Kiernan Mathews
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faculty.bsky.social
Kiernan Mathews
@faculty.bsky.social
380 followers 550 following 290 posts
I study faculty, direct a university consortium, and reveal the known universe of #highered scholarship to people who never thought to ask. Trying to change a 19th century academy for a 21st century professoriate. Failing daily.
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faculty.bsky.social
Recently recommended because the transcripts of confidential search committee meetings "will occupy real estate in your brain forever":
When Two Bodies Are (Not) a Problem: Gender & Relationship Status Discrimination in Academic Hiring, by @larivera.bsky.social
advance.charlotte.edu/wp-content/u...
Table 2. Gender Breakdown of “Above the Bar” Candidates Whose Relationship Status Was Discussed in Hiring Committee Meetings by Discipline (Percent). Humanities Men: 0. Social Science Men: 20. Natural Science Men: 0. Humanities Women: 100. Social Science Women: 100. Natural Science Women: 100. Lydia [to Mary]: Have you checked the New York Times weddings section? Mary: Yes, that's how I found out about Elizabeth's wedding. Lydia [looking up from her computer, surprised]: Does Elizabeth have an announcement? Mary [nodding yes]: Have you checked Weddingchannel[.com]? [She brings up a listing and later finds Elizabeth's wedding registry.] Lydia visits site, too. She then shows her computer to Ronald, who begins looking at the registry and commenting on the gifts. Ronald: Do people really need this stuff?
May 14, 2025 at 8:57 PM
faculty.bsky.social
“Brown Professor Avoids Defunding by Adding ‘For Bombs’ to Research Abstract” by Ray Theon

“At press time, Norman was encouraging a colleague in the Africana Studies Department to add ‘for white people too’ to the title of her upcoming talk.”

thenoser.com/article/Brow...
Brown Professor Avoids Defunding By Adding "For Bombs" To Research Abstract said Professor Amani Norman, looking up from her work that explores the intersec-tionalities between textuality and race in queer narratives. "And I figured if you can't beat 'em, bomb'em!" "My work focuses on analyzing how our heterodivergent pathologies shape media," said Norman, sitting next to a scale replica of an intercontinental ballistic mis-sile. "I aim to further our collective under- BY RAY THEON Amid nationwide research funding cuts, one Brown professor has managed to avoid defunding by adding "For Bombs" to her research abstract. "I realized there was a common denominator between the projects that were safe from cuts. They were for serving our nation's great military industrial complex," standing of cinematography and identity." This project is really gonna slay (people). "Of course this work is for the sake of supporting the creation of precision missiles for our great warriors in the Middle East," Norman added, thumbing through her copy of Marx's Capital. "This work will further the great mission of the United States military and is sponsored by a pioneering and innovating firm that shares my values of diversity, equity, and bombs. Thank you for your support, Lockheed Martin." At press time, Norman was encouraging a colleague in the Africana Studies Department to add "for white people too" to the title of her upcoming talk.
May 14, 2025 at 11:42 AM
faculty.bsky.social
Early this morning I witnessed* how unremarkable men decided ¿Why not us? and left their corpses on the green as testimony to how truly effed up the situation had become.

*a reenactment of
In a reenactment of the Battle of Lexington (1775), gun smoke rises amid the chaos as British regulars and Minutemen exchange musket fire. In a reenactment of the Battle of Lexington (1775), two Minutemen with muskets crouch for cover beside the yellow clapboards of Buckman Tavern. In a pre-dawn reenactment of the Battle of Lexington (1775), Minutemen stand tensely outside Buckman Tavern, painted yellow, as they await the rumored arrival of several columns of British regulars.
April 19, 2025 at 2:37 PM
faculty.bsky.social
close-up photo of many post-its of various colors on a whiteboard
April 10, 2025 at 8:17 PM
faculty.bsky.social
However, the following are examples of "school-on-student harassment that could create a hostile environment under Title VI":
"However, the more extreme practices at a university—such as requiring students to participate in privilege walks, segregating them by race for presentations and discussions with guest speakers, pressuring them to participate in protests or take certain positions on racially charged issues, investigating or sanctioning them for dissenting on racially charged issues through DEI or similar university offices, mandating courses, orientation programs, or trainings that are designed to emphasize and focus on racial stereotypes, and assigning them coursework that requires them to identify by race and then complete tasks differentiated by race—are all forms of school-on-student harassment that could create a hostile environment under Title VI."
March 1, 2025 at 4:37 PM
faculty.bsky.social
According to today's FAQ from ED, the following themes in a class discussion at a university would be "less likely to create a racially hostile environment," meaning they are not outright banned / in violation in Title VI.
"In determining whether a racially hostile environment exists, OCR will examine the facts and circumstances of each case, including the nature of the educational institution, the age of the students, and the relationships of the individuals involved. For example, an elementary school that sponsors programming that acts to shame students of a particular race or ethnicity, accuse them of being oppressors in a racial hierarchy, ascribe to them less value as contributors to class discussions because of their race, or deliberately assign them intrinsic guilt based on the actions of their presumed ancestors or relatives in other areas of the world could create a racially hostile environment. But similar themes in a class discussion at a university would be less likely to create a racially hostile environment. In all cases, the facts and circumstances of that discussion will dictate the answer to that inquiry."
March 1, 2025 at 4:34 PM
faculty.bsky.social
The ARC Network’s the 2025 ADVANCE Equity in STEM Community Convening has been canceled.

