Roy Tsao
@RoyTsaoNYC
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Teaching political theory/philosophy at Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, + Shax & co at BC/CUNY. Bird stalker. 🏳️🌈. Now on that other site too.
Joined November 2014
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Pinned Tweet
Joshua Tree Bird of the Day: White-Throated Swift!
(bird not visible in photo)
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Chris Cooper, who made this video, is a friend of mine. The Ramble is a wooded area in Central Park with a pond & brook that is famously an oasis for resting migratory birds - which is why dogs are required to be kept on leash. Chris was asking the woman to obey the law.
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About the Arendt-Prize nonsense, I wish only to note that Hannah Arendt
(a) sharply criticized the state of Israel
(b) saw Zionism as a form of ethnic nationalism, which she strongly condemned
(c) regarded Nazism as a complex phenomenon with many partial analogues elsewhere
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why are you all talking about hannah arendt again today. have i not made it clear we don’t need to be always doing this?
i mean, fine, talk all you want about arendt. just why today on a question already discussed in detail in an article written by me
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Today at Sargent Mountain Pond- where Stephan and I got engaged, 10 years ago this month
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Since this old paper of mine on Arendt’s Origins of Totalitarianism got some attention on here today, I want tell a bit about how i came to write it- which is partly the story of the most completely unhinged academic conference I’ve ever attended. (Thread)
why are you all talking about hannah arendt again today. have i not made it clear we don’t need to be always doing this?
i mean, fine, talk all you want about arendt. just why today on a question already discussed in detail in an article written by me
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why do so many people now say "based OFF" instead of "based ON" and can this please stop.
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Behold: My fall Ancients syllabus. Plato, Aristotle, Plotinus, Augustine.
...Yep, Plotinus. Never taught him before. Hoping this will help bridge the gap between the first two big guys and Augustine. Wish me luck.
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Hiking today in the Catskills above Palenville, NY, where Hannah Arendt had a cabin.
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a minor funny thing about the Gessen affair is that nobody seems much inclined to recall that Arendt herself also got cancelled for some reporting on Israel that she wrote for the same magazine
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Did I just spend more than an hour in the thick of a fierce, anarchic snowball fight involving several hundred NYU students in Washington Square?
Yes
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Starts today - my first time teaching in person since before you-know-what. Wish me luck.
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personal/academic/sporting-news update:
just signed contract to contribute a newly-commissioned chapter for (expanded) 2nd ed. of The Cambridge Companion to Hannah Arendt
too much of my day has been the old "how-many-consecutive-pages-of-Hannah-Arendt-can-I-read without-throwing-the-book-across-the-room" Challenge.
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You know what I miss?
The moment when class is over and the students pack their books and trickle out the room, maybe one or two lingering briefly to chat or ask a question.
To be honest, it could feel a little lonely, after the last student left.
But not lonely like *this.*
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All materials for department review/promotion file now uploaded & submitted— done, out of my hands, So that’s one thing for me today.
Also it’s my birthday, so there’s also that
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Bike accident last Sat - struck by car. Fortunately I was wearing helmet. Left with assorted bruises, minor concussion.
After 2 days' lying around & eating ice cream, today I'm fully recovered- able to lead my Linnaean Society bird walk early this morning in Central Park.
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Starting work on syllabus for a new course for spring - Comparative Revolutions.
Grateful for any recommendations/suggestions
(bad books by Hannah Arendt excluded)
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Michael Oakeshott on Hannah Arendt:
"...each piece of her writing [is] not only a profoundly thought-provoking composition but also a dazzling performance..."
