Thomas S. Davis
@thomassdavis.bsky.social
2K followers 570 following 670 posts
English/Env Hum Prof. The Extinct Scene: Late Modernism & Everyday Life (Columbia 2016). Finishing: Forming Attachments: Aesthetic Education & Ecological Crisis. Starting: Irrelevance: Art & Literature in the 21st Century.. www.thomassdavis.net
Posts Media Videos Starter Packs
Reposted by Thomas S. Davis
blmckean.bsky.social
Very bad: OSU unilaterally cancelled the registration of grad students attending the joint conference of the National Society of Black Physicists and the National Society of Hispanic Physicists. And OSU won't fund recruiting at the Society for Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science.
Ohio State changes policy on group conferences after Trump administration threats
A federal investigation into potentially discriminatory practices at Ohio State prompted the university to change its policies regarding conferences.
www.dispatch.com
thomassdavis.bsky.social
I should say too that the students helped devise the questions they felt captured what we discussed & would give them latitude to respond in a variety of ways.
thomassdavis.bsky.social
The midterms from my analog upper level seminar; they’re brilliant & full of theories on the function of art
in the present while undertaking micro-scale formal analysis. An 80 minute class & no one left early. Print is a rent strike & a pedagogical asset for this moment. @mattseybold.bsky.social ✊🏼
Reposted by Thomas S. Davis
dem8z.bsky.social
PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD!!

The University of Texas-Austin is beginning a process to eliminate the Black Studies, Latino Studies, and Gender Studies departments in the College of Liberal Arts. This is a grave threat to the educational liberty of students, faculty, staff, and the people of Texas. 1/
thomassdavis.bsky.social
That was my first thought! What does it mean if “fight fascism“ triggers you?!
thomassdavis.bsky.social
Because they used to rip things off my office door or slide “Identity Europa”’materials underneath, I got a dry erase board so that it is very easy to clean up. I guess this is “viewpoint diversity”?
thomassdavis.bsky.social
Something is shifting; cultural value is perceived, or felt, more & more to be asymmetrical with these platforms & the capitalist logic of engagement: “down with algorithmic listening, down with royalty theft, down with AI generated music.” As a child of the DIY 90s punk scene, I’m here for it.
‘Death to Spotify’: the DIY movement to get artists and fans to quit the music app
Musicians have long criticized the streaming service’s paltry payouts, but a new wave of boycotts is emerging
www.theguardian.com
thomassdavis.bsky.social
Oh good…I can just give him more of my $$$.
thomassdavis.bsky.social
Lest we forget this one too.
thomassdavis.bsky.social
Yes! Them too! Didn’t mean to leave Rachel and Caleb off.
thomassdavis.bsky.social
Truly. My only disappointment was that the Elmira bookstore was closed today and I couldn’t get any Soaring Eagles swag.
thomassdavis.bsky.social
This was such a treat to be with @mattseybold.bsky.social @aprilanson.bsky.social @jeffreyinsko.bsky.social @jlb.bsky.social @natewolff.bsky.social( & others not on here?) to think through the knots of energy, aesthetics, politics & the hell we inhabit. Thanks Matt, Jeff, & Joe for having us.
mattseybold.bsky.social
Quarry Farm Symposium, my favorite event on our annual calendar, kicks off tonight with a discussion of everyday ecofascism with @aprilanson.bsky.social & Alexander Menrisky.

This year’s theme is Energy Studies, co-organized with @jeffreyinsko.bsky.social.

marktwainstudies.com/2025-quarry-...
thomassdavis.bsky.social
Oh my god. This is so horrifying and also unsurprising. I really do think the drift if neolib/technofeudal higher Ed is out of joint with what students want and need, to say nothing of faculty. This is a snake eating its own tail.
thomassdavis.bsky.social
We definitely need better policies & support at the institutional level, but I think our more immediate impact is in what @gmacdonald.bsky.social once called "our shop floor," our classrooms. A lot of what I value pedagogically is now asymmetrical with the technofeudal university.
thomassdavis.bsky.social
It's a good question. I'm at Ohio State: large public R1. Socio-economic status varies wildly class to class, year to year. This might be unsatisfying, but I think we can do a lot by building trust with students, explaining why we do what we do, inviting their input, & being flexible.
thomassdavis.bsky.social
I'll also say on the occasions when I have said "I'm not available then" it seems to be the academic version of "I'd prefer not to." Just stares and silence and then, yes, adaptation (and maybe resentment?).
thomassdavis.bsky.social
Following for tips. A colleague of mine once told me that she eventually convinced herself that her writing time meant she wasn't available to do other things just like she couldn't do other things while in the classroom. "They adapt with you or without you." I aspire to that.
thomassdavis.bsky.social
I think we all need to collectively author a manifesto on the return of analog pedagogy in the wake of edtech delusions & AI snake oil.
thomassdavis.bsky.social
It has been a bit of a revelation, honestly. The students were kind of hungry for it & they're so dialed in. They just did blue book in-class midterm essays theorizing the relevance of lit & art for the polycrisis & not a single person left before the full 80 minutes. And the exams are 🔥
thomassdavis.bsky.social
Not a lot to pass out this go round: today was Benjamin's "ON the Concept of History" & maybe 20 pages from Alva Noe's "The Entanglement" and that's been the most in one go. I will also say that this experiment with zero tech has resulted in one of the most engaged classes I've had in a while.
thomassdavis.bsky.social
I have a colleague here in art that only does physical materials & still uses course packets. OSU used to have a service that contacted us every semester about course packets, but that's gone. I've been handing out copies of things to students this semester & doing mostly analog style teaching.
Reposted by Thomas S. Davis
chanda.blacksky.app
🚨🚨 My dear friend and fellow academic, the Palestinian American sociologist @emanabdelhadi.bsky.social has been taken by the Cook County Sheriff near Chicago. They have not mirandized her. Please signal boost. All eyes on Broadview for Eman and the community she was defending 🚨🚨