Graham Smith
@graham-oh.bsky.social
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Professor of Oral History. UCU member.
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Graham Smith
Joe Redmayne
13 days ago
CfP: The British General Strike of 1926: New Directions of Research, 7-8 May 2026
@newcastleuni.bsky.social
Deadline: 6 February 2026 More details:
@sslh.bsky.social
sslh.org.uk/2025/10/13/c...
sslh.org.uk/wp-content/u...
Kindly supported by
@leverhulme.ac.uk
#GeneralStrike1926
#GeneralStrike100
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CfP: The British General Strike of 1926: New Directions of Research
To commemorate the centenary of the British General Strike and miners’ lock-out, Newcastle University’s Labour & Society Research Group (LSRG) is organising a conference that revisits the…
https://sslh.org.uk/2025/10/13/cfp-the-british-general-strike-of-1926-new-directions-of-research/
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Kristin Hussey
11 days ago
Colleagues doing very cool things! One for the labour, maritime and mining historians among you.
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There are more people in Newcastle waiting for Greggs to open of a morning than weird UKIP managed to get on Saturday's sad shambles.
27 days ago
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Mike Galsworthy
28 days ago
What has Yvette Cooper’s proscription of Palestine Action done to this country? Beyond absurd. It’s extreme authoritarianism. These police should be arresting rapists & crooks, not neglecting those duties to spend time arresting citizens standing against genocide. It undermines police and the law.
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Wendy Ugolini
3 months ago
My book, 'Wales in England 1914-1945. A Social, Cultural, & Military History', is currently available at a more affordable price (✨️58% off✨️). How ideas of Wales and Welshness influenced two generations of English soldiers & writers:
www.amazon.co.uk/Wales-Englan...
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Margot Finn
4 months ago
Scottish NSS results: 'Overall satisfaction in Scotland for 2025 was 80.7%, up from 78.1% in 2024. Satisfaction levels began to decline in 2020, when the overall rate in Scotland was 85%.'
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University satisfaction rising but still trails pre-Covid level
Data from the National Student Survey suggests that Scottish universities are continuing to recover from a falloff in satisfaction in 2020.
https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/25302114.student-satisfaction-rising-still-pre-covid-level/
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Hetan Shah
4 months ago
Interesting bit of research from
@ersatzben.bsky.social
suggesting QR funding is really critical for supporting interdisciplinary research
johnsonb.substack.com/p/what-actua...
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What Actually Counts as Interdisciplinary Research?
A data-driven look at which funders support knowledge integration
https://johnsonb.substack.com/p/what-actually-counts-as-interdisciplinary?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=726856&post_id=167922475&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=44755&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email
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rs21 Edinburgh
4 months ago
Edinburgh University want to impose £140m in cuts as part of their "more students, fewer staff" policy. Edinburgh staff and students say "an end to unethical university governance"
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Durham UCU
5 months ago
Come help our friends in the (slightly further) North!
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Liz Morrish
5 months ago
Newcastle University goes from 'Raising the Bar' to a doom loop of redundancies, course closures and failure. It's hard to see any future for UK HE except as a narrowly-focussed credentialling arm of the tech sector.
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Martin McGrath
5 months ago
The question is: Why (unless you're a schill for one of the big AI corps) you would advocate a UK industrial policy that slits the throat of its cultural industries (where it has an established global advantage) in favour of the AI sector where completion is intense and gains speculative (at best)
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Gareth Millward
5 months ago
I'll be going through the process of making this open access, but for those who do have permissions through their libraries - this came out today. Some thoughts on the history of disability benefits and where UBI sits in that lineage. 🗃️
bristoluniversitypressdigital.com/view/journal...
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https://bristoluniversitypressdigital.com/view/journals/gd/aop/article-10.1332-20437897Y2025D000000069/article-10.1332-20437897Y2025D000000069.xml
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Migration Museum
6 months ago
Are you working in museum collections, digital storytelling, or projects featuring migration history? Join us for the first event in the Migration Network series, focused on how digital tools are being used to document and share migration stories through collections work.
