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Reposted by Pat Lawrence

INKS Comics Journal @inkscomicsjournal.bsky.social · 2d

It's 2025

Patrick S. Lawrence discusses the resurgence in comic and book censorship.
muse.jhu.edu/pub/30/artic...

@projectmuse.bsky.social #politics #ComicStudies #comics #censorship #history #activism #solidarity #UniversityPress #2025 #freedom #ComicBooks #BannedBooks #CensorshipSucks

Cave drawing: Below a peace symbol, 4 human silhouettes face each other while carrying spears or long branches. One prepares to throw his spear.

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Pat Lawrence @patslawrence.bsky.social · 2d

@utexaspress.bsky.social Jorge Santos and I will be live tomorrow mid-day!

Pat Lawrence @patslawrence.bsky.social · 2d

Here's a convenient link to register for the Zoom for my talk tomorrow. Come learn about comics censorship of today and yesteryear: sc-edu.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

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Pat Lawrence @patslawrence.bsky.social · 6d

(You gotta register via The QR in the link)

Pat Lawrence @patslawrence.bsky.social · 6d

I'm doing a talk about Out of the Gutters next week. It's on Zoom if you want to hear me and the inimitable Jorge Santos talk about comics censorship! drive.google.com/file/d/1hirU...

Comics_Studies_Talks_Flyer.pdf

drive.google.com

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Reposted by Pat Lawrence

INKS Comics Journal @inkscomicsjournal.bsky.social · 7d

Comics Studies Conferences in a Time of Crisis

Andrew J. Kunka considers the fallout of the presidential administration’s recent actions.
muse.jhu.edu/pub/30/artic...

@projectmuse.bsky.social #politics #AmericanPolitics #ComicStudies #comics #DEI #activism #comic #students #education #presidents

Illustration: 7 people in business casual sit on a couch and chairs or stand nearby. 3 text boxes suggest conversation among them. One person shrugs with a question mark above their head.

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Pat Lawrence @patslawrence.bsky.social · Sep 15

Look at this cool collection of comics with @benpassmore.bsky.social Ebony Flowers, and others. With an intro by @qianawhitted.bsky.social www.shenandoahliterary.org/74-1-2/#comi...

Volume 74, Numbers 1 & 2

Shenandoah has been publishing great writing for 75 years. Located at Washington and Lee University, the magazine is part of the English Department and is a tool used to teach students the art and cra...

www.shenandoahliterary.org

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Pat Lawrence @patslawrence.bsky.social · Sep 10

I'm in here! Feels awesome.

INKS Comics Journal @inkscomicsjournal.bsky.social · Sep 8

Check out the exciting new issue of Inks on Project Muse at the link in our bio!

@projectmuse.bsky.social #UniversityPress #ComicStudies #comic #censorship #superhero #HumanRights #equality #literature #GraphicNovel #academic #ComicArt #ideology #LatinxComics #QueerStudies #feminism #politics

Illustration: Girl with headphones reads a book at a desk. Open laptop, paper, writing utensils, and mug also sit on the desk.

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Pat Lawrence @patslawrence.bsky.social · Sep 10

Censorship history, like a lot of things these days, is looking like a recurring loop. I wrote about it for Inks: muse.jhu.edu/pub/30/artic...

muse.jhu.edu

Pat Lawrence @patslawrence.bsky.social · Aug 27

An ominous bit about the EO on flag burning, which invokes fighting words doctrine to say some kinds of speech are so offensive they should be illegal: the original fighting words case upheld the conviction of Chaplinsky for calling someone a fascist: www.oyez.org/cases/1940-1...

www.oyez.org

Pat Lawrence @patslawrence.bsky.social · Aug 27

I'm working on a new book on moralism in nationalist rhetoric. Smoot is a big figure in the 4th chapter about the early 20th.

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Pat Lawrence @patslawrence.bsky.social · Aug 26

But what I hope my students are now seeing is that constitutional rights are only real when we take seriously that they need protection. And when people tell you they want to take away your rights, you should believe them. (5/5)

Pat Lawrence @patslawrence.bsky.social · Aug 26

As the case of the combat vet who burned a flag near the white house today progresses, I expect to see the defenses given for an EO that clearly contradicts a pretty recent decision by a pretty conservative court to change like cuttlefish colors. (4/5) www.nbcnews.com/politics/whi...

