American Campus Podcast

A DEI victory Mississippi! Plus, JT Thomas explains what's wrong with Diversity, Inc.

References and suggested readings:

• James M. Thomas. 2020. Diversity Regimes: Why Talk Is Not Enough to Fix Racial Inequality at Universities. Rutgers University Press. 
• James M. Thomas. 2023. The Souls of Jewish Folks: W. E. B. Du Bois, Anti-Semitism, and the Color Line. University of Georgia Press.
• James M. Thomas. August 14, 2025. “‘It’s a complicated time to be a white Southerner’ − and their views on race reflect that.” The Conversation.
• Brammhi Balaraja. March 24, 2025. “Federal judge rules that drag show events can take place on Texas A&M.” Chron. 
• “Confrontation between teenager wearing MAGA hat and Native American protestor.” ABC News. YouTube.
• ACLU Press Release. June 20, 2025. “Federal Appeals Court Rules Against Louisiana Law Requiring Public Schools to Display Ten Commandments in Every Classroom.” 
• Bryan D. Jones. 2025. The Southern Fault Line: How Race, Class, and Region Shaped One Family’s History. Oxford University Press.
• Vincent O. Carter. 2025. Such Sweet Thunder: A Novel. Penguin Random House.
• Follow JT Thomas on Instagram and Bluesky

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From tolerance to land acknowledgements.

References mentioned this episode:

• Nimisha Barton. 2024. A Just Future: Getting from Diversity and Inclusion to Equity and Justice in Higher Education. Cornell University Press.
• Nimisha Barton’s website
• James M. Thomas. 2020. Diversity Regimes: Why Talk is Not Enough to Fix Racial Inequality at Universities. Rutgers University Press.
• Will Kymlica. 2007. Multicultural Odysseys: Navigating the New International Politics of Diversity. Oxford University Press.
• Sara Ahmed. 2012. On Being Included: Racism and Diversity in Institutional Life. Duke University Press. 
• Jennifer S. Furlong and Stacy M. Hartman. June 10, 2025. “How to Have ‘The Talk’ with Your Adviser.” Chronicle of Higher Education.
• Ruth Wilson Gilmore. 2023. Abolition Geography: Essays Toward Liberation. Verso Books. 
• Kelly Hayes and Miriame Kaba. 2023. Let this Radicalize You: Organizing and the Revolution of Reciprocal Care. Haymarket Books.
• Dean Spade. 2020. Mutual Aid: Building Solidarity Through This Crisis (and the Next). Verso Books. 
• Maya Wind. 2024. Towers of Ivory and Steel: How Israeli Universities Deny Palestinian Freedom. Verso Books.
• Barry M. Goldenberg. 2025. Strength through Diversity: Harlem Prep and the Rise of Multiculturalism. Rutgers University Press.
• Lauren Lassabe Shepherd. October 23, 2023. “The History Behind The Right’s Efforts to Take Over American Universities.” TIME Magazine.
• Daniel Bessner and Michael Brenes. April 26, 2019. “A Moral Stain on the Profession.” Chronicle of Higher Education. 

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The Chicago boys would have loved digital assets. 

References and suggested readings:

• Alan Blinder and Steven Rich. August 25, 2025. The Typical College Student Is Not Who You Think. New York Times. (Strongly recommend reading the comments)
• Teddy Gania. March 19, 2025. UChicago Lost Money On Crypto, Then Froze Research When Federal Funding Was Cut. The Stanford Review.
• Richard J. Evans. 2005. The Coming of the Third Reich. Penguin Books.
• Marshall Steinbaum’s website, Twitter, and Bluesky

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College, a nice time for nice ladies.