www.equityinstem.org
It is with heavy hearts that we announce that we have decided to cancel the 2025 ADVANCE Equity in STEM Community Convening. This decision was made in consideration of a wealth of factors including communications received from community members, and we assure you that it was not easy.
February 6, 2025 at 1:32 PM
faculty.bsky.social
I think we know the headline, if not the details. Higher Ed Insights has related data on this “Matthew Effect” from a landscape scan for Sloan in 2021: across philanthropies, 10 universities accounted for 44.2% of total philanthropic investments in STEM higher education.

sloan.org/programs/hig...
At the time of reporting, this search yielded 2,330 grantmakers, 10,565 grants, and 326 recipients, with the total value of grants amounting to $2,146,060,802. The total amount awarded by an individual grantmaker within this time period ranged from a few hundred dollars via a single award to $333,792,993 across 2,506 grants. Top Awarded Institutions for STEM Philanthropic Funding To gain a sense of where philanthropic funds were being most directed, researchers identified the institutions receiving the highest awards as well as the number of grants included within those allocations. The top 10 highest awarded institutions included the following: INSTITUTION GRANT AMOUNT # OF GRANTS Massachusetts Institute of Technology $ 174,413,416 862 Stanford University $134,310,533 516 President and Fellows of Harvard College $ 116, 621,132 241 University of California at Berkeley $ 89,900,007 217 University of California, Irvine $ 84,842,173 66 California Institute of Technology $ 73,944,567 379 University of California, San Diego $ 56,684,963 131 University of Texas at Austin $ 56,684,963 378 Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University $ 56,667,480 84 Columbia University $ 53,452,343 297 The combined funding awarded to these 10 institutions amounted to $906,657,81, or 44.2% of total philanthropic investments in STEM higher education. Whereas there is an equal split of public and private four-year institutions, all are designated as being Doctoral Universities with Very High Research Activity (i.e., R1 Status). Two trends in philanthropy giving, and the investment landscape more broadly, is that (a) elite, highly resourced institutions continue to benefit most from investments, and (b) funding is concentrated among a small few. This distribution of grant funding illustrates how educational disparities are upheld by systemic inequities related to funding distribution.
January 18, 2025 at 8:39 PM
faculty.bsky.social
Google Trends graph of searches for “administrative bloat” since 2004 showing an up-and-down zig-zag pattern from 2009 to present day.
January 11, 2025 at 8:00 PM
faculty.bsky.social
www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWPZ...
Excerpt from Billy Bragg’s song, “King Tide & the Sunny Day Flood”: Now you may live on higher ground Feeling like you're safe and sound Thinking as you look around This is your lucky day But everyone beneath the sky Soon be looking for somewhere high and dry And nothing you can ever do Will keep them all at bay because The king tide is a-coming The king tide is a-coming The king tide is a-coming Bringing flooding on a sunny day
January 9, 2025 at 4:30 AM
faculty.bsky.social
Even after 2 powder days, only 17% of the mountain is open—but last I checked, my @vailresorts.bsky.social Epic Pass isn’t getting an 83% refund! Check out these hourlong lines at Silverlode—advertised as 16 minutes. 6 hours on the mountain = 6 runs, that’s it.
December 31, 2024 at 5:08 AM
faculty.bsky.social
December 31, 2024 at 4:52 AM
faculty.bsky.social
View from today’s #VailFail at #ParkCity. The Canyons closed all morning. 17% of trails open. Advertised 16 minute waits were actually 50 minutes. Whether you blame the strike or the “conditions”, @vailresorts.bsky.social is failing its clients.
Long lines at Silverlode Lift at Park City Mountain left skiers waiting 50 minutes and longer. Quicksilver Gondola closed til 11am. Canyons closed all morning. It was an epic mess. Worst preventable experience ever at a mountain? Email Bill Rock at wrock@vailresorts.com. Epic long lines (50 minutes!!!) at Park City, Utah, where a burger costs $25 but patrollers (EMT and explosives certified) get paid only $21 an hour.
December 31, 2024 at 4:49 AM
faculty.bsky.social
A black and white New Yorker cartoon in one panel titled, “A Visit from the Procrastination Muse”. A woman is seated at her laptop while a be-toga’d woman standing behind her whispers: “You look tired, why don’t you take a nap?” “You’ll think SO much clearer after a run.” “Don’t forget to call your mother.” “You need to do the dishes RIGHT NOW.” The panel is signed by an artist named WARP; the date is December 22, 2014.
December 18, 2024 at 8:39 PM
faculty.bsky.social
…and the academic lecture of tomorrow (actually 1985).
A still from the movie, REAL GENIUS (1985), in which, by the end of a short classroom montage, all students have been replaced by tape recorders, and even the professor is now a reel to real machine. On the chalkboard, the professor has written: “Math is hard on tape, so please listen carefully.”
December 15, 2024 at 12:49 PM
faculty.bsky.social
Still from the movie REAL GENIUS in which, by the end of a brief montage, students in a classroom are replaced by tape recorders and even the professor himself has been replaced by a large reel-to-reel tape player. The chalkboard reads, “Math on tape is hard to follow so: please listen carefully.”
December 10, 2024 at 12:20 PM
faculty.bsky.social
Though cited as “fundamental + indispensable,” there’s no strategy presented for the #humanities: just 8 mentions in ~150pp, most on p44-45. It’s another “STEM will save us” blueprint… but left to act in their own parochial interests, unis will cut humanities, undermining the nation’s interests.
Excerpt from the UK report. It reads “…financial stability for universities has potentially harmful repercussions for students, staff and the economy. For example, in the last year we have seen several universities make decisions to close degree courses that have low student demand but are of national strategic importance, such as courses in modern foreign languages and arts and humanities. There is a real risk that certain courses will only be available in a limited number of institutions and so become out of reach to students who cannot travel to study or who cannot meet highly competitive entry requirements. [highlighted] The OfS has identified that the steps universities are taking to respond to individual financial pressures pose an aggregate risk to the size, shape and reputation of the higher education sector. [end highlighted] Universities and government both have a role in the change needed to create a more secure, sustainable higher education sector that serves national as well as individual interests.”
November 20, 2024 at 9:47 PM
faculty.bsky.social
I recommend reading Casey here who takes a risk in offering a critique and a way forward for “DEI”. I especially liked this suggestion of an inquiry-based approach.
www.insidehighered.com/opinion/view...
DEI offices and committees should refocus on our task as educators. And we should be careful to do so not through training—that is, by attempting to lead members of our campuses to particular conclusions—but rather through a thorough exploration of the issues. We should be saying things like, “Here’s what the issues are, here’s the background, here’s what thoughtful and intelligent people are saying, here are a variety of positions that reasonable people take,” and so on. By contrast, when we tell members of our campus communities—even implicitly—“Here are the views that you need to espouse,” we are very likely to alienate the very people that we’re trying to reach.
November 14, 2024 at 12:31 PM
faculty.bsky.social
He also wrote TRUMP MADE A TRAMP OUT OF ME, ca 1950:

