Author | Lightnews

Frances Bell

@franrbell.bsky.social

2.9K followers 700 following 350 posts

VAP in History at Bates College; W&M and Woodson Institute alum. Researching mobility, the Haitian revolutionary diaspora, and freedom-seeking in the early United States. Handy with a knitting needle, happy on a bicycle. She/her.

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Frances Bell @franrbell.bsky.social · Nov 5

Bowie says, do you need to be checking social media? Or could you be doing whatever this is?

A photo of a ginger and white cat, sleeping on his back on a red bedspread

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Frances Bell @franrbell.bsky.social · 12h

As @prisonculture.bsky.social has said, hope is a discipline!

Greg Pak @gregpak.net · 12h

HOPE IS A DECISION

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Reposted by Frances Bell

Ryan Cordell @ryancordell.org · 1d

Job alert: the University of Illinois Library is hiring a Humanities Librarian to serve as liaison to African-American Studies and English Literatures. I’m sure someone here would be a great fit for this job—& we’ve got a pretty phenomenal community here

Please share!

Humanities Librarian - (African American Studies and English Literature)

Duties & Responsibilities

illinois.csod.com

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Frances Bell @franrbell.bsky.social · 19d

Bought - so excited to read this!

Dorothy Berry @dorothyjberry.bsky.social · 19d

I am beyond excited (and nervous!) to announce that my first book, "The House Archives Built and Other Thoughts on Black Archival Possibilities" is available for sale!

This series of essay includes reworked talks, new reflections, and a lot of my heart

weherespace.myshopify.com/products/the...

light skinned Black woman with natural hair parted down the middle (me!) wearing gold earrings and an orange-red dress, holding a small paperback book with a mint green-blue cover and a variety of vintage + antique photos

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Reposted by Frances Bell

Deborah McDowell @dem8z.bsky.social · 23d

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/

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Frances Bell @franrbell.bsky.social · 23d

💛💛💛

Frances Bell @franrbell.bsky.social · 26d

Just to add yet another local VA pronunciation, "Montysello" is actually the correct pronunciation in Williamsburg 😩

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Reposted by Frances Bell

Alex Hanna @alexhanna.bsky.social · 27d

As an instructor, I'd rather see your fever dream, No Doze-fueled 4AM essays written at an IHOP rather than anything generated by an LLM.

Hope this helps

Dane of the Dead 🔜 TwinCities Con P5 @monkeyminion.com · 27d

I wrote a 15 page report on heraldic symbolism in medieval armor and weapon design for my art history class the night before it was due (8am class). Made up 90% of it (only found one book for reference) and got an A. GenAI could fucking never.

wrote 20 pages on Faulkner's The Bear four hours before final papers were due on trucker pills and coffee and cigarettes and got an A, fuck you.
You people couldn't hang with real slackers.
finn
wokeupchic • 4d
It's fuck Al till your homework due in 25 minutes

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Frances Bell @franrbell.bsky.social · 27d

🫡👍

Reposted by Frances Bell

Erin Grievances @erinbartram.bsky.social · Oct 5

If you are a supporter and reader of @contingent-mag.bsky.social one of the biggest things you can do to help us at the moment is get this CFP to the NTT folks in your life. The fracturing of social media has made it very difficult to get the word out esp. to adjuncts and VAPs.

CFP: A Time of Monsters

The monster has been here all along. It is a historical constant that manifests in wildly different ways across time, place, and culture. Whatever form it takes, the monster claws at categories; it un...

contingentmagazine.org

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Frances Bell @franrbell.bsky.social · Oct 2

But hey, I'm glad they have the money to "embed advanced AI into everyday academic life." Maybe they won't even need grad students anymore!

Frances Bell @franrbell.bsky.social · Oct 2

Mind, when I was at W&M a few years ago, most grad students were still not being paid a living wage.

Hypervisible @hypervisible.blacksky.app · Oct 1

“The pilot will explore how AI can enhance teaching, research and university operations, while also gathering feedback to guide the responsible and effective use of AI across campus.”

William & Mary launches ChatGPT Edu pilot

By integrating artificial intelligence tools, the university is positioning itself at the forefront of higher education innovation.

news.wm.edu

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Frances Bell @franrbell.bsky.social · Sep 27

Controversial opinion from the writing desk: Coconut LaCroix is good, actually.

Frances Bell @franrbell.bsky.social · Sep 20

👇👇

Sumitra Badrinathan @sumitra.bsky.social · Sep 20

i don’t think people on bluesky understand the severity of this situation.

i woke up to literally hundreds of texts from friends and family thinking about either moving back home to india or applying to other countries for jobs. this includes me.

Gergely Orosz @gergely.pragmaticengineer.com · Sep 20

Those on an H1B cannot return to the US from tomorrow (Sunday) unless paying $100K. This is an out-of-the blue presidential action. We’ll see software engineers stranded abroad.

One easy to predict outcome: those on US visas will travel less… for work, for conferences etc.

Frances Bell @franrbell.bsky.social · Sep 13

Hey, at least I opened the laptop. That counts for something, right?

A photo of a grey tabby cat sitting in the photographer's lap, next to a laptop on sleep mode.

Reposted by Frances Bell

Freedmen and Southern Society Project @fssp.bsky.social · Sep 2

As we begin the 1st few weeks of classes, a reminder that FSSP hosts a large collection of classroom-ready documents related to slavery & its destruction. These first-hand testimonies of enslaved people, Black soldiers, & officials give life to lessons on slavery & the contested arc of emancipation.

Freedmen and Southern Society Project: Selected Documents

A selection of documents from Freedom: A Documentary History of Emancipation, 1861-1867

www.freedmen.umd.edu

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Reposted by Frances Bell

Oren Samet @osamet.bsky.social · Aug 28

I know there's a lot happening today, but this is sneaking in under the radar. This proposed new rule would absolutely crush foreign PhD students, potentially making it impossible for them to enroll with any certainty of their ability to finish www.politico.com/news/2025/08...