Associate Professor of Social Studies Education, Warner School @ the University of Rochester. Teacher education. Youth political thinking and development. Perpetual learner of things. Enjoyment enthusiast.https://bsky.app/profile/kevinmeuwissen.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/kevinmeuwissen.bsky.social/post/3mvfulbmfk222First, publicly funded research has allowed these people to build their private tech empires. Second, this is something rich, powerful people start saying only when they believe that “slowing down and returning power to the people” might temper future popular uprisings against them. [contains quote post or other embedded content]13 Sep 2026 15:04 +0000at://did:plc:jymd324ieewu5fm6kvv5tkv4/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvfulbmfk222https://bsky.app/profile/kevinmeuwissen.bsky.social/post/3mrgedhs7yc24I used to teach about memorialization, asking students to study monuments from three POVs: (1) the memorialized figure/event; (2) the context in which the artifact was constructed; (3) the present view of both (1) and (2). Now add (4): the nature and aims of fascistic modification of the artifact. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/24/arts/design/smithsonian-signs-trump-executive-order.html?unlocked_article_code=1.0FA.4PQk.YBIbVPcJElJA&smid=url-share24 Jul 2026 22:05 +0000at://did:plc:jymd324ieewu5fm6kvv5tkv4/app.bsky.feed.post/3mrgedhs7yc24https://bsky.app/profile/kevinmeuwissen.bsky.social/post/3mpofswbkhc22When I taught middle school, students discussed what metaphor best conceptualizes immigration in the US: melting pot, tile mosaic, tossed salad, or something else they proposed. They neither confused a melting pot with a soup pot nor imagined a tossed salad as “nice and composed.” Middle-schoolers.02 Jul 2026 16:03 +0000at://did:plc:jymd324ieewu5fm6kvv5tkv4/app.bsky.feed.post/3mpofswbkhc22https://bsky.app/profile/kevinmeuwissen.bsky.social/post/3mpo7skz57222This is, all at once, a strong empirical and normative argument; a clear and powerful representation of a persistent political problem space; and a fantastic example for new scholars of how to communicate an idea simply and concisely, using language that resonates across audiences. [contains quote post or other embedded content]02 Jul 2026 14:15 +0000at://did:plc:jymd324ieewu5fm6kvv5tkv4/app.bsky.feed.post/3mpo7skz57222https://bsky.app/profile/kevinmeuwissen.bsky.social/post/3moguo4q7bc2cTime capsule: June 16, 2026 - a case of how one group of Dartmouth undergrads and their professor feel about AI in higher education at the end of their creative writing course. Wonder how the narratives look comparatively when I dig up this post five years from now. (Or five months from now.) [contains quote post or other embedded content]16 Jun 2026 22:42 +0000at://did:plc:jymd324ieewu5fm6kvv5tkv4/app.bsky.feed.post/3moguo4q7bc2chttps://bsky.app/profile/kevinmeuwissen.bsky.social/post/3mnevhrfpwk2nIncredibly useful guidance, here, on how to address OMB’s disastrous rule that would replace peer review of grant proposals with arbitrary decisions by political appointees and constrain international collaborations; but also great advice on writing public comments, in general. https://elizabethginexi.substack.com/p/what-we-need-to-do-next-ombs-proposed03 Jun 2026 10:26 +0000at://did:plc:jymd324ieewu5fm6kvv5tkv4/app.bsky.feed.post/3mnevhrfpwk2nhttps://bsky.app/profile/kevinmeuwissen.bsky.social/post/3mmattnlpe22jThe 2026 Social Studies Teacher’s Challenge: honestly and accurately address Trump’s corruption and criminality with teenagers while meeting school districts’ expectations of “balance” and partisan impartiality. [contains quote post or other embedded content]20 May 2026 02:21 +0000at://did:plc:jymd324ieewu5fm6kvv5tkv4/app.bsky.feed.post/3mmattnlpe22jhttps://bsky.app/profile/kevinmeuwissen.bsky.social/post/3mm2knvho2s2oThoughtful thread that addresses nostalgia for slow, cautious, evidentiary truth; collapsing trust in knowledge-making institutions; and the need to learn (and teach) new ways to evaluate and curate credible, accurate sources in an increasingly information-disordered civil society. [contains quote post or other embedded content]17 May 2026 14:20 +0000at://did:plc:jymd324ieewu5fm6kvv5tkv4/app.bsky.feed.post/3mm2knvho2s2ohttps://bsky.app/profile/kevinmeuwissen.bsky.social/post/3mknad2h55c2aDo frequent baseless indictments motivated by political vengeance erode trust in the legal system, more broadly? And