Brian Coussens
@manandtrowel.bsky.social
archaeologist | scholar of Second Temple Judaism | PhD Candidate | 🏳️🌈 | he/him/his
Unsurprisingly a 1-sided article (see platform) that does not try to present another side. The truth is the PEF's ethics policy is strictly in keeping with intl law, and the historical attempt of the Israeli state, t/the IAA, to assert control over sites within Palestinian areas remains unethical.
Battle for biblical archaeology intensifies as Israeli researchers face academic boycott
A top archaeology journal now bars Israelis from publishing on Judea and Samaria unless they work with Palestinian authorities, sparking backlash over efforts to erase Judeo-Christian ties to the land...
www.foxnews.com
May 5, 2025 at 7:05 PM
Unsurprisingly a 1-sided article (see platform) that does not try to present another side. The truth is the PEF's ethics policy is strictly in keeping with intl law, and the historical attempt of the Israeli state, t/the IAA, to assert control over sites within Palestinian areas remains unethical.
Simple things I wish I knew to do when I began dissertating:
keep a list of terms in the dissertation that records how you will spell them throughout the document (esp. if there are multiple spellings) and whether/not you capitalize/italicize/etc. the term #academicsky #academia
keep a list of terms in the dissertation that records how you will spell them throughout the document (esp. if there are multiple spellings) and whether/not you capitalize/italicize/etc. the term #academicsky #academia
April 18, 2025 at 8:17 PM
Simple things I wish I knew to do when I began dissertating:
keep a list of terms in the dissertation that records how you will spell them throughout the document (esp. if there are multiple spellings) and whether/not you capitalize/italicize/etc. the term #academicsky #academia
keep a list of terms in the dissertation that records how you will spell them throughout the document (esp. if there are multiple spellings) and whether/not you capitalize/italicize/etc. the term #academicsky #academia
Putting aside the freedom of speech/press issue, the most laughable part of the letter is the expectation that “the public” is reading academic articles…
The Trump regime is now using US Attorneys to intimidate academic journals by sending them letters demanding they explain how they ensure ‘viewpoint diversity.’ Journal editors should be public about this and coordinate to refuse to comply with these fascist tactics.
April 18, 2025 at 1:32 AM
Putting aside the freedom of speech/press issue, the most laughable part of the letter is the expectation that “the public” is reading academic articles…
I pride myself on being careful in my work, but all it takes is a crunchy, detail-oriented chapter to remind me just how many mistakes you can actually still make while trying to be careful, especially when trying to make a data-driven chapter readable...
April 16, 2025 at 10:52 PM
I pride myself on being careful in my work, but all it takes is a crunchy, detail-oriented chapter to remind me just how many mistakes you can actually still make while trying to be careful, especially when trying to make a data-driven chapter readable...
Someone was insisting on calling her Tutu so she could get her daily Nubz treat via FaceTime #pyredoodle #dogs
April 12, 2025 at 4:22 PM
Someone was insisting on calling her Tutu so she could get her daily Nubz treat via FaceTime #pyredoodle #dogs
An essential tool in my diss. process has been BODY DOUBLING, where you work alongside someone. This year, I have been working in a dedicated queer virtual co-working space called Homoground, & it has been so important to me for actually making progress. #lgbtq #coworking #academic
Virtual Queer Coworking 24/7
🌈 Homoground's Virtual Cafe 🌈 is a virtual space for queer people to pop in throughout the day for project support and coworking/collaborating.
