Alison Laurence
@dinostalgia.bsky.social
Cultural historian of extinction at work on DINOSTALGIA, a book about how dinosaurs became cultural artifacts, consumer goods, and spokes-creatures for consumption | Instructor @ UC Santa Cruz | Editor @ Contingent Magazine
https://www.alisonlaurence.com
https://www.alisonlaurence.com
Pinned
This one's for the taxidermy curious. We are legion, yeah?
In "Coyotes, Cougars, Californians," I trace evolving display practices @nhm.org. It's a story about how one museum revises boundaries of belonging, featuring the late great P-22.
@animalhistory.bsky.social #envhist
doi.org/10.1525/ah.2...
In "Coyotes, Cougars, Californians," I trace evolving display practices @nhm.org. It's a story about how one museum revises boundaries of belonging, featuring the late great P-22.
@animalhistory.bsky.social #envhist
doi.org/10.1525/ah.2...
Reposted by Alison Laurence
“For cadets, earnest participation in these discussions does more than just prove that they did the reading.”
Nick Hurley on his year teaching at USMA.
Nick Hurley on his year teaching at USMA.
What's the Point?
Reflections on a year spent teaching history at the United States Military Academy
contingentmagazine.org
November 11, 2025 at 7:03 PM
“For cadets, earnest participation in these discussions does more than just prove that they did the reading.”
Nick Hurley on his year teaching at USMA.
Nick Hurley on his year teaching at USMA.
Reposted by Alison Laurence
I was just reading about the new documentary, The Marbles, and I thought it was time to repost this. It's an old post in which I ask whether some arguments developed for reuniting the Parthenon Marbles work for natural history specimens, like fossils...
www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2023...
www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2023...
From the Archive: Lords of Marble and the Spear — Extinct
In which Max asks what an argument for repatriating a fossil might look like in the absence of demonstrable illegality in the acquisition of that fossil
www.extinctblog.org
November 6, 2025 at 2:18 PM
I was just reading about the new documentary, The Marbles, and I thought it was time to repost this. It's an old post in which I ask whether some arguments developed for reuniting the Parthenon Marbles work for natural history specimens, like fossils...
www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2023...
www.extinctblog.org/extinct/2023...
Reposted by Alison Laurence
November 1, 2025 at 2:10 PM
Reposted by Alison Laurence
A reminder that we're collecting books, chapters, and journal articles by non-TT historians for publication in our year-end lists. Anything with a 2025 pub date is eligible and you can submit for your friends/colleagues! contingentmagazine.org/yearly-pub-l...
Publications by Non-Tenure-Track Historians
Since we began publishing in 2019, Contingent has published end-of-year lists of books and articles by non-tenure-track historians released in the past calendar year. To submit something for inclusion...
contingentmagazine.org
October 24, 2025 at 12:09 AM
A reminder that we're collecting books, chapters, and journal articles by non-TT historians for publication in our year-end lists. Anything with a 2025 pub date is eligible and you can submit for your friends/colleagues! contingentmagazine.org/yearly-pub-l...
Reposted by Alison Laurence
“Monsters always speak of power — sometimes they speak for it, other times they speak against it.”
A postcard from @dinostalgia.bsky.social
A postcard from @dinostalgia.bsky.social
A Postcard from the Festival of Monsters
At UC Santa Cruz, we take monsters seriously.
contingentmagazine.org
October 22, 2025 at 3:54 PM
“Monsters always speak of power — sometimes they speak for it, other times they speak against it.”
A postcard from @dinostalgia.bsky.social
A postcard from @dinostalgia.bsky.social
Reposted by Alison Laurence
New, on Heat Death! While going through some Texan paleontology archives, I stumbled across a scrapbook. The result is a kind of time capsule of early 20th century paleontology pop culture in poems and (mostly) cartoons.
🧪🦖
🧪🦖
The Paleontologist's Scrapbook
Cartoons and poems from the dawn of prehistory
heat-death.ghost.io
October 23, 2025 at 2:28 PM
New, on Heat Death! While going through some Texan paleontology archives, I stumbled across a scrapbook. The result is a kind of time capsule of early 20th century paleontology pop culture in poems and (mostly) cartoons.
