smitha rao
@smeedha.bsky.social
🌱 🌎 Ⓥ Climate Justice ✊🏽 she/ they Social Work | Human Geography
Academic-ing in the great Midwest.
*car door slammer @smeedha@mastodon.bida.im
Academic-ing in the great Midwest.
*car door slammer @smeedha@mastodon.bida.im
Mahmood Mamdani Doesn’t Want to Talk About Zohran www.chronicle.com/article/mahm...
Mahmood Mamdani Doesn’t Want to Talk About Zohran
The Columbia scholar, and father of the mayor-elect, on politics, academe, and antisemitism.
www.chronicle.com
November 12, 2025 at 4:11 AM
Mahmood Mamdani Doesn’t Want to Talk About Zohran www.chronicle.com/article/mahm...
Climate disasters displaced 250 million people in past 10 years, UN report finds www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Climate disasters displaced 250 million people in past 10 years, UN report finds
Floods, storms and droughts have uprooted people across the globe as rising temperatures intensify conflict and hunger
www.theguardian.com
November 11, 2025 at 10:04 PM
Climate disasters displaced 250 million people in past 10 years, UN report finds www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Reposted by smitha rao
Faculty panel determined Dr. Melissa MCoul’s firing was based on the content of her course and a violation of her academic freedom. Administration ignored the finding. Another violation of due process in this egregious case.
Texas A&M faculty panel report says professor's firing violated her academic freedom www.texastribune.org/2025/11/10/t...
Texas A&M panel: Firing violated professor’s academic freedom
University officials dispute the faculty council’s conclusion. Melissa McCoul lost her job after a video of a classroom debate went viral.
www.texastribune.org
November 11, 2025 at 2:31 PM
Faculty panel determined Dr. Melissa MCoul’s firing was based on the content of her course and a violation of her academic freedom. Administration ignored the finding. Another violation of due process in this egregious case.
I wish we could ignore Bill Gates on the climate crisis. But he’s a billionaire, so we can’t | George Monbiot www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
I wish we could ignore Bill Gates on the climate crisis. But he’s a billionaire, so we can’t | George Monbiot
Money talks – and his essay denouncing ‘near-term emissions goals’ at Cop30 mostly argues the case for letting the ultra-rich off the hook
www.theguardian.com
November 8, 2025 at 9:15 PM
I wish we could ignore Bill Gates on the climate crisis. But he’s a billionaire, so we can’t | George Monbiot www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Literary Hub » Maybe Don’t Talk to the New York Times About Zohran Mamdani lithub.com/maybe-dont-t...
Maybe Don’t Talk to the New York Times About Zohran Mamdani
It’s remarkable, the people you’ll hear from. Teach for even a little while at an expensive institution—the term they tend to prefer is “elite”—and odds are that eventually someone who was a studen…
lithub.com
November 8, 2025 at 7:24 PM
Literary Hub » Maybe Don’t Talk to the New York Times About Zohran Mamdani lithub.com/maybe-dont-t...
Same.
I wish Peter Coviello had been my college professor.
"I taught at a place called Bowdoin College for 16 years, and during the last of those there was a student in attendance you’ve perhaps heard of. His name is Zohran Mamdani."
Peter Coviello for @literaryhub.bsky.social: lithub.com/maybe-dont-t...
Peter Coviello for @literaryhub.bsky.social: lithub.com/maybe-dont-t...
November 8, 2025 at 7:22 PM
Same.
Reposted by smitha rao
notes on gatesnotes, in a thread
"A new way to look at the problem" - er, no, he's been running this line for DECADES
On the headline: you can absolutely guarantee anyone presenting themselves as telling tough, hard truths is about to deliver some self-aggrandising nonsense
"A new way to look at the problem" - er, no, he's been running this line for DECADES
On the headline: you can absolutely guarantee anyone presenting themselves as telling tough, hard truths is about to deliver some self-aggrandising nonsense
October 29, 2025 at 7:34 PM
notes on gatesnotes, in a thread
"A new way to look at the problem" - er, no, he's been running this line for DECADES
On the headline: you can absolutely guarantee anyone presenting themselves as telling tough, hard truths is about to deliver some self-aggrandising nonsense
"A new way to look at the problem" - er, no, he's been running this line for DECADES
On the headline: you can absolutely guarantee anyone presenting themselves as telling tough, hard truths is about to deliver some self-aggrandising nonsense
US farmers are struggling to sell soybeans. Here’s how to think about the trade war. | Vox www.vox.com/future-perfe...