if so, are indictments like these cultivating a narrative of legal bias and failure that will thwart future efforts to prosecute actual present-day corruption and criminality? [contains quote post or other embedded content]29 Apr 2026 13:46 +0000at://did:plc:jymd324ieewu5fm6kvv5tkv4/app.bsky.feed.post/3mknad2h55c2ahttps://bsky.app/profile/kevinmeuwissen.bsky.social/post/3mjrgjzjxus2tSCOTUS is a super-legislature made up of a few lifetime presidential appointees who fundamentally remake or negate laws and executive actions via secretly arbitrated, one-page decisions for which they are entirely unaccountable to the public. America’s most anti-democratic institution. https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/18/us/politics/supreme-court-shadow-docket.html?unlocked_article_code=1.b1A.jgDT.eWE-CJoHgSfb&smid=nytcore-ios-share18 Apr 2026 12:22 +0000at://did:plc:jymd324ieewu5fm6kvv5tkv4/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjrgjzjxus2thttps://bsky.app/profile/kevinmeuwissen.bsky.social/post/3mjovv2ijfs2uGreat thread. Ironically, those in higher ed who recognize and have encouraged leaders to fight back against exogenous political attacks that erode trust - rather than ignore, exclusively look inward, and/or self-flagellate - may find the Yale report and NYT story at least somewhat untrustworthy. [contains quote post or other embedded content]17 Apr 2026 12:19 +0000at://did:plc:jymd324ieewu5fm6kvv5tkv4/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjovv2ijfs2uhttps://bsky.app/profile/kevinmeuwissen.bsky.social/post/3mjkagg77vc2jIn 2006, US Senate candidate George Allen’s (R-VA) campaign effectively ended when he flippantly referred to an Indian man named SR Sidarth, who volunteered for his opponent’s campaign, as “Macaca” - and then tried to blow it off with various excuses and a fake diversity rally. [contains quote post or other embedded content]15 Apr 2026 15:44 +0000at://did:plc:jymd324ieewu5fm6kvv5tkv4/app.bsky.feed.post/3mjkagg77vc2jhttps://bsky.app/profile/kevinmeuwissen.bsky.social/post/3miw2skrerc2gSocial studies educators, today would be a good day for an impromptu department meeting to share ideas about, set up systems of communication for, and seek administrative support in addressing this with your students in real time, tomorrow and beyond. 1/4 [contains quote post or other embedded content]07 Apr 2026 15:11 +0000at://did:plc:jymd324ieewu5fm6kvv5tkv4/app.bsky.feed.post/3miw2skrerc2ghttps://bsky.app/profile/kevinmeuwissen.bsky.social/post/3mitdocixb22ySource material for an inquiry-based unit of instruction in a high school government class, centered around the question, “How have Americans’ conceptions of what qualifies and disqualifies a presidential candidate changed over time?” https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/final-exam-for-the-class-what-a-presidential-candidate-can-and-cannot-survive-apparently-taught-by-howard-dean06 Apr 2026 13:11 +0000at://did:plc:jymd324ieewu5fm6kvv5tkv4/app.bsky.feed.post/3mitdocixb22yhttps://bsky.app/profile/kevinmeuwissen.bsky.social/post/3milxwkag7k27Exactly right. This headline and the “vibes” behind it reinforce ignorance of clear, compelling evidence that, when people across SES groups collectively press to win public-educational goods for their communities, those goods benefit everyone - particularly lower-SES community members. [contains quote post or other embedded content]03 Apr 2026 14:52 +0000at://did:plc:jymd324ieewu5fm6kvv5tkv4/app.bsky.feed.post/3milxwkag7k27https://bsky.app/profile/kevinmeuwissen.bsky.social/post/3mhsd66bjdc2sKey findings: youth aren’t very interested in news; more watch videos on social media and listen to podcasts than read; those who read increasingly use AI chatbots as sources. What are the implications for K-12 educators? Two concerns: issue impermanence, impacts on source credibility evaluations. [contains quote post or other embedded content]24 Mar 2026 10:04 +0000at://did:plc:jymd324ieewu5fm6kvv5tkv4/app.bsky.feed.post/3mhsd66bjdc2shttps://bsky.app/profile/kevinmeuwissen.bsky.social/post/3mhq76jelo224@elizabethreynolds.bsky.social and Sarah McGrew (2025, J. Learning Sci.) suggest we might help youth evaluate conflicting online media like this by focusing on three frames: gut checks for plausibility, valuing what credible others think, inspecting modes of communication and evidentiary grounds.23 Mar 2026 13:48 +0000at://did:plc:jymd324ieewu5fm6kvv5tkv4/app.bsky.feed.post/3mhq76jelo224https://bsky.app/profile/kevinmeuwissen.bsky.social/post/3mfjqoerpoc2nAnyone