Flag burning incident near White House leads to arrest hours after Trump's executive order

The arrested man identified himself as a combat veteran and said he was burning the American flag in protest of an executive order Trump signed Monday targeting flag burning.

www.nbcnews.com

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Pat Lawrence @patslawrence.bsky.social · Aug 26

I told them, though, that didn’t guarantee there wouldn’t be some kind of action to prosecute people for it. Political bluster these days often turns into unconstitutional action. We'd seen it already. And here we are again... (3/5)

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Pat Lawrence @patslawrence.bsky.social · Aug 26

They all agreed flag burning was constitutionally protected speech, and they thought for sure everybody knew that—including people advocating for it to be prosecuted. They thought that this was all bluster to get votes. They didn’t take it seriously. (2/5)

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Pat Lawrence @patslawrence.bsky.social · Aug 26

The EO on flag burning is a constitutional mess—invoking fighting words isn’t going to get them around Texas v. Johnson. What strikes me, though, is that I discussed this precise possibility with students in my free speech class last spring; here’s what they said: (1/5)

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Pat Lawrence @patslawrence.bsky.social · Aug 26

Kind of torn saying this, but "I Remember You" covered by the Ataris might be better than "Live Wire" covered by Boy Sets Fire. These are the hair-metal-covered-by-punk/hardcore-bands hot takes that keep me up at night.

Reposted by Pat Lawrence

Authors Against Book Bans @authorsabb.bsky.social · Aug 21

Banned Books Week is October 5-11. With some organization this could be a watershed year for activism. Here are some ideas for events you can hold in your district, at your library, at the bookstore. Get started now to make the week powerful docs.google.com/document/d/e...

Banned Books Week October 5-11th, 2025

docs.google.com

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Pat Lawrence @patslawrence.bsky.social · Aug 20

It was very cool to see that @jordanscarroll.bsky.social won the Hugo Award for Best Related Work this year. Such a big accomplishment--and if you're looking to read more of his work, he has an insightful take on Charles Burns's Black Hole in Out of the Gutters from @utexaspress.bsky.social

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Pat Lawrence @patslawrence.bsky.social · Aug 18

Jordan! This is Amazing!

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Pat Lawrence @patslawrence.bsky.social · Aug 15

Most campuses have this kind of proscription in their free speech policies--if they have free speech policies at all. When I reviewed the ones in my own system, they also proscribed banners affixed to surfaces or landscaping and a host of other common protest actions.

Pat Lawrence @patslawrence.bsky.social · Aug 15

This commonly emerges from the lines drawn around certain kinds of protest in the interest of property, facilities, order, and landscapes. In some enforcement environments, it seems like no big deal, but it leaves enough wiggle room for punitive, chilling, and arbitrary suppression of speech.

AAUP-Ohio State @osuaaup.bsky.social · Aug 14

Just in time to welcome students to campus…

President Carter & OSU admin continue the assault on free speech by banning the time honored tradition of chalking on campus. Whether governments or administrators, once they start rolling back free speech, they don’t stop.

fod.osu.edu/news/2025/08...

Chalking Not Permitted on Campus | Facilities Operations and Development

fod.osu.edu

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Reposted by Pat Lawrence

adamxmcneil.bsky.social @adamxmcneil.bsky.social · Aug 12

The faculty of the Department of Women’s and Gender Studies at the University of South Carolina, Columbia campus, invites applications for two 9-month, full-time, tenure-track positions at the rank of Assistant Professor to begin August 16, 2026.

www.indeed.com/m/viewjob?jk...

Assistant Professor - Richland, SC - Indeed.com

University of South Carolina

www.indeed.com

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Pat Lawrence @patslawrence.bsky.social · Jul 25

Reading Catharine Beecher's "An Essay on Slavery and Abolitionism, with Reference to the Duty of American Females" and ... she is complaining about cancel culture?

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