Gus McFadzean
@gusmcfadzean.bsky.social
Author of Suburban Fantastic Cinema: Growing Up in the Late Twentieth Century (2019); Collected Epiphanies of James Joyce: A Critical Edition, eds. (2024). Tutor at Oxford University Department for Continuing Education. https://www.conted.ox.ac.uk/tutors/5
Pinned
Gus McFadzean
@gusmcfadzean.bsky.social
· Nov 16
Hello Bluesky,
I teach British and American literature and film, mainly 20th and 21st century. My writing focuses on James Joyce’s modernist aesthetics, petrofiction/petrocultures of the mid-century, and American suburban science fiction and horror of the late twentieth century.
I teach British and American literature and film, mainly 20th and 21st century. My writing focuses on James Joyce’s modernist aesthetics, petrofiction/petrocultures of the mid-century, and American suburban science fiction and horror of the late twentieth century.
Reposted by Gus McFadzean
We cannot consider Texas A&M a university in the sense we’ve used the word in the past. open.substack.com/pub/academic...
December 26, 2025 at 5:50 PM
We cannot consider Texas A&M a university in the sense we’ve used the word in the past. open.substack.com/pub/academic...
Reposted by Gus McFadzean
The lecturer in question is our colleague in children’s literature studies. She is a brilliant scholar and from all accounts a gifted teacher.
This ruling is infuriating… at the end of the day, it is our students’ education that will suffer.
This ruling is infuriating… at the end of the day, it is our students’ education that will suffer.
Texas A&M University will not reinstate a lecturer who was fired after a video of her teaching about gender identity in a children’s literature class went viral, despite a faculty appeals panel unanimously concluding that her dismissal was not justified.
Texas A&M won’t reinstate fired lecturer despite findings
A vice chancellor upheld the firing of Melissa McCoul, seen in a viral video being confronted by a student on her gender identity teachings, saying the termination was done with “good cause.”
www.texastribune.org
December 26, 2025 at 4:19 PM
The lecturer in question is our colleague in children’s literature studies. She is a brilliant scholar and from all accounts a gifted teacher.
This ruling is infuriating… at the end of the day, it is our students’ education that will suffer.
This ruling is infuriating… at the end of the day, it is our students’ education that will suffer.
Reposted by Gus McFadzean
campuses have learning opportunities, social space, entertainment, and universities ARE healthcare.
multigenerational access is net social good.
multigenerational access is net social good.
'Record numbers of Swedish retirees are enrolling in a university run “by pensioners for pensioners” amid increased loneliness and a growing appetite for learning and in-person interactions.' 1/2
‘Keeps your mind alert’: older Swedes reap the benefits of learning for pleasure
Retirees with ‘fantastic hunger for education’ taking part in university organised events in record numbers
www.theguardian.com
December 26, 2025 at 12:50 PM
campuses have learning opportunities, social space, entertainment, and universities ARE healthcare.
multigenerational access is net social good.
multigenerational access is net social good.
Reposted by Gus McFadzean
Un grand livre.
December 22, 2025 at 12:46 PM
Un grand livre.
Reposted by Gus McFadzean
“‘My most daring idea is to refuse,’ she said to applause.”
Professor Warns That the Wealthy Are Trying to Use AI to Seize Control of Everything
Renowned sociologist Tressie McMillan Cottom says that AI is a tool for the rich to cement control over society.
futurism.com
December 21, 2025 at 1:03 PM
“‘My most daring idea is to refuse,’ she said to applause.”
Reposted by Gus McFadzean
Checking on D. Graham Burnett
"Within five years, it will make little sense for scholars of history to keep producing monographs in the traditional mold—nobody will read them, & systems such as these will be able to generate them, endlessly, at the push of a button"
www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...
"Within five years, it will make little sense for scholars of history to keep producing monographs in the traditional mold—nobody will read them, & systems such as these will be able to generate them, endlessly, at the push of a button"
www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...
December 22, 2025 at 2:30 AM
Checking on D. Graham Burnett
"Within five years, it will make little sense for scholars of history to keep producing monographs in the traditional mold—nobody will read them, & systems such as these will be able to generate them, endlessly, at the push of a button"
www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...
"Within five years, it will make little sense for scholars of history to keep producing monographs in the traditional mold—nobody will read them, & systems such as these will be able to generate them, endlessly, at the push of a button"
www.newyorker.com/culture/the-...
