Megan L. Cook
@meganlcook.bsky.social
Your favorite medievalist's favorite medievalist. Middle English literature and/in early modern books, with a side of textual editing. In progress: Dirtbag Medievalism, Chaucer's Readers: 1400-2000, Lydgate's Shorter Works
Reposted by Megan L. Cook
One argument I used to make to my students about why it was important to learn history (and historical thinking) is that someone was always going to be trying to tell you things were natural or had always been this way and that you needed to be able to see that as an exercise of power.
December 7, 2025 at 10:09 PM
One argument I used to make to my students about why it was important to learn history (and historical thinking) is that someone was always going to be trying to tell you things were natural or had always been this way and that you needed to be able to see that as an exercise of power.
Reposted by Megan L. Cook
I could bring this up most any day but in light of today’s events maybe we should figure out marking mass shooting sites, like how the Equal Justice Initiative puts up markers at lynching sites, as some gesture to make sure they don’t keep fading into the ether of Another Mass Shooting
Here’s an American question — how should we do historical markers for mass shootings? I was thinking about this after seeing the markers for events in Iowa City and Casas Adobes, Arizona 1/🧵
December 13, 2025 at 11:42 PM
I could bring this up most any day but in light of today’s events maybe we should figure out marking mass shooting sites, like how the Equal Justice Initiative puts up markers at lynching sites, as some gesture to make sure they don’t keep fading into the ether of Another Mass Shooting
Without getting into spoilers, I am also extremely curious to know what scholars of contemporary American religion make of WAKE UP DEAD MAN. It seems to me a fairly nuanced take for a movie that leans hard into the detective genre and is neither about a crisis faith nor the church as such
God, love a movie where Glen Close and Kerry Washington are both allowed to just have at it and CHEW the scenery
December 13, 2025 at 8:01 PM
Without getting into spoilers, I am also extremely curious to know what scholars of contemporary American religion make of WAKE UP DEAD MAN. It seems to me a fairly nuanced take for a movie that leans hard into the detective genre and is neither about a crisis faith nor the church as such
Colby-- weirdly-- has a large and very solid Vernon Lee collection, and I love it when students choose to work on something from it, only to discover the rabbit hole runs very deep
December 13, 2025 at 7:38 PM
Colby-- weirdly-- has a large and very solid Vernon Lee collection, and I love it when students choose to work on something from it, only to discover the rabbit hole runs very deep
Still wild to me that Musk's impetus for going full-on comic book supervillain appears to be the fact that his smart, cool, funny daughter also happens to be trans
December 13, 2025 at 2:59 PM
Still wild to me that Musk's impetus for going full-on comic book supervillain appears to be the fact that his smart, cool, funny daughter also happens to be trans
God, love a movie where Glen Close and Kerry Washington are both allowed to just have at it and CHEW the scenery
December 13, 2025 at 2:14 AM
God, love a movie where Glen Close and Kerry Washington are both allowed to just have at it and CHEW the scenery
Reposted by Megan L. Cook
this is like a capsule summary of the problems with a singular focus on quantifiable data
December 12, 2025 at 1:58 PM
this is like a capsule summary of the problems with a singular focus on quantifiable data
I am enjoying the responses to this post and hope that more of you weigh in. I will also accept your absolutely dug-in contemporary fights on historical issues, eg date of the composition of Beowulf
I want to be writing about Polydore Vergil and John Leland's feud about the historical King Arthur, and it really just doesn't fit in what I'm working on. So tell me: what is your favorite scholarrly/quasi-scholarly feud from your period? Dudes that just absolutely could not stand one another?
December 12, 2025 at 9:30 PM
I am enjoying the responses to this post and hope that more of you weigh in. I will also accept your absolutely dug-in contemporary fights on historical issues, eg date of the composition of Beowulf
Reposted by Megan L. Cook
one of the laziest moves in tech journalism is to presume chronology - a technology is inevitable; human history is a movement from tech to tech. thus I am aggrieved to read, as an opening line in this NYT article about students reading, "In American high schools, the age of the book may be fading."
December 12, 2025 at 4:16 PM
one of the laziest moves in tech journalism is to presume chronology - a technology is inevitable; human history is a movement from tech to tech. thus I am aggrieved to read, as an opening line in this NYT article about students reading, "In American high schools, the age of the book may be fading."
I want to be writing about Polydore Vergil and John Leland's feud about the historical King Arthur, and it really just doesn't fit in what I'm working on. So tell me: what is your favorite scholarrly/quasi-scholarly feud from your period? Dudes that just absolutely could not stand one another?