🧪🦖
🧪🦖
For the official record, that poster is a superimposed image... I did not (would not!) try the wrath of a redwood so.
“Monsters always speak of power — sometimes they speak for it, other times they speak against it.”
A postcard from @dinostalgia.bsky.social
A postcard from @dinostalgia.bsky.social
A Postcard from the Festival of Monsters
At UC Santa Cruz, we take monsters seriously.
contingentmagazine.org
October 22, 2025 at 4:33 PM
For the official record, that poster is a superimposed image... I did not (would not!) try the wrath of a redwood so.
Reposted by Alison Laurence
What the fascist tech bros get wrong about Prometheus. (And yes, they do want to build a 450-foot statue on Alcatraz Island, in San Francisco Bay).
What the Fascist Tech Bros Get Wrong About Prometheus
Those crypto boys are at it again, this time proposing a giant, 450-foot-tall statue on of San Francisco Bay’s Alcatraz Island, according to local outlet KRON4. The statue would be of Prometheus, w…
buff.ly
October 22, 2025 at 2:30 PM
What the fascist tech bros get wrong about Prometheus. (And yes, they do want to build a 450-foot statue on Alcatraz Island, in San Francisco Bay).
Reposted by Alison Laurence
“what happens if we also reconnect with the mule? What can mules teach us about the black history of land and violence in the United States?”
A terrific piece of #envhist on mules, labor, and how “empire doesn’t always win” from @roguechieftan.bsky.social
www.sciencehistory.org/stories/maga...
A terrific piece of #envhist on mules, labor, and how “empire doesn’t always win” from @roguechieftan.bsky.social
www.sciencehistory.org/stories/maga...
Mule Power
Unpacking empires and diaspora in Mexico and the United States.
www.sciencehistory.org
October 19, 2025 at 8:31 PM
“what happens if we also reconnect with the mule? What can mules teach us about the black history of land and violence in the United States?”
A terrific piece of #envhist on mules, labor, and how “empire doesn’t always win” from @roguechieftan.bsky.social
www.sciencehistory.org/stories/maga...
A terrific piece of #envhist on mules, labor, and how “empire doesn’t always win” from @roguechieftan.bsky.social
www.sciencehistory.org/stories/maga...
Just a day and some change to get your monstrous pitches in to @contingent-mag.bsky.social! The submission window closes Monday, October 20th.
contingentmagazine.org/cfp-a-time-o...
contingentmagazine.org/cfp-a-time-o...
October 19, 2025 at 8:24 PM
Just a day and some change to get your monstrous pitches in to @contingent-mag.bsky.social! The submission window closes Monday, October 20th.
contingentmagazine.org/cfp-a-time-o...
contingentmagazine.org/cfp-a-time-o...
Reposted by Alison Laurence
If you are a supporter and reader of @contingent-mag.bsky.social one of the biggest things you can do to help us at the moment is get this CFP to the NTT folks in your life. The fracturing of social media has made it very difficult to get the word out esp. to adjuncts and VAPs.
CFP: A Time of Monsters
The monster has been here all along. It is a historical constant that manifests in wildly different ways across time, place, and culture. Whatever form it takes, the monster claws at categories; it un...
contingentmagazine.org
October 5, 2025 at 9:41 PM
If you are a supporter and reader of @contingent-mag.bsky.social one of the biggest things you can do to help us at the moment is get this CFP to the NTT folks in your life. The fracturing of social media has made it very difficult to get the word out esp. to adjuncts and VAPs.
