Greg Given
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greggiven.bsky.social
Greg Given
@greggiven.bsky.social
1.1K followers 470 following 400 posts
"A happy, footnote-drugged maniac who disturbs the book mites in a dull volume, a foot thick, to find in it a reference to an even duller one."
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greggiven.bsky.social
Sean Penn as Lockjaw, kitted out in fatigues, from "One Battle After Another"
October 28, 2025 at 4:09 PM
greggiven.bsky.social
Out now: New issue of MTSR featuring a symposium on @feelingtheory.bsky.social's WILD EXPERIMENT, in which @maiakotro.bsky.social and I take the opportunity to fire off some long-simmering hot takes on how J. Z. Smith is used in discussions about comparison as a method.
brill.com/view/journal...
Screenshot of a part of the table of contents for the issue of Method and Theory in the Study of Religion referenced in the post. The excerpt starts "Special Section: Symposium on Donovan Schaefer, Wild Experiment." The first articles that follow are, in order: "Queer(y)ing How We See" by Ellen T. Armour; "Ars Botanica: Art, Science, and Comparison in Religious Studies" by Maia Kotrosits and J. Gregory Given; "The Wildness of (Racialized) Experimentation" by Joseph Winters; and "Religious Studies in the Garden of Academic Delights" by Donovan O. Schaefer.
September 22, 2025 at 6:26 PM
greggiven.bsky.social
Might as well just share in case it’s useful for comrades elsewhere: This is the contract framework that we’ve proposed to avoid precisely the kinds of cuts being contemplated at U Chicago. Admin has intimated that they find this is borderline offensive.

harvardacademicworkers.org/wp-content/u...
Screenshot of proposed contract article “Protecting Disciplinary Vitality.” A link to a screen-readable PDF is in the post. Screenshot of proposed contract article “Protecting Disciplinary Vitality.” A link to a screen-readable PDF is in the post.
August 14, 2025 at 2:05 AM
greggiven.bsky.social
Leave it to @simchagross.bsky.social to break new ground in the typography of academic journals. Now that we can evidently us emojis, I’m going to save thousands of words with 😒
Screen shot of title of article by Simcha Gross: “Beyond Coexistence: Social Boundaries and Violence Between Jews and Christians in Late Antiquity.” Three purple emojis representing religious traditions are incorporated into the word “Coexistence” as it is spelled in the title, in evident mimicry of the popular “Coexist” bumper sticker: A crescent moon and star stands in for the C, a Star of David for the X, and a cross for the T
August 8, 2025 at 6:00 PM
greggiven.bsky.social
Immortal title, I'm so jealous
Screenshot of an article title: "On a Possible Half-Ass Aristotle Fragment in Orion's Etymologicum" by Robert Mayhew
July 8, 2025 at 2:13 AM
greggiven.bsky.social
The Critical Edition of Q is a work of art
Screen shot of a page from the critical edition of Q. Heading reads “Q 3: [[0]].” The four columns are labeled Markan Parallel, Matthean Doublet, Matt 3:0, Q 3:[[0]]. The first three columns are blank. The Q column bears a cluster of different brackets and footnotes and around the sole word: Ιησου. Footnote 1 reads “Is τα λόγια in the incipit?” Footnote 2 reads “Is οι λόγοι in the incipit?” Screen shot of a page from the critical edition of Q. Heading reads “Q 3: [[0]].” The four columns are labeled Luke 3:0, Lukan Doublet, Markan Parallel, and Gospel of Thomas. All four columns are blank. A footnote reads, “Can syntax, speaker(s) and context be determined?”
July 1, 2025 at 2:03 PM
greggiven.bsky.social
Looking at the membership instructions for a small professional society that I'd like to join, and I'm getting the sense that these payment instructions are a bit out of date?
Screenshot of a webpage reading: "If possible, members should make the transfer to DM (German marks, converted from US dollars at the current rate); otherwise the transfer should be made in USD. Payments by eurocheque should be made in DM. Eurocheques or personal checks should be made payable to the...