(c/o @woodyguthriecenter.bsky.social)
TRUMP MADE A TRAMP OUT OF ME Mister Trump made a tramp out of me; Mister Trump has made a tramp out of me; Pald him alla my bonds and saving To move into his Beach Haven; Ios, Trump has made a tramp out of me. Mister Trump has made a tramp out of me; Mister Trump has made a tramp out of me; Took my lifetime savings away To move into old One Jay, I sald, Trump did make a tramp out of me; Old man Trump made a right nice tramp out of me; I cain't warch nor dry my clothes, Cain't hang ‘em out in his old sunshine; Cause Trump has made a tramp out of me. Yessir, Trump you made a tramp out of me Yepsir Trump you made a tramp out of me. I know it does sound funny; But, you took my friends and money; Mister Trump you made a tramp out of me. Hey, hey, Trump, you made a tramp out of me; Ha, ha, Trump, you made a tramp out of me; Your ten yard contract that I signed That caused me to lose my mind; Ho ho, Trump, you made a tramp out of me. Well, well, Trump, you made a tramp out of me; Well, well, Trump, you made a tramp out of me; You charge me so much it just ain’t human, I've got to try to live with president Truman; Yess, Trump, you made a tramp out of me. Humm hum, Trump, you made a tramp out of me; Hummm, humm, Trump, you made a tramp out of me; You robbed my wife and robbed my kids, Made me stay drunk and to hit the skids; Yepsir, Trump, you made a tramp out of me.
October 31, 2024 at 11:33 AM
faculty.bsky.social
Fred Trump was Woody Guthrie’s landlord in Beach Haven, Brooklyn, ca. 1950.