How soybeans took over America — and the world
This technology could feed a world of 10 billion. We’re squandering it, and the trade war with China could make it worse.
www.vox.com
October 16, 2025 at 6:29 PM
US farmers are struggling to sell soybeans. Here’s how to think about the trade war. | Vox www.vox.com/future-perfe...
Reposted by smitha rao
OSU has again changed its policy on land acknowledgement bans after faculty pushback.
Our board member Chris M. Nichols is cited in the article. The Dispatch also quotes from our chapter’s September statement.
www.dispatch.com/story/news/e...
Our board member Chris M. Nichols is cited in the article. The Dispatch also quotes from our chapter’s September statement.
www.dispatch.com/story/news/e...
Ohio State twice revises university policy on Indigenous land acknowledgements this semester
Ohio State has twice this semester revised its policy on land acknowledgements, including whether professors can include them in course materials.
www.dispatch.com
October 15, 2025 at 4:29 PM
OSU has again changed its policy on land acknowledgement bans after faculty pushback.
Our board member Chris M. Nichols is cited in the article. The Dispatch also quotes from our chapter’s September statement.
www.dispatch.com/story/news/e...
Our board member Chris M. Nichols is cited in the article. The Dispatch also quotes from our chapter’s September statement.
www.dispatch.com/story/news/e...
The Planetary Health Diet, Revisited open.substack.com/pub/thinink/...
The Planetary Health Diet, Revisited
The wealthiest 30% drive 70% of food-related environmental impacts. Can we change how we eat, farm, and share power?
open.substack.com
October 4, 2025 at 10:49 AM
The Planetary Health Diet, Revisited open.substack.com/pub/thinink/...
Reposted by smitha rao
Billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott has donated $70 million to the UNCF, the largest private provider of scholarships to minority students.
MacKenzie Scott gives $70 million to UNCF to financially strengthen HBCUs
Billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott has donated $70 million to the UNCF, the largest private provider of scholarships to minority students.
bit.ly
September 23, 2025 at 4:30 AM
Billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott has donated $70 million to the UNCF, the largest private provider of scholarships to minority students.
Gosh. 🤦🏽♀️
Trump to the UN: "I'm really good at this stuff. Your countries are going to hell."
September 23, 2025 at 2:55 PM
Gosh. 🤦🏽♀️
Reposted by smitha rao
The federal government is canceling the leading national survey of household food insecurity and hunger in the United States, @wsj.com reported today. The Dec 2025 survey will be canceled, while the Oct 2025 report based on Dec 2024 data will be released as usual. (1/4)
September 20, 2025 at 7:10 PM
The federal government is canceling the leading national survey of household food insecurity and hunger in the United States, @wsj.com reported today. The Dec 2025 survey will be canceled, while the Oct 2025 report based on Dec 2024 data will be released as usual. (1/4)
Reposted by smitha rao
"Since Donald Trump returned to office, I have noticed a phenomenon at my high school that I call the 'new chill girl'," writes high school student Naomi Beinart for the Guardian US. "The girls I talked to say it’s riskier to be outspokenly blue."
As boys shift to the right, we are seeing the rise of the ‘new chill girl’ | Naomi Beinart
www.theguardian.com
September 20, 2025 at 10:44 PM
"Since Donald Trump returned to office, I have noticed a phenomenon at my high school that I call the 'new chill girl'," writes high school student Naomi Beinart for the Guardian US. "The girls I talked to say it’s riskier to be outspokenly blue."
My phone wallpaper :)
September 19, 2025 at 9:25 PM
My phone wallpaper :)
Sigh. Deleted.
If you’re on academia dot edu, let me suggest that you strongly consider deleting your account.
September 18, 2025 at 1:21 PM
Sigh. Deleted.
Reposted by smitha rao
🙁 Jerry is leaving #BenAndJerrys (via @yobencohen.bsky.social)
September 17, 2025 at 4:41 AM
🙁 Jerry is leaving #BenAndJerrys (via @yobencohen.bsky.social)
“we are not mutual because of the provision of aid; we aid each other because we are already mutual.”