Reposted by Alison Laurence
"The Anonymous Animal: (Not) Naming and (Not) Knowing in the Anthropocene" by Whitney Barlow Robles, in our Special Issue: 'Animals and the History of Natural History'
online.ucpress.edu/ah/issue/1/3
online.ucpress.edu/ah/issue/1/3
October 15, 2025 at 12:47 AM
"The Anonymous Animal: (Not) Naming and (Not) Knowing in the Anthropocene" by Whitney Barlow Robles, in our Special Issue: 'Animals and the History of Natural History'
online.ucpress.edu/ah/issue/1/3
online.ucpress.edu/ah/issue/1/3
A call for 🦕🦖🦣 contributors! With Victor Monnin, I'm editing a collection about extinct animal parks—it's a field guide, of sorts, that turns a critical eye on places real, imagined, and yet to be. Find the full CFP for LANDS OF THE LOST here: tinyurl.com/dinoparks #PaleoSky #HistSci #EnvHist #STS
October 13, 2025 at 2:22 PM
A call for 🦕🦖🦣 contributors! With Victor Monnin, I'm editing a collection about extinct animal parks—it's a field guide, of sorts, that turns a critical eye on places real, imagined, and yet to be. Find the full CFP for LANDS OF THE LOST here: tinyurl.com/dinoparks #PaleoSky #HistSci #EnvHist #STS
Reposted by Alison Laurence
An astonishing story involving a great deal of impressive detective work to find the last known great auks. The story of their dispersal, literally in terms of organs and skins, and extinction is bleak.
DNA and historical sleuthing have traced the extinct bird’s remains to a museum in Ohio. https://scim.ag/4791YqA
Fate of the last female great auk is finally solved
DNA and historical sleuthing have traced the extinct bird’s remains to a museum in Ohio
scim.ag
October 8, 2025 at 11:11 PM
An astonishing story involving a great deal of impressive detective work to find the last known great auks. The story of their dispersal, literally in terms of organs and skins, and extinction is bleak.
Reposted by Alison Laurence
A brand new mailbag—yes, you CAN study that, but how?
You Can Study That?
What could be more satisfying than immersing yourself in the history of something you love?
contingentmagazine.org
October 7, 2025 at 7:01 PM
A brand new mailbag—yes, you CAN study that, but how?
Reposted by Alison Laurence
Our new CFP is up and it is monstrous.
CFP: A Time of Monsters
The monster has been here all along. It is a historical constant that manifests in wildly different ways across time, place, and culture. Whatever form it takes, the monster claws at categories; it un...
contingentmagazine.org
October 2, 2025 at 2:36 AM
Our new CFP is up and it is monstrous.
Reposted by Alison Laurence
Only 2 weeks before the Festival of Monsters! Keynote 10/15 by David Livingstone Smith, conference 10/16-17, and a day of events including a panel with @almakatsu.bsky.social Nat Cassidy, and @gretchenmcneil.bsky.social at @bookshopsantacruz.bsky.social on 10/18. Details monsterstudies.ucsc.edu
October 1, 2025 at 8:42 PM
Only 2 weeks before the Festival of Monsters! Keynote 10/15 by David Livingstone Smith, conference 10/16-17, and a day of events including a panel with @almakatsu.bsky.social Nat Cassidy, and @gretchenmcneil.bsky.social at @bookshopsantacruz.bsky.social on 10/18. Details monsterstudies.ucsc.edu
Reposted by Alison Laurence
Normally our December issue is six mini-essays, but with the support of the Kitchings Family Foundation, we're going to be able to support six shorts--twice the word count, twice the pay!--as well as an amazing feature-length review we've already got lined up.
It’s here! The call for pitches for our deluxe December issue, “A Time of Monsters,” supported by a grant from the Kitchings Family Foundation.
CFP: A Time of Monsters
The monster has been here all along. It is a historical constant that manifests in wildly different ways across time, place, and culture. Whatever form it takes, the monster claws at categories; it un...
contingentmagazine.org
October 1, 2025 at 2:12 PM
Normally our December issue is six mini-essays, but with the support of the Kitchings Family Foundation, we're going to be able to support six shorts--twice the word count, twice the pay!--as well as an amazing feature-length review we've already got lined up.
The monster is a friend, or so we @contingent-mag.bsky.social suggest in our CFP... a fiend to historians especially, though not exclusively.
Pitch us an essay about your historical monster, whatever form that monster takes, by October 20!
Pitch us an essay about your historical monster, whatever form that monster takes, by October 20!