December 12, 2025 at 5:01 PM
I want to be writing about Polydore Vergil and John Leland's feud about the historical King Arthur, and it really just doesn't fit in what I'm working on. So tell me: what is your favorite scholarrly/quasi-scholarly feud from your period? Dudes that just absolutely could not stand one another?
I don't have a lot of pictures of myself during grad school actually doing grad student things, but here's a photo of me in the absolutely feral office I shared with Greta LaFleur during our first year of teaching in 2008
December 12, 2025 at 3:02 PM
I don't have a lot of pictures of myself during grad school actually doing grad student things, but here's a photo of me in the absolutely feral office I shared with Greta LaFleur during our first year of teaching in 2008
Reposted by Megan L. Cook
As of today, the only person in this Daily Penn visual that hasn't been fined millions of dollars or convicted of a felony is Luigi Mangione, believe it or not
I mean, the Penn student newspaper isn't wrong, but www.instagram.com/p/DSH1X4EDwP...
December 12, 2025 at 2:35 AM
As of today, the only person in this Daily Penn visual that hasn't been fined millions of dollars or convicted of a felony is Luigi Mangione, believe it or not
Your periodic reminder that there is a 3.5 hour dungeon synth epic based on the Canterbury Tales: www.youtube.com/watch?v=cN88...
CHAUCERIAN MYTH "The Canterbury Tales" (Full Album, 3.5 hours) dungeon synth English literature
YouTube video by Out of Season
www.youtube.com
December 11, 2025 at 9:49 PM
Your periodic reminder that there is a 3.5 hour dungeon synth epic based on the Canterbury Tales: www.youtube.com/watch?v=cN88...
Trying to write a document explaining that I should be the one to do a thing, and how do you say "I am a sick, sick person who enjoys strategic planning" in polite academic terms?
December 11, 2025 at 9:00 PM
Trying to write a document explaining that I should be the one to do a thing, and how do you say "I am a sick, sick person who enjoys strategic planning" in polite academic terms?
Let me tell you, the shitty part about quitting caffeine is quitting caffeine, it has nothing to do with the availability of non-caffeinated options
Cafes across the U.S. are embracing the low- and no-caffeine lifestyle, with options that are a far cry from dusty tea bags and rewarmed decaf. nyti.ms/3XKlqoj
December 11, 2025 at 1:59 PM
Let me tell you, the shitty part about quitting caffeine is quitting caffeine, it has nothing to do with the availability of non-caffeinated options
Workday is foiling my plans to file grades from the bar, but I’m just saying: I could file grades from here
December 10, 2025 at 11:05 PM
Workday is foiling my plans to file grades from the bar, but I’m just saying: I could file grades from here
Reposted by Megan L. Cook
SKULL OF THOMAS AQUINAS: TAKE A LEFT NOW
PRIEST: No, the GPS says we have to keep going—
SKULL: I KNOW A SHORTCUT
PRIEST: Do you remember the last ti—
SKULL: FOR THOSE WITH FAITH, NO EVIDENCE IS NECESSARY; FOR THOSE WITHOUT IT, NO EVIDENCE WILL SUFFICE
PRIEST: No, the GPS says we have to keep going—
SKULL: I KNOW A SHORTCUT
PRIEST: Do you remember the last ti—
SKULL: FOR THOSE WITH FAITH, NO EVIDENCE IS NECESSARY; FOR THOSE WITHOUT IT, NO EVIDENCE WILL SUFFICE
'Skull of St. Thomas Aquinas being transported to Fossanova Abbey.'
Photograph by Daniel Ibanez
Photograph by Daniel Ibanez
December 10, 2025 at 5:10 PM
SKULL OF THOMAS AQUINAS: TAKE A LEFT NOW
PRIEST: No, the GPS says we have to keep going—
SKULL: I KNOW A SHORTCUT
PRIEST: Do you remember the last ti—
SKULL: FOR THOSE WITH FAITH, NO EVIDENCE IS NECESSARY; FOR THOSE WITHOUT IT, NO EVIDENCE WILL SUFFICE
PRIEST: No, the GPS says we have to keep going—
SKULL: I KNOW A SHORTCUT
PRIEST: Do you remember the last ti—
SKULL: FOR THOSE WITH FAITH, NO EVIDENCE IS NECESSARY; FOR THOSE WITHOUT IT, NO EVIDENCE WILL SUFFICE
I am deep in transfer credit and study abroad requests and making sure senior advisees are set to graduate and so this is a reminder to college students: hold onto a copy of the syllabus until you graduate. You probably won't need it after the class is done! But if you do, you'll really need it.
