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Merle Eisenberg

@merleeisenberg.bsky.social

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Merle Eisenberg @merleeisenberg.bsky.social · Jun 12

My review article, "How Mediterranean Economies Were Shaped in the Early Middle Ages" in the American Historical Review is out. This was a lot of fun and I try to make sense of 500+ years of recent economic histories. Find it: doi.org/10.1093/ahr/.... 1/

How Mediterranean Economies Were Shaped in the Early Middle Ages

The clichéd image of the premodern Mediterranean economy is stagnation until the twin forces of capitalism and Industrial Revolution kick-started growth an

doi.org

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Merle Eisenberg @merleeisenberg.bsky.social · 1d

Great stuff proposed already, but a question: what other disciplines? Natural sciences? Social sciences? Other humanities? Business? Here's a set of resources from where I did a postdoc that are quite good: www.sesync.org/research/fac.... A science perspective looking at humanities (among others).

Facilitating Interdisciplinary Socio-Environmental Science & Teams | SESYNC

www.sesync.org

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Merle Eisenberg @merleeisenberg.bsky.social · 2d

After the first 5 mins they were quite good except for the single counter.

Merle Eisenberg @merleeisenberg.bsky.social · 2d

But half the problem is that I can't even explain that nuance in a single post (or even in this one).

Merle Eisenberg @merleeisenberg.bsky.social · 2d

Oh totally (never having met you!). This was in reference to a specific example about my work in which by the time I read it, the conversation had moved past research debate to non-academic "discussions." I try to separate personal and research, but was not going to be able to, so hence my post.

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Merle Eisenberg @merleeisenberg.bsky.social · 2d

Article critique of the day: tinyurl.com/mrxdb4fk. I'll just add that the paragraphs below make the leap from "college is too expensive" which is a structural problem at state universities because of planned disinvestment to Ivy League schools are filled with bad people so we need to blow them up.

The evidence is overwhelming: outrageous costs and prolonged indebtedness for students; poor outcomes, with too many students left unable to find meaningful work after graduating; some talented domestic students and scholars have been crowded out of enrollment and employment opportunities by international students; and a high degree of uniformity of thought among faculty members and administrators, which can result in a hostile environment for students with different ideas.

Critics have argued that it is not the place of the federal government to solve these problems. But without government involvement, reform will be difficult. Many colleges and universities, and especially some of the oldest and traditionally prestigious schools, are burdened with archaic governance structures that make self-reform all but impossible. This means that course correction must come from the outside.

Merle Eisenberg @merleeisenberg.bsky.social · 4d

Thanks to those who have weighed in. I make it a point not to debate on social media, since it rarely leads to productive discussions. As I learned from in the Justinianic Plague debates, it's more productive to have a coffee/beer in person and have an open ended conversation. Always happy to do so.

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Merle Eisenberg @merleeisenberg.bsky.social · 6d

Definitely worth a read having read Paolo's book in manuscript form!

Christoph Haack @christoph-haack.bsky.social · 6d

Another (quite exciting looking!) book from Tübingen!!

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Merle Eisenberg @merleeisenberg.bsky.social · 7d

Yea NIL for sure, but now they have to directly pay 20 million out of existing funds, so that is separate. It is also a question of limited fundraising dollars, as you said, going to athletics vs. general scholarships etc. If someone gives to sports, they may not give to the rest of the place.

Merle Eisenberg @merleeisenberg.bsky.social · 7d

Thanks! I figure with the 20 million needed to pay players directly now it's going to be far less likely.

Merle Eisenberg @merleeisenberg.bsky.social · 8d

Genuine question: How much does OU athletics give to academics? And, do you know where the money actually goes?

Reposted by Merle Eisenberg

arseblog @arseblog.com · 8d

Another 2-0 to the Arsenal!

Solid if unspectacular, lovely finish from Rice to put us 1-0 up after Eze should have done earlier. No mistake from Saka from the spot after Timber fouled.

West Ham offered so little, we controlled this one pretty easily.

Top of the table (for now), Interlull ahoy!

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Merle Eisenberg @merleeisenberg.bsky.social · 9d

Walking to the office where you stop in a bar? Uh huh. 😂

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Merle Eisenberg @merleeisenberg.bsky.social · 9d

That hardly looks like your office!