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Kay Crosby
6 months ago
Trade Unions 4 Trans Rights event this morning
@newcastleucu.bsky.social
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Grant Buttars
6 months ago
I stand by this. Solidarity with fellow workers is the first principle of trade unionism. An injury to one is an injury to all.
reclaimucu.wordpress.com/2025/04/30/s...
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Statement on NEC Meeting of 2 May 2025
On Friday, members of Unite UCU will be taking the final day of an unprecedented six weeks of industrial action. It is also the penultimate NEC meeting before Congress. One of the core principles o…
https://reclaimucu.wordpress.com/2025/04/30/statement-on-nec-meeting-of-2-may-2025/
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Graham Smith
UCU Newcastle University
7 months ago
Een vote amongst staff shows trust in the current leadership is incredible low.
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Grant Buttars
7 months ago
Fight for every job!
@ucuedinburgh.bsky.social
www.ucuedinburgh.org.uk
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University of Edinburgh staff balloted on strike action over £140 million budget cuts
Staff at the University of Edinburgh are being balloted on industrial action in a dispute over the university’s plans to slash £140 million from…
https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/25068347.edinburgh-uni-staff-balloted-strike-action-140m-budget-cuts/
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Durham UCU
7 months ago
The results are IN for our industrial action ballot! On a 64.0% turnout (our highest ever confirmed %age), 72.2% of voters said they were prepared to strike, with 81.2% prepared to engage in action short of strike. So what's next? Well. The employer knows where to find us. Time for a chat, perhaps?
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Cardiff UCU
7 months ago
“This is an insult to the 1400 academic staff still at risk of redundancy."
nation.cymru/news/vice-ch...
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Vice Chancellor wants to avoid Senedd scrutiny on massive cuts programme
Martin Shipton Former Education Minister Leighton Andrews has accused Cardiff University’s Vice Chancellor of seeking to delay an appearance before the Senedd’s Education Committee until after final d...
https://nation.cymru/news/vice-chancellor-wants-to-avoid-senedd-scrutiny-on-massive-cuts-programme/
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Graham Smith
UCU Newcastle University
7 months ago
Monday morning we continue to show our management we don’t accept their approach. Why would we trust them to get us out of this when they are the ones who got us in this? Join your pickets 8 to 11 am. Check your email or section WhatsApp for section days.
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Karl Jacoby
7 months ago
Letter signed by members of the Columbia History Department urging resistance to the Trump Administration's efforts to dictate university policy. "Should this control be realized, here or elsewhere, it would make any real historical scholarship, teaching, and intellectual community impossible."
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UEA UCU says join a union
7 months ago
📣REMINDER FOR UEA UCU MEMBERS! 📣Our industrial action will begin with a day of strike action on Wednesday 26th March. 📣We will commence continuous action short of a strike (ASOS) from this date. 📣Further details to follow.
#SaveUEA
#UKHE
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Graham Smith
Voice of Witness (VOW)
8 months ago
📢 Exciting news: Voice of Witness is looking for dedicated individuals to join our Board of Directors and contribute to our impact. Interested in supporting community-based storytelling, oral history, and education for justice?
#Nonprofit
#NonprofitBoard
#BoardofDirectors
#NonprofitLeadership
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Graham Smith
UCU Newcastle University
8 months ago
MASSIVE Solidarity
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Rob Hawkes
8 months ago
moneyontheleft.org/2025/01/16/u...
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UK Universities in Crisis? Time to Transform Higher Ed Finance
by Rob Hawkes and Scott Ferguson Universities in the UK are in crisis. Job cuts in the sector are reaching ‘cataclysmic’ levels, with an estimated 10,000 already lost and many more at risk. Just da…
https://moneyontheleft.org/2025/01/16/uk-universities-in-crisis-time-to-transform-higher-ed-finance/
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Graham Smith
UCU Newcastle University
8 months ago
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Gwyn McClelland
8 months ago
Is anyone interested in reviewing Emotional Labour in Oral History Research: The Hidden Toll by Jennifer Harding and Verusca Calabria for our journal 'Studies in Oral History'? feel free to send me a PM if so!
