Mikki Brock @MikkiBrock Twitter profile

Last Seen Profiles

@bokeplokalmalam

@NoelVizcarra

@BinorRaja

@00XDTo8b5a9A46X

@JSingh56616418

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@NFTNYCSEA

@stianhogland

@stwmaniax

@askderin25

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@MiNimmm2006

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@peufranzito

@GS_Willy

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@kelums

@stwmaniax

@Itsway10

@gamma900

@kou965

@AlyssaMart46

Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

5 years

That Warren isn't doing better in the Democratic primary feels personal, to me & to so many women in my life. We know what it is to be hyper prepared, to have the plans, to do the necessary work & then some, to smile & try to be likable, to bring the energy & enthusiasm...1/3

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

5 years

Listen, I like Bernie (some of his supporters, not so much). But would he be where he is- messy hair, yelling, unwillingness to discuss personal life, etc- if he was a woman? I doubt it. Anyway, its not over. But I just wanted to say that some of us are tired. And a bit sad. 3/3

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

5 years

To skate that absurdly thin line between passionate & "not too emotional," angry & acceptable, relatable & professional. To do things as right as can be done, and yet still be passed over (& over looked) in favor of men. And this bar is even higher for women of color. 2/3

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

2 years

Pro-tip from a student: I often tell folks to read papers aloud to improve their writing style (the ear catches what the eye misses), but one student had Google Translate read it for them so they could make notes while listening, and wow, that improved their next paper much!

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

2 years

As a 17th-century British historian, I would just like to say that this reasoning, totally decontextualized from the history it cites, is absolutely bananas.

Jay Willis (@jaywillis.net on Bsky)

@jaywillis

2 years

NORMAL PEOPLE: hey there are dead kids in schools, can you do something about that maybe? THE SUPREME COURT:

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

2 years

The thing is: not only are “originalist” justices decidedly not trained historians, but no serious historian would ever advocate for an originalist application of past laws to the present.

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

5 years

@jenmendez_ Totally fair criticism; I made this point when Kamala withdrew from the race, but I certainly should have put it front and center in my Warren tweet. Thank you for the feedback, and I’ll do better next time.

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

4 months

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

2 years

It is telling that no one I know IRL can actually relate to these “my campus is too woke for my intellectual freedom” stories. Instead, they are worried about their disciplines being targeted by budget cuts, right-wing state legislatures, or ideologically motivated trustees. 1/

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

3 years

And the award for the greatest title slide ever goes to… (from a wonderful student presentation in my Reformation seminar this morning. shared with permission).

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

4 years

Me, a professional historian: The statues should go. Them: why are you erasing history? Don't you care about remembering the past? WHY DO YOU HATE HISTORY SO MUCH?!! Me, a professional historian:....

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

5 years

I’m not a close follower of soccer. But there is a little girl in the pub I’m at, jumping for joy in her USA shirt, and it makes me tear up to think she could imagine herself as a star athlete or even the POTUS one day. American women need this right now. Well done, #USNWT 💜

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

2 years

Academic friends, please let me introduce you to the lifechanging magic of not answering work emails after-hours and on weekends. I can't believe I resisted doing this for so long. 10/10 recommend.

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

5 years

Well this tweet has kinda blown up (!) so if you agree with the sentiment, now is a great time to donate at . It’s not over till it’s over, and we’ve got a lot of voting left. Hang in there, everyone!

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

5 years

Now this is how to do it. Honest, effective public history does not pull punches. When monuments to the Lost Cause & white supremacy cannot be removed, they need to be called what they are. More of this, please. (full details on the marker in DeKalb here: )

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

3 years

I want to talk about productivity, burnout, and expectations for a "return to normal." I am not someone who usually struggles with motivation or enthusiasm. Usually the summer is my happy time: I get to do archival research, write, and rest. But wow, this summer has been hard. 1/

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

8 years

Frankly, I'm furious and ashamed that we are a nation torn btw electing a smart, experienced woman and an incoherent, narcissistic racist.

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

4 years

I want to talk a bit about the demonology of Lil Nas X's “Montero” video. It is a fascinating, fantastical piece of art that plays with and subverts conservative Christian ideas. It also follows a long, sophisticated tradition of using demonic imagery to resist and reclaim. 1/

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

1 year

The “Don’t Tread on Me” flags and license plates are ubiquitous where I live, and I don’t care for them. So, inspired by a sighting on another local car, I bought this. 10/10, no notes. Coming to a bumper near you.