Reposted by Gus McFadzean
art
December 21, 2025 at 4:24 PM
art
Reposted by Gus McFadzean
Just out from Cambridge UP, a smart new book on the question of world-literature.
December 19, 2025 at 5:24 PM
Just out from Cambridge UP, a smart new book on the question of world-literature.
Reposted by Gus McFadzean
I wrote about a conference marking the culmination of tens of millions of dollars of philanthropic spending to transcend neoliberalism. lpeproject.org/blog/post-ne...
December 19, 2025 at 11:58 AM
I wrote about a conference marking the culmination of tens of millions of dollars of philanthropic spending to transcend neoliberalism. lpeproject.org/blog/post-ne...
Reposted by Gus McFadzean
My essay “Oil Futures” is out now in @newleftreview.bsky.social's Sidecar!
Following Norway's September elections, ongoing struggles against fossil fuels in Europe’s only petrostate challenge incumbent fossil hegemony and its complicity in the Israeli occupation:
newleftreview.org/sidecar/post...
Following Norway's September elections, ongoing struggles against fossil fuels in Europe’s only petrostate challenge incumbent fossil hegemony and its complicity in the Israeli occupation:
newleftreview.org/sidecar/post...
Lukas Slothuus, Oil Futures — Sidecar
Norway’s elections.
newleftreview.org
November 27, 2025 at 1:15 PM
My essay “Oil Futures” is out now in @newleftreview.bsky.social's Sidecar!
Following Norway's September elections, ongoing struggles against fossil fuels in Europe’s only petrostate challenge incumbent fossil hegemony and its complicity in the Israeli occupation:
newleftreview.org/sidecar/post...
Following Norway's September elections, ongoing struggles against fossil fuels in Europe’s only petrostate challenge incumbent fossil hegemony and its complicity in the Israeli occupation:
newleftreview.org/sidecar/post...
Reposted by Gus McFadzean
The relative usages of "[adjective] reading" in Anglophone literary studies journals, 1920-2020. Made for my "Prac Crit" course next term, "[Adjective] Reading". Interactive version here: public.tableau.com/views/Adject...
![Line graph showing the history of different types of '[adjective] reading' in Anglophone literary studies from 1920-2020. The x-axis represents publication decades, while the y-axis shows the percent of '[adjective] reading' instances in literary studies journals as a 9-decade moving average. Multiple colored lines track various reading methodologies over time. 'Close reading' shows the most dramatic rise, peaking around 2010 at approximately 18% (33 times its 1920s usage). 'Original reading' dominated the 1920s at 7.6% but declined to 0.5% by the 2010s. Other notable methodologies include 'careful reading' (peaked 1960s), 'critical reading' (peaked 1980s), 'wide reading' (1920s), 'correct reading' (1930s), 'new reading' (1950s), 'feminist reading' (1990s), 'textual reading' (2000s), 'distant reading' (2010s), and 'nuanced reading' (2010s). Each labeled point includes the decade of peak usage, the percentage at peak, and the ratio compared to its lowest-usage decade. Data sourced from JSTOR across seven leading literary studies journals including PMLA, Critical Inquiry, New Literary History, ELH, Modern Language Review, Review of English Studies, and Modern Philology.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:llsfba2zryavs4uunglknwie/bafkreicyi6bsqxkrmjstwbyxfvis33j2wxatye2t2dh5fva5pk46xw6n7y@jpeg)
December 17, 2025 at 3:59 PM
The relative usages of "[adjective] reading" in Anglophone literary studies journals, 1920-2020. Made for my "Prac Crit" course next term, "[Adjective] Reading". Interactive version here: public.tableau.com/views/Adject...
Reposted by Gus McFadzean
Reposted by Gus McFadzean
"universities are being infiltrated by a commercial industry that exploits students+faculty as data mines
frenzy w/o consulting their faculty, collecting empirical data on whether gen AI is pedagogically useful, or pausing to inquire about the long-term impact"
www.publicbooks.org/four-frictio...
frenzy w/o consulting their faculty, collecting empirical data on whether gen AI is pedagogically useful, or pausing to inquire about the long-term impact"
www.publicbooks.org/four-frictio...
Four Frictions: or, How to Resist AI in Education - Public Books
We are calling for resistance to the AI industry’s ongoing capture of higher education.
www.publicbooks.org
December 16, 2025 at 7:05 PM
"universities are being infiltrated by a commercial industry that exploits students+faculty as data mines
frenzy w/o consulting their faculty, collecting empirical data on whether gen AI is pedagogically useful, or pausing to inquire about the long-term impact"
www.publicbooks.org/four-frictio...
frenzy w/o consulting their faculty, collecting empirical data on whether gen AI is pedagogically useful, or pausing to inquire about the long-term impact"
www.publicbooks.org/four-frictio...
