Frances Bell
@franrbell.bsky.social
VAP in History at Bates College; W&M and Woodson Institute alum. Researching mobility, the Haitian revolutionary diaspora, and freedom-seeking in the early United States. Handy with a knitting needle, happy on a bicycle. She/her.
Pinned
Frances Bell
@franrbell.bsky.social
· Nov 5
Bowie says, do you need to be checking social media? Or could you be doing whatever this is?
Reposted by Frances Bell
Hey historians 🗃️: Do you know of presses that publish short books (around 30K words / 90 pages plus notes)? I have been working on an article project that could easily turn into an great micro-history of that length, but I'm not sure it would make it to the usual full 60-90K words...
November 19, 2025 at 3:39 AM
Hey historians 🗃️: Do you know of presses that publish short books (around 30K words / 90 pages plus notes)? I have been working on an article project that could easily turn into an great micro-history of that length, but I'm not sure it would make it to the usual full 60-90K words...
Reposted by Frances Bell
The value of reading history is you know that in 1860 there were abolitionists who were so demoralized that they thought chattel slavery would be permanent. 5 years later those still alive had lived to see its end.
November 12, 2025 at 8:05 PM
The value of reading history is you know that in 1860 there were abolitionists who were so demoralized that they thought chattel slavery would be permanent. 5 years later those still alive had lived to see its end.
Just did this, and can confirm it is 1. Very easy and 2. Very cathartic to use the word "unhinged" in a voicemail for your senator.
Okay, Ezra is confirming that he's hearing D senators are actually plotting to cave to Trump and end the shutdown WITHOUT any extension of the ACA, just a promise of a vote later down the line.
Call your senators, friends, NOW, and tell them NO DEAL without ACA funding!
Find them here: reps.fyi
Call your senators, friends, NOW, and tell them NO DEAL without ACA funding!
Find them here: reps.fyi
yep
November 9, 2025 at 11:42 PM
Just did this, and can confirm it is 1. Very easy and 2. Very cathartic to use the word "unhinged" in a voicemail for your senator.
Reposted by Frances Bell
CFP for Slavery North conference on "Rebellion, Resistance, and Refuge: Slavery and Border-Crossing during the American Revolution" @umassamherst.bsky.social 7/9-7/12/2026, abstracts due 12/19/2025 #vastearlyamerica slaverynorth.com/event/call-f... 🗃️
Call for Abstracts: Academic Conference - Slavery North
Rebellion, Resistance, and Refuge: Slavery and Border-Crossing during the American Revolution Call for Abstracts: Academic Conference Dates: Thursday, July 9 to Sunday, July 12, 2026 Location: Univers...
slaverynorth.com
November 5, 2025 at 4:27 PM
CFP for Slavery North conference on "Rebellion, Resistance, and Refuge: Slavery and Border-Crossing during the American Revolution" @umassamherst.bsky.social 7/9-7/12/2026, abstracts due 12/19/2025 #vastearlyamerica slaverynorth.com/event/call-f... 🗃️
As @prisonculture.bsky.social has said, hope is a discipline!
HOPE IS A DECISION
November 5, 2025 at 4:30 AM
As @prisonculture.bsky.social has said, hope is a discipline!
Reposted by Frances Bell
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!
Please share!
Humanities Librarian - (African American Studies and English Literature)
Duties & Responsibilities
illinois.csod.com
November 3, 2025 at 11:01 PM
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!
Please share!
Bought - so excited to read this!
I am beyond excited (and nervous!) to announce that my first book, "The House Archives Built and Other Thoughts on Black Archival Possibilities" is available for sale!
This series of essay includes reworked talks, new reflections, and a lot of my heart
weherespace.myshopify.com/products/the...
This series of essay includes reworked talks, new reflections, and a lot of my heart
weherespace.myshopify.com/products/the...
October 17, 2025 at 3:08 AM
Bought - so excited to read this!
Reposted by Frances Bell
PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD!!
The University of Texas-Austin is beginning a process to eliminate the Black Studies, Latino Studies, and Gender Studies departments in the College of Liberal Arts. This is a grave threat to the educational liberty of students, faculty, staff, and the people of Texas. 1/
The University of Texas-Austin is beginning a process to eliminate the Black Studies, Latino Studies, and Gender Studies departments in the College of Liberal Arts. This is a grave threat to the educational liberty of students, faculty, staff, and the people of Texas. 1/
October 13, 2025 at 4:37 PM
PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD!!
The University of Texas-Austin is beginning a process to eliminate the Black Studies, Latino Studies, and Gender Studies departments in the College of Liberal Arts. This is a grave threat to the educational liberty of students, faculty, staff, and the people of Texas. 1/
The University of Texas-Austin is beginning a process to eliminate the Black Studies, Latino Studies, and Gender Studies departments in the College of Liberal Arts. This is a grave threat to the educational liberty of students, faculty, staff, and the people of Texas. 1/
Reposted by Frances Bell
As an instructor, I'd rather see your fever dream, No Doze-fueled 4AM essays written at an IHOP rather than anything generated by an LLM.
Hope this helps
Hope this helps
I wrote a 15 page report on heraldic symbolism in medieval armor and weapon design for my art history class the night before it was due (8am class). Made up 90% of it (only found one book for reference) and got an A. GenAI could fucking never.
October 9, 2025 at 4:25 AM
As an instructor, I'd rather see your fever dream, No Doze-fueled 4AM essays written at an IHOP rather than anything generated by an LLM.
Hope this helps
Hope this helps
Reposted by Frances Bell
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.
Mind, when I was at W&M a few years ago, most grad students were still not being paid a living wage.
“The pilot will explore how AI can enhance teaching, research and university operations, while also gathering feedback to guide the responsible and effective use of AI across campus.”