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

3 years

Like I don’t know about y’all, but I think a big part of my job as a tenured faculty member is to help my junior colleagues get tenure while also creating the working conditions for them to thrive.

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

5 years

Scotland's story is that of the Auld Alliance w/ France, robust trade w/ Flanders, shared Celtic traditions w/ Ireland, religious connections w/ Geneva, movement of ideas & armies to Scandinavia. And on and on. Scotland has always been European. #LeaveALightOnForScotland , indeed.

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

4 years

@CGNelsonwrites "Someone I loved once gave me a box full of darkness. It took me years to understand that this, too, was a gift." - Mary Oliver

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

3 years

Some of my colleagues and I have noticed that many of our students seem to be struggling more than usual, earlier in the term than usual. Are folks at other universities having this issue? Any sense of what is going on?

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

2 years

sharing in case this is a useful tip for fellow professors to give their students!

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

7 years

I'm heartbroken and furious about how true this tweet remains.

(((Dan Hodges)))

@DPJHodges

9 years

In retrospect Sandy Hook marked the end of the US gun control debate. Once America decided killing children was bearable, it was over.

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

4 years

I'm about 75% sure there will be future historians whose chronological speciality is "the long 2020."

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

6 years

I love to see historians like @TheTattooedProf & @KevinMKruse dismantle Lost Cause mythology and Lee deification on Twitter. But at the same time, it is disheartening. How do we convince the public to a) actually care what historians think/know and b) trust historical expertise?

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

6 months

Any educator who watches this and does not know, in their gut, that they too would intervene if they thought an unarmed student was being violently manhandled by the police is probably in the wrong profession. This is *especially* true for those of us in positions of privilege.

Robert Mackey

@RobertMackey

6 months

It is worth watching this CNN video from the moment Emory Econ Professor @CarolineFohlin came across the violent arrest of a protester on campus and asked the police, with shock, "What are you doing?" That's all that prompted an officer to hurl her to the ground and handcuff her.

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

2 years

This “wokeism” genre of op-ed is not only tiresome and completely out of touch with majority of academics’ experiences; it is also dangerous. It ignores both the ongoing structural problems in the academy and the existential treat to the humanities in particular. 2/

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

2 years

I mean, FFS. I’m just over these absurd pieces from extremely privileged faculty that distract from the *actual* crises at hand. Especially after the difficulties of teaching these last two years. We’re tired. There are REAL problems to address. Enough with this crap. /fin

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

3 years

me to my students: "seriously, write your citations as you go. I promise that future you will thank past you for doing so." me to myself: "where in the world did this bit of information come from? why didn't I do the full notes as I went along?!"

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

3 months

Exciting news: The Routledge History of the Devil is now off to the press! Huge thanks to all of our authors for their patience as the project came to fruition. Unfortunately it will miss the xmas market, but will be out sometime in early '25👿 @RadioFreeWinter @RRaiswell #hextag

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

4 years

Today was a very, very good day: got the one and done J&J vaccine. Relieved, hopeful, grateful.

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

2 years

Possibly unpopular take: there should be more space in the humanities to publish ideas that are still relatively tentative, & *to be honest about it.* As in, "here is what I think is going on. Not totally sure just yet, but wanted to put this out there to see what others think."

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

2 years

On top of this, I have colleagues in TX who have to teach in classrooms where students can carry guns. Other colleagues are already fielding emails from students terrified about loss of their reproductive rights. I’m on a campus that was, a few years back, papered by the KKK. 3/

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

3 years

I keep thinking that if I feel this way--a privileged, white, tenured faculty member--then how must more vulnerable or marginalized folks feel? And beyond this, what about our students, who some seem to expect can just waltz onto campus this fall as if nothing has changed? 4/

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

2 years

7 months after being hit by a car while training for a half marathon, I’m back! 13.1 in the books this morning in Virginia Beach. Absolutely elated.

