Mary Lewis

@profmarylewis

Historian of France and its overseas empire. Living on unceded Pequossette land. Researching the French Empire after the Haitian Revolution. Parent, partner, citizen, defender of democracy, avid gardener. RTs not necessarily endorsements.

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Mary Lewis@profmarylewis· 3d

Came up with an AI statement, borrowing in part from my former student @abellisari.bsky.social. It’s not exactly a “why history matters” statement but it’s a why your history voice matters.

Artificial Intelligence
Use of Generative Al: Humans have been telling stories, first orally, then in other forms, since the beginning of their existence in an effort to make sense of their present and their past. You have the privilege to think critically about the history you are learning and to develop your own narratives and analysis - what you personally take away from sustained study of a period and place in the past. That is a challenging task, but a deeply rewarding one.
Generative Al does not care about historical meaning; rather, Large Language Models (LLMs) operate by assigning "tokens" to words and using probability to generate sequences of these tokens in predictable patterns E», which they then retransmit as finished text. They don't "think." By contrast, Prof. Lewis is interested in what you think and how you came to think it (your evidence, your thought process).
While some historians are exploring with LLMs E› in intriguing ways, it's important to develop some "analog" skills before experimenting with Al tools. Keeping in mind that this course is interested in developing a skillset that will be useful regardless of where Al next takes us, it explicitly limits its use. While we may occasionally use Al deliberately for some exercises, particularly toward the end of the semester, submitting Al-generated writing or research as your own will be considered academic dishonesty and carries the same penalties as other forms of academic dishonesty. If the course staff believes that work you have submitted may have been produced with the assistance of Al for assignments where it was not authorized explicitly, you may be asked to meet with a member of instructional staff to discuss your submitted work and you may be referred to the Honor Council.
You have earned the right to craft your own history, use it.

Mary Lewis@profmarylewis· 8d

It’s 10 pm. Do you know where your humans are?

Two black and white tuxedo cats looking out the window at night.

Mary Lewis@profmarylewis· 16d

It is 2 houses plus a community for people who don’t live on campus. Unless they are selling the property, this seems a drop in the budget bucket. www.dudley.harvard.edu

The Dudley Community enthusiastically serves undergraduate students living outside the traditional House system, including residents of the Dudley Co-op, students living off-campus, and Visiting Undergraduate students. This eclectic mix of members is one of the particular pleasures of Dudley. Learn more about the Dudley Community:
Moving off campus? Consider joining the Dudley Community
Dudley Community offers all the academic resources of a House, including a Resident Dean, specialty advising such as fellowships, pre-law, and pre-med and specialty tutors. We also have a team of non-resident tutors matched with our off-campus students who have more specialized knowledge related to challenges off-campus students sometimes face. Our space and amenities are tailored to the needs of off-campus students. To find out more, email us at ududley@fas.harvard.edu.

Mary Lewis@profmarylewis· 25d

Leaving this note on my computer for tomorrow.

Yellow sticky note with all caps “STOP LOOKING THINGS UP & WRITE.”

Mary Lewis@profmarylewis· 27d

From the most recent @theonion.com

From the satirical newspaper the Onion:

Headline: North Dakota Apologizes For Contributing Nothing To Nation's Greatness

BISMARCK, ND-Admitting "We know some people might say, that it had let the other 49 states 'Well, at least you've got Mount do "pretty much all of the heavy Rushmore, but nope, that's South lifting," North Dakota issued Dakota. The movie Fargo? That a formal apology Tuesday for was all the Coen brothers. We had contributing nothing to the nothing to do with that. Honestly, nation's greatness.
we're not even sure why there
"Look, we acknowledge that we needed to be two Dakotas in the don't exactly bring much to the first place. I suppose that without table besides being a cold, windy us, the number of stars on the flag rectangle on the map, and for wouldn't be a nice even number. that we want to say we're sorry,"
So that's something"
said Gov. Kelly Armstrong, noting
Armstrong also thanked the
that in addition to doing virtually
American people for letting
nothing to help shape America's
North Dakota tag along all these
storied history, North Dakota years despite being dead weight
lacked any rich cultural legacy of and added that it would continue
its own, aside from the fact that doing its part by remaining quiet
Chuck Klosterman grew up there
and not bothering any of the
before eventually moving away. states that really mattered.

Mary Lewis@profmarylewis· 27d

And (this possibly bothers him)

A photo of Congressman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez sitting in a short maroon skirt with a sleeveless peach-colored blouse.

Mary Lewis@profmarylewis· Jul 6

@dieworkwear.bsky.social I thought of your analysis when I saw these two suits. Any views on Thierry v. Zlatan’s fits?

Fox announcers Rebecca Lowe, Thierry Henry, and Zlatan Ibrahimović discuss World Cup soccer.