It’s here! The call for pitches for our deluxe December issue, “A Time of Monsters,” supported by a grant from the Kitchings Family Foundation.
CFP: A Time of Monsters
The monster has been here all along. It is a historical constant that manifests in wildly different ways across time, place, and culture. Whatever form it takes, the monster claws at categories; it un...
contingentmagazine.org
October 1, 2025 at 3:58 PM
The monster is a friend, or so we @contingent-mag.bsky.social suggest in our CFP... a fiend to historians especially, though not exclusively.
Pitch us an essay about your historical monster, whatever form that monster takes, by October 20!
Pitch us an essay about your historical monster, whatever form that monster takes, by October 20!
Reposted by Alison Laurence
December issue CFP arrives today!
a man with a pumpkin on his head is standing in a cemetery
ALT: a man with a pumpkin on his head is standing in a cemetery
media.tenor.com
October 1, 2025 at 4:03 AM
December issue CFP arrives today!
Reposted by Alison Laurence
This year, we'll be publishing a ✨deluxe✨ December issue with 6 shorts and a feature-length review, made possible in part by a grant from the Kitchings Family Foundation!
The CFP arrives on Wednesday October 1. Don't miss it.
The CFP arrives on Wednesday October 1. Don't miss it.
a black and white photo of a monster with barbed wire around its neck
ALT: a black and white photo of a monster with barbed wire around its neck
media.tenor.com
September 30, 2025 at 1:10 AM
This year, we'll be publishing a ✨deluxe✨ December issue with 6 shorts and a feature-length review, made possible in part by a grant from the Kitchings Family Foundation!
The CFP arrives on Wednesday October 1. Don't miss it.
The CFP arrives on Wednesday October 1. Don't miss it.
Reposted by Alison Laurence
The mad editors @contingent-mag.bsky.social have been conjuring a new CFP for our December issue. It will debut soon. Keep your eyes open and get ready to pitch. As always, the GIF is a hint.
a black and white photo of a man with a stethoscope around his neck screaming .
ALT: a black and white photo of a man with a stethoscope around his neck screaming .
media.tenor.com
September 28, 2025 at 3:38 PM
The mad editors @contingent-mag.bsky.social have been conjuring a new CFP for our December issue. It will debut soon. Keep your eyes open and get ready to pitch. As always, the GIF is a hint.
Reposted by Alison Laurence
A new CFP emerges this week! Our seventh December issue is going to be bigger and better than ever, so make sure to keep an eye out for the call. As always, the GIF is a hint.
a dark cave with a glowing light coming out of it
Alt: Mothra emerges from her cocoon in Godzilla KOTM
media.tenor.com
September 28, 2025 at 2:07 PM
A new CFP emerges this week! Our seventh December issue is going to be bigger and better than ever, so make sure to keep an eye out for the call. As always, the GIF is a hint.
Doing a fridge worth of dishes—because !what joy! my fridge died and the room temp leftovers aren’t worth risking—but at least there’s a jolly view. The forbidden circus beckons.
September 25, 2025 at 2:00 AM
Doing a fridge worth of dishes—because !what joy! my fridge died and the room temp leftovers aren’t worth risking—but at least there’s a jolly view. The forbidden circus beckons.
Reposted by Alison Laurence
“Not only is the ratio of AI’s resource rapacity to its productive utility indefensibly and irremediably skewed, AI-made material is itself a waste product: flimsy, shoddy, disposable, a single-use plastic of the mind.”
www.nplusonemag.com/issue-51/the...
www.nplusonemag.com/issue-51/the...
Large Language Muddle | The Editors
The AI upheaval is unique in its ability to metabolize any number of dread-inducing transformations. The university is becoming more corporate, more politically oppressive, and all but hostile to the ...
www.nplusonemag.com
September 17, 2025 at 2:39 PM
“Not only is the ratio of AI’s resource rapacity to its productive utility indefensibly and irremediably skewed, AI-made material is itself a waste product: flimsy, shoddy, disposable, a single-use plastic of the mind.”
www.nplusonemag.com/issue-51/the...
www.nplusonemag.com/issue-51/the...