Reposted by Gus McFadzean
Virginia Heffernan wrote this shortly after the 2016 election and it still holds true
December 16, 2025 at 4:21 AM
Virginia Heffernan wrote this shortly after the 2016 election and it still holds true
Reposted by Gus McFadzean
BOOK is here!
I heard about this on TikTok of all places since Simon and Schuster did an interview series with Eleanor Johnson.
I heard about this on TikTok of all places since Simon and Schuster did an interview series with Eleanor Johnson.
December 15, 2025 at 2:17 PM
BOOK is here!
I heard about this on TikTok of all places since Simon and Schuster did an interview series with Eleanor Johnson.
I heard about this on TikTok of all places since Simon and Schuster did an interview series with Eleanor Johnson.
Reposted by Gus McFadzean
"More importantly, as their bodies of work continued to grow, their aesthetic paths began to diverge," writes Zach Gibson on “late style” in the work of postmodernists like Thomas Pynchon, still publishing well into their eighties. https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/still-got-it/
December 15, 2025 at 10:04 PM
"More importantly, as their bodies of work continued to grow, their aesthetic paths began to diverge," writes Zach Gibson on “late style” in the work of postmodernists like Thomas Pynchon, still publishing well into their eighties. https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/still-got-it/
Reposted by Gus McFadzean
Rob Reiner either made your favorite movie, or made somebody you know’s favorite movie. If you’re a Californian, he’s also part of the reason you or your friends can get married. He has changed more lives for the better than this asshole commenting on him ever did.
December 15, 2025 at 7:36 PM
Rob Reiner either made your favorite movie, or made somebody you know’s favorite movie. If you’re a Californian, he’s also part of the reason you or your friends can get married. He has changed more lives for the better than this asshole commenting on him ever did.
Reposted by Gus McFadzean
NEW EPISODE ALERT! This week, @gvaughnjoy.bsky.social comes on the show to talk about Christmas on film, and how Hollywood and the Cold War reshaped our view of the holidays! Hear about holiday movies of the past, present, and future PLUS common holiday questions answered!
youtu.be/JxTBiLdeKFI?...
youtu.be/JxTBiLdeKFI?...
Season 2, Episode 13 Mini-Trailer: "The Cold War on Christmas with Vaughn Joy"
YouTube video by History on Film Podcast
youtu.be
December 15, 2025 at 3:40 PM
NEW EPISODE ALERT! This week, @gvaughnjoy.bsky.social comes on the show to talk about Christmas on film, and how Hollywood and the Cold War reshaped our view of the holidays! Hear about holiday movies of the past, present, and future PLUS common holiday questions answered!
youtu.be/JxTBiLdeKFI?...
youtu.be/JxTBiLdeKFI?...
Reposted by Gus McFadzean
Why have we seen such repression of climate activists around the world?
Because activists were so successful in changing the narrative around fossil fuels
Because activists were so successful in changing the narrative around fossil fuels
We (@crossdale.bsky.social, Christina Pantazis, @roxana-pessoa.bsky.social, Tiê Franco Brotto and I) present the first academic peer-reviewed article, studying the criminalisation and repression of climate and environmental protest as a global phenomenon. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
December 14, 2025 at 9:38 AM
Why have we seen such repression of climate activists around the world?
Because activists were so successful in changing the narrative around fossil fuels
Because activists were so successful in changing the narrative around fossil fuels
Reposted by Gus McFadzean
He's also responsible for raising all the money that paid for bringing Hollingsworth v. Perry & even more importantly Bostic v. Schaefer, which created the circuit split that forced SCOTUS to take on Obergefell v. Hodges. The role he played in American marriage equality cannot be overstated.
The cultural impact of Rob Reiner cannot be understated. Legend isn't big enough a word. It goes to 11. You can't handle the truth. As you wish. I'll have what she's having. I'm your number one fan. You guys wanna see a dead body? The very idea of a bucket list. The West Wing.
All from his movies.
All from his movies.
December 15, 2025 at 3:59 AM
He's also responsible for raising all the money that paid for bringing Hollingsworth v. Perry & even more importantly Bostic v. Schaefer, which created the circuit split that forced SCOTUS to take on Obergefell v. Hodges. The role he played in American marriage equality cannot be overstated.