William & Mary launches ChatGPT Edu pilot
By integrating artificial intelligence tools, the university is positioning itself at the forefront of higher education innovation.
news.wm.edu
October 2, 2025 at 2:24 PM
Mind, when I was at W&M a few years ago, most grad students were still not being paid a living wage.
Controversial opinion from the writing desk: Coconut LaCroix is good, actually.
September 27, 2025 at 9:27 PM
Controversial opinion from the writing desk: Coconut LaCroix is good, actually.
👇👇
i don’t think people on bluesky understand the severity of this situation.
i woke up to literally hundreds of texts from friends and family thinking about either moving back home to india or applying to other countries for jobs. this includes me.
i woke up to literally hundreds of texts from friends and family thinking about either moving back home to india or applying to other countries for jobs. this includes me.
Those on an H1B cannot return to the US from tomorrow (Sunday) unless paying $100K. This is an out-of-the blue presidential action. We’ll see software engineers stranded abroad.
One easy to predict outcome: those on US visas will travel less… for work, for conferences etc.
One easy to predict outcome: those on US visas will travel less… for work, for conferences etc.
September 20, 2025 at 3:41 PM
👇👇
Hey, at least I opened the laptop. That counts for something, right?
September 13, 2025 at 6:40 PM
Hey, at least I opened the laptop. That counts for something, right?
Reposted by Frances Bell
As we begin the 1st few weeks of classes, a reminder that FSSP hosts a large collection of classroom-ready documents related to slavery & its destruction. These first-hand testimonies of enslaved people, Black soldiers, & officials give life to lessons on slavery & the contested arc of emancipation.
Freedmen and Southern Society Project: Selected Documents
A selection of documents from Freedom: A Documentary History of Emancipation, 1861-1867
www.freedmen.umd.edu
September 2, 2025 at 2:47 PM
As we begin the 1st few weeks of classes, a reminder that FSSP hosts a large collection of classroom-ready documents related to slavery & its destruction. These first-hand testimonies of enslaved people, Black soldiers, & officials give life to lessons on slavery & the contested arc of emancipation.
Reposted by Frances Bell
I know there's a lot happening today, but this is sneaking in under the radar. This proposed new rule would absolutely crush foreign PhD students, potentially making it impossible for them to enroll with any certainty of their ability to finish www.politico.com/news/2025/08...
August 28, 2025 at 3:29 AM
I know there's a lot happening today, but this is sneaking in under the radar. This proposed new rule would absolutely crush foreign PhD students, potentially making it impossible for them to enroll with any certainty of their ability to finish www.politico.com/news/2025/08...
Reposted by Frances Bell
ATTN: Robert Wood Johnson has money to support “canceled” research on racial-indigenous health equity
www.rwjf.org/en/grants/ac...
www.rwjf.org/en/grants/ac...
Rapid Response: Reinvesting in Racial and Indigenous Health Equity Research
The purpose of this call for proposals is to meet the current moment by supporting timely, actionable health equity research that has been interrupted by shifts in federal funding.
www.rwjf.org
August 20, 2025 at 2:43 PM
ATTN: Robert Wood Johnson has money to support “canceled” research on racial-indigenous health equity
www.rwjf.org/en/grants/ac...
www.rwjf.org/en/grants/ac...
Reposted by Frances Bell
“The idea that the Smithsonian should reflect any administration’s vision of history is more than problematic.”
~ @agordonreed.bsky.social
~ @agordonreed.bsky.social
Watch OAH President Annette Gordon-Reed on Democracy Now talking about Trump’s Targeting of School Curricula, Smithsonian
👉 ow.ly/8HjP50WHIUI
👉 ow.ly/8HjP50WHIUI
Harvard Historian Slams Trump’s “Whitewashing of History” at Smithsonian & Beyond
The White House has called for a far-reaching review of Smithsonian museum exhibitions in order to ensure they align with President Trump’s interpretation of U.S. history. “The idea that the Smithsoni...
ow.ly
August 19, 2025 at 11:42 PM
“The idea that the Smithsonian should reflect any administration’s vision of history is more than problematic.”
~ @agordonreed.bsky.social
~ @agordonreed.bsky.social
A short break in your regular programming: we got married! 🎊🎊
August 20, 2025 at 1:45 AM
A short break in your regular programming: we got married! 🎊🎊
A question, as I polish up my syllabi for th coming semester: do you have a favorite reading on policing/carcerality (broadly conceived) during the American Revolution? I have a few options lined up - but nothing that clicks as well as I'd like so far.
August 6, 2025 at 5:09 PM
A question, as I polish up my syllabi for th coming semester: do you have a favorite reading on policing/carcerality (broadly conceived) during the American Revolution? I have a few options lined up - but nothing that clicks as well as I'd like so far.
Just took a couple of exciting book proposal steps(!), so we're in the garden to decompress. The bee balm living up to its name!
July 29, 2025 at 8:11 PM
Just took a couple of exciting book proposal steps(!), so we're in the garden to decompress. The bee balm living up to its name!
Reposted by Frances Bell
Ticket booking is live for the new "Baltimore's Confederate Shadows: Wyman Park & Charles Village" tour!! Come join us starting in mid-August (after the weather cools down a little bit): fullstorybaltimore.tours/our-tours/#c...
Our Tours
Current tours: Regularly scheduled: Revolution in Baltimore Town: The Tour Premiered April 19, 2025 Baltimore says NO KINGS! Get ready for an imaginative tour of downtown & the inner harbor, fu…
fullstorybaltimore.tours
July 9, 2025 at 3:58 PM
Ticket booking is live for the new "Baltimore's Confederate Shadows: Wyman Park & Charles Village" tour!! Come join us starting in mid-August (after the weather cools down a little bit): fullstorybaltimore.tours/our-tours/#c...