Today is Nonidi the 19th of Messidor in the year 234. Messidor is the month of harvest. Today we celebrate cherries.#JacobinDay See today's page

I see some misconceptions on compulsory redundancies (CR) on here. Yes, it is correct that it is a post and not a person that is made redundant, but in the case of CR, employers can unfortunately create criteria for selection of people. ACAS and gov.uk have good pages www.gov.uk/staff-redund...

Not particularly happy to have received a request for a donation from UCL, addressed to Mr Totelin (the degree I took there was the PhD, but I would have been content with Ms).

oh hey, remember that article about Cardiff not knowing how much it spends on consultancies? Yeah, that's kinda regular in unis up and down the country: every Department's budget micromanaged to draw out 50-60% cash generation, and central has no clear overview of their spent. Let's reform that...

the museum of the royal library on mont des arts is free this afternoon. it's a great place to visit, even if you are not interested in historical things. there is even a self guided tour for children. and a cool roof top café overlooking brussels!

[LIVESTREAM] Today I'll be hosting Dr Jackie Murray to discuss race in the Iliad and Odyssey It's obviously a timely discussion given all the culture wars fluff about the Odyssey movie Live at 7pm UK/2pm EDT. If you miss it, it'll be recorded. #AncientBlueSky www.youtube.com/live/TmfYpfq...

And those hiring committees are brutal. I have chaired some where every interviewee was as talented and experienced as Ellie. The decisions came down to minute things. Giving feedback amounted to 'you did nothing wrong. Someone shone a bit brighter on the day. I'm so sorry'.

Kate makes a very important point. We should all have been fighting against casualisation for many years. For those of us in (relatively) safe jobs, we should avoid feeling suddenly sorry and outraged that our jobs have become more casualised.

Academics all over the country could put their hand up and say they're in the same boat. But when did you last see a big feature on redundancies at a post-92 university?

Solidarity to all colleagues at Exeter, of course, but thinking that one's department/uni is safe because it ranks high (insert any other reason) is naive and problematic. The entire sector is in trouble unfortunately 1/2

Why are you concerned? Do you not trust your senior management team? Do you not love us? thesphinxblog.com/2026/06/24/t...

A brief appreciation thread for some of my colleagues in Classics at Exeter, who the University of Exeter have put at risk of redundancy @exeter.ac.uk. A few are on here, most are not, but I'm going to say nice things about them anyway.

I got three paragraphs into this and had to stop reading. It’s such fucking nonsense. Government blaming universities and doing down young people for the failure of their own economic model. Bridget Phillipson ought to be fired into the sun.

The end to this BBC segment is completely out of order. My grandad died during the great French canicule of 2003. This is not a joke or an opportunity to have ice-cream for breakfast.

A statement from Exeter UCU branch @ucu.org.uk - please share far and wide.

'The University of Exeter is proposing to cut about 150 staff roles. A spokesperson for the university said it was "consulting with colleagues over limited and specific potential changes across some areas of our academic faculties".' 1/4

Okay, UKsters, the media is useless re: extreme heat, so let’s do this. I’m from Southern California, spent the last ten years living outside Seattle, which has a similar climate to Scotland, where I am now. Here’s what I know. 1. Heat exhaustion and sickness are no fucking joke. Do not tempt them.

This video took over TEN YEARS to make! So you know it's a good one It summarizes a major avenue of research that took me from PhD student to Postdoc to now Don't miss out on it! It's educational and fun youtu.be/mn_51q5mTM8?...

I'm seeing that many people caught in the current UK HE crisis are receiving bad news on a Friday. Be aware that this is a union busting tactic. 1/

A remarkable discovery at Aspendos: archaeologists have uncovered a Roman mosaic showing the river god Eurymedon. Dating to the 3rd century AD, it adds a new highlight to the city’s rich ancient heritage. 👉 www.turkiyetoday.com/culture/rare...

Don't worry, they mention Middlemarch www.theguardian.com/books/2026/j...

Today, I finished packing my office, which I occupied for 17 years. Removing that card from the back of my door was very emotional. 1/2

Rosamond McKitterick, Averil Cameron, and now Carlo Ginzburg. The medieval & #earlymodern is taking quite a beating this Spring. What giants we are lucky to think with though.