Rebecca Solnit on the (real) stories of mutual aid after disasters.
wagingnonviolence.org/2025/09/tell...
Rebecca Solnit on the (real) stories of mutual aid after disasters.
wagingnonviolence.org/2025/09/tell...
wagingnonviolence.org
September 9, 2025 at 5:12 PM
“we are not mutual because of the provision of aid; we aid each other because we are already mutual.”
Rebecca Solnit on the (real) stories of mutual aid after disasters.
wagingnonviolence.org/2025/09/tell...
Rebecca Solnit on the (real) stories of mutual aid after disasters.
wagingnonviolence.org/2025/09/tell...
Reposted by smitha rao
If *your department head and your dean* can be removed for supporting your colleague in teaching in their area of expertise, then you have no academic freedom. In a functional sense, you don't work at a university at all.
Faculty in red states are being punished for failing to signal in their course descriptions that their classes will include content on "gender ideology."
Remind me again which party was appalled by idea of "trigger warnings"?
www.kbtx.com/2025/09/09/a...
Remind me again which party was appalled by idea of "trigger warnings"?
www.kbtx.com/2025/09/09/a...
A&M Dean removed following student complaints over curriculum
The Department of Justice has also acknowledged the situation and said it would be investigating.
www.kbtx.com
September 9, 2025 at 12:12 PM
If *your department head and your dean* can be removed for supporting your colleague in teaching in their area of expertise, then you have no academic freedom. In a functional sense, you don't work at a university at all.
Reposted by smitha rao
AAUP-OSU board member Richard Finlay Fletcher spoke to “Inside Higher Ed” about OSU’s ban on land acknowledgements - and its chilling effect on academic freedom. Link below.
September 3, 2025 at 7:03 PM
AAUP-OSU board member Richard Finlay Fletcher spoke to “Inside Higher Ed” about OSU’s ban on land acknowledgements - and its chilling effect on academic freedom. Link below.
Reposted by smitha rao
One of the strongest, clearest increases in likelihood & intensity, attributable to climate change, I've seen in a complex index like fire weather - the more intense & frequent events in Greece & Türkiye are already outpacing efforts to adapt.
www.worldweatherattribution.org/weather-cond...
www.worldweatherattribution.org/weather-cond...
August 28, 2025 at 8:41 AM
One of the strongest, clearest increases in likelihood & intensity, attributable to climate change, I've seen in a complex index like fire weather - the more intense & frequent events in Greece & Türkiye are already outpacing efforts to adapt.
www.worldweatherattribution.org/weather-cond...
www.worldweatherattribution.org/weather-cond...
Octavia Butler Predicted Our Dystopian Present. What Can a Futurist Learn From Her Chilling Accuracy? – Mother Jones www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
Octavia Butler predicted our dystopian present. What can a futurist learn from her chilling accuracy?
“She painted a very clear picture about survival.”
www.motherjones.com
August 27, 2025 at 12:58 PM
Octavia Butler Predicted Our Dystopian Present. What Can a Futurist Learn From Her Chilling Accuracy? – Mother Jones www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
How federal officials talk about health is shifting in troubling ways • Ohio Capital Journal
“MAHA rhetoric may signal a coming shift in how the federal government views the needs of people with disabilities – and its responsibilities for meeting them.”
“MAHA rhetoric may signal a coming shift in how the federal government views the needs of people with disabilities – and its responsibilities for meeting them.”
How federal officials talk about health is shifting in troubling ways • Ohio Capital Journal
As a scholar of rhetoric and the mother of an autistic child, in the language of MAHA I hear a disregard for the humanity of people with disabilities and a shift from supporting them to blaming them…
ohiocapitaljournal.com
August 27, 2025 at 10:49 AM
How federal officials talk about health is shifting in troubling ways • Ohio Capital Journal
“MAHA rhetoric may signal a coming shift in how the federal government views the needs of people with disabilities – and its responsibilities for meeting them.”
“MAHA rhetoric may signal a coming shift in how the federal government views the needs of people with disabilities – and its responsibilities for meeting them.”