Writer, observer, educator, anthropologist, sourdough baker, gardener, linguistic anthropologist. Obsessive about the planet, politics, justice, health. Fascinated by humans. Photo by jan_huber on unsplashhttps://bsky.app/profile/susandblum.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/susandblum.bsky.social/post/3mrkuhur3y22aRead my latest Substack post, inspired by Amelia Thomas’s book What Sheep Think About the Weather, and applying principles of autonomy to both animal and human learning. https://susandblum.substack.com/p/motivation-through-play-not-through?r=hhw26 Jul 2026 17:05 +0000at://did:plc:6vxj3nnlzfws7o7qrpld5vgk/app.bsky.feed.post/3mrkuhur3y22ahttps://bsky.app/profile/susandblum.bsky.social/post/3mol7wt3unc2lWatch the opening of the Obama Center! https://www.obama.org/visit/grand-opening/livestream/18 Jun 2026 16:14 +0000at://did:plc:6vxj3nnlzfws7o7qrpld5vgk/app.bsky.feed.post/3mol7wt3unc2lhttps://bsky.app/profile/susandblum.bsky.social/post/3mmruamxxnc2zMy latest Substack, about what college is for. Battle of the Paradigms: What is College for in a Cynical Age? https://open.substack.com/pub/susandblum/p/battle-of-the-paradigms-what-is-college?r=hhw&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true26 May 2026 20:43 +0000at://did:plc:6vxj3nnlzfws7o7qrpld5vgk/app.bsky.feed.post/3mmruamxxnc2zhttps://bsky.app/profile/susandblum.bsky.social/post/3mmdf2jjbqs2zMy latest Substack post, in response to the attempt by Harvard to limit the number of A grades #HigherEd #Assessment #Grades https://open.substack.com/pub/susandblum/p/oh-harvard-limiting-as-is-not-it?r=hhw&utm_campaign=post&utm_me21 May 2026 02:34 +0000at://did:plc:6vxj3nnlzfws7o7qrpld5vgk/app.bsky.feed.post/3mmdf2jjbqs2zhttps://bsky.app/profile/susandblum.bsky.social/post/3ml4prqagos24I participated in an hour-long conversation titled “What is College for Today?”with Nicole Lynn Lewis and Paul LeBlanc, moderated by Anya Kamenetz, and hosted by Frederique Rigoulot, on the Cambridge Forum platform. You can listen to us here! https://cambridgeforum.org/what-is-college-for-today/ #HigherEd05 May 2026 17:32 +0000at://did:plc:6vxj3nnlzfws7o7qrpld5vgk/app.bsky.feed.post/3ml4prqagos24https://bsky.app/profile/susandblum.bsky.social/post/3mkzocsrsm22rI had a great time talking with two Catholic theologians, Alessandro Rovati and Jason Heron, about ungrading and schoolishness and morality. I absolutely see education as a moral project. You can listen to us (and watch us) here! https://open.substack.com/pub/catholicmoraltheology/p/from-coercion-to-fascination-moving?utm_source=direct&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web04 May 2026 12:28 +0000at://did:plc:6vxj3nnlzfws7o7qrpld5vgk/app.bsky.feed.post/3mkzocsrsm22rhttps://bsky.app/profile/susandblum.bsky.social/post/3mjhpftduys2wI wrote a piece on Substack about the closing of Hampshire College. Such a sad end of an era. https://open.substack.com/pub/susandblum/p/on-hearing-of-hampshire-colleges?r=hhw&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true14 Apr 2026 15:34 +0000at://did:plc:6vxj3nnlzfws7o7qrpld5vgk/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjhpftduys2whttps://bsky.app/profile/susandblum.bsky.social/post/3mffjsyxbfk2j"A Priest, a Scientist, and a Humanist Walk into a Classroom"--or to least we had a conversation about learning! (I'm the humanist) With Ji Son, Louis DelFra, and others at the U of Notre Dame, Inst for Educational Initiatives, Center for Educational Research and Action. https://youtu.be/ec0LbZq4ChA?si=hHK2sk-oZdv02_T421 Feb 2026 21:08 +0000at://did:plc:6vxj3nnlzfws7o7qrpld5vgk/app.bsky.feed.post/3mffjsyxbfk2jhttps://bsky.app/profile/susandblum.bsky.social/post/3meotl7qgck2bIs pedagogy a moral project? Check out my latest Substack post! https://susandblum.substack.com/p/is-pedagogy-a-moral-project?r=hhw12 Feb 2026 20:32 +0000at://did:plc:6vxj3nnlzfws7o7qrpld5vgk/app.bsky.feed.post/3meotl7qgck2bhttps://bsky.app/profile/susandblum.bsky.social/post/3mc5thmqt2c26Here's my latest Substack post, titled "The Polycrisis: How to Face Teaching in 2026." https://open.substack.com/pub/susandblum/p/the-polycrisis?r=hhw&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true #education #pedagogy #polycrisis11 Jan 2026 15:24 +0000at://did:plc:6vxj3nnlzfws7o7qrpld5vgk/app.bsky.feed.post/3mc5thmqt2c26https://bsky.app/profile/susandblum.bsky.social/post/3mbyoh2yqcc26I'm so honored that you are engaging with my book! @cornellupress.bsky.social [contains quote post or other embedded content]09 Jan 2026 14:11 +0000at://did:plc:6vxj3nnlzfws7o7qrpld5vgk/app.bsky.feed.post/3mbyoh2yqcc26https://bsky.app/profile/susandblum.bsky.social/post/3m6xnzah26c27Democracy, Debates, December: On a good day....