Zarena Aslami
@zda.bsky.social
scholar and teacher of 19th-century british lit and culture; writing about "victorian afghanistan" and thinking about empire, race, and disability. all views expressed are my own. please enjoy the photo of civic-minded geese using the crosswalk.
Reposted by Zarena Aslami
This is so sad; so many lives ruined. And for what?
An independent civil service is so important for so many reasons. One overlooked one is that it offers economic opportunities to people who would not otherwise get them from the private sector.
bethesdamagazine.com/2025/07/29/d...
bethesdamagazine.com/2025/07/29/d...
A Rockville woman with developmental disabilities was laid off from NIH after 30 years. What’s next for her is uncertain.
Andrea Geller loved her job in the mailroom at NIH. But after she was laid off, she's struggling to find a job accommodating her disabilites.
bethesdamagazine.com
July 30, 2025 at 1:08 PM
This is so sad; so many lives ruined. And for what?
Reposted by Zarena Aslami
Amy Sherald says the Smithsonian suggested removing a painting of a transgender woman as the Statue of Liberty from her upcoming show at the National Portrait Gallery “to avoid provoking President Trump.” Sherald: “I cannot in good conscience comply with a culture of censorship”
Amy Sherald Cancels Her Smithsonian Show, Citing Censorship
www.nytimes.com
July 24, 2025 at 5:06 PM
Amy Sherald says the Smithsonian suggested removing a painting of a transgender woman as the Statue of Liberty from her upcoming show at the National Portrait Gallery “to avoid provoking President Trump.” Sherald: “I cannot in good conscience comply with a culture of censorship”
@aktange.bsky.social field trip!
‘Curtis’s Botanical Magazine’, the world's longest-running, continuously published botanical periodical, bringing gardening to the masses, on display at ‘Unearthed: The Power of Gardening’ events.bl.uk/exhibitions/... until 10 August @rs4vp.org
July 24, 2025 at 3:33 PM
@aktange.bsky.social field trip!
Reposted by Zarena Aslami
Rümeysa Öztürk wrote about ICE detention and the women who helped her survive. www.vanityfair.com/news/story/r...
“Even God Cannot Hear Us Here”: What I Witnessed Inside an ICE Women’s Prison
Tufts University doctoral student Rümeysa Öztürk opens up about her 45 days in a South Louisiana processing facility—and the generous and compassionate women she met.
www.vanityfair.com
July 17, 2025 at 12:23 PM
Rümeysa Öztürk wrote about ICE detention and the women who helped her survive. www.vanityfair.com/news/story/r...
Reposted by Zarena Aslami
A powerful piece by Patricia Okker, former President of the New College of Florida, on how reading American women writers can shape our current moment. This is what the humanities can do, and this is why they are so afraid of us. Free access from Legacy: muse.jhu.edu/article/959226
Project MUSE - Learning to Read American Women Writers
muse.jhu.edu
May 12, 2025 at 12:43 PM
A powerful piece by Patricia Okker, former President of the New College of Florida, on how reading American women writers can shape our current moment. This is what the humanities can do, and this is why they are so afraid of us. Free access from Legacy: muse.jhu.edu/article/959226
Reposted by Zarena Aslami
MIT just pubbed a study on ChatGPT users.
“Brain scans revealed neural connection collapse... a 47% reduction in brain connectivity. When researchers forced ChatGPT users to write w/o AI, they performed worse than people who never used AI at all. It's not just dependency. It's cognitive atrophy.”
“Brain scans revealed neural connection collapse... a 47% reduction in brain connectivity. When researchers forced ChatGPT users to write w/o AI, they performed worse than people who never used AI at all. It's not just dependency. It's cognitive atrophy.”
June 22, 2025 at 2:56 PM
MIT just pubbed a study on ChatGPT users.
“Brain scans revealed neural connection collapse... a 47% reduction in brain connectivity. When researchers forced ChatGPT users to write w/o AI, they performed worse than people who never used AI at all. It's not just dependency. It's cognitive atrophy.”
“Brain scans revealed neural connection collapse... a 47% reduction in brain connectivity. When researchers forced ChatGPT users to write w/o AI, they performed worse than people who never used AI at all. It's not just dependency. It's cognitive atrophy.”
Reposted by Zarena Aslami
Sounds awesome!
Wanna know the history of #gaslighting? My co-edited book of essays, *Victorian Gaslighting*, will make you an expert! This juicy guide, co-created with @noragilbert.bsky.social and @tara-macdonald.bsky.social, is officially in pre-production at @sunypress.bsky.social and slated for pub in 2026!
June 20, 2025 at 3:34 PM
Sounds awesome!