December 10, 2025 at 2:51 PM
I am deep in transfer credit and study abroad requests and making sure senior advisees are set to graduate and so this is a reminder to college students: hold onto a copy of the syllabus until you graduate. You probably won't need it after the class is done! But if you do, you'll really need it.
This is stupid and also a great hook for an essay on the enduring use of blackletter in 16c lawbooks and bibles: "A cable dated December 9 sent to all U.S. diplomatic posts said that typography shapes the professionalism of an official document and Calibri is informal compared to serif typefaces."
Marco Rubio ordered diplomats to return to using Times New Roman font in official communications, calling his predecessor's decision to adopt Calibri a “wasteful” diversity move
Rubio Stages Font Coup: Times New Roman Ousts Calibri
The secretary of state called it a "wasteful" diversity move, according to an internal department cable seen by Reuters.
www.huffpost.com
December 10, 2025 at 2:19 PM
This is stupid and also a great hook for an essay on the enduring use of blackletter in 16c lawbooks and bibles: "A cable dated December 9 sent to all U.S. diplomatic posts said that typography shapes the professionalism of an official document and Calibri is informal compared to serif typefaces."
Reposted by Megan L. Cook
We’re thrilled to announce that issue 3 is up & features a special cluster on Netflix’s The Decameron!m! The full issue is available here: www.arthuriana.com/tsw-issues! #pubhums #medievalsky #arthuriansky
And now, a quick teaser 🧵 of the pieces in this issue… /1
And now, a quick teaser 🧵 of the pieces in this issue… /1
a man with long hair and a beard says we have a bit of news on a netflix poster
ALT: a man with long hair and a beard says we have a bit of news on a netflix poster
media.tenor.com
December 9, 2025 at 11:49 PM
We’re thrilled to announce that issue 3 is up & features a special cluster on Netflix’s The Decameron!m! The full issue is available here: www.arthuriana.com/tsw-issues! #pubhums #medievalsky #arthuriansky
And now, a quick teaser 🧵 of the pieces in this issue… /1
And now, a quick teaser 🧵 of the pieces in this issue… /1
Hey team 19th century handwriting! What does this say? The student working on it and I can make out "Elizabeth Akers" and "But Mr. Ball did not send it to me! How could he bear the thought that I should [something something] it?"
December 9, 2025 at 8:44 PM
Hey team 19th century handwriting! What does this say? The student working on it and I can make out "Elizabeth Akers" and "But Mr. Ball did not send it to me! How could he bear the thought that I should [something something] it?"
Everything about this story is so very Maine. Two deer inside an SUV! Loaded crossbow in the car! Caught because of fresh tracks in the snow! Charged with night hunting! I also find the scansion of "Brunswick nighttime crossbow hunting incident" very pleasing
www.pressherald.com/2025/12/08/t...
www.pressherald.com/2025/12/08/t...
2 charged in Brunswick nighttime crossbow hunting incident
A Durham man and a Lewiston man were arrested after police found 2 dead deer and a loaded crossbow in an SUV during a traffic stop Monday.
www.pressherald.com
December 9, 2025 at 5:28 PM
Everything about this story is so very Maine. Two deer inside an SUV! Loaded crossbow in the car! Caught because of fresh tracks in the snow! Charged with night hunting! I also find the scansion of "Brunswick nighttime crossbow hunting incident" very pleasing
www.pressherald.com/2025/12/08/t...
www.pressherald.com/2025/12/08/t...
Reposted by Megan L. Cook
If a school won’t fully employ its own teachers why in the world would any student or their family trust them to know a thing about career prep? I hate the vocationalization of higher ed (obvs) but even within that awful frame it seems fair to say: you either take jobs srsly or you don’t.
December 9, 2025 at 4:50 PM
If a school won’t fully employ its own teachers why in the world would any student or their family trust them to know a thing about career prep? I hate the vocationalization of higher ed (obvs) but even within that awful frame it seems fair to say: you either take jobs srsly or you don’t.
I myself am not an environmental humanist and only rarely play one in the classroom, but 1) I can attest to the glories of Maine in high summer and 2) getting to see this program grow and thrive under the guidance of my colleagues and become truly international in scope has been an absolute joy
Are you an environmental humanist? Do you like hanging out with other smart environmental humanists? Would you like to do so for a week this summer in Maine? Then I highly recommend Colby's Summer Institute in the Environmental Humanities! (app due 2/6/26) cah.colby.edu/initiatives/...
December 9, 2025 at 12:33 PM
I myself am not an environmental humanist and only rarely play one in the classroom, but 1) I can attest to the glories of Maine in high summer and 2) getting to see this program grow and thrive under the guidance of my colleagues and become truly international in scope has been an absolute joy