Brandi K. Adams
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Brandi K. Adams
@bkadams.bsky.social
I am an Assistant Professor of English Literature at Arizona State University who works on book history, premodern critical race studies and early modern English drama. I spend a lot of time with Barnabe, an adorable dog. These posts are my opinion.
Reposted by Brandi K. Adams
Art school problems
November 19, 2025 at 4:54 PM
Reposted by Brandi K. Adams
When Scott Enderle <https://pricelab.sas.upenn.edu/news/jonathan-scott-enderle-1979-2021> and I were building the Shakespeare Census, one of the first things he insisted on was making it open and easily adaptable for others. I'm so pleased to his hard work on that part of the project bearing fruit.
Pleased to announce the Wheatley Census is ready for 1.0 public release! As detailed a census as possible (right now) of the first six editions - those printed in the 18th century - of Phillis Wheatley’s Poems on Various Subjects, is available here: www.wheatleycensus.org.
Wheatley Census
www.wheatleycensus.org
November 17, 2025 at 4:48 PM
I wonder if these folks are using classical scholars and readers much in the way early modern aristocracy could employ scholars. See ‘How Gabriel Harvey read his Livy’ by Jardine and Grafton. Prometheus was eventually freed by Heracles in Hesiod’s Theogony, y’all.
I had a great conversation about this phenomenon with some sociologists at ASA once. A colleague took me to task for failing to see how they KNOW the reference. They aren’t misreading literary references — they are wielding them to demonstrate their power to shape our ethics.
The fact that he named it Project Prometheus is priceless.
November 17, 2025 at 2:33 PM
Reposted by Brandi K. Adams
ON STRIKE AGAIN BECAUSE THE UNIVERSITY OF EDINBURGH REFUSES TO RULE OUT COMPULSORY REDUNDANCIES!
November 17, 2025 at 9:19 AM
Reposted by Brandi K. Adams
Libraries purchase books. When you see a book at the library, it isn’t “free”

the library bought it.

which in turn means that the community bought it.

In other words, library books are not lost sales for authors and publishers; they’re positive sales. Active sales. Those are bought.
November 15, 2025 at 11:32 PM
Sonja’s so right. Which printing press? What kind of knowledge? For which people? Also, do people understand how much labor was involved in a printing books?
November 15, 2025 at 5:24 PM
Reposted by Brandi K. Adams
bringing this statement over from Alice’s Twitter. it appears the below was Alice’s last post before passing. I am heartbroken
November 15, 2025 at 2:37 PM
Reposted by Brandi K. Adams
happy bday Mexican nun/writer Juana Inés de la Cruz, b1648, nicknamed Phoenix of America

"I don't study to know more, but to ignore less."

I do not set store by treasures or riches;
and therefore it always brings me more joy
only to fix riches in my intellect
and never my intellect fix on riches.
November 12, 2025 at 12:51 PM
Reposted by Brandi K. Adams
Keep the college essay.

You don't have to fulfill the prophecy that the college essay is dead because some jaded dudes in the Atlantic, New Yorker, and NYT told you so two years ago.

It's OK. You can keep the essay.
November 14, 2025 at 2:47 PM
Reposted by Brandi K. Adams
Does anyone out there visit the Clark library and if so would you be prepared to take a single photo for me ( of an almanac title page) ? #earlymodern
November 13, 2025 at 10:36 PM
I studied abroad at Lancaster and it was an absolutely fantastic experience. The cuts happening all over the world in higher education are just awful.
'The prospect of hundreds of job cuts at Lancaster University could damage the city's economy, students have warned.'

'Could'? Surely 'will'.
Fears Lancaster University job cuts would hit city's businesses
Lancaster University is seeking to cut 400 full-time posts as part of efforts to save £30m.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 13, 2025 at 3:54 PM
What is race or gender ideology in this case? (It’s so weird when people try to ban things using words they don’t understand. )
The Texas A&M University System will vote on Thursday on whether to prohibit faculty at its 11 universities from teaching “race or gender ideology” unless those lessons are pre-approved by each campus president or a delegate.
Texas A&M to vote on banning “race and gender ideology”
The proposal appears to mark the first time a Texas university system offers definitions of what kind of instruction related to race and gender should not be permitted.
www.texastribune.org
November 12, 2025 at 5:57 PM
Looks directly into the camera. COME ON.
November 11, 2025 at 5:19 PM
Reposted by Brandi K. Adams
Today is the OFFICIAL publication day for TEXTILE SHAKESPEARE! Please indulge me: I want to say a little (perhaps rather a lot) about it and share my acknowledgements - and a discount code! Appropriately,🧵1/10
November 11, 2025 at 11:21 AM
Reposted by Brandi K. Adams
Unfortunately still true bsky.app/profile/adam...
American politics makes a lot more sense when you realize that the GOP is afraid of pissing off the GOP base, and the Dems are afraid of pissing off the GOP base, but neither party is afraid of pissing off the Dem base.
November 10, 2025 at 12:09 PM
Reposted by Brandi K. Adams
Her husband told her that detainees at Broadview had to get up at 5am to get in line for one bathroom. He often peed himself. One time he had to wait until 2pm to use the bathroom. You could only use the bathroom once a day. He said the agents would beat you if you used the bathroom on yourself.
November 7, 2025 at 3:08 AM
Reposted by Brandi K. Adams
The pun timer was activated and you only had six minutes to get in
November 6, 2025 at 7:37 PM
Reposted by Brandi K. Adams
I so appreciate the opportunity to write about the legacies of Marxist feminism in this special cluster in PMLA. Thanks to James, Charlotte and Donna for inviting me. It's a theory essay that ends with a poem.
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
Marxist Feminism in Flight | PMLA | Cambridge Core
Marxist Feminism in Flight - Volume 140 Issue 3
www.cambridge.org
October 29, 2025 at 8:55 PM
Reposted by Brandi K. Adams
Hoping this helps our colleagues across the industry
November 5, 2025 at 1:01 PM
Reposted by Brandi K. Adams
if i were running for office i would absolutely call my volunteers “the wide awakes,” i would hand out wide awake pins and stickers and hats for people to wear and campaign events would have wide awake banners
THEY USED TO CALL US WOKE

NOW THEY CAN CALL US WIDE AWAKES
November 5, 2025 at 6:20 PM
Major in Africana Studies or any humanities course like English Literature! You could be mayor of New York City. You could do anything.
November 5, 2025 at 4:49 AM
Reposted by Brandi K. Adams
Mamdani: My friends, we have toppled a political dynasty. I wish Andrew Cuomo only the best in private life. But let tonight be the final time I utter his name.
November 5, 2025 at 4:42 AM
Reposted by Brandi K. Adams
i'm a very biased party here but pretty much everything about the Mamdani campaign and the discourse around it thus far is a pretty thorough vindication of Africana Studies
It is worth saying that putting “Africana studies” in scare quotes as if it’s a ridiculous concept is not a political argument. It’s just racism. “Africa is not worthy of a major” is the implication. Yeah dude you’re just racist. (From Gerard Baker at the WSJ today)

www.wsj.com/opinion/mamd...
November 4, 2025 at 2:46 PM
Reposted by Brandi K. Adams
Job alert: the University of Illinois Library is hiring a Humanities Librarian to serve as liaison to African-American Studies and English Literatures. I’m sure someone here would be a great fit for this job—& we’ve got a pretty phenomenal community here

Please share!
Humanities Librarian - (African American Studies and English Literature)
Duties & Responsibilities
illinois.csod.com
November 3, 2025 at 11:01 PM