Priya Satia (@PriyaSatia) / X

Priya Satia

4,300 posts

Priya Satia

@PriyaSatia

Raymond A. Spruance Prof. of International and History and Prof. of History, Stanford. Please find me @priyasatia.bsky.social

history.stanford.edu/people/priya-s…

Joined July 2019

Pinned
Priya Satia
@PriyaSatia
Dec 2, 2023
1/3 Empire apologists often argue that the British empire was no different from earlier empires. In @scroll_in , I explain what set modern European empire apart from the Mughals, Ottomans, Romans, etc, drawing on brilliant recent work by Nora Barakat, Gili
Priya Satia: How modern empire broke the empire mould
From scroll.in
Priya Satia
@PriyaSatia
Jun 8, 2024
Thread 1/n: My kids and I were horrified at our recent visit to New York City’s American Museum of Natural History @AMNH . It was mindboggling, after the carefully curated exhibitions at the New-York Historical Society down the street. Is this a museum or a time-capsule? Why are
Priya Satia
@PriyaSatia
Mar 1, 2024
Canceled @nytimes subscription. After decades of shoddy reporting enabling the War on Terror. They now run frontpage genocide-enabling fake news by racist anti-journalists—the equivalent of Uncle WhatsApp forwards at this point. Dishonor to the entire enterprise of journalism.
Priya Satia
@PriyaSatia
May 26, 2021
This is going to be good--out January 2022:
Priya Satia
@PriyaSatia
Dec 11, 2023
Universities have not suddenly become politicized, whatever wokephobics claim. Universities have never been neutral. Knowledge has never been neutral. Anyone who claims they once were or ever can be is speaking from ignorance, stupidity, dishonesty, or some mix of these. 1/n
Priya Satia
@PriyaSatia
Jun 8, 2024
Replying to @PriyaSatia
5/n “the need to update” them. No indication of when this will happen; meanwhile, the gallery is a museum of a 1980 museum. The curator was (& evidently still is) an archaeologist who worked for Gen. MacArthur in Japan. No one, since 1980, thought his curation should be updated?
Priya Satia
@PriyaSatia
Jun 8, 2024
Replying to @PriyaSatia
20/20 fact, such singular reconsideration of just one scene creates the impression that the rest are somehow tolerable & fine. What are they waiting for? Tickets for entry are expensive. They are raking it in, undeservedly, while neglecting the primary task of museums: curation.
Priya Satia
@PriyaSatia
Jun 8, 2024
Replying to @PriyaSatia
6/n Even the wall note explaining the inaccuracy of anthropologists’ assumptions of the simplicity of Asia’s “primitive cultures” doesn’t question that they are “primitive cultures." The note adorns a room showcasing, as though forever frozen in time, such “primitive” cultures.
Priya Satia
@PriyaSatia
Jun 8, 2024
Replying to @PriyaSatia
2/n thousands of people visiting as if it’s a serious place? This thread is to raise awareness of this embarrassing museum in one of the most important US cities, urge visitors to avoid this tourist trap, & insist that the museum make outrageously overdue curatorial updates.
Priya Satia
@PriyaSatia
Jun 8, 2024
Replying to @PriyaSatia
4/n Not sure that’s true, but yes there was a lot of orientalist and racist packaging of information, and there’s now more pushback in the US against racist depictions of Asians. The placard explains that the displays “reflect the thinking of different times,” and AMHS recognizes
Priya Satia
@PriyaSatia
Jun 8, 2024
Replying to @PriyaSatia
3/n The placard at the entry to the Hall of Asian Peoples explains that the exhibit debuted in 1980. That there’s going to be something weird ahead is clear by the vague assurance that “most Americans had more limited access to information on Asian cultures than they do today."
Priya Satia
@PriyaSatia
Mar 30, 2022
My essay for @Slate on why the balance-sheet approach is not helpful for understanding the history of European imperialism (despite what the British government says). Hope teachers will find this a useful resource. Thanks @rebeccaonion for excellent edits.
One Tool of “Critical Thinking” That’s Done More Harm Than Good
From slate.com
Priya Satia
@PriyaSatia
Mar 1, 2021
Gobsmacked to be quoted by the Pres. of Ireland @PresidentIRL . The whole 25 min address (see text link) is a stunning affirmation of the anticolonial work of humanists & historians--as the UK govt shallowly & harmfully dismisses calls to reckon with the past. Bless the Irish!❤️
President of Ireland
@PresidentIRL
Feb 28, 2021
Quote from the President’s speech at the second #Machnamh100 seminar. Watch the President’s address here: youtu.be/T7FE4vJrrRI, or read the text via president.ie/en/media-libra…
00:00
Priya Satia
@PriyaSatia
Jun 8, 2024
Replying to @PriyaSatia
14/n “Islamic civilization arose primarily out of Arab respect for Greek and Roman accomplishments.”