Pol. Sci. Quarterly 77/1 (1962), 88-90
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the joy of sharing with students one's intimate familiarity with texts of which one had only the vaguest recollection just an hour before class
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Also- how pathetically self-important this is. Like, as if the union is gonna be amenable to APSA’s pressure- ‘oh dear we better accept this management offer or else political scientists might be deprived valuable networking opportunities’
"We plan to proceed with the meeting while… continuing to stress to both the hotel coalition and UNITE HERE Local 11 the importance of settling their dispute before our meeting occurs"
APSA both-sidesism strikes again
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@janna_e_haider
they're hoping that it will all blow over in a few months, so that then they can get back to their original re-election strategy. which is nothing
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Dear friends & followers,
It’s time for me to sign off, for now. Not deleting account, or setting up elsewhere, yet— just taking a much-needed break from all this.
Grateful for the conversation & cameraderie shared with so many of you on here, & hoping the connections remain.
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Looking ahead: flyer for next semester's iteration of Modern Political Thought lecture course.
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It's always gratifying to learn that my first article (from a long time ago!) is still being read-- and even more so to find it mentioned in the same breath as landmark work in the field by
@bonnie_honig
and Patchen Markell!
(Link to the article here: )
@xgabegottliebx
Arendt chapter in "Political Theory and the Displacement of Politics" by Bonnie Honig; "Arendt's work: On the architecture of The Human Condition" by Patchen Markell; "Arendt against Athens: Rereading The Human Condition" by
@RoyTsaoNYC
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why I am I teaching Hegel tomorrow. who thought this was a good idea
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Why save capitalism, tho? that’s what guy in screenshot wants to know
(Sent to me today by finance bro incredulous at my appearing as angry OWS protester in netflix doc)
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Reminder: The Framers' idea of republican government did not involve putting up with a minority' party's bid to entrench its power by gaming the system's non-majoritarian institutions.
#Vote
. Them. Out.
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one ought to follow the example of the two rabbits
why are your tweets not as good as minima moralia's aphorisms. is it too much to ask
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For my birthday, I'm sharing my proudest public accomplishment of the past year: these Japanese anemones, now blooming in my sidewalk garden in lower Manhattan. Planted root stock in May 2020. First buds opened this past August, with new flowers continuously since then.
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hey look it’s Nathan DuFord
@nrduford
talking about the Frankfurt School at the Goethe Institut NYC. great shirt 10/10
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@washingtonkate
@chezaristote
More to the point: the FOUNTAIN'S NOT THERE ANYMORE.
A fact I note with regret, every time I'm in the new Ancient Rome gallery (site of former cafeteria).
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My 3 accomplishments for 2021:
• Presented a paper- in person!- at a major academic conference
• Successfully grew Japanese anemones, in a pot, for our sidewalk garden
• Saw 150 species of birds in New York County (145 in Manhattan)
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So, this just happened to me. Directed at
@gabrielwinant
, but with reference to my tweet recommending his article, so I'm implicated in the accusation.... Fwiw it's the first time I've ever gotten this, personally-- and tbh i'm a bit shaken.
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@washingtonkate
@chezaristote
In any case - thanks for brightening my day with this reference. I grew up a few blocks from the Met, so for much of my childhood the Frankenweiler scenario was literally my default contingency plan, should the need arise for me to ditch the parents
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When we married, in 2013, the Episcopal Church did not yet allow its Rite of Matrimony for same-sex couples. But in CT any ordained minister is licensed to perform a civil marriage, & the bishop allowed it to be performed in church. So… /1
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Stephan wishes it to be understood that he & I had already been together for 15 years before we got married in 2013
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Update: it went fine. Will be doing more of this.
why I am I teaching Hegel tomorrow. who thought this was a good idea
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happy new year, Joshua Tree
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Back home now. Had a fun trip.
Here’s one last pic of me, binoculars in hand, from a day I added 4 new species to my birding life-list (whinchat, wood warbler, tree pipit, and red-backed shrike).
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On subway to the park this morning, the woman sitting across from me was carrying binoculars, as I was I. We got to chatting; I told her my name.
"You're the famous Roy of the rare-bird-alert posts?"
I'll take it.
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Have I mentioned that in less than two weeks I'll be presenting a bold new reading of CHAPTER 13 of HOBBES's LEVIATHAN, as a featured speaker at an academic event being held in THE HAGUE?