Mary Lewis@profmarylewis· Jul 5

Today in bizarre news stories. 🦇🏨

A commercial pilot from California awoke in the middle of the night last August to a swarm of bats in his Denver hotel room, one of which bit him on the foot, leading to expensive rabies treat-ment, according to a lawsuit filed last month in Colorado state court.
Staff members at the hotel, a downtown Sheraton, refused to provide the pilot with a new room after the creatures were discovered, according to the suit, which was filed against Sheraton and its parent company, Marriott International.

Mary Lewis@profmarylewis· Jul 5

Mary Lewis@profmarylewis· Jun 24

This article about UVM’s struggles features a quote from @bakerdphd.bsky.social www.bostonglobe.com/2026/06/22/b...

"A lot of this is about enrollment needs," said Dominique Baker, a higher education policy expert at the University of Dela-ware. "It's about trying to ensure that if a student is admitted to both UVM and another institu-tion, that Vermont has a fighting chance.

Mary Lewis@profmarylewis· Jun 19

Mexican fans booing the hydration break. And, unlike US TV, the advertising on Telemundo during the hydration break is just a sidebar.

Mary Lewis@profmarylewis· May 21

That would track with this comment from 1830s

In French:

Les méthodes employées pour la culture de la canne varient. suivant les localités : les uns labourent à la charrue, les autres à la houe; les charrues de France ne conviennent pas sur. toutes les habitations, beaucoup de colons préfèrent celles d'Amérique. Ce n'est du reste qu'à force d'engrais que l'on rend les anciennes terres productives.

Mary Lewis@profmarylewis· May 21

Everything is awful but here are some beautiful peonies:

Mary Lewis@profmarylewis· Mar 22

Screenshot of tweet from Mary Trump:

“ Robert Mueller served his country honorably for decades. In response to his death, Donald wrote:
"Good. I'm glad he's dead."
If you think that's acceptable or even remotely ok, you are part of the problem.”

Mary Lewis@profmarylewis· Feb 8

Timeline cleanse.

Black and white cat stretches to look at Olympic luge on TV.

Mary Lewis@profmarylewis· Jan 29

Vichyite move: www.international.ucla.edu/migration/ar...

On July 6, 1942, an SS captain in Nazi-occupied France sent an urgent report to Hitler's Reich Main Security Office in Berlin.
Excitedly, he wrote, "All stateless Jews in the occupied and unoccupied zones are being made available for deportation.
President Laval has proposed that, when deporting Jewish families from the Free Zone, children under 16 should also be taken." Jews had been rounded up, detained, and deported from France for more than four months, but this was the first time French children were targeted for violent detention and removal-and the orders were handed down by their President.

Mary Lewis@profmarylewis· Jan 28

My God, these people are depraved. “Operation Catch of the Day,” a seeming reference to Maine’s fishing culture. Just sick, sick people. @hcrichardson.bsky.social, I’m sure this hits a nerve.

Camila is among a growing number of children who have been left without a parent as the Trump administration carries out a major immigration enforcement effort in Maine, according to local officials. "Operation Catch of the Day," as the Department of Homeland Security calls it, is meant to arrest around 1,400 people.
They have arrested more than 200 so far, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement Monday to the Globe.

Mary Lewis@profmarylewis· Jan 27

Gotta love these people who clear a path for themselves to the street but don’t clear their sidewalk (violating local bylaws, but more importantly, sending kids out into the street as they walk to school).

Mary Lewis@profmarylewis· Jan 26

there’s a little more but this is the gist of it.

Cassidy, who is facing a Trump-backed challenger in his reelection bid, said on social media that the shooting was “incredibly disturbing” and that the “credibility of ICE and DHS are at stake.” He pushed for “a full joint federal and state investigation.” Tillis, who is not seeking reelection, urged a “thorough and impartial investigation” and said “any administration official who rushes to judgment and tries to shut down an investigation before it begins are doing an incredible disservice to the nation and to President Trump’s legacy.”

Murkowski called for an investigation and added that "ICE agents do not have carte blanche in carrying out their duties." Collins, the only incumbent Republican senator facing reelection in a state Democrat Kamala Harris carried in 2024, said a probe is needed "to determine whether or not
excessive force was used in a situation that
may have been able to be diffused without violence.
"
While calling for protesters to "keep space" from law enforcement and not interfere,
Collins said federal law enforcement must
"recognize both the public's right to protest and the highly charged situation they now face.

Even Sen. Pete Ricketts, a staunch ally of President Donald Trump, called for a
"prioritized, transparent investigation."
"My support for funding ICE remains the same," the Nebraska Republican, who is up for reelection, said online. "But we must also maintain our core values as a nation, including the right to protest and assemble.
Trump and other administration officials remained firm in their defense of the hard-
line immigration enforcement tactics in Minneapolis, blaming Democrats in the state along with local law enforcement for not working with them. Many Republicans either echoed that sentiment or stayed silent.