homoground.com
April 4, 2025 at 8:24 PM
An essential tool in my diss. process has been BODY DOUBLING, where you work alongside someone. This year, I have been working in a dedicated queer virtual co-working space called Homoground, & it has been so important to me for actually making progress. #lgbtq #coworking #academic
PSA: LOOK UP FROM YOUR PHONE WHEN WALKING. On campus for ca. 10 min. last pm & saw someone step into the street w/o looking up & nearly get hit &, omw back to the car, saw another come w/in a foot of walking straight into the side of my car. They didn’t bec. I arrived at the same time & alerted them
April 4, 2025 at 1:53 PM
PSA: LOOK UP FROM YOUR PHONE WHEN WALKING. On campus for ca. 10 min. last pm & saw someone step into the street w/o looking up & nearly get hit &, omw back to the car, saw another come w/in a foot of walking straight into the side of my car. They didn’t bec. I arrived at the same time & alerted them
When you find the dog’s favorite toy at a store & buy out their whole supply “just in case” (not sponsored; she found this toy in her sister’s things at my parents’ house & liked it so much Poppa & Tutu gave it to her & it is now 1 of her top tier toys) #pyredoodles #dogs
March 25, 2025 at 4:36 PM
When you find the dog’s favorite toy at a store & buy out their whole supply “just in case” (not sponsored; she found this toy in her sister’s things at my parents’ house & liked it so much Poppa & Tutu gave it to her & it is now 1 of her top tier toys) #pyredoodles #dogs
Found this guy (plaster repro of King Tut that my bro gave to me as a Xmas present in our teens) in the family storage unit when I visited last week. Forgot I left him when I moved to NC. Now he has been redeemed from storage and set in the perfect place: staring over my shoulder for video calls 🤣
March 22, 2025 at 12:59 PM
Found this guy (plaster repro of King Tut that my bro gave to me as a Xmas present in our teens) in the family storage unit when I visited last week. Forgot I left him when I moved to NC. Now he has been redeemed from storage and set in the perfect place: staring over my shoulder for video calls 🤣
I guess Newsom figures he can win in 2028 without LGBTQ support. We deserve leaders who aren’t willing to throw any of community under the bus for political points with fascists. If he does it with one group, he will do it with others. Definitely won’t have my vote in a potential presidential race.
March 6, 2025 at 9:12 PM
I guess Newsom figures he can win in 2028 without LGBTQ support. We deserve leaders who aren’t willing to throw any of community under the bus for political points with fascists. If he does it with one group, he will do it with others. Definitely won’t have my vote in a potential presidential race.
How’s the week been going? Apparently fell back to sleep this AM hugging my box of tissues. Always can’t wait til spring but the first sign of pollen in the air, my body goes into full blown revolt…and as often happens, what started as allergies becomes a cold… #allergyseason #allergies #cold
March 6, 2025 at 2:04 PM
How’s the week been going? Apparently fell back to sleep this AM hugging my box of tissues. Always can’t wait til spring but the first sign of pollen in the air, my body goes into full blown revolt…and as often happens, what started as allergies becomes a cold… #allergyseason #allergies #cold
Why can't I make progress? I spent the past week turning a footnote that didn't work into an Appendix, so I've essentially added 10pages to this chapter this week. Luckily, it did result in me resolving a lot of the issues I was having about phasing at the site I'm studying.
February 21, 2025 at 10:37 PM
Why can't I make progress? I spent the past week turning a footnote that didn't work into an Appendix, so I've essentially added 10pages to this chapter this week. Luckily, it did result in me resolving a lot of the issues I was having about phasing at the site I'm studying.
Send help. Was writing a footnote, realized it needed more, turned it into an Appendix, & I seem to keep digging myself deeper & deeper into this research hole when I just need to get back to fn so I can move on to the next chapter. Someone come restart my brain.
February 18, 2025 at 8:42 PM
Send help. Was writing a footnote, realized it needed more, turned it into an Appendix, & I seem to keep digging myself deeper & deeper into this research hole when I just need to get back to fn so I can move on to the next chapter. Someone come restart my brain.
Archaeologists, please index your locus nos. in the final report. Your readers don't have access to your catalog, and nothing is worse than spending the day combing through hundreds of pages of written text for info you should have been provided with in the 1st place.
February 16, 2025 at 9:11 PM
Archaeologists, please index your locus nos. in the final report. Your readers don't have access to your catalog, and nothing is worse than spending the day combing through hundreds of pages of written text for info you should have been provided with in the 1st place.
My usual breakfast for the past couple of weeks: pink lady apple + butterscotch yogurt pudding (Dannon light & fit Greek nilla yogurt + instant sugar-free pudding) as a dip (also like to use just their Apple Pie flavor without the pudding mix but I like the mousse texture the latter creates with it)
February 16, 2025 at 2:15 PM
My usual breakfast for the past couple of weeks: pink lady apple + butterscotch yogurt pudding (Dannon light & fit Greek nilla yogurt + instant sugar-free pudding) as a dip (also like to use just their Apple Pie flavor without the pudding mix but I like the mousse texture the latter creates with it)
Sometimes you stare at something so long you have to map it out…only to find out the reason it wouldn’t come together is that the information you *actually* need is not there…
February 14, 2025 at 4:16 PM
Sometimes you stare at something so long you have to map it out…only to find out the reason it wouldn’t come together is that the information you *actually* need is not there…
Reposted by Brian Coussens
The National Park Service has removed "T" and all mention of transgender people from the Stonewall National Monument.