#oralhistory
@ohcollective.bsky.social
@oralhistoryvic.bsky.social
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Graham Smith
Oral History Collective
9 months ago
The UK’s children’s social care system has long faced challenges—from rising demand to quality concerns. 🔎Caring Communities: Rethinking Children’s Social Care explores its history to shape the future 📖 Read more:
blogs.ncl.ac.uk/oral-history...
#SocialCare
#HistoryOfCare
#OralHistory
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Oral Histories of Care: Caring Communities | The Lug
https://blogs.ncl.ac.uk/oral-history/2025/02/12/oral-histories-of-care-caring-communities/
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Rhiannon Lockley (she/her)
9 months ago
A weekend read! Union democracy is key to our future as UCU. Following on from the VP hustings this week, I have set out some key issues.
rhiannonforucuvp.wordpress.com/2025/02/08/d...
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Democracy in UCU: hustings, problems, and doing the work to build
As UCU members fill in their ballot papers for this year’s cycle of NEC, trustee and officer elections, debate has come round, as it does, to the matter of union democracy. This week, husting…
https://rhiannonforucuvp.wordpress.com/2025/02/08/democracy-in-ucu-hustings-problems-and-doing-the-work-to-build/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR0B_PhVAA68yrXieqFvY8y0NJ3QSxPLUgCkRL8oM4nBjg7vGAAy5d1_AKc_aem_GIRXkzC8Dx17OfdY0VrSmA
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Michael Carley
9 months ago
Analysis like this is the reason you should vote for Rhiannon.
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Dundee UCU
9 months ago
In our recent ballot three quarters of our members support strike action and over 90% are in favour of Action Short of a Strike (ASOS). Our members have voted for three weeks of strike action, starting on 24th February, with ASOS beginning Thursday 20th February until such time action ends.
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Alec Edworthy
9 months ago
I've just posted my ballot
#UCU
. Our HE branches are fighting for our lives. Alone we crumble, united we’re strong. Please vote for
@illdoitanyway.bsky.social
& for left/independent candidates. We need leadership prepared to uphold democracy, to organise, & who believe in collectivity as strength.
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Useful guide from
unions21.org
for FTOs: "Our research suggests that while national and sectoral bargaining may give wider coverage, bargaining at the enterprise level gives members a higher level of engagement and a better sense of ownership over the bargaining processes."
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https://unions21.org/for
9 months ago
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Royal Historical Society
9 months ago
'The deep cultural cost of British university job cuts"
bit.ly/4gnDCuE
An excellent letter, in today's
@theguardian.com
, by the co-chairs of
@artsandhums.bsky.social
, a collective of subject specialist organisations representing and advocating for arts & humanities subjects in UK HE.
#skystorians
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The deep cultural cost of British university job cuts | Letters
Letters: Arts and humanities are being hit hardest by cuts in higher education, write Prof Thea Pitman and Prof Emma Cayley, and Dr Ronan McLaverty-Head and another letter writer comment on cuts at Ca...
https://bit.ly/4gnDCuE
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UCU Newcastle University
9 months ago
Oh, yes, we know this is not what is going to save Higher Education. See ALL of our other posts, and for example this open letter
docs.google.com/document/d/e...
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QM_UCU
9 months ago
"This is not an isolated problem. It is a nationwide crisis." Thank you for taking the initiative on this letter,
@newcastleucu.bsky.social
! And an excellent letter it is too, clear and referenced. Please everyone who cares about higher education and research, co-sign.
#UKHE
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Steph Mulrine
9 months ago
The crisis in Higher Education is biting hard. Thousands are at risk of losing their jobs across the sector. Please sign and share this open letter calling on the Secretary of State for Education to act.
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Graham Smith
UCU Newcastle University
9 months ago
docs.google.com/document/d/e...
Sign our Open Letter to Bridget Phillipson, Secretary of State for Education and Minister for Women and Equalities, and Sunderland MP
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Open Letter: Save Higher Education – A Call for Urgent Action Higher Education is in Crisis
https://docs.google.com/document/d/e/2PACX-1vTY20tsLYA7JVe6X354VD_e8oS4FGHmm6DEyBBPYj8i6aOO7S5_vyzqpxle8nWYaShxT0NMQ3yU5vfw/pub
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If you are a @ucu member and want to stand for NEC, my top tip is not to publicly attack a branch under threat of redundancies by willfully misrepresenting their strategy and smearing their reps.