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Reposted by Merle Eisenberg

arseblog @arseblog.com · 11d

That second half was hard work. Olympiacos were much tougher to play against, but I think we were also wasteful. Trossard had big chances, Odegaard denied by brilliant goalkeeping and defending.

But he got the assist for Saka's late goal, the least his performance deserved. 3 points, clean sheet!

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Merle Eisenberg @merleeisenberg.bsky.social · 12d

It also has to do with professors in your College. CS tends to be in a College of Arts & Sciences (or Engineering) whereas business or law are often located somewhere else entirely. Law schools might not even be on the same campus and business is completely different.

Merle Eisenberg @merleeisenberg.bsky.social · 13d

Episode 140 is now up on "Tuberculosis in WW1" with Eric Story: infectioushistorians.com/2025/07/08/t.... We look at the impact of TB on Canadian soldiers in particular along with writing this history during Covid. Maybe an interest to @benmschneider.bsky.social and his Oslo crew.

Episode 140 – Tuberculosis in World War I with Eric Story, Infectious Historians

Marian Devotion and Plague in Late Medieval Italy with Bianca Lopez Episode 134 - March 7, 2025 Bianca Lopez (Southern Methodist University) joins the...

infectioushistorians.com

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Reposted by Merle Eisenberg

arseblog @arseblog.com · 14d

GET THE FUCK IN, THAT'S A HUGE WIN!

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Merle Eisenberg @merleeisenberg.bsky.social · 14d

Great set of charts from Ben Schmidt to update his existing work. Worth a look for sure.

Ben Schmidt @bschmidt.bsky.social · 14d

Despite the gutting of the National Center for Educational Statistics, the dept of Ed *did* manage to release 2024 college major counts in the usual format, so I can run it through the same code I do every year. First off, the change since peak of the largest fields -- another year of drops.

A line chart captioned "The big humanities majors were mostly still falling in 2024", showing drops since 2008 for most humanities fields between 10% (Study of the Arts) to 68% (religion) with history, english, and foreign languages all clustered around 50-55%

Reposted by Merle Eisenberg

arseblog @arseblog.com · 18d

Job done. Trossard goal added a little gloss to the scoreline, after what was a fairly risk averse second half from Arsenal.

Big game at the weekend perhaps in the back of our minds, played in 2nd gear, but we really didn't cause them enough problems with the talent we had on the pitch.

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Merle Eisenberg @merleeisenberg.bsky.social · 19d

I just tell them on day 1 they all get an A, since grad work isn't about grades. Then I comment significantly on anything they give me as way to build skills (from grammar to ideas) and add in a long note at the end. I also go old school and grade entirely by hand.

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Merle Eisenberg @merleeisenberg.bsky.social · 20d

This all hit home as I was finishing up a review task today that is paid but if I calculated the hours, would be far, far under minimum wage. But if too many of "me" opt out or disappear, it just can't be done.

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Merle Eisenberg @merleeisenberg.bsky.social · 20d

This outlines the structural problems in history and all humanities scholarship. Do more with less and then be shocked when people have to leave to make money and everyone left is overwhelmed.

Liz Covart @lizcovart.bsky.social · 20d

Something I’ve been thinking about:

History as a profession has long relied on affiliation.

Your university or museum pays your salary, and in return, you give time to edit journals, peer review articles, write book reviews, consult on exhibits, and volunteer for institutional support. 1/

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Reposted by Merle Eisenberg

Minnesota Vikings @vikings.social · 21d

Tamed the Bengals

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Merle Eisenberg @merleeisenberg.bsky.social · 21d

Some combination of: 1) this person is entirely clueless or 2) they know, but are making a political point by acting like an idiot.

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Merle Eisenberg @merleeisenberg.bsky.social · 23d

Nice write up of the 3 year NEH Collaboration grant with Lee Mordechai that I just received. Really excited to get started soon and have some great people coming to give talks and work with us at Oklahoma State: news.okstate.edu/articles/art...

History’s Eisenberg receives NEH grant for collaborative research on the First Plague Pandemic - Oklahoma State University

Oklahoma State University Department of History assistant professor Dr. Merle Eisenberg recently received a National Endowment for the Humanities Collaboration grant for nearly $250,000 to conduct res...

news.okstate.edu

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