May 6, 2025 at 1:14 PM
greggiven.bsky.social
But the catalog listing of the books for everything in the IK series, which is where you can see what's on-site and what's off-site, lists volumes 11 to 17, but volume 17 is in four parts:
A catalog entry for a book "Bd. 11: pt. 1" A catalog entry for a series of books, at the top it's clear that Bd. 17 is listed with separate parts 1, 2, 3, and 4.
April 29, 2025 at 7:43 PM
greggiven.bsky.social
The catalog listing makes clear that volumes 7 and 8 are both two parts, hence how you get to 8 volumes in 10.
A list of ISBN numbers for an 8 volume book, with volumes 7 and 8 both being two separate parts with two separate ISBN numbers.
April 29, 2025 at 7:41 PM
greggiven.bsky.social
BPS can adapt, no need to bulldoze anything
An icy blue pyramid before a stormy sunset sky, with neon green "bass pro shops" and "ducks unlimited" signs centered on the face of the pyramid. A car drop-off loop, parking lot, and entrance to "Outdoor world" are dwarfed in the foreground.
April 25, 2025 at 2:43 AM
greggiven.bsky.social
Always fun to see what those Bush-era moderate Dems are up to now
Cover of Newsweek magazine with generic looking guy in a dark suit with red tie, attempting to look tough. Alongside is the headline: "Not Your Daddy's Democrats - Campaign 2006 - Hungry to take back congress moderates like Harold Ford Jr. have the GOP running scared. Would a Democratic majority go wild, or govern from the middle? By Jonathan Darman."
April 8, 2025 at 12:02 AM
greggiven.bsky.social
Screenshot of a Truth Social post from @realDonaldTrump, reading in all capital letters: "In order for the tethering to the source to occur, what must be retained is the absolute singularity of a signature-event and a signature-form: The pure reproducibility of a pure event."
March 17, 2025 at 12:56 PM
greggiven.bsky.social
The now classic meme image of Norman Rockwell's "Freedom of Speech, 1943"—a man standing amidst crowed pews in a checkered blue shirt and brown leather jacked, rolled papers stuffed in his jacket pocket, about to speak his mind.
December 16, 2024 at 2:31 AM
greggiven.bsky.social
Text messages I sent a group chat yesterday evening
Screen shot of an iMessage window. Three successive messages read: "Ok obviously so much shit will get real bad but / For now / One simply must lol at Secretary of State Marco Rubio." The recipient of the messages has hit a "Ha Ha" tapback to the final message.
November 12, 2024 at 2:49 PM
greggiven.bsky.social
scribe of Codex Alexandrinus be like
Image of a blurry hand writing "THECLA LIVES" in sharpie on a brick wall
May 9, 2024 at 8:45 PM
greggiven.bsky.social
I've been tracking this story for awhile (largely thx to @cejacobson.bsky.social) but this is the first time I've seen images of the facsimiles that thieves have been leaving behind as they steal rare editions of Pushkin and other Russian writers. Completely bananas.
www.nytimes.com/2024/05/01/b...
Close shot of a shelf of a dozen and a half books that appear very old, many with severely deteriorating spines. According to the caption on the photo in the linked New York Times stories, these are all high-quality facsimiles of the old books, which were left by thieves who stole the originals.
May 1, 2024 at 3:44 PM
greggiven.bsky.social
We call that “service to the profession”
Excerpt from a tally sheet: 3. Number of Votes cast for HARVARD ACADEMIC WORKERS - UAW 1094 … 6. Number votes cast against participating labor organization(s) 81 … 11. A majority of the valid votes counted plus challenged ballots has been cast for Harvard Academic Workers - UAW (HAW-UAW)
April 5, 2024 at 4:55 PM
greggiven.bsky.social
Because it comes up in the story, I can't help but share the fuller excerpt from the faculty report that explains why a faculty committee considering the whole NTT teaching system here recommended *against* creating a NTT career ladder.