Reposted by Zarena Aslami
Hey all, if you don't want a massive data center in your backyard, the folks at Stop the Data are holding a rally at the June 17th Ypsilanti Town Board meeting at 5:30pm! The rally will be at the Tilden R. Stumbo Civic Center Board Room!
June 17, 2025 at 3:07 AM
Hey all, if you don't want a massive data center in your backyard, the folks at Stop the Data are holding a rally at the June 17th Ypsilanti Town Board meeting at 5:30pm! The rally will be at the Tilden R. Stumbo Civic Center Board Room!
Reposted by Zarena Aslami
The U.S. owes Afghans and Afghan Americans a huge debt. Instead of repaying this debt and undoing the harm it has caused over four decades, Muslim ban 2.0 has been yet another deep betrayal and abandonment.
Trump’s New “Muslim Ban” Wipes Out Hope for 250,000 Afghans Seeking Refuge in US
The US owes Afghans a huge debt, but instead of starting to repair decades of harm, Trump is banning them from the US.
buff.ly
June 9, 2025 at 10:20 PM
The U.S. owes Afghans and Afghan Americans a huge debt. Instead of repaying this debt and undoing the harm it has caused over four decades, Muslim ban 2.0 has been yet another deep betrayal and abandonment.
Reposted by Zarena Aslami
"A former Afghan National Army soldier in the process of applying for asylum in the U.S. was arrested last month by federal immigration agents at his Houston-area home, according to his attorney, who said the man and most of his family are being threatened with deportation."
Former Afghan soldier arrested at Houston-area home by ICE, stripped of asylum protections, attorney says | Houston Public Media
The soldier is one of at least 20,000 Afghans seeking asylum nationwide, having fled Afghanistan after aiding the U.S. military during the two-decades-long war there.
www.houstonpublicmedia.org
June 7, 2025 at 11:01 PM
"A former Afghan National Army soldier in the process of applying for asylum in the U.S. was arrested last month by federal immigration agents at his Houston-area home, according to his attorney, who said the man and most of his family are being threatened with deportation."
Reposted by Zarena Aslami
🚨 Support Los Angeles immigrant communities 🚨
Please consider donating to one or all of the following orgs:
Immigrant Defenders Law Center: give.immdef.org/donate
LA Jail Support / Bail Fund:
account.venmo.com/u/jailsuppor...
Unión del Barrio:
uniondelbarrio.org/main/support...
Please consider donating to one or all of the following orgs:
Immigrant Defenders Law Center: give.immdef.org/donate
LA Jail Support / Bail Fund:
account.venmo.com/u/jailsuppor...
Unión del Barrio:
uniondelbarrio.org/main/support...
June 7, 2025 at 8:41 PM
🚨 Support Los Angeles immigrant communities 🚨
Please consider donating to one or all of the following orgs:
Immigrant Defenders Law Center: give.immdef.org/donate
LA Jail Support / Bail Fund:
account.venmo.com/u/jailsuppor...
Unión del Barrio:
uniondelbarrio.org/main/support...
Please consider donating to one or all of the following orgs:
Immigrant Defenders Law Center: give.immdef.org/donate
LA Jail Support / Bail Fund:
account.venmo.com/u/jailsuppor...
Unión del Barrio:
uniondelbarrio.org/main/support...
What was it again that John Locke said about putting labor into the land?
Hundreds of acres in Michigan are covered in parallel rows of earth that are the remains of an ancient Native American agricultural system. The surprise find has archaeologists amazed.
A surprise find in Michigan shows the extent of ancient Native American agriculture
Hundreds of acres in Michigan are covered in parallel rows of earth that are the remains of an ancient Native American agricultural system. The surprise find has archaeologists amazed.
n.pr
June 6, 2025 at 12:32 PM
What was it again that John Locke said about putting labor into the land?
Reposted by Zarena Aslami
If you're working in any Victorian Studies field & would like some group support/motivation to get summer writing done, consider applying to these (VIRTUAL) seminars. You need not live in the midwestern US to apply. Seminar groups are based on topic intersections & time zones for ease of meeting.
MVSA Summer Seminars are back! Set writing goals now, submit something (up to 30 pages) for collaborative feedback in August, meet with your workshop group in early September for discussion. Application deadline: May 25. Seminar logistics & (easy!) application process at link below. Pass it on!
Summer Seminars
Set writing goals & get feedback!Applications due: May 25, 2025 NEW DIRECTIONS IN VICTORIAN STUDIES Ah, May! When writing goals are full of promises to ourselves, and summer is full of timeR…
midwestvictorian.org
May 15, 2025 at 1:32 PM
If you're working in any Victorian Studies field & would like some group support/motivation to get summer writing done, consider applying to these (VIRTUAL) seminars. You need not live in the midwestern US to apply. Seminar groups are based on topic intersections & time zones for ease of meeting.
