eharlitzkern

eharlitzkern, 6 months ago to history

This is 🍌🍌🍌🍌. A grave field from the Viking Age has been discovered in the middle of the city of Gothenburg. Right in between Sweden's largest outdoor stadium and the public bath with the Olympic pool. There is so much city activity at this location that it's hard to comprehend that these graves were somehow overlooked...? (Article in Swedish)

@histodons @histodon #histodon #histodons #history @academicchatter @medievodons

https://fof.se/artikel/vikingagravar-i-goteborg-overraskar-arkeologerna/

eharlitzkern, 6 months ago to history

Shout out to the ILL department at FIU. Once again they have come through. I found this book in the catalog of the National Library in Sweden. Placed a request through FIU’s ILL, thinking that they would not be able to get it, or it would take forever. Three days later, I get a notification that the book has arrived. 🙌🏼

The fact that they got the book to me from UC Berkley in only a few days is 🍌🍌🍌.
@academicchatter @histodons #history #histodons #libraries

eharlitzkern, 6 months ago to history

Oldest ship's grave in Scandinavia has been excavated in northern Norway (the region of Trøndelag, to be precise). The grave reveals that Scandinavians were building ships large enough for long-distance travels already around the year 700. This find also pushes the burial custom of burying people in ships significantly back in time. (Article in Norwegian.)

@histodons @histodon #histodons #history #vikings

https://www.nrk.no/trondelag/skandinavias-eldste-kjente-skipsgrav-er-pa-leka-i-trondelag-1.16633376

AbandonedAmerica, 6 months ago to random

The lobby of an abandoned resort
More abandoned places at https://www.abandonedamerica.us/abandoned-places

eharlitzkern, 6 months ago to history

Buckle in gilded silver depicting Odin sacrificing his eye for wisdom at Mimer's well. When the fastening needle is opened, Odin's face dips forward and the sacrifice is made. The buckle comes from a major sacrificial site in Sweden dated to 0–500 CE. Together with other discoveries at the site, this buckle demonstrates that the Viking Age as a time period has little bearing, that Scandinavians did practice human sacrifice, and that Norse mythology is very old.
@histodons @histodon #history

Photo of silver gilded buckle with a human face over a cup. Source: Västergötlands Museum.

eharlitzkern, 7 months ago to history

Come work with me!

The Department of History at FIU is hiring! Tenure track open rank position in Modern European history.

Please share widely, and please do apply if this is in your field. The Department of History is a group of rabble rousers, who don’t take anything lying down. In other words, you’d be working with some really good and smart people. @histodons @histodon @academicchatter #history #highered #job #histodons

https://careers.historians.org/jobs/19377196/tenure-track-open-rank-professor-in-modern-european-history

eharlitzkern, 7 months ago to books

This week on The Boomerang. My interview for Foreword Reviews with historian Gary Scott Smith of Grove City College about his book on how Hillary Rodham Clinton's Methodist faith has informed her politics. Enjoy!

@bookstodon #bookstodon #books #book #clinton #uspolitics #faith #christian #methodism

https://ehkern.com/2023/10/27/interview-with-gary-scott-smith-for-foreword-reviews/

eharlitzkern, 7 months ago to histodons

After the second day of the professional development workshop, I can with confident state the following:

1. Teachers make the worst students.

2. Especially when those teachers are also historians.

😎

@academicchatter @histodons @histodon #histodons

eharlitzkern, 7 months ago to movies

Watched THE UNKNOWN (1927) over the weekend. Directed by Tod Browning and starring Lon Chaney and a very young Joan Crawford. I would tell you Crawford's age when she made the movie if I could, but apparently her birthday is unknown. Either way, it is a very good movie. A typical Browning production that balances on the edge of good taste where the excellent acting, directing, and story prevents it from barely stepping over the line.

#movies #movie #silentmovies #cinema

eharlitzkern, 7 months ago to literature

This article on the connections that can be made between generative AI and Jewish exegesis published @TheConversationUS blew my mind this morning. 😇 💩 !

@academicchatter @histodons @histodon #histodons #humanities #literature #judaism #hebrew #AI #generativeAI

https://theconversation.com/from-ancient-jewish-texts-to-androids-to-ai-a-just-right-sequence-of-numbers-or-letters-turns-matter-into-meaning-207895

eharlitzkern, 8 months ago to history

3D-scanning reveals that Thyra, Harold Bluetooth's mother, commissioned several runestones and consequently wielded more power in Viking Age Denmark than previously believed. Together with her husband Gorm, Thyra facilitated Harold Bluetooth's consolidation of power. This revision makes sense in the Danish and Scandinavian historical context where claims to power were both patrilineal and matrilineal.

@histodons @histodon #histodons #history

https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/indland/vikingedronningen-thyra-rykker-op-paa-siden-af-gorm-den-gamle-forskning-afsloerer

eharlitzkern, 8 months ago to movies

Watched the movie THE VIKINGS (1958) starring Kirk Douglas, Tony Curtis, Ernest Borgnine, and Janet Leigh.

Let's put it this way. THE VIKINGS did better with the knowledge about Vikings available in 1958 than THE NORTHMAN did with the knowledge available in 2022. In other words, I enjoyed this movie a lot more than I expected.

@histodons @histodon #histodons #vikings #movies

BlackAzizAnansi, 8 months ago to random

Is it just me or has Spotify been glitching horribly lately?

eharlitzkern, 9 months ago to Florida

This is a silk floss tree. It stands on campus outside our department building. It is believed that the silk floss tree developed its spikes as protection against megafauna, especially mega sloths. 🤯🤯🤯 I mean, what am I supposed to do with awesome information like that? I think I’m going to have to lie down. Someone fetch me my smelling salts. 🦥🦥🦥 @academicchatter #sloths #megafauna #florida #miami #trees #treesofmastodon

eharlitzkern, 9 months ago to academicchatter

Update!

I have a key. I have been able to enter the office and explore. There are chairs. There is a phone. Keyboards and computer mouses.

Still no desks or harddrives so that I can actually do some work. But it smells nice. That’s good. Better than the opposite. @academicchatter #adjunctlife

eharlitzkern, 9 months ago to history

This week on The Boomerang. Enjoy!

"In The Manuscripts Club, Christopher de Hamel introduces us to a group of people who dedicated their lives to collecting medieval manuscripts. In other words, nerds."

@histodons @histodon @bookstodon #histodons #histodon #history #medieval #manuscript #middleages #nerd #nerds

https://ehkern.com/2023/08/25/a-synchronous-celebration-of-the-medieval-manuscript-nerd/

eharlitzkern, 9 months ago to academicchatter

My swanky new office. That I can’t get into because I don’t have a key. And even if I could get in, there’s no desk. But, after a windowless existence for many years, it is nice to finally see some daylight. 😆 @academicchatter @histodons #histodon #adjunctlife #university #highered

eharlitzkern, 9 months ago to ai

You can't hit the breaks when you're going uphill.

After playing around with ChatGPT, I have decided to allow my history students to use AI. Working out ways to stop them from using it will only create more stress and work than it's worth. I have therefore included instructions in the syllabus about how they can and cannot use AI.

And so I set sail on uncharted waters towards the endless horizon, like generations of intrepid explorers before me.

@histodons #histodons #ai #highered