Trans women were some of the most influential activists behind the Stonewall movement and what followed.
3 articles of clothing laws were why raids happened.
Erasure.
Trans women were some of the most influential activists behind the Stonewall movement and what followed.
3 articles of clothing laws were why raids happened.
Erasure.
February 13, 2025 at 10:37 PM
The National Park Service has removed "T" and all mention of transgender people from the Stonewall National Monument.
Trans women were some of the most influential activists behind the Stonewall movement and what followed.
3 articles of clothing laws were why raids happened.
Erasure.
Trans women were some of the most influential activists behind the Stonewall movement and what followed.
3 articles of clothing laws were why raids happened.
Erasure.
Wording matters so much in interpreting finds and one of the hardest parts is figuring out what an author means. Sometimes I struggle to parse out the English, so God help me if it is another language, like the German book I read that had 17+ terms related to gravestones, each w/its own nuance.
February 13, 2025 at 3:49 PM
Wording matters so much in interpreting finds and one of the hardest parts is figuring out what an author means. Sometimes I struggle to parse out the English, so God help me if it is another language, like the German book I read that had 17+ terms related to gravestones, each w/its own nuance.
Did an at-home sleep study last night. Had to take a nap for the 1st time in over a month bec. I felt so bad today. There's got to be a better way other than having someone sleep in a position they never sleep in (justice for the stomach sleepers!) w/wires & tubes all over them.
February 12, 2025 at 10:03 PM
Did an at-home sleep study last night. Had to take a nap for the 1st time in over a month bec. I felt so bad today. There's got to be a better way other than having someone sleep in a position they never sleep in (justice for the stomach sleepers!) w/wires & tubes all over them.
How many things equals a "cache" in an archaeological context? Or is it intent? Just read something calling 3 coins a "cache", and while I doubt the name is appropriate in this case, I also totally get that concept of a cache (aka, what my emergency, on-hand cash cache is looking like)
February 11, 2025 at 9:23 PM
How many things equals a "cache" in an archaeological context? Or is it intent? Just read something calling 3 coins a "cache", and while I doubt the name is appropriate in this case, I also totally get that concept of a cache (aka, what my emergency, on-hand cash cache is looking like)
Spent the day making cupcakes for Valentine’s Day theme night at Stonewall bowling (Raleigh): Red velvet cupcakes, filled w/vanilla marshmallow cream, topped with cream cheese icing & heart-shaped cake “balls.” Took too long, but looking forward to treating my team tomorrow.
February 10, 2025 at 1:36 AM
Spent the day making cupcakes for Valentine’s Day theme night at Stonewall bowling (Raleigh): Red velvet cupcakes, filled w/vanilla marshmallow cream, topped with cream cheese icing & heart-shaped cake “balls.” Took too long, but looking forward to treating my team tomorrow.
Something strange & exhilarating about your alarm waking you up with “Time Warp” from RHPS, although the algorithm should have saved that one for a few more weeks when the time warp actually happens for DLS time…
February 9, 2025 at 1:14 PM
Something strange & exhilarating about your alarm waking you up with “Time Warp” from RHPS, although the algorithm should have saved that one for a few more weeks when the time warp actually happens for DLS time…
WTH is going on in the LGBTQ+ non-profit spaces that three major orgs (HRC, GLSEN, Trevor Project) announce major layoffs w/in weeks of each other just when the community needs them the most?
February 5, 2025 at 5:45 PM
WTH is going on in the LGBTQ+ non-profit spaces that three major orgs (HRC, GLSEN, Trevor Project) announce major layoffs w/in weeks of each other just when the community needs them the most?
Sometimes your past self is a real a**hole to your present self, like reading something in a foreign language, marking a few things, but not leaving a single note to yourself so you're just going to have a difficult time while doing footnotes
February 4, 2025 at 9:54 PM
Sometimes your past self is a real a**hole to your present self, like reading something in a foreign language, marking a few things, but not leaving a single note to yourself so you're just going to have a difficult time while doing footnotes
Weird joy for the day: my apt complex cleaned out my dryer vent for the first time in six years and every single one of my dryer loads dried in a ***SINGLE*** cycle. This is the fastest I've finished laundry in probably over a year!
February 3, 2025 at 9:00 PM
Weird joy for the day: my apt complex cleaned out my dryer vent for the first time in six years and every single one of my dryer loads dried in a ***SINGLE*** cycle. This is the fastest I've finished laundry in probably over a year!