Reposted by Zarena Aslami
Excited to share the call for Victorian Poetry’s 2025 Early Career Prize! Please circulate widely. Happy to answer any questions (see the attached CFP for more details)!
May 12, 2025 at 4:35 PM
Excited to share the call for Victorian Poetry’s 2025 Early Career Prize! Please circulate widely. Happy to answer any questions (see the attached CFP for more details)!
Reposted by Zarena Aslami
My most sincere thanks to everyone who has stepped up to contribute to our legal action with AHA and ACLS to restore the NEH. More than 300 people have chipped in. Here's the link to join the fight: www.mla.org/About-Us/Sup... The fund we are using for the legal fees is Paving the Way.
www.mla.org
May 12, 2025 at 3:25 PM
My most sincere thanks to everyone who has stepped up to contribute to our legal action with AHA and ACLS to restore the NEH. More than 300 people have chipped in. Here's the link to join the fight: www.mla.org/About-Us/Sup... The fund we are using for the legal fees is Paving the Way.
Reposted by Zarena Aslami
For Mother’s Day I talked to moms who are being put through hell because of the new administration’s policies.
“I am aware of Project 2025 and their goals of getting women out of the workforce, and this really feels like part of it.”
Read here:
“I am aware of Project 2025 and their goals of getting women out of the workforce, and this really feels like part of it.”
Read here:
Being a mom in the federal government wasn’t easy. Trump made it “impossible.”
The Handbasket spoke to several moms about the series of painful choices they've had to make since January.
www.thehandbasket.co
May 11, 2025 at 4:34 PM
For Mother’s Day I talked to moms who are being put through hell because of the new administration’s policies.
“I am aware of Project 2025 and their goals of getting women out of the workforce, and this really feels like part of it.”
Read here:
“I am aware of Project 2025 and their goals of getting women out of the workforce, and this really feels like part of it.”
Read here:
Feel like trotting out one of my favorite quotes in my book The Dream Life of Citizens. It's from Sydney Webb's 1889 essay "Historic." In it, he counters Herbert Spencer's 1884 diatribe against liberals granting the state more power to mitigate people's suffering and to provide public services:
May 9, 2025 at 12:48 PM
Feel like trotting out one of my favorite quotes in my book The Dream Life of Citizens. It's from Sydney Webb's 1889 essay "Historic." In it, he counters Herbert Spencer's 1884 diatribe against liberals granting the state more power to mitigate people's suffering and to provide public services:
Very excited that two of our contributors to the special issue of VLC on Victorian Infrastructure that @timwatson.bsky.social and I co-edited have brand new brilliant books coming out. (1/?)
May 9, 2025 at 12:31 PM
Very excited that two of our contributors to the special issue of VLC on Victorian Infrastructure that @timwatson.bsky.social and I co-edited have brand new brilliant books coming out. (1/?)
This is beyond horrifying.
The Times spoke to people being trapped inside a Panama hotel after deportation from the US and the individual stories of horror are almost too much to bear www.nytimes.com/2025/02/18/w...
February 18, 2025 at 2:50 PM
This is beyond horrifying.
Reposted by Zarena Aslami
PAGE NOT FOUND
As of this morning, trans people are removed from federal health websites. Information on trans people and HIV, trans people in Ryan White programs, trans people and cancer- all mentions removed. (cont)
As of this morning, trans people are removed from federal health websites. Information on trans people and HIV, trans people in Ryan White programs, trans people and cancer- all mentions removed. (cont)
January 31, 2025 at 10:03 PM
PAGE NOT FOUND
As of this morning, trans people are removed from federal health websites. Information on trans people and HIV, trans people in Ryan White programs, trans people and cancer- all mentions removed. (cont)
As of this morning, trans people are removed from federal health websites. Information on trans people and HIV, trans people in Ryan White programs, trans people and cancer- all mentions removed. (cont)
Reposted by Zarena Aslami
About 1,600 Afghans who are vetted and cleared to resettle in the U.S. — including unaccompanied minors reuniting with family members and Afghans at risk of retribution from the Taliban for assisting the U.S. during the 20-year war — had their entry to the U.S. blocked.
Betrayed by US Again, Afghan Evacuees Stranded After Refugee Program Suspension
About 1,600 Afghans approved to come to the US are now in limbo as the State Department cancels travel plans.
truthout.org
January 23, 2025 at 9:35 PM
About 1,600 Afghans who are vetted and cleared to resettle in the U.S. — including unaccompanied minors reuniting with family members and Afghans at risk of retribution from the Taliban for assisting the U.S. during the 20-year war — had their entry to the U.S. blocked.