Mary Lewis@profmarylewis· Jan 26

Unfortunately, @bostonglobe.com doesn’t do gift links. But here’s what it says:

A growing number of Republicans are pressing for a deeper investigation into federal immigration tactics in Minnesota after a U.S. Border Patrol agent fatally shot a man in Minneapolis, a sign that the Trump administration's accounting of events may face bipartisan scrutiny.
House Homeland Security Committee
Chairman Andrew Garbarino sought testimony from leaders at Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Customs and Border Protection and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, saying "my top priority remains keeping Americans safe."
A host of other congressional Republicans, including Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas and Sens. Thom Tillis of North Carolina, Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, pressed for more information. Their statements, in addition to concern expressed from several Republican governors…

Mary Lewis@profmarylewis· Jan 19

So so so many things wrong with this substantively, but also TEXTING??? JFC

Mary Lewis@profmarylewis· Jan 17

Ice Blocker tracker up to 58,237 accounts as of 10:12 pm

Mary Lewis@profmarylewis· Jan 9

@bostonglobe.com has this small side headline. Since we know he’s amoral, this is very scary.

Mary Lewis@profmarylewis· Jan 1

@bostonglobe.com I get what you’re trying to do here, but there really is a distinction between conservatives feeling their views weren’t as welcome as they’d like and faculty losing jobs for teaching about gender or ICE hauling someone in and detaining her for weeks for an op-ed.

But the shift in the zeitgeist in 2025 has gone beyond politics.
On college campuses and in workplaces, people on the cultural and political left are now finding themselves in a similar position as conservatives just a few years ago - scared, keeping their head down, self-censoring their views on the Middle East or di-versity, hoping just to survive with their career intact in a moment in which saying the wrong thing in the wrong way on social media can get you shamed, fired, or both.

Mary Lewis@profmarylewis· Dec 29

Here’s a cute kids’ story she wrote when still in college. (And that’s her with her dog, long before I came into her world).

A children’s story that begins:

This is the story of Clarissa, the cloud who could not change her shape. All the other clouds were imitating Spanish galleons and mighty armies, to say nothing of polar bears.
More than anything else, she
wanted to take the shape of a puppy, but Clarissa remained a roly-poly ball of white fluff. She was at that age, one must understand.
Now Clarissa had tried everything.
She spent hours exercising, roll-
ing over and over across the sky. She indulged in cold showers; whenever one came up, she raced to take part in it.
She went on a strict diet of
sunbeams and lake vapor. Yet Clarissa remained a roly-poly cloud.
"I have no shape," she wept as she watched a large cloud with bluish shadows divide into two and each go spinning on its way, It was a bright, sunny day when the winds were particularly playful. Clarissa did not know how to play, and she thought the winds were silly, but the others romped and gamboled with them.
On this particular day, the crowd Clarissa usually trailed floated out over a blue river that had sharp little waves rising from its surface. Below, sailboats were scudding about, their white sails billowing calmly in the same gay breezes that tickled the clouds. Clarissa watched for a while and then slipped away to sit on a mountain top. A few tears condensed and rolled down the mountain.
"I could just dissolve myself in tears," she thought desperately.
"That would show them. Then they would be sorry." She did not know who "they" were, but she was sure they would be sorry. It was hard, though, to think of going to pieces like that.
"Besides." She peered
down at the people far below.
"Everybody is happy because it's a nice day, and I mustn't spoil it with rain."
She nestled down a little more firmly on the mountain, and envied the Southern Mansion cloud that she saw on another mountain top. A Sleeping Man drifted by, but before he had gone, he had turned to a Desert Scene. …

Mary Lewis@profmarylewis· Dec 19

A civilian called John had the essential tip. What’s less clear is why he didn’t tell people earlier. From @bostonglobe.com

man they identified only as John. They said he later led investigators to the car. When they released his photos, investigators didn't realize John had already posted on Reddit saying police should look into a man with a grey Nissan with Florida plates, who was acting suspiciously, the affidavit said.
John told police he encountered the suspect in the bathroom of the Barus & Holley
building on Saturday, around 1:45 pm, wearing clothes that were wrong for the weather. John said he followed the suspect out of the building to the Nissan. He described how they played a "cat and mouse" game, walking back and forth on the street, according to police. When John asked the suspect why he kept circling the block, he responded, "Why are you harassing me?"

Mary Lewis@profmarylewis· Dec 19

“I’ll take Things that never happened for $50, Alex.”

Screenshot of a tweet from Naomi Wolf where she says “ I got pretty far along in the hiring process for a wonderful position teaching at a NY state university before a dean in the department told me I couldn't go any further because I was white.”

Mary Lewis@profmarylewis· Dec 17

Thank you to Renée Graham in the @bostonglobe.com for calling out how repulsive this is, rightly calling it the “Republican war on Christmas.” We are a nation run by middle-school-mentality bullies. (Also, what is the point of camouflage in urban setting? But I digress).