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

3 years

And so many of my friends and colleagues have reported similar feelings: exhaustion, distraction, and even apathy for one's work. After the immense difficulties of the last 15 months--indeed, the last few years--it can be hard to care, and near impossible to find a rhythm. 2/

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

1 year

Y’all, one thing they don’t tell you about being a 40ish woman is what happens to your sleep. When I was 25, all I needed was a bed. Now I need: exactly 66F, no light, memory foam pillow, zero noise except my sound machine, my dog cuddled next to me, & nothing making me anxious.

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

3 years

I just share this for others on here also feeling this way. If your motivation is unusually elusive, if you find it a bit hard to care, if your anxiety persists, if you can't find a summer rhythm, if the coming term is exciting but also a bit dread-inducing: you are not alone. 5/

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

1 year

My favorite of all the “oh sh*t, it’s August” memes so far.

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

2 years

I recently spoke with a relative who believes teachers should be armed. I asked him to imagine me with a gun. He looked horrified & said "not YOU, obviously, but other sorts of teachers," and I can't help but think: this has never been about "safety." It isn't even about reality.

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

3 years

Moving toward late summer, I hope we can talk more about this. I hope we can readjust our expectations for ourselves, each other, & our students, recognizing that things are still hard. I hope we can reframe intentional rest as productive, and more than that, necessary. /fin

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

4 years

Woke up this morning and decided to write some "pandemic objectives" for my syllabi, to follow the usual course objectives. Sharing in case they are useful for anyone else. #amsyllabizing

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

6 months

Um so in my office I have the OUP Very Short Introductions to (checks notes) Puritanism, the Welfare State, and the Devil 👿. Who knows what I might be planning...the possibilities are endless!

 Dr. Waitman W. Beorn (@waitmanwbeorn.com 🟦)🇺🇦

@waitmanb

6 months

Oh...oh dear. The NYPD has found...the @OUPAcademic Oxford Very Short Introduction series. I wonder if he thinks the Antisemitism is also a how-to book.

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

5 years

Gosh, lotta new followers on here today. A few things: 1. This is, ideally, a space for sharing, learning, & laughing. 2. Constructive criticism welcome. 3. I tweet mostly about history, politics, & puppies. 4. Whenever possible, let's be kind to one another.

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

2 years

@aketchum22 I cannot believe I didn't know this but now that I do, I am *definitely* using it, as I am prone to missing things in my own writing!

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

3 years

So many of us went into this summer with big dreams of productivity amid a good deal of rest. But the burnout is real, and so many things--institutional politics, variants, processing the losses of last year, etc-- often make much-needed relaxation elusive. 3/

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

3 years

I think one of the best pieces of pedagogical advice I can give to new teachers is this: build into your classes opportunities for students to surprise you. Make space for them to be creative, take risks, laugh, mess up and try again. Because they will, and it will be wonderful.

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

2 months

Shout out to scholars who take the time to write detailed, encouraging, and incisive reviews of proposals and manuscripts. Sometimes there is no dreaded "Reviewer 2," just constructive feedback that helps the project. May we all aspire to be these sorts of reviewers!

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

3 years

Writing the first book is hard. Writing the second book—at least for me, amid all the duties of teaching and service (and life!) but also with the immense privilege of tenure—has been much harder. I don’t think we talk enough about just how hard the second book can be.

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

4 years

Good news during a tough week: I’ve just signed the contract to publish my new book, “Plagues of the Heart: Piety, crisis, and community in seventeenth-century Scotland,” with @ManchesterUP . 📚🥂

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

4 years

You can give a girl a PhD, but you can't teach her how to accurately do those internet security things where you have to identify all the squares with buses in a photo.

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

4 years

We said goodbye to the world’s sweetest, sheddyist, most wonderful boy this morning. There is a retriever-sized hole on our hearts, but we feel so very grateful for 13 perfect years with him.

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

4 years

I want to share some reflections on my first semester of #ungrading , which I did in my 100-level survey & 300-level seminar. This will be a long thread, but the TLDR is that I think it went really well. I loved it, the majority of my students loved it, & we all learned a lot. 1/

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

3 years

Pretty sure "hey, you need to go ahead and schedule that vasectomy" was a very popular text sent this afternoon.

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

4 years

y'all. A stranger just said to me, after I mentioned I was a professor, "thank you for your service as an educator. I know it's a tough time for folks doing that work right now." And I can't tell you how much that meant (or, frankly, how shocked I was to hear it).

