Alex E. Stern
@theotherdrstern.bsky.social
Historian of power⚡️Assistant Prof at CCNY 🦫 U.S.-Indigenous history in the Civil War and Reconstruction Era 🌎 Writing a book on Reconstruction in Indian Territory 📕 NativeReconstruction.com 💻 Stanford Ph.D. by way of UPenn 🌲 Kentuckian 🏇
Reposted by Alex E. Stern
DC friends!! Join us on this Sunday on the National Mall for a teach-in in defense of history and museums, ft. an all-star line-up! We’ll be there from sun-up to sun-down. More info here: linktr.ee/historyteachin
October 21, 2025 at 3:28 PM
DC friends!! Join us on this Sunday on the National Mall for a teach-in in defense of history and museums, ft. an all-star line-up! We’ll be there from sun-up to sun-down. More info here: linktr.ee/historyteachin
Reposted by Alex E. Stern
M.I.T. Rejects a White House Offer for Special Funding Treatment
www.nytimes.com
October 10, 2025 at 5:19 PM
🔥 Brand new Greater Reconstruction scholarship, hot off the press!🗃️
Situating her reader near Nevada’s Comstock Lode, Nicole Martin shows “how the idealized free-labor home at the heart of Reconstruction policy played out in rapidly industrializing economies struggling to reconcile old/new values.”
Situating her reader near Nevada’s Comstock Lode, Nicole Martin shows “how the idealized free-labor home at the heart of Reconstruction policy played out in rapidly industrializing economies struggling to reconcile old/new values.”
October 1, 2025 at 1:30 PM
🔥 Brand new Greater Reconstruction scholarship, hot off the press!🗃️
Situating her reader near Nevada’s Comstock Lode, Nicole Martin shows “how the idealized free-labor home at the heart of Reconstruction policy played out in rapidly industrializing economies struggling to reconcile old/new values.”
Situating her reader near Nevada’s Comstock Lode, Nicole Martin shows “how the idealized free-labor home at the heart of Reconstruction policy played out in rapidly industrializing economies struggling to reconcile old/new values.”
Reposted by Alex E. Stern
Blue states should make democracy the prevailing theme of the upcoming school year. Not just civics/social studies classes, but democracy-reinforcing lessons & experiences integrated throughout the curriculum.
Boldly educate through the crisis, don't leave children in despair, teach a better way.
Boldly educate through the crisis, don't leave children in despair, teach a better way.
August 11, 2025 at 8:45 PM
Blue states should make democracy the prevailing theme of the upcoming school year. Not just civics/social studies classes, but democracy-reinforcing lessons & experiences integrated throughout the curriculum.
Boldly educate through the crisis, don't leave children in despair, teach a better way.
Boldly educate through the crisis, don't leave children in despair, teach a better way.
Reposted by Alex E. Stern
Tell me again why Business Majors are more valuable than Humanities Majors?
The University of Chicago has a debt of over $6 billion, against an endowment of $10 billion. They played with crypto. That's more than irresponsible.
Their board of trustees contains a surprising number of people regarded as financial geniuses.
Their board of trustees contains a surprising number of people regarded as financial geniuses.
August 25, 2025 at 12:16 AM
Tell me again why Business Majors are more valuable than Humanities Majors?
Reposted by Alex E. Stern
Because structural thinking offers inoculation against authoritarianism, the Right has vilified terms that nod to structure (privilege, patriarchy, critical theory), and attacked the institutions trying to help people understand systemic problems. Refusing to use the terms emboldens further attacks.
August 24, 2025 at 2:04 PM
Because structural thinking offers inoculation against authoritarianism, the Right has vilified terms that nod to structure (privilege, patriarchy, critical theory), and attacked the institutions trying to help people understand systemic problems. Refusing to use the terms emboldens further attacks.
Reposted by Alex E. Stern
“Someday, I hope, we’re going to have a reckoning over the horrors of this moment, but I don’t think we can do it without a clearer understanding of how this fits into U.S. history. There’s a tendency to say, “This isn’t who we are,” and I get the impulse, but history is never that simple.”
Opinion | Concentration camps are not just part of our past, but our present and future
From David M. Perry: From Minnesota’s Fort Snelling to Japanese internment camps to Florida's Alligator Alcatraz, these camps have become an American tradition.
www.startribune.com
August 22, 2025 at 11:40 AM
“Someday, I hope, we’re going to have a reckoning over the horrors of this moment, but I don’t think we can do it without a clearer understanding of how this fits into U.S. history. There’s a tendency to say, “This isn’t who we are,” and I get the impulse, but history is never that simple.”