who’s been on an athletic team knows this asshole. Awkwardly and inappropriately inserts himself into celebratory moments as if he’s part of them, but has none of the talent or perseverance, has done none of the work, has sustained none of the risk, has contributed nothing to team community. [contains quote post or other embedded content]23 Feb 2026 13:22 +0000at://did:plc:jymd324ieewu5fm6kvv5tkv4/app.bsky.feed.post/3mfjqoerpoc2nhttps://bsky.app/profile/kevinmeuwissen.bsky.social/post/3mf2ilgnn2s2gThis thread presents a well substantiated critical reading of an uplifty-framed op-ed by an elite actor in the “education industry” whose motivations and impacts are less uplifty than the op-ed’s headline would suggest. [contains quote post or other embedded content]17 Feb 2026 11:47 +0000at://did:plc:jymd324ieewu5fm6kvv5tkv4/app.bsky.feed.post/3mf2ilgnn2s2ghttps://bsky.app/profile/kevinmeuwissen.bsky.social/post/3md76xnnzis2xImage analysis task for teachers: split this into separate segments; ask students to describe the part of each segment that holds their attention most, and why. Responses might include one slob’s split pants; another’s retro Nikes; a cloud of gas; a pinned protester, face caked in yellow chemicals. [contains quote post or other embedded content]24 Jan 2026 21:48 +0000at://did:plc:jymd324ieewu5fm6kvv5tkv4/app.bsky.feed.post/3md76xnnzis2xhttps://bsky.app/profile/kevinmeuwissen.bsky.social/post/3md3jdzeqr22jSocial studies teachers: for a task on how political cartoons elicit affective responses. Create a “stronger-weaker” scale; have students place cartoons, compare placements, discuss what text qualities/devices prompted those placements and how their placements correspond with types of response. [contains quote post or other embedded content]23 Jan 2026 10:43 +0000at://did:plc:jymd324ieewu5fm6kvv5tkv4/app.bsky.feed.post/3md3jdzeqr22jhttps://bsky.app/profile/kevinmeuwissen.bsky.social/post/3mcwkfrfrq227Powerful data visualizations, here. In 2025, “the Trump administration disproportionally cancelled or froze [nearly 8,000] projects on topics it disfavours, such as misinformation, vaccine hesitancy, infectious diseases and research on people from under-represented ethnic and gender groups.” https://www.nature.com/immersive/d41586-026-00088-9/index.html21 Jan 2026 11:19 +0000at://did:plc:jymd324ieewu5fm6kvv5tkv4/app.bsky.feed.post/3mcwkfrfrq227https://bsky.app/profile/kevinmeuwissen.bsky.social/post/3mc3occofok2vIt would be great if wealthy, powerful, amoral elites who control mass discourse spaces didn’t get to hijack language and its implications for everyone else. Speech has limits. “No nonconsensual nudes” is LEGITIMATE censorship, legally and ethically. [contains quote post or other embedded content]10 Jan 2026 18:46 +0000at://did:plc:jymd324ieewu5fm6kvv5tkv4/app.bsky.feed.post/3mc3occofok2vhttps://bsky.app/profile/kevinmeuwissen.bsky.social/post/3ma4rhh6y722pPlease, stop posing these kinds of “will [authoritarian move] serve the public good or right-wing political aims?” questions. If “question = real,” then it reveals journalists’ inattention, uncriticality, and lack of credibility. If “question = not actually real,” then why ask it? [contains quote post or other embedded content]16 Dec 2025 18:25 +0000at://did:plc:jymd324ieewu5fm6kvv5tkv4/app.bsky.feed.post/3ma4rhh6y722phttps://bsky.app/profile/kevinmeuwissen.bsky.social/post/3m7n76tv3kc2uPew’s “striking findings” reports are great resources for comparing what issues are salient year over year, and what we’re learning about them. An opportunity for teachers to ask students, “what are your take-aways from 2025; and how does ‘what’s significant’ now compare to, say, 2023 or 2021?” https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/12/09/striking-findings-from-2025/10 Dec 2025 13:48 +0000at://did:plc:jymd324ieewu5fm6kvv5tkv4/app.bsky.feed.post/3m7n76tv3kc2uhttps://bsky.app/profile/kevinmeuwissen.bsky.social/post/3m5o4yg7h3c2uCountry and Christian pop/rock will be the two genres most quickly permeated by AI slop because adherents don’t care much whether the music’s any good; it just needs to appeal to their worldviews, make them feel connected to other adherents, and sound like stuff that already exists. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2025/nov/13/ai-music-spotify-billboard-charts15 Nov 2025 11:51 +0000at://did:plc:jymd324ieewu5fm6kvv5tkv4/app.bsky.feed.post/3m5o4yg7h3c2u