[no reason to mention, other than liking the sound of it]
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My Central Park tally for Sunday: 66 species of birds, including 15 that I hadn’t seen before this year. A great day.
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honestly can't recall any tweet worse than the one earlier this week about fast car as anthem of 80s upward mobility. hard to conceive how worse is even possible
what a time to be alive.
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syllabus template (I wish):
"In this course we'll be reading & discussing the following books, all of which are better and more interesting than anything than I can tell you about them in advance. Regular attendance required. Papers due on dates indicated on schedule. You in?"
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Didn’t have much hope APSA would do the right thing and cancel- but frankly I’m shocked by that statement.
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Not the Illiad? If the point is inculcating traditional values shouldn’t they start with the one that’s martial and manly and tragic and oh yeah never mind, better go with the swashbuckling supernatural fantasy adventure frolic instead
New College of Florida will require all students to study the Odyssey beginning next academic year.
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Zubin Mehta conducting Brahms symphonies 1 & 2 with the the Munich Philharmonic, today at Carnegie Hall.
That's right- Zubin Mehta! Still at it, at 87. And one of the very best performance of Brahms 2nd that I've heard in a while.
a possibly surprising thing you may not know about me is my uncomplicated love for the Brahms 2nd.
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My dept (at Pratt) is keeping classes online for fall. Not the institution, not all liberal arts, just my dept.
Decision supposedly made at registrar's request - on grounds of insufficient classroom space to meet (current) social-distancing rules.
I
can't
do
this
any
longer
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All else aside - what's fun about claim that the American republic was founded on "the principles of the Enlightenment and the Age of Reason" is that it's basically an (unwitting?) acknowledgment of the fact that few of the Founders were Christians in any serious (dogmatic) sense
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My own most harshly unfavorable academic book review: Richard H. King, "Arendt & America" (Chicago 2016), in Perspectives on Politics
let me know when the book-review discourse swings around to posting highly unfavorable reviews you've written of books by more established senior scholars. I might possibly have an entry for that
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Once again a pressing question of the day puts my scholarly expertise in demand
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how I wish there was a retweet-to-the-past button, so I could share with my younger self the generous things said on here today about an article I wrote 20 ago. Nice to hear it now, but- wow, what a difference it would have made for me, then (or even 5-10 years later, tbh)
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a dept colleague tells me of recent convos she's had with mid-tier admins where they refer to us-- faculty-- as "the talent"
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reading the book The Human Condition, by Hannah Arendt, and finding it interesting
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"We're born naked, and everything else is drag."
-RuPaul
(as quoted in a long-ago grad seminar on Rousseau's Discourses)
[tweet courtesy of
@jtlevy
,
@jl_locke_
&
@alixabeth
. Image courtesy of old folder that happened to be out on desk- dug up for teaching, last week]
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An amazing thing from the past year that I never told you about:
Back in August, in Maine, I saw a bald eagle SWIM, in deep water- roughly butterfly-stroke with its wings, head bobbing. Saw it swim 100 meters or more, straight to shore. Emerged with a huge fish in its talons.
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"What is Political Theory? Evidence from Thinking Really Hard About It"
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Reminder: it was the Bush/Cheney admin that subjected suspected enemies to systematic torture and degradation, for no other purpose than to validate the conspiratorial worldview upon which its military aggression was based.
@michelleinbklyn
The comparison I'd make is that Rove was far more dangerous. Because he was never content just to live in fantasyland: he was resolutely committed to and capable of turning fantasy into reality. That's what he said, and more important, that's what he did.
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So, a question, re
@APSAtweets
WHAT WAS THE PURPOSE of requiring those of us wanting to to withdraw from the conference to inform APSA of intention to do so by August 8, if it wasn't for refunds?