Reposted by Alex E. Stern
this could fix me
August 19, 2025 at 8:48 PM
this could fix me
Reposted by Alex E. Stern
Increased layoffs and demanding more from your current workers? No wonder higher ed admin is so all-in on AI.
MIT’s NANDA initiative found that 95% of generative AI deployments fail after interviewing 150 execs, surveying 350 workers, and analyzing 300 projects. The real “productivity gains” seem to come from layoffs and squeezing more work from fewer people not AI.
MIT report: 95% of generative AI pilots at companies are failing
There’s a stark difference in success rates between companies that purchase AI tools from vendors and those that build them internally.
fortune.com
August 20, 2025 at 4:46 PM
Increased layoffs and demanding more from your current workers? No wonder higher ed admin is so all-in on AI.
Reposted by Alex E. Stern
What an absolutely pathological thing to say when the humanities subsidize the sciences and all the science funding is getting cut to the bone. Like just look at the vaccine stuff and the cancer research that’s disappearing. They hate science as much if not more than the humanities
In which a Yale prof calls for jettisoning humanities to make way for science-only universities.
“scientists… are being punished for the sins of [humanities scholars] because we all live under one roof. I cannot see a compelling reason for our continued cohabitation.”
“scientists… are being punished for the sins of [humanities scholars] because we all live under one roof. I cannot see a compelling reason for our continued cohabitation.”
Unyoke the Sciences From the Humanities
Arts and sciences typically cohabitate. Should they?
thedispatch.com
August 13, 2025 at 6:25 PM
What an absolutely pathological thing to say when the humanities subsidize the sciences and all the science funding is getting cut to the bone. Like just look at the vaccine stuff and the cancer research that’s disappearing. They hate science as much if not more than the humanities
“In the history of [EdTech] there has never been an instance of large-scale, data-intensive corporate learning infrastructure that has met the needs of learners... The goal with these technologies is to make money, not support people’s unique learning, teaching and working styles.” - Britt Paris
August 2, 2025 at 3:51 AM
“In the history of [EdTech] there has never been an instance of large-scale, data-intensive corporate learning infrastructure that has met the needs of learners... The goal with these technologies is to make money, not support people’s unique learning, teaching and working styles.” - Britt Paris
Reposted by Alex E. Stern
Reposted by Alex E. Stern
Let me add that AI can't do this. Consuming the historiography leads to new questions leading to new sources leading to new discoveries. This is a creative act. But facts alone are never enough. Facts must be interpreted. That means immersing oneself in historians' understanding of context.
12/12
12/12
July 19, 2025 at 6:31 PM
Let me add that AI can't do this. Consuming the historiography leads to new questions leading to new sources leading to new discoveries. This is a creative act. But facts alone are never enough. Facts must be interpreted. That means immersing oneself in historians' understanding of context.
12/12
12/12
These folks did an absolutely tremendous job sharing their expertise and engaging with each other and our 40+ person audience for Insights from Indian Country: Rethinking Traditional American History Narratives. 🗃️ #SHEAR2025
July 21, 2025 at 3:13 AM
These folks did an absolutely tremendous job sharing their expertise and engaging with each other and our 40+ person audience for Insights from Indian Country: Rethinking Traditional American History Narratives. 🗃️ #SHEAR2025
Reposted by Alex E. Stern
The narrowing of what we imagine as "the liberal arts" to a subset of humanities subjects (literature, philosophy, art, etc.) should be rejected.
The liberal arts in fact embrace *the whole range* of non-pre-professional subjects, including the natural sciences.
That's the vision we should defend.
The liberal arts in fact embrace *the whole range* of non-pre-professional subjects, including the natural sciences.
That's the vision we should defend.
July 18, 2025 at 4:33 PM
The narrowing of what we imagine as "the liberal arts" to a subset of humanities subjects (literature, philosophy, art, etc.) should be rejected.
The liberal arts in fact embrace *the whole range* of non-pre-professional subjects, including the natural sciences.
That's the vision we should defend.
The liberal arts in fact embrace *the whole range* of non-pre-professional subjects, including the natural sciences.
That's the vision we should defend.
Reposted by Alex E. Stern
These are the times that try men’s souls.
I have the unfortunate duty to inform you that the WH & Dept of Ed, as part of the Trump Admin's celebration of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, has partnered with Prager U to create AI-slop videos in which we see John Adams say "facts do not care about your feelings."