Woody wrote lyrics and journal entries about “Old Man Trump,” the “race-hater”.

TRUMP MADE A TRAMP OUT OF ME
Words & Music both by
Woody Guthrie
Ca. 1950

Courtesy of @woodyguthriecenter.bsky.social in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
TRUMP MADE A TRAMP OUT OF ME Words & Music by Woddy Guthrie Ca. 1950 Mister Trump made a tramp out of me; Mister Trump has made a tramp out of me; Pald him alla my bonds and saving To move into his Beach Haven; Ios, Trump has made a tramp out of me. Mister Trump has made a tramp out of me; Mister Trump has made a tramp out of me; Took my lifetime savings away To move into old One Jay, I sald, Trump did make a tramp out of me; Old man Trump made a right nice tramp out of me; I cain't warch nor dry my clothes, Cain't hang ‘em out in his old sunshine; Cause Trump has made a tramp out of me. Yessir, Trump you made a tramp out of me Yepsir Trump you made a tramp out of me. I know it does sound funny; But, you took my friends and money; Mister Trump you made a tramp out of me. Hey, hey, Trump, you made a tramp out of me; Ha, ha, Trump, you made a tramp out of me; Your ten yard contract that I signed That caused me to lose my mind; Ho ho, Trump, you made a tramp out of me. Well, well, Trump, you made a tramp out of me; Well, well, Trump, you made a tramp out of me; You charge me so much it just ain’t human, I've got to try to live with president Truman; Yess, Trump, you made a tramp out of me. Humm hum, Trump, you made a tramp out of me; Hummm, humm, Trump, you made a tramp out of me; You robbed ny wife and robbed my kids, Made me stay drunk and to hit the skids; Yepsir, Trump, you made a tramp out of me. Diary entry by Woody Guthrie describing his remorse at living in “race-hater” Fred Trump’s Beach Haven community.
October 26, 2024 at 12:12 PM
faculty.bsky.social
post a non religious picture u think of as holy
Classic and iconic “Lord of the Rings” red leather-bound edition just oozing Book of Kells energy.
August 16, 2024 at 2:04 AM
faculty.bsky.social
#1: The Importance of Inclusive Climate within the Research Group, Department & Profession for Marginalized Science Scholars’ Career Outcomes:
psycnet.apa.org/fulltext/202...
#2: Epistemic Exclusion: A Theory for Understanding Racism in Faculty Research Evaluations:
psycnet.apa.org/fulltext/202...
"Compared to what is known from research on experiences of climate within research groups and departments, less scholarly attention has been paid to understanding marginalized science scholars’ perceptions of climate at the level of the profession (i.e., climate of scholarly inclusion). Our results suggest that scholars with multiple marginalized identities experience climate at the level of their profession as being less open to diversity and as devaluing scholarship by people from marginalized groups. [HIGHLIGHTED BY POSTER] In fact, across the three academic levels studied, climate at the level of the profession was the strongest mediator of the relationship between marginalized identities and all three career outcomes." [END HIGHLIGHT] Our suggestions for higher education are much broader and focus on actions disciplinary leaders can take to enhance the inclusion of marginalized scholars, which is directly aligned with the broader mission of higher education. First, we propose that disciplinary leaders (e.g., leaders in professional societies, journal editors) facilitate explicit discussions about the characteristics of good scholarship (Gonzales, 2018). Discussions of this type, which may emerge in professional societies (e.g., American Psychological Association), can bring awareness to disciplinary assumptions and norms that undergird epistemic exclusion, as well as illuminate the biases inherent in seemingly neutral evaluation processes, like journal reviewing or even the selection of disciplinary leaders. Within these discussions, we encourage leaders to reflect on existing evaluation systems and imagine how they might become more equitable... (the article continues)
July 28, 2024 at 2:01 AM
faculty.bsky.social
post a *perfect* album from the 90s that isn't nirvana, pearl jam, soundgarden, or alice in chains.
Album Cover: The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
May 21, 2024 at 10:09 PM
faculty.bsky.social
Aurora Borealis, Boston Metro (42.41398, -71.17661), 5/10/24
Aurora Borealis, Boston Metro (42.41398, -71.17661), 5/10/24
May 12, 2024 at 12:40 PM
faculty.bsky.social
All due respect, the coolest kids are doing a little better.
AP Top 25 poll showing the University of Houston, with 53 votes (compared to the #2 with 4 votes) as the hands-down #1 best men's college basketball team in the U.S.
February 28, 2024 at 3:03 PM