Shannan Clark

@shannanclark.bsky.social

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Historian of labor, media, and cities. Teacher and trade unionist. Author of The Making of the American Creative Class (Oxford, 2021): http://tinyurl.com/yc98a2xn. Now working on the history of District 65 in the 1960s-90s & also the history of TV in NYC.

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The cutest part of the day for me was when one of our students (now graduates) stopped me on the street outside beforehand to get me to put on his tie for him.

Hey everyone out there at a fancy university run by authoritarians: I just want to let you know that we had a very nice commencement today for all of our working-class, immigrant, and 1st-gen students at our underfunded state comprehensive institution.

As a Gen-X punk degenerate who belatedly attempted to become a semi-reputable educator and trade unionist, Albini's death hits hard. Big Black's cutting satire was an early primer on the evils in our society that had to be fought. Plus, he was born to post. RIP.

Steve Albini, Storied Producer and Icon of the Rock Underground, Dies at 61pitchfork.com The Shellac and Big Black frontman, who recorded classic albums by Nirvana, Pixies, PJ Harvey, and more, died of a heart attack

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www.teenvogue.com/story/cops-d...

Cops Don't Belong at Campus Protestswww.teenvogue.com The police are making it abundantly clear they're not there to protect students. But that’s also not news.

Glad to see this response from the History Department faculty at Columbia University to the administration's alarming authoritarian repression:

Faculty Letter on recent events in our campus, May 3, 2024history.columbia.edu We, faculty members of the History Department of Columbia University, condemn the use of police force against students, as well as the ongoing presence of the NYPD on our campus. We insist upon the…

Damn, I used to teach the K-TEL greatest hits of Western Civ in this building.

20 years ago today, our grad employees union at Columbia University (part of UAW Local 2110) began an open-ended strike for recognition. That July, W's NLRB overturned our collective bargaining rights. Pictured here (and following) are some of the greatest comrades out there. #Solidarity

Great insights here into the multifaceted existential crisis facing US higher ed, and what is to be done:

The University of the Future | Jorge Coronado, Bethany Letiecq, Gabriel Winantwww.nplusonemag.com It is now crystal clear to me that we must pivot our strategy and get on offense. We need to articulate and fight for what we want the university to be, and we need to create targeted campaigns to ach...

Right now the NYPD is raiding the Palestinian solidarity encampment at Columbia University. I'm absolutely outraged by the university administration's embrace of right-wing authoritarian repression.

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My report, "Police Collective Bargaining and Police Violence," which recommends reforms to collective bargaining policies that can increase accountability for police violence, is now available through Community Change. Check it out! communitychange.org/wp-content/u...

Excellent analysis of the current crisis in the TV & motion picture industries:

The Life and Death of Hollywood, by Daniel Bessnerharpers.org Film and television writers face an existential threat

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“The union election for Penn's graduate student employees has been postponed indefinitely, just days before students were scheduled to head to the polls… ‘Because of our visible power, the university administration is using legal mechanisms to try to delay + demoralize us,’ GET-UP wrote.”

Penn graduate student workers' unionization election postponed indefinitelywww.thedp.com The election, which was scheduled for April 16 and 17, was postponed on April 11.

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"This 'burnout' that secure scholars are feeling is phantom pain where their colleagues should be. Or, to use a term that every other normal worker in the US uses to describe their workplace under these conditions: you are suffering from the effects of intentional systemic understaffing."

A Profession, If You Can Keep Itcontingentmagazine.org Imagined meritocracies mean little to extractive institutions.

Doing my taxes while I watch the Knicks trash the Celtics in Boston.

Hey all you 🗃️ historians: Today I was excited to receive the very 1st submission for the very 1st Joe William Trotter Jr. Prize offered by @urbanhistorya.bsky.social for the best 1st book in urban history. Geographical and chronological scope is open. It's like lotto: you gotta be in it to win it.

Listening to The Jam while I take a break from grading to do some dishes and put together the trash and recycling, because I'm an oldster.

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Just re-ran numbers H-Net job listings in history--tenure-track job searches for the 2023-2024, were around the low-water marks set in 2015-2017, and notably worse than 2021-2022. Drops seem even across time periods. See the notebook for some breakdowns. observablehq.com/@bmschmidt/h...

NewsGuild journalists are on strike against the Austin American-Statesman, whose corporate owner Gannett is responding to their reasonable demands by hiring scabs. The fight for decent jobs in local journalism is the fight for democracy in the US. Please contribute if you can.

Austin American-Statesman NewsGuild Strike Fund, organized by Paul Albani-Burgiogofund.me My name is Paul Albani-Burgio and I am a city and breaking news rep… Paul Albani-Burgio needs your support for Austin American-Statesman NewsGuild Strike Fund

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Strongly urging fellow members of the huge new AAUP-AFT Local 6741 to vote United Faculty for the Common Good. www.unitedfacultyforthecommongood.org

United Faculty for the Common Goodwww.unitedfacultyforthecommongood.org

I thought the only fault line running through Jersey was the hero/hoagie divide.

Damn, anyone else in NYC feel that tremor just now?

About halfway through the presentation, he put up a slide that listed (and ranked) the bond ratings of all of the public institutions of higher ed in NJ. It was at that moment that I realized that 2 of the schools on the list were going to close, with potentially 2K-3K lost jobs.

This morning I attended my (still-newish) university president's first-ever public presentation on the institution's budget for the next fiscal year. I'm still reeling from it. Beer is helping (a little).

Hey Bluesky Historians! Do you want a new AHA executive director who will fight to save History (🗃️) as an occupation and as an intellectual discipline? Please consider adding your name to this letter sponsored by Scholars for a New Deal for Higher Education.

Scholars for a New Deal for Higher Education Letter to AHA Council Regarding Search for Executive Directordocs.google.com March 19, 2024 American Historical Association Council 400 A Street SE Washington, DC 20003 Dear Professor Glymph, Professor Muir, President Vinson, Professor Hyde, Professor Thomas, Professor Hill...

Setting aside for a sec the immorality and depravity of the genocide in Gaza that Biden is enabling, a 2nd Trump presidency would be absolutely devastating. I wish the Dems would start acting in ways that increase their chances of victory, and quit acting in ways that make them more likely to lose.

I voted blank today in NYC to send a message to Genocide Joe.

So this happened yesterday...

I'm grateful to @profalopez.bsky.social and @raepitkin.bsky.social for giving me an opportunity to share some of my research on the revitalization of film & TV production in NYC ca. 1975-83 with the Gotham Center:

Opening Credits: Urban Redevelopment, Industrial Policy, and the Revitalization of Motion Picture and Television Production in New York City, 1973-1983 — The Gotham Center for New York City Historywww.gothamcenter.org Opening Credits: Urban Redevelopment, Industrial Policy, and the Revitalization of Motion Picture and Television Production in New York City, 1973-1983By Shannan ClarkWith the city’s fortunes reachi...