I want to talk about productivity, burnout, and expectations for a "return to normal." I am not someone who usually struggles with motivation or enthusiasm. Usually the summer is my happy time: I get to do archival research, write, and rest. But wow, this summer has been hard. 1/ And so many of my friends and colleagues have reported similar feelings: exhaustion, distraction, and even apathy for one's work. After the immense difficulties of the last 15 months--indeed, the last few years--it can be hard to care, and near impossible to find a rhythm. 2/

I want to share some reflections on my first semester of #ungrading, which I did in my 100-level survey & 300-level seminar. This will be a long thread, but the TLDR is that I think it went really well. I loved it, the majority of my students loved it, & we all learned a lot. 1/ First, though, let me acknowledge that it is easier for me to do this type of experimentation than others because of my own privilege: tenured, white, a “known quantity” to my students, and supported by a dept. chair & cohort of colleagues testing the waters with me. 2/

I want to talk a bit about the demonology of Lil Nas X's “Montero” video. It is a fascinating, fantastical piece of art that plays with and subverts conservative Christian ideas. It also follows a long, sophisticated tradition of using demonic imagery to resist and reclaim. 1/ The video opens in an Edenic garden, featuring Lil Nas X resting at the base of a tree with a serpent lurking just above. Here the fall is sensual and soft, an erotic take on a scriptural event historically used by (male) writers to suggest the carnality and weakness of women. 2/

That Warren isn't doing better in the Democratic primary feels personal, to me & to so many women in my life. We know what it is to be hyper prepared, to have the plans, to do the necessary work & then some, to smile & try to be likable, to bring the energy & enthusiasm...1/3 To skate that absurdly thin line between passionate & "not too emotional," angry & acceptable, relatable & professional. To do things as right as can be done, and yet still be passed over (& over looked) in favor of men. And this bar is even higher for women of color. 2/3