Carlo Ginzburg has passed away - it is a very sad news, as he re-shaped historiography at large! Some of his work has been translated into many languages and influenced generations of scholars! www.ilpost.it/2026/06/17/c...

“You have a passport number exposed… I'd be quite worried about that because passport numbers are a form of identity verification.” I and other former @uniofnottingham.bsky.social staff am in this leak, and #Nottingham University has offered us no apology or advice. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Occasional reminder that the human brain finds meaning in the shapes of clouds and lunar craters. Of course it can find meaning in a kaleidoscope rearrangement of human-authored text mimicking human patterns of argument.

Just a superb owl couple, dressed and skating on a frozen river in seventeenth century Europe, with him holding a mouse in its beak, and her looking a bit grumpy because of the state of the world. This is what I call a #timelinecleanse. Not one #superbOwl but two #superbOWLS on ice. #skystorians 🦉

Praxis, sister 🙏🌈 #pridemonth

Unsolicited writing advice, no. 632: Writing is communicating. It’s sometimes hard to remember that, especially when in the throes of creating a complex metaphor, but it’s worth reminding yourself occasionally that you’re trying to convey a thought, not impress an examiner.

Rosamond McKitterick (1949-2026) A formidable scholar, an inspiring teacher, a generous spirit and a supportive colleague - truly, we have lost one of the great ones. @sidneysussex.bsky.social @camhistory.bsky.social @camedieval.bsky.social

Looking at the illustrations Alice and Martin Provensen did for the Iliad and the Odyssey in 1956 and taking pleasure in noting how diverse they made that world. Everyone bitching about the new movie’s casting is more racist than a children’s book publicist in *1956*

BREAKING: New experimental archaeology research shows that domestic felines first introduced pottery wheel technology to prehistoric civilizations In this paper, I demonstrate that human technological advancement from the Egyptian pyramids to the internet is entirely due to cats /1

Revolutionary British artist David Hockney dies aged 88

this might be the best headline i’ve ever read

Many thoughts on this, not all well articulated. I have felt this reinventing of pre-92 (as far as I understand it) system had been on the cards for a while. 1/ Only 22 UK universities should be allowed in REF, says think tank www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-p...

Indeed,be careful what you wish for. And if lecturers are to be selected for their excellence in teaching not research, how is that going to be measured?And what is the point of doing a PhD then?

Permanent lectureship in Modern British History at the University of Manchester. FT, £42-58k, closing date 30 June 26, starting Sept 26 onwards. For international people, this is equivalent to a tenure-track Assistant Lectureship. www.jobs.manchester.ac.uk/Job/JobDetai... #SkyStorians

You lovely people have got me up to 190 responses, so I'm going to keep going to 200! If you're an academic in UK HE who's had pastoral responsibility for students in the last 5 years under any title, please take 10 mins to share your thoughts about that work. Please do share to widen the pool.

Just need everyone to know that the Belgium men's soccer team has new jerseys based on the art of Rene Magritte and this is the official photo shoot

This was a useful reminder to replace my equalitree, which I unfortunately lost. Couldn't resist buying a few other of these deliciously nerdy pins

Ok .... this is where the increasing lack of language skills is taking us. If you don't know Korean, maybe leave the study of Korean history to those who do.

Each time I've heard this story on the BBC it has felt like they're offering it up for the usual suspects to take and run with it. Depressing. Distressing.

Well, those fives minutes of my life spent reading this drivel by Nick Hillmann are lost forever.

To prove Aristotle et al., who argued that women lacked innate heat, wrong?

Women experience a steady rise in body temperature from their teens to midlife, which may be useful for monitoring ageing and overall health

Have not (yet) checked this out, but this looks very good

It cannot be the case that engagement with histories that aren’t North American or Western European becomes the preserve of 5-10 universities in Britain, but that’s where we’re headed.

Hello! It doesn’t cost anything to repost but it helps me spread the word about my small business. My online shop is full of bold & colourful prints, homewares, T-shirts and cards. I’m also available for freelance design work and art licensing. gailmyerscough.co.uk

If I hear one more university leader say they're making "tough decisions" about redundancies or worsening our employment conditions, I will scream. They are not making tough choices, they're making the easiest decisions in the world. Tough decisions would be fighting the inevitability of job losses