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

4 years

OMG WHO MADE THIS, THIS IS AMAZING

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

6 months

Bit of exciting, humbling news on my end: yesterday I learned that—pending the final stamp from the BoT—I’ve been approved for promotion to Full Professor. I am so grateful for all the support I’ve had to get here. Between this and the TS album drop, it’s been a good few days!

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

1 year

@bjirish I always tell my students to think about the economy of language--don't "spend" more words than you need to to make your point. For some reason, this framing seems to help? I also started giving many of my essays tighter word limits, so they need to be more thoughtful about this.

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

7 months

We're nearing the finish line--slowly but surely!--on The Routledge History of the Devil in the Western Tradition. We just got the cover mockup (featuring 'Tartini’s Dream' by Louis-Leopold Boilly, 1824), and we're pretty excited about it. 👿w/ @RadioFreeWinter and @RRaiswell

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

5 years

Clearly, this thread touched a lot of nerves. To those who offered thoughtful criticisms or made positive cases for your own preferred candidates, thank you. I hope that whoever the nominee is (& lord, please don’t let it be Bloomberg), we all come together to defeat Trump.

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

2 years

"what could go wrong??", she thinks, as she reviews her syllabus for this semester's class on 17th-century British Revolutions

Jake Tapper

@jaketapper

2 years

His Majesty The King will be known as King Charles III, a spokesman for Buckingham Palace tells CNN

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

3 years

UH-OH.

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

4 years

Y'all my department chair ( @MollyMichelmore ) wrote "Didn't die" on her Faculty Activities Report as one of her top three achievements for 2020, and real talk, this is the energy I strive to emulate in my professional life.

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

3 years

And the award for the best gift I’ve ever received during my academic career goes to

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

4 years

ah yes, almost time for my 8am History of the Devil course, where I will once again ask the age-old question: how early in the morning is too early to talk about demon sex?

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

4 years

...but our world is still profoundly shaped by demonic imagery, fears, and beliefs. Lil Nas X has deployed these ideas brilliantly and provocatively in song, scene, and even shoes. And I, for one, was delighted to see “Satan” trending on Twitter this weekend. /fin

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

4 years

gotta say: I fear many universities aren't exactly being on the level with students about what socially-distant, mask to mask teaching is going to look like. I'm worried students are going to be (understandably) deeply disappointed & (unfairly) angry with their professors.

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

2 years

An essential flow chart for my Reformation and Scottish historian friends 😂

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

4 years

“So sorry, students, that your papers aren’t graded yet, I was in a RAGE SPIRAL all weekend”

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

1 year

A few years, a pandemic, a puppy, a broken wrist, and 80k words later, the book manuscript is finally finished. WHEW. It still needs to go out for clearance review, so I’m not done just yet, but I’m excited to think about something other than Scottish Covenanters for a while…

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

4 years

Every time a student emails me to apologize for missing class or ask for an extension, I remember the anxiety I used to feel when contacting my professors with things like that--and the profound relief of reading the responses of those who were kind. Remembering is important.

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

4 years

Breaking news: this little fella will be coming home with us on Saturday, rescued from a shelter in South Carolina. Twitter friends, meet Fergus! (Also, for anyone on here following me for hot demonology takes, fair warning that is about to become a puppy-centric account 🐶)

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

6 years

This speaks to me on so many levels. (thanks to @flumminism for sharing!)

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

5 years

PSA: if you are expecting *more* effort and output from your students right now instead of offering them the most flexibility, empathy, and leniency possible, you are doing it wrong. and you are probably an asshole.

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

4 years

To any students who need to hear this: You’re doing great. You’re trying your best. You’ve been asked to give up so much, & you’re handling it with such bravery. You’re going to come out on the other side of this awful year more resilient & capable than you know. Hang in there.

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

4 years

Apparently there are some folks out there who seem to think that hybrid, blended, and online teaching is somehow less work for professors than in-person courses. I don't know how to say this more clearly: It. is. not.

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

4 years

These debates have been incredibly stressful for women to watch. Why? Two Republican men with different tactics, but the same gaslighting and contempt that so many of us know all too well. Trump and Pence epitomize the two sides of the toxic masculinity coin.

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

2 years

So, I’m unlikely to get onto Mastodon, even though I appreciate efforts to create a space for historians there. I’ve found Twitter, for all its flaws, a helpful and collegial place. If (when?) it goes, it’ll be a real loss. Until then, I’m just leaning out a bit 🤷🏻‍♀️. Anyone else?