July 16, 2025 at 3:44 PM
These are the times that try men’s souls.
Reposted by Alex E. Stern
I'll say it over and over.
I do not believe in gate keeping.
I do not believe in pulling up the ladder.
I believe in kicking the wall down like the Kool-Aid man, and making room as I go for those who come next.
Just because it was hard for me, doesn't mean it has to be hard for anyone else.
I do not believe in gate keeping.
I do not believe in pulling up the ladder.
I believe in kicking the wall down like the Kool-Aid man, and making room as I go for those who come next.
Just because it was hard for me, doesn't mean it has to be hard for anyone else.
June 19, 2025 at 4:46 PM
I'll say it over and over.
I do not believe in gate keeping.
I do not believe in pulling up the ladder.
I believe in kicking the wall down like the Kool-Aid man, and making room as I go for those who come next.
Just because it was hard for me, doesn't mean it has to be hard for anyone else.
I do not believe in gate keeping.
I do not believe in pulling up the ladder.
I believe in kicking the wall down like the Kool-Aid man, and making room as I go for those who come next.
Just because it was hard for me, doesn't mean it has to be hard for anyone else.
Reposted by Alex E. Stern
History requires deep, extensive research a lot of that research will end up not being directly relevant. You won't know that until you get in it. Research isn't just pulling a doc with all the answers, it's finding connections, it's understanding what's *not* being said, it's knowing context.
June 16, 2025 at 2:27 PM
History requires deep, extensive research a lot of that research will end up not being directly relevant. You won't know that until you get in it. Research isn't just pulling a doc with all the answers, it's finding connections, it's understanding what's *not* being said, it's knowing context.
"If we work together, this can go unfold in a way they do not expect"
The Department of the Interior is requiring the National Park Service to post signage nationwide by June 13, asking visitors for feedback on any information they feel misrepresents American history.
National Park signage encourages the public to help erase negative stories at its sites
The Department of the Interior is requiring the National Park Service to post signage nationwide by June 13, asking visitors for feedback on any information they feel misrepresents American history.
n.pr
June 12, 2025 at 2:35 AM
"If we work together, this can go unfold in a way they do not expect"
Reposted by Alex E. Stern
Every future imagined by a tech company is worse than the previous iteration.
June 7, 2025 at 11:22 AM
Every future imagined by a tech company is worse than the previous iteration.
"They will make you feel like you have to be so grateful for everything that you’re not allowed to ask for anything. Ask anyway. Ask for what you need.” 🙏
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/03/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/03/o...
Opinion | Ryan Coogler’s ‘Sinners’ Deal Made Hollywood Lose Its Mind
The obsession with a Black director’s ownership package reflects the themes of his film.
www.nytimes.com
May 3, 2025 at 7:42 PM
"They will make you feel like you have to be so grateful for everything that you’re not allowed to ask for anything. Ask anyway. Ask for what you need.” 🙏
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/03/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/05/03/o...
Reposted by Alex E. Stern
Histories wanted! Are you a recently terminated federal employee? Historians want to record your story! There's so much you know; let's get it on the record. You may record anonymously if you wish. www.oah.org/2025/03/04/f...
OAH | Federal Employees Oral History ProjectOAH | Federal Employees Oral History Project
www.oah.org
March 5, 2025 at 5:44 PM
Histories wanted! Are you a recently terminated federal employee? Historians want to record your story! There's so much you know; let's get it on the record. You may record anonymously if you wish. www.oah.org/2025/03/04/f...
Reposted by Alex E. Stern
As I explained in my post about birthright citizenship, Native Americans do not derive their citizenship from the 14th Amendment but from the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924.
So this question has literally been asking and answered but Trump knows nothing about the nonwhite history of the country.
So this question has literally been asking and answered but Trump knows nothing about the nonwhite history of the country.
Trump attorneys’ call into question U.S. citizenship for Native people. They state because Indians “owe ‘immediate allegiance’ to their tribes, they are not ‘subject to the jurisdiction’ of the United States and are not constitutionally entitled to Citizenship.” www.msn.com/en-us/news/o...
MSN
www.msn.com
January 23, 2025 at 11:06 PM
As I explained in my post about birthright citizenship, Native Americans do not derive their citizenship from the 14th Amendment but from the Indian Citizenship Act of 1924.
So this question has literally been asking and answered but Trump knows nothing about the nonwhite history of the country.
So this question has literally been asking and answered but Trump knows nothing about the nonwhite history of the country.