Here's the link, if you haven't already read it: press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/bo...
Black Knights
A new account of racial logics in premodern Islamic literature.   In Black Knights, Rachel Schine reveals how the Arabic-speaking world developed a different form of racial knowledge than their Europe...
press.uchicago.edu
November 14, 2025 at 7:40 PM
Reposted by Dr. Rachel Schine
nathanielbdemiller.bsky.social
N American English kvell (to burst with pride) is a Yiddish cognate with a very common German word: Quelle /ˈkvɛlə/, meaning "source" (pl. die Quellen), including academic sources. The root verb is watery: to well up, gush.

Rachel's book has many Quellen and won a prize so now she's kvellin!🎉
rachelschine.bsky.social Dr. Rachel Schine @rachelschine.bsky.social · 2d
Guys I can only kvell so much before I pass out so I’m gonna go get a pastry but thaaaaaank yooooooou 🧿❤️
November 14, 2025 at 7:45 PM
rachelschine.bsky.social
Guys I can only kvell so much before I pass out so I’m gonna go get a pastry but thaaaaaank yooooooou 🧿❤️
November 14, 2025 at 6:57 PM
Reposted by Dr. Rachel Schine
keanuheydari.bsky.social
So well deserved! I loved reading “Black Knights!”
Cover of Rachel Schine’s “Black Knights: Arabic Epic and the Making of Medieval Race.”
November 14, 2025 at 6:49 PM
Reposted by Dr. Rachel Schine
monicamedhist.bsky.social
Congratulations to @rachelschine.bsky.social for winning the Best Book Award from the Middle East Medievalists association for her book, Black Knights: Arabic Epic and the Making of Medieval Race! Brava!!! 🍾🍾🍾

Here's the link, if you haven't already read it: press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/bo...
Black Knights
A new account of racial logics in premodern Islamic literature.   In Black Knights, Rachel Schine reveals how the Arabic-speaking world developed a different form of racial knowledge than their Europe...
press.uchicago.edu
November 14, 2025 at 6:47 PM
Reposted by Dr. Rachel Schine
mideastmedieval.bsky.social
The MEM business is currently underway! We'll let you know the highlights as they come in.
November 14, 2025 at 5:22 PM
rachelschine.bsky.social
sweeeeeeet 😅😉
mideastmedieval.bsky.social Middle East Medievalists @mideastmedieval.bsky.social · 2d
MEM book prize goes to @rachelschine.bsky.social for her 'Black Knights: Arabic Epic and the Making of Medieval Race'!
November 14, 2025 at 6:14 PM
Reposted by Dr. Rachel Schine
brookenewman.bsky.social
Message to all faculty: your expertise is no longer trusted or valued at this so-called “university.”
A thread by an A&M professor describing how the new rules will impact faculty. Syllabi must be fed into AI to be checked for content not aligned with approved syllabi; students will be encouraged to report faculty for inaccurate content; and young people are now being told they get to decide what a professor should teach.
November 14, 2025 at 12:22 PM
Reposted by Dr. Rachel Schine
ryanlostintx.bsky.social
Give a man a fish and someone with a thousand fishes is going to bitch about people getting free handouts. Teach a man to fish? Yeah, that person with a thousand fishes is going to bitch about that too.
November 14, 2025 at 1:28 AM
rachelschine.bsky.social
I've had a very weird and messy couple of days and would just like to put this out there and let it stand:

The biggest villain in Gilmore Girls besides Rory is Jackson.

Truly an accursed man.
November 14, 2025 at 3:11 AM