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

1 month

Surprise delivery today! Years of hard work (and a few tears) poured into just over 200 pages. Available for preorder at , and soon (and more affordably :)) through JSTOR!

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

4 years

@isaactweeting @BlkGrlBrilliant well clearly this is insane but what really gets me is the use of footnotes.

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

3 years

Prepping for a class on witchcraft tomorrow, I’m struck anew by the fact that hunting witches was about just that—hunting (imagined) witches. The trials were driven by genuine fear & anxiety; they were not a cover for something else. Yet this is often the hardest aspect to teach.

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

3 years

The problem with the culture of overwork in academia is epitomized by the fact that so many of my friends and colleagues (and, frankly, me) are anxious to get their booster shot but unable to find a weekend when they can spare total downtime if needed. This isn’t sustainable.

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

2 years

Seeking suggestions while folks have spooky season on the brain: I am teaching a History of Ghosts class during our May semester this coming spring, and I'd love to hear about your favorite short stories, films, and scholarly articles for teaching about ghost belief.

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

2 years

the bad: I shattered my wrist on Wednesday after being hit by a car while out on a run (wild, I know!). Having surgery next week--the first week of classes. the good: I'm ok. And my friends, colleagues & partner have been nothing short of amazing. I'm so, so grateful for them.

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

1 year

Calling scholars of all things demonic: the CFP & website for #Devil2024 conference (originally planned for 2020, but pandemic, etc…) is now live. Join us in Halifax 15-18 May, 2024 for an interdisciplinary conversation on the past, present, and future of the devil!

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

4 years

It’s fine to ask someone where they got the vaccine or how they signed up (so many state systems are a complicated mess!), but it’s not cool to ask *why* they are in a higher priority group. Health information is personal and private. Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

5 years

Thinking this morning about how teaching undergraduates makes for stronger, clearer writing. When one regularly and effectively explains complex topics to 18-year olds, it shows in your writing. So shout out to my colleagues doing great work in teaching-intensive gigs. 1/2

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

2 years

As I prep for fall, it strikes me that those who decry “presentism” are also often those who don’t work at teaching institutions. Because making history—and especially premodern topics—legible, relevant, and meaningful to our students is essential. It’s also doing good history.

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

3 years

We are wondering if it is just that everyone is exhausted, and the "return to normal" has been too sudden (and, really, too false). Or if they are partying to make up for lost time? or if no one has actually processed the traumas of the last two years? or all of the above?

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

4 years

This is a video about sex, power, and empowerment. Lil Was X’s unapologetically queer anthem follows a long tradition of using demonic imagery to not only to challenge structures of power, but to play, fantasize, and imagine. 6/

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

3 years

Honestly, my female colleagues and I text each other at least once a day to ponder a fundamental question of life: Why are men? (Yes yes, many men are wonderful and helpful and kind. But some of y’all…)

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

3 years

Basically, yes.

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

4 years

so I was today years old when, talking to some Canadian colleagues, it occurred to me that (most? all?) other democracies do not require their students to say the pledge of allegiance to a flag in public schools. what a bizarre, troubling American practice.

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

5 years

Hi, I'm a historian of Scotland. You might know me from my chart-topping single "no, that isn't your family tartan," the sleeper hit "presbyterian ministers behaving badly," and the acoustic version of "there were many important Scottish women not named Mary Queen of Scots."

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

4 years

The romantic tradition recast the devil as an ambiguous figure, freed from the mores of traditional theology. Satan was increasingly a symbol of resistance against the status quo rather than a threat to society. The real threat was the hegemony of intolerant Christianity. 7/

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

3 years

I'm teaching my "Britain to 1688" class this fall, and the subheadings of the first few weeks of classes include: "Why the term 'Anglo-Saxon' is terrible"; "Everything you think you know about the Magna Carta is wrong"; and "Hey, women did exciting things in the Middle Ages too!"

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Mikki Brock

@MikkiBrock

3 years

One of my biggest revelations this past year has been that, actually, many of the balls we have in the air are made of rubber, not glass. It is ok to let them fall and pick them up again. Most will not shatter if dropped. Our false sense of urgency is usually just that: false.

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