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Richard C. Keller, PhD

@richardckeller.bsky.social

2.8K followers 400 following 1.9K posts

Chair of MedHist/Bioethics at UW School of Medicine and Public Health. Author of Fatal Isolation from the University of Chicago Press (https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/F/bo20145393.html). Bicycles/dogs. Views mine. He, him, his.

press.uchicago.edu

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Richard C. Keller, PhD @richardckeller.bsky.social · 3h

Important pupdate, @darthbluesky.bsky.social : this wine bar in Madison has a dog named Flanagan and she’s about as sweet as can be.

A black doodly dog trots amid wine crates in a bar in Madison

A black doodly dog giving a very sweet look to the photographer

Richard C. Keller, PhD @richardckeller.bsky.social · 14h

An editor at Hopkins gave me that advice when she shot down my proposal. She was right. I had very few Hopkins books at the time, and a ton from California, Cornell, and Chicago. I wound up going with Chicago for two books and it was a great fit.

Richard C. Keller, PhD @richardckeller.bsky.social · 14h

Very good advice. Related: look at your bookshelves. What presses are most represented? That should help determine your target press.

Audra Wolfe @audrajwolfe.bsky.social · 14h

My best advice to aspiring authors of scholarly books is to read other scholarly books recently published by your target press. This may seem obvious and yet is not!

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Richard C. Keller, PhD @richardckeller.bsky.social · 15h

Absolutely. And add to this the difficulty of even finding full profs in some small or emerging fields that are at arm's length. (In particular, niche-y fields in HSMT where *everyone* has collaborated.)

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Richard C. Keller, PhD @richardckeller.bsky.social · 15h

On the one hand, it's not much different from presses offering payment for reading manuscripts. On the other, it's a practice that will disadvantage small departments with few resources. 🤷‍♂️

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Richard C. Keller, PhD @richardckeller.bsky.social · 15h

As a chair, one of the hardest things is soliciting these letters--there's an epidemic of non-response to requests. But this is not the answer to the unpaid labor problem. Some schools are now paying for these letters, which seems like a better, if imperfect, solution.

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Richard C. Keller, PhD @richardckeller.bsky.social · 15h

I understand that writing these is time- and energy-consuming, but that's what makes them valuable! And yes, it is an honor to support good people doing good work.

Richard C. Keller, PhD @richardckeller.bsky.social · 16h

Oh wow I didn't even think about the confidentiality part.

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Richard C. Keller, PhD @richardckeller.bsky.social · 16h

Thanks. Just did. So depressing.

Richard C. Keller, PhD @richardckeller.bsky.social · 16h

Same. If so what's the value of these letters?

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Richard C. Keller, PhD @richardckeller.bsky.social · 16h

I give up--who is this referring to, so I can block them?

Richard C. Keller, PhD @richardckeller.bsky.social · 16h

I remember that from my undergrad days!

Richard C. Keller, PhD @richardckeller.bsky.social · 3d

LinkedIn not working btw

Richard C. Keller, PhD @richardckeller.bsky.social · 4d

5/4 football. Just like when Bill McCartney got 5 downs against Mizzou in 1990.

Richard C. Keller, PhD @richardckeller.bsky.social · 5d

Dear colleagues: please see the attached CFP for the Southern Association for the History of Medicine and Science 2026 meeting.

CALL FOR
PAPERS
28TH ANNUAL MEETING
SOUTHERN ASSOCIATION FOR THE
HISTORY OF MEDICINE & SCIENCE
SAHMS is seeking paper and panel
abstracts for our upcoming conference.
We welcome submissions from scholars
at all stages in their career engaged in
original scholarship in the history of
science, medicine, technology, and
related fields. Papers related to historical
collections, public history, and pedagogy
are also encouraged.

April 2-4, 2026
Arkansas Colleges of
Health Education
Fort Smith, Arkansas

21 NOVEMBER 2025ABSTRACTS <350 WORDS DUE at WWW.SAHMS.WILDAPRICOT.ORG

Richard C. Keller, PhD @richardckeller.bsky.social · 6d

Don't even think about it, Wisconsin

Ollie Connolly @ollieconnolly.bsky.social · 6d

Per sources: Bill Belichick has discussed buyout options with North Carolina’s hierarchy. Belichick has signaled a willingness to trigger his own $1 million buyout if he can find a soft landing with another team or in media

Richard C. Keller, PhD @richardckeller.bsky.social · 6d

Wisconsin has the chance to do the funniest thing ever. (Don't you dare, Badgers!)

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Richard C. Keller, PhD @richardckeller.bsky.social · 6d

So I've since learned we did this twice before: 1985 (Bill Cronon and Joel Rogers) and 2019 (Lynda Barry and Andrea Dutton).

Richard C. Keller, PhD @richardckeller.bsky.social · 6d

Two from Wisconsin this year! Not sure we’ve ever done that before.

Dominique Baker @bakerdphd.bsky.social · 6d

It's MacArthur day! It's MacArthur day!

I have a little ritual where, every announcement day, I watch the video, read the Fellows' bios, and ask myself how I'm being creative in my own work. Just a nice push to think outside the box.

m.youtube.com/watch?v=PZ3K...

Meet the 2025 MacArthur Fellows

YouTube video by macfound

m.youtube.com

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Richard C. Keller, PhD @richardckeller.bsky.social · 6d

Solid-gold special issue right here, folks--check it out. #HistMed

Christos Lynteris @visualplague.bsky.social · 6d

So great to see the special issue on "Invasive Species, Global Health, and Colonial Legacies" that @julesskotnesbrown.bsky.social & I edited published today! A big thanks to all contributors & to JHMAS editors & reviewers for their support & guidance in this process academic.oup.com/jhmas/issue/...

Volume 80 Issue 4 | Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences | Oxford Academic

Publishes original research on the written beginnings of medicine in all its aspects. It focuses on what practitioners of the healing arts did or taught, and how their peers, as well as patients, rece...

academic.oup.com

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Richard C. Keller, PhD @richardckeller.bsky.social · 8d

He's no longer with us, but Henry was a truly epic sleeper.

An English Setter sleeps in an impossible position. His body is on a grey tweed couch. His head is on a black leather ottoman. His forelegs are between the two, draping down to touch a red, gold, and beige Kilim rug.

Richard C. Keller, PhD @richardckeller.bsky.social · 10d

When I was like 6 I met Ron Jaworski when he was doing autographs at a central Jersey Kmart. Go Birds.

Richard C. Keller, PhD @richardckeller.bsky.social · 12d

Excellent point. Big contrast with Minnesota! (the other good public option here, as Wisconsin and Minnesota have in-state reciprocity)

Richard C. Keller, PhD @richardckeller.bsky.social · 12d

Also it's gotten VERY difficult to get into UW for students from Madison.

Richard C. Keller, PhD @richardckeller.bsky.social · 12d

There's a surprising trend right now of upper-middle-class kids from Madison going to SEC schools. I think BamaRushTok or whatever it's called has something to do with it as well.

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