References mentioned this episode:

• Samuel Rutherford. 2025. Teaching Gender: The British University and the Rise of Heterosexuality, 1860–1939. Oxford University Press. 
• Sam’s website with a trans history reading list and a student handout for how to read in graduate level courses
• Emily Cousens. 2025. Virginia Prince, Robert Stoller and the Trans Feminist Intellectual History of the Sex/Gender Distinction. History Workshop Journal.
• After Weimar; Beyond Hirschfeld? Nostalgia, Hagiography and What Comes Next. German History, 43(2). June 2025.
• Sam’s Bluesky @echomikeromeo 

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A human history of ed tech

References mentioned this episode:

• Anne Trumbore. 2025. The Teacher in the Machine: A Human History of Education Technology. Princeton University Press.
• Anne Trumbore’s website
• Anne Trumbore’s LinkedIn
• Timothy Burke. August 7, 2025. Academia: GPT University. Eight by Seven.
• Han Kang. 2025. We Do Not Part. Hogarth. Translated by e. yaewon and Paige Aniyah Morris.

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On making our academic writing a little more reader friendly.

References mentioned this episode:

• Laura Portwood-Stacer. 2025. Make Your Manuscript Work: A Guide to Developmental Editing for Scholarly Writers. Princeton University Press.
• Laura Portwood-Stacer. 2021. The Book Proposal Book: A Guide for Scholarly Authors. Princeton University Press.
• LauraPortwoodStacer.com
• Manuscript Works Newsletter
• Elizabeth Wayland Barber. 2024. Women’s Work: The First 20,000 Years. W. W. Norton.
• Charles C. Mann. 2006. 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus (2nd edition). Penguin Random House.
• Kenneth L. Feder. 2025. Native America: The Story of the First Peoples. Princeton University Press.

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And, do US academics face a similar situation today?

References mentioned this episode:

• Frank Stahnisch. 2025. Great Minds in Despair: The Forced Migration of German-Speaking Neuroscientists to North America, 1933 to 1989. McGill-Queen’s University Press.
• Susan E. Cayleff. 2016. Nature's Path: A History of Naturopathic Healing in America. Johns Hopkins University Press.
• Christopher Lawrence and George Weisz, eds. 1998. Holism: Greater Than the Parts: Holism in Biomedicine, 1920-1950. Oxford University Press. 
• Kenneth J. Zahorski. 1994. The Sabbatical Mentor: A Practical Guide to Successful Sabbaticals. Anker Pub Co. 
• Frank Stahnisch’s faculty page

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We forgot to mention Bob Jones was the son of a Confederate veteran.

References mentioned this episode:

• Adam Laats’s website
• Adam Laats. April 28, 2025. Trump Is Out for Revenge. The Chronicle of Higher Education.
• Jim Fraser. 2025. Religion and the American University. Johns Hopkins University Press.

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On the creation of the statistical tests we often use in human behavioral research, especially in the fields of psychology, education, economics, and political science.

References mentioned this episode:

• Akira O’Connor and Erin Robbins. 2024.Colonised Minds: Narratives that Shape Psychology. Sage.
• Akira O’Connor’s website: aoc.omg.lol
• Resources from Culture Club

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From Johnson’s Great Society to Clinton’s crime bill, Reiko Hillyer discusses the “rise and fall” of higher education in US prisons. Plus, she shares her experience as a professor who teaches in prisons.

References mentioned this episode:

• Reiko Hillyer. 2024. A Wall is Just a Wall: The Permeability of the Prison in 20th Century America. Duke University Press.
• Piper Hutchinson. May 2, 2025. “Guts, glory and opportunity on the outside.” Louisiana Illuminator.
• Classroom 4 film https://www.classroom4film.com/ 
• Mneesha Gellman. 2022. Education Behind the Wall: Why and How We Teach in Prison. Brandeis University Press.
• Justin McDevitt and Mneesha Gellman. 2024. Unlocking Learning: International Perspectives on Education in Prison. Brandeis University Press.
• Lyndsay Faye. 2019. The Paragon Hotel. G. P. Putnam’s Sons.
• Attica Locke. 2012. The Cutting Season. Amistad.

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