Out today!

Anyone who studies Chinese history will get a kick out of this AI "overview." I absolutely cannot take this crap seriously.

The Khan and the Unicorn — Harvard University Press The Mongol Empire changed the world, but early chronicles of its conquests, written from regional perspectives and widely dispersed, could not convey its far-reaching significance. The Khan and the Un...

www.hup.harvard.edu/books/978067...

If you're interested in intellectual and political shifts enabled by the Qing Empire's translation institutions, and their reverberations across early modern Eurasia. Available soon.

I was tipped off by a contact in "deep library."

Me filling out the QS Global Academic Survey, thinking back over all the schools I've visited.

"Men make their own password, but they do not make it as they please; they do not make it under self-selected circumstances, but under circumstances existing already, the need for one number, capital letter, and special character."

Fight fiercely, Harvard, fight, fight, fight!

Google the alleged Confucian quotation "The strength of a nation is derived from the integrity of its homes" (= 欲治其國者, 先齊其家?) and you'll discover that a Confucianism-US conservatism nexus exists in the hokiest possible form.

Canada's smartest people: "We're outraged by talk of making Canada the 51st state! Let us remind you of one little thing: our country is chockablock full of crucial petroleum, hydroelectricity, uranium, and potash the USA can't live without. Yeah, meditate on that for a while, eh! Checkmate."

We are proud to announce a new Taiwan Studies track of the East Asia MA degree at the University of Washington. This would be the first graduate program in Taiwan Studies in North America and the second in the world. Apply by Jan 31 for fall 2025 admission: jsis.washington.edu/taiwan/acade...

Just discovered that my phone autocorrects Zheng to Zhang. Congratulations, Zhangs, that's a real power move! (Obviously congratulating both halves of the 張/章s condominium.)

Based on my inbox, there are now apparently (at least) two competing businesses offering to write Wikipedia pages for academics. Spiel almost word-for-word, so maybe the first company rebranded and changed its alias, but as believer in karma I'd like to think someone just stole the idea and blurb.

Wu Tingfang on Canada, 1914

Battle against graduate admissions websites requiring recommenders to create login and password is slowly being won. Visited about 20 so far this year, only Michigan and Northwestern are on the walk of shame.