Thread by @paularcurtis

For any of the students at my lecture on Monday, here is a prime example of the need to fight for (ethical) historical scholarship. Scholars wrote a *36-page-long* refutation using evidence. But denialists with a following will insist on logical fallacies. apjjf.org/2021/5/Concern…

Rough translation: "The Kono Statement has been overturned & these cornered foreign professors can't refute with historical facts so they make emotional arguments like "Japan must be embarrassed". What is embarrassing is that they are scholars who teach lies and despise Japan!"

History is living not only because we live it and we are always reassessing it based on our best evidence to date or latest discoveries, but because putting it to paper does not mean that it will be accepted or that it cannot be misused. Teaching and learning history is crucial.

In the age of social media, especially, we must be cognizant that while academic scholarship has never really been truly "private" (inaccessible, perhaps), in the digital age it is even less-so. Engaging in the public side has important stakes we MUST be aware of & teach about.

Yesterday I brainstormed in a chat what an opportunity it would be to teach a course centered on deconstructing these harassment campaigns via Twitter, because they really highlight the importance of academic integrity as well as the dangers & possibilities of digital engagement.

Folks on the front lines of issues in race, gender, policing, & other areas in US and other Anglophone contexts know this well already, but there's less awareness of it in other contexts, to the detriment of scholars who specialize in non-Western (and non-modern) topics.

That said, when you think about hiring, inviting speakers, etc. remember that their experiences and work also engage in these issues in critical ways that can be eye-opening for students to see transposed onto subjects outside of their usually visible areas of interaction.

I'm sure this will invite a new slew of trolls claiming that by screencapping I'm "harassing" them. But that is another example of abusers trying to simultaneously lay claim to victim status to make their own actions beyond reprimand. An important tactic to be aware of. Be aware.

The most important things we can do when we come under fire like this are to:

- decide the healthiest level of engagement for ourselves
- find ways to support our friends/colleagues
- educate ourselves/become better aware of the playing field
- determine a course of action.

This does not mean that ALL of these things will be right for EVERYONE, but they give us productive paths forward in defense of integrity and the safety of others.

"You won't engage in any dialogue with us and just block us! 😭😭😭" netouyo sob, creating fake accounts to leave messages on our threads while preemptively blocking us so we can't see it or reply because they think they are so clever. boohoo! Grow up and stand by your bad takes.

And you're damn right we block liberally. We have real work to do. Get a hobby. Or maybe do yourselves a favor and take a class in historical methods, since you have so much free time on your hands.