9 months ago
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Council of University Classical Departments
9 months ago
Please sign and share widely! After the devastating news about the planned cuts at Cardiff, the students have got the ball rolling to save their Ancient History programme. It is a very fine department: student numbers are strong, the staff team is fantastic. There is no rationale.
chng.it/G5SMYxNbMQ
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Sign the Petition
Save Cardiff University Ancient History Degree
https://chng.it/G5SMYxNbMQ
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Rhiannon Lockley (she/her)
9 months ago
I am very proud to be running with Deepa Govindarajan Driver in these UCU NEC elections. Deepa is highly qualified to scrutinise UCU finances as honorary treasurer - with the backbone & nuanced understanding she has shown delivering USS victory for members as a negotiator.
deepadriver.org
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If you want a VP/President who will stand up for @ucu members with integrity, thought, and commitment, then vote for Rhiannon
@illdoitanyway.bsky.social
See
rhiannonforucuvp.wordpress.com
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Rhiannon for UCU VP (Higher Education)
Vote Rhiannon Lockley (she/her) for UCU Vice President (Higher Education): ballots are live 27th January till 3rd March 2025
https://rhiannonforucuvp.wordpress.com/
9 months ago
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Oral History Collective
9 months ago
🏘️The Byker Estate in Newcastle: an international icon of pioneering urban regeneration. Discover how dedicated individuals are preserving its human stories for future generations. 📖Read more:
blogs.ncl.ac.uk/oral-history...
#OralHistory
#BykerEstate
#UrbanRegeneration
#BykerStories
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Preserving Byker’s Vibrant Past with Oral History | The Lug
https://blogs.ncl.ac.uk/oral-history/2025/01/20/preserving-bykers-vibrant-past-with-oral-history/
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Margot Finn
10 months ago
'Newcastle vice-chancellor Chris Day has put the savings target at £20 million, according to local media, which referenced £15 million of “mitigations” that were already in place in the university’s annual budget.' Swingeing cuts at Newcastle, and Sunderland staff also at risk.
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Strike ballot over multimillion-pound cuts at Newcastle
As institution puts freeze on promotions and recruitment, and invites voluntary redundancies, union says staff should not pay price for ‘financial mismanagement’
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/strike-ballot-over-multimillion-pound-cuts-newcastle
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Graham Smith
Secret UCU
11 months ago
So, let me get this right. A pitifully narrow vote of just over 50% on a 15% turnout in the GS election is fine & gives Grady a clear mandate to create complete dysfunction across our union, but HEC has no mandate to make a decision based on a vote of 53% on a turnout of 27%?
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Steven High
11 months ago
Sean O'Connell is doing such important work in Northern Ireland. He is also one of the most generous people I know. A beautiful article.
www.irishtimes.com/life-style/p...
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Protestant churches face a day of reckoning with North’s inquiry into mother and baby homes
The majority of those held in homes across the North came from a Protestant background, and their babies were adopted by Protestant families
https://www.irishtimes.com/life-style/people/2024/12/14/protestant-churches-face-a-day-of-reckoning-with-norths-inquiry-into-mother-and-baby-homes/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=bluesky&utm_campaign=HP-SubDesc
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#oralhistory
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11 months ago
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Jo Kershaw
11 months ago
Reminder that the Guardian staff are on a 48 hour strike against the sale of Observer. If you wouldn’t cross a picket line in real life, don’t do it virtually.
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Carlos Azevedo
11 months ago
Now, the genocidal entity is killing chefs.
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Israel kills three World Central Kitchen aid workers as it pounds Gaza
US-based food charity says it is pausing operations in Gaza after Israeli air attack hits vehicle carrying its workers.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/2024/11/30/israel-kills-world-central-kitchen-aid-workers-in-gaza
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Grant Buttars
11 months ago
To borrow from Joe Hill, we don’t just mourn, we organise and we will continue to do so until, from the river to the sea, Palestine is free.
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