[ANSWER: just to make it EASIER for them to proceed with the conference in LA]
As an (outgoing) member of the
#APSA
Council, I am beyond disappointed that the vote opposed refunding registration fees for members standing in solidarity with the
@UNITEHERE11
strike in Los Angeles.
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@DevinGoure
The first time i read Arendt’s The Human Condition I wanted to write my dissertation about it (and did), but now it’s one of my favorite works of political theory to throw against the wall.
…sorry what was the question?
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This morning I led my first-ever birding walk in Central Park for the the Linnaean Society of New York. Great fun. Started from W 72nd St at 7:30 am. We saw a total 44 species- including indigo bunting, scarlet tanager, green heron, and blackburnian warbler.
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It's been a very difficult week, for personal reasons (family-related) I'd rather not discuss, but on the bright side -
1. I took part in a really fun zoom event on Weds
2. just got my covid vax appointment for next week
3. lovely weather here
4. the ship is still stuck
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And so, Glaucon-- in the end the true city is just the friends we made along the way
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@jtlevy
no, but it may have originally. I'm guessing there were several revisions to text, putting it out of sync with cover letter
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3-hour class on Descartes Meditations 3-6 this morning... Next up- this afternoon- a 3-hour class on Part I of Hobbes's Leviathan (for a different course).
Living the dream, you say? maybe just a body in motion. I'm sure I'll have it sorted out by this evening.
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Went to a great talk yesterday at Columbia-
@bonnie_honig
on the Bacchae &the arc(hive) of refusal
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"We plan to proceed with the meeting while… continuing to stress to both the hotel coalition and UNITE HERE Local 11 the importance of settling their dispute before our meeting occurs"
APSA both-sidesism strikes again
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Once again vexed at that peculiar, perennial gap in the standard (anglophone?) political theory/history of political thought curriculum: the French Revolution, as articulated at the time (post-1789) by people who were actually French
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O little town of Bethlehem
How still we see thee lie
Above thy deep and dreamless sleep
The silent stars go by
Yet in thy dark streets shineth
The everlasting light
The hopes and fears of all the years
Are met in thee tonight
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It's entirely possible that my pre-2020 self would have been less likely to find in the prolonged obstruction of international commerce the occasion for limitless mirth.
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First page of Plato’s Republic in 1578 bilingual edition of Plato’s works by Henri Estienne (aka Stephanus)
This copy (now in Boston Public Library) was once owned by US President John Adams
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@alexeptable
I was once at a symphony concert at Carnegie Hall. Mahler’s Fifth. (Regular orch seats, not a fancy box or anything.) Near the end of the finale, I hear a guy behind me enthusiastically humming along. I turn to look over my shoulder. Paul McCartney
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rare archival photo from the author’s beach-going anarchist neo-situationist phase, on this day in the long-ago summer of 2015
(pic dredged up by fb)
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After teaching Descartes all morning, and Hobbes all afternoon, what better way for me to cap off the evening than a long twitter back-and-forth with
@CoreyRobin
about political economy (such as it is) in Plato's Republic.
(thread, if anyone's interested)
@CoreyRobin
ok but is that really about increasing *productivity*? as in, more stuff produced, or produced more efficiently isn't it rather about assuring quality, through the proper allocation of competence and attention)? isn't that different?
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Trump is now openly promising to incite mob violence on election day.
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One last picture from Maine (Sargent Mountain South Ridge, Acadia National Park).
Home now
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pretty much
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Come hang with me in Leiden to talk Arendt on March 1
With all this
#arendt
discourse, seems a perfect time to announce...:
‼️‼️SAVE THE DATE‼️‼️
Our *SIXTH* annual "Political Philosophy of Hannah Arendt" conference at Leiden (
@PolSciLeiden
) will be held on March 1, 2024.
DM if interested in participating! And please RT!
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wow I was beginning to think this site was kaputt but it turns out I just haven’t been tweeting enough about Plotinus
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hey remember when lots of people got the idea that hannah arendt was newly relevant for our time? haven't been hearing much about that, recently
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