Reposted by Gus McFadzean
The cultural impact of Rob Reiner cannot be understated. Legend isn't big enough a word. It goes to 11. You can't handle the truth. As you wish. I'll have what she's having. I'm your number one fan. You guys wanna see a dead body? The very idea of a bucket list. The West Wing.
All from his movies.
All from his movies.
December 15, 2025 at 3:51 AM
The cultural impact of Rob Reiner cannot be understated. Legend isn't big enough a word. It goes to 11. You can't handle the truth. As you wish. I'll have what she's having. I'm your number one fan. You guys wanna see a dead body? The very idea of a bucket list. The West Wing.
All from his movies.
All from his movies.
Reposted by Gus McFadzean
What if emotion IS knowledge?
@khadijahqueen.com’s RADICAL POETICS makes the case that “poetry exists as a valuable tool for understanding,” not despite its emotional resonance, but precisely because of it.
press.umich.edu/Books/R/Radi...
@uofmpress.bsky.social
#Poetry #Books #RadicalPoetics
@khadijahqueen.com’s RADICAL POETICS makes the case that “poetry exists as a valuable tool for understanding,” not despite its emotional resonance, but precisely because of it.
press.umich.edu/Books/R/Radi...
@uofmpress.bsky.social
#Poetry #Books #RadicalPoetics
December 13, 2025 at 1:50 PM
What if emotion IS knowledge?
@khadijahqueen.com’s RADICAL POETICS makes the case that “poetry exists as a valuable tool for understanding,” not despite its emotional resonance, but precisely because of it.
press.umich.edu/Books/R/Radi...
@uofmpress.bsky.social
#Poetry #Books #RadicalPoetics
@khadijahqueen.com’s RADICAL POETICS makes the case that “poetry exists as a valuable tool for understanding,” not despite its emotional resonance, but precisely because of it.
press.umich.edu/Books/R/Radi...
@uofmpress.bsky.social
#Poetry #Books #RadicalPoetics
Reposted by Gus McFadzean
Earlier this year, my article Indicators of Toxicity: Cattle and Petrochemical Residues in Cold War California was published by Agricultural History journal. It covers DDT, cattle bodies, and the new ecology of residues after WWII.
read.dukeupress.edu/agricultural...
read.dukeupress.edu/agricultural...
Indicators of Toxicity: Cattle and Petrochemical Residues in Cold War California
Abstract. This article explores the role of cattle in the regulation of petrochemicals in the 1950s and early 1960s in the state of California. Cattle were key to explaining why certain chemicals were...
read.dukeupress.edu
December 13, 2025 at 1:45 PM
Earlier this year, my article Indicators of Toxicity: Cattle and Petrochemical Residues in Cold War California was published by Agricultural History journal. It covers DDT, cattle bodies, and the new ecology of residues after WWII.
read.dukeupress.edu/agricultural...
read.dukeupress.edu/agricultural...
Reposted by Gus McFadzean
Carnegie Mellon’s literature PhD is being liquidated in favor of “computation,” casualized labor, and AI.
That has profound ramifications for, students, faculty, and program alums like myself.
I wrote it about it (w/ Catherine Evans, a current PhD student).
www.chronicle.com/article/a-co...
That has profound ramifications for, students, faculty, and program alums like myself.
I wrote it about it (w/ Catherine Evans, a current PhD student).
www.chronicle.com/article/a-co...
Opinion | A Coup at Carnegie Mellon?
The university is replacing the humanities with more computers.
www.chronicle.com
December 12, 2025 at 6:18 PM
Carnegie Mellon’s literature PhD is being liquidated in favor of “computation,” casualized labor, and AI.
That has profound ramifications for, students, faculty, and program alums like myself.
I wrote it about it (w/ Catherine Evans, a current PhD student).
www.chronicle.com/article/a-co...
That has profound ramifications for, students, faculty, and program alums like myself.
I wrote it about it (w/ Catherine Evans, a current PhD student).
www.chronicle.com/article/a-co...
Reposted by Gus McFadzean
John Carey RIP. Everyone should read his books on Dickens and Donne and the Faber Book of Reportage. Vary rarely a dull review...
John Carey obituary: literary critic
Witty, eclectic and sometimes scathing scholar and reviewer who held sacred cows in little respect dies aged 91
www.thetimes.com
December 12, 2025 at 5:22 PM
John Carey RIP. Everyone should read his books on Dickens and Donne and the Faber Book of Reportage. Vary rarely a dull review...