"On the one hand, such a non-ladder career track would allow the FAS to retain its truly superlative teachers and to staff highly specialized areas in which finding a qualified replacement is very difficult. On the other hand, many of the teaching functions held by non-ladder faculty are highly demanding and require regeneration that brings in fresh ideas, new talent, and the most recent pedagogical techniques. If the promotion rate is high, the ranks of non-ladder instructors would become top heavy and the flow of new talent would become a trickle, but if the promotion rate is low the promotion decisions could become divisive and ultimately harm the system. Teaching is is a core part of the job of ladder faculty, and having a robust shadow system of senior non-ladder instructors raises the specter of ladder faculty inappropriately delegating their undergraduate teaching duties."
March 22, 2024 at 8:33 PM
greggiven.bsky.social
a SHOCKING new codex uncovered in Cambridge, MA last night that changes EVERYTHING we know about Christian origins
A hardcover edition of Andrew S. Jacobs’ book Gospel Thrillers: Conspiracy, Fiction, and the Vulnerable Bible, laying in a recently-opened cardboard package
January 24, 2024 at 4:56 PM
greggiven.bsky.social
Honored to be included among esteemed colleagues in @kelsbot.bsky.social's special issue of Early Christianity, "Perceptions of Pseudepigraphy across the Ancient Mediterranean." Let me know if you need a PDF and I'll be happy to send one your way—whenever I myself manage to download it 🙃
First page of a journal article by J. Gregory Given titled "Discerning Fiction in the Letters of Ignatius of Antioch." Abstract: Interpretive difficulties in the letters attributed to Ignatius of Antioch have long suggested to some readers that these letters are pseudepigrapic. This article builds upon recent work on ancient letter collections to consider whether some versions of Ignatius's letters might be read as works of fiction. Acknowledging the epistemological difficulty of recognizing ancient epistolary fiction, I present an initial reading of the Greek Long Recension that highlights the narrative arc and some literary tropes evident in the collection. In particular, I compare the correspondence between Ignatius and Mary of Cassabola with features of the imperial romances, especially a notable letter exchange in Leucippe and Clitophon.
January 9, 2024 at 5:04 PM
greggiven.bsky.social
oh no I made the mistake of actually looking into some of the research
The beginning of a journal article called "A global history of happiness" The Abstract begins, "Happiness is an increasingly prominent topic of interest across numerous academic fields..." The key sentence describing the argument: "However, taking an expansive view of happiness - defining it broadly as a desirable mental experience - one can appreciate that versions of this phenomenon have been of interest to humans across cultures and throughout history."
January 7, 2024 at 3:25 AM
greggiven.bsky.social
Somewhat beside the main point of this excellent essay, but this anecdote about Harvey Mansfield’s famous “two grades” policy indicates that there was more to it than just, uh, an eccentric Straussian flourish.
Screenshot from essay reading: “…like Dr. Gary and me by how the university ignored the blatantly racist behavior of some of the professors in the Government Department in the 1990s. For an entire year, I sat in Harvard [sic - he means Harvey] Mansfield’s core course on political theory and listened to him tell Levite halls filled with undergraduates that ‘the university’s decision to admit Black students under affirmative action policies had made grade inflation a problem.’ Professor Mansfield would then say that to correct this problem, he would present everyone in class with two grades: an inflated one to protect the affirmative action system and a ‘real grade based on merit.’ This same professor has a genuinely bizarre penchant for patting or rubbing his face and telling us that we should be sure to protect ‘our beautiful Black skins’ that would help us ‘get jobs in the absence of virtue.’”
January 6, 2024 at 8:55 PM
greggiven.bsky.social
Our long national nightmare is over
A six-shelf high grocery store rack completely filled with large bottles of Huy Fong sriracha hot sauce
December 9, 2023 at 6:35 PM
greggiven.bsky.social
There is a large graveyard filled with my enemies. i do not wish to add to it, but will given no choice. Those who pick fights with me do so at their own peril, but maybe this is their lucky day.
Icon of St. Shenoute the Archimandrite
November 22, 2023 at 1:28 PM
greggiven.bsky.social
2003 was a real banner year for field-shifting books in the study of Ancient Judaism, huh
Screenshot of my own earlier post about an SBL panel on Hindy Najman's book Seconding Sinai @ 20 years
November 14, 2023 at 9:00 PM