(My latest Substack post) Democracy requires disagreement, disagreement requires debate, and debate requires practice: the role of education. https://susandblum.substack.com/p/democracy-debates-december?r=hhw02 Dec 2025 00:15 +0000at://did:plc:6vxj3nnlzfws7o7qrpld5vgk/app.bsky.feed.post/3m6xnzah26c27https://bsky.app/profile/susandblum.bsky.social/post/3m6hdpp2fos26I had a wonderful conversation with @Trevor Aleo about my latest book, #Schoolishness: Alienated Education and the Quest for Authentic, Joyful Learning, and you can listen to us on his podcast, Conceptually Speaking. https://open.substack.com/pub/trevoraleo/p/dr-susan-blum-talks-schoolishness?r=hhw&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false25 Nov 2025 12:28 +0000at://did:plc:6vxj3nnlzfws7o7qrpld5vgk/app.bsky.feed.post/3m6hdpp2fos26https://bsky.app/profile/susandblum.bsky.social/post/3m4nwbf5cx22wI just came across a new review of my book Schoolishness: Alienated Education and the Quest for Authentic, Joyful Learning. The reviewer, Jake Mattox, appreciated the wide reading in multiple areas that accompanied my manifesto/tirade/prayer. https://radicalteacher.library.pitt.edu/ojs/radicalteacher/article/view/1436/94302 Nov 2025 16:26 +0000at://did:plc:6vxj3nnlzfws7o7qrpld5vgk/app.bsky.feed.post/3m4nwbf5cx22whttps://bsky.app/profile/susandblum.bsky.social/post/3m3mym4glqs2h@hcrichardson.bsky.social writes, "What is left when a system loses the give and take of politics is force." October 19, 2025 https://open.substack.com/pub/heathercoxrichardson/p/october-19-2025?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email20 Oct 2025 14:10 +0000at://did:plc:6vxj3nnlzfws7o7qrpld5vgk/app.bsky.feed.post/3m3mym4glqs2hhttps://bsky.app/profile/susandblum.bsky.social/post/3m2qyojvww225AntiFa = Anti-Fascist. If you’re opposing this, you’re ProFa, = Pro-Fascist, or possibly Anti-Anti-Fascist. I know where I stand. https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/fascism-109 Oct 2025 10:56 +0000at://did:plc:6vxj3nnlzfws7o7qrpld5vgk/app.bsky.feed.post/3m2qyojvww225https://bsky.app/profile/susandblum.bsky.social/post/3m2om45y2m2221/2 The absurd conclusion of all this GenAI stuff is faculty creating courses entirely w AI; students completing assignments w agentive AI; faculty grading w AI. No humans need be changed in this process. No learning will be required. Easy peasy. #GenerativeAI08 Oct 2025 12:06 +0000at://did:plc:6vxj3nnlzfws7o7qrpld5vgk/app.bsky.feed.post/3m2om45y2m222https://bsky.app/profile/susandblum.bsky.social/post/3m2k2ibqytk2oMy student-led team, schoolstorylab.com, has just rec'd IRB approval for this yr’s project, an inquiry into READING. (We built on @liznorell.bsky.social's survey.) It will take less than 10 min. & is open to ANY STUDENT in ANY COUNTRY, 18 years or older. Plz share widely! https://forms.gle/yscpm2vubiEHdh9M7 https://schoolstorylab.com06 Oct 2025 16:40 +0000at://did:plc:6vxj3nnlzfws7o7qrpld5vgk/app.bsky.feed.post/3m2k2ibqytk2ohttps://bsky.app/profile/susandblum.bsky.social/post/3lzy5kqow3k2aThe world we desire will not come about unless we dream it first. Here are some thoughts about higher education. #highereducation https://open.substack.com/pub/susandblum/p/magic-wand?r=hhw&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true29 Sep 2025 13:47 +0000at://did:plc:6vxj3nnlzfws7o7qrpld5vgk/app.bsky.feed.post/3lzy5kqow3k2ahttps://bsky.app/profile/susandblum.bsky.social/post/3lzb726cugs2rhttps://www.noemamag.com/the-last-days-of-social-media “The last days of social media might be the first days of something more human: a web that remembers why we came online in the first place — not to be harvested but to be heard, not to go viral but to find our people, not to scroll but to connect.”20 Sep 2025 10:43 +0000at://did:plc:6vxj3nnlzfws7o7qrpld5vgk/app.bsky.feed.post/3lzb726cugs2rhttps://bsky.app/profile/susandblum.bsky.social/post/3lyyilmht4k2mRelease the Epstein Files. They are filled with disgusting depravity but we need to know [contains quote post or other embedded content]16 Sep 2025 23:39 +0000at://did:plc:6vxj3nnlzfws7o7qrpld5vgk/app.bsky.feed.post/3lyyilmht4k2mhttps://bsky.app/profile/susandblum.bsky.social/post/3lyjjjr3l7c25This new book, The Ungraded Classroom, edited by Carlo Ricci and Gina Riley (with a foreword by @susandblum), has just been published! It has many examples, beautifully and honestly presented, of ways educators have included ungrading in their classrooms. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FQHZKJZQ/ref=monarch_sidesheet_title#detailBullets_feature_div11 Sep 2025 00:46 +0000at://did:plc:6vxj3nnlzfws7o7qrpld5vgk/app.bsky.feed.post/3lyjjjr3l7c25