Katherine McDonald’s truly marvelous “Four footprints, two languages, one tile”deserves your time: “Two slaves, working in conditions that were no doubt very difficult, taking a little time to mess about as friends and enjoy each other’s company.” katherinemcdonald.net/2016/01/14/f...

Steering committee elections! Are you interested in joining? We are looking for a number of roles to be filled 🏛️ find out more on our blog! Link in bio wcc-uk.blogs.sas.ac.uk/2026/02/02/s...

Just done my interview with @katherinemcdon.bsky.social for this series of posts - really looking forward to all of them coming out as we move towards the WCC UK's tenth anniversary!

The British Epigraphy Society spring meeting is in Durham! Featuring a viewing of the Lanchester diploma and an optional trip to Chesters. All welcome. www.durham.ac.uk/departments/...

Birthday Invitations! 🎂 🏛️ Come celebrate with us! 22nd of April! Sign up below! 🏛️🏛️ wcc-uk.blogs.sas.ac.uk/2026/01/29/c...

I have something to communicate!

You're all invited to the WCC UK's birthday! @womeninclassicsuk.bsky.social wcc-uk.blogs.sas.ac.uk/2026/01/29/c...

What happened with #WCCWiki in 2025? How are women and non-binary classicists looking on #Wikipedia? Here's a thread to wrap-up last year, and to forge a path for 2026 ...

Does Amazon give you a free latte and an espresso brownie every time you buy ten things? I think not. (Shop local.)

As part of our 10th anniversary celebrations we are starting a new series called “WCC and Me” where members share their experiences with the WCC UK over the years 🏛️ The first one is now live! Check it out below!! wcc-uk.blogs.sas.ac.uk/2026/01/20/w...

In knitting, as in life, far better to frog it and try again rather than carry on regardless when you've made a big mistake. But that does not mean I like it.

WOW! This late Roman blue glass cup made an epic 12,000 km journey! Made in the eastern Mediterranean, it was excavated from the Cheonmachong Tomb, a royal tomb of the ancient Silla Kingdom in Korea! 🤯 Early AD 500s. Gyeongju National Museum, South Korea. 📷 by me #FindsFriday #Archaeology

The next #WCCWiki editing session is on Thursday 22 January 2026, 13.00-15.00 GMT. All warmly welcome to our online meeting. Join Zoom Meeting us06web.zoom.us/j/85192010168. Email [email protected] for more information @womeninclassicsuk.bsky.social

Went to a wonderful paper on William Morris by Lilah Grace Canevaro, but once I find myself questioning the Victorians... Did they have 72 hour days? Did their years have extra months? How were they getting all this stuff done?

Incredible article which points out that it often collectively costs more to apply for scarce research funding than the funds awarded to the successful proposals. What an absurd system we've built in the service of efficiency and competition. www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Random q, but does anyone happen to know if Oxford (specifically the Classics fac) would charge extra for making a conference hybrid?

Do you ever find yourself reading something and you're not quite sure how you got there? Anyway, today I seem to be reading about iron smelting.

Finally, the WCC UK is on Bluesky! Lots of exciting updates in the next few months, so do give us a follow @womeninclassicsuk.bsky.social

Finally, the WCC UK is on Bluesky! Lots of exciting updates in the next few months, so do give us a follow @womeninclassicsuk.bsky.social

✍️ Here's one to chew over while you munch on your mince pies: Calls For Papers for two very exciting events happening in Durham in 2026 👉 British Epigraphy Society spring meeting: www.durham.ac.uk/departments/... 👉 'Writing from the margins' conference: www.durham.ac.uk/departments/...

Congratulations everyone! @durhamclassics.bsky.social

Congratulations to the @durhamclassics.bsky.social students graduating today! See you there!

10/10 no notes

It's #MosaicMonday and miserable in the UK so here's an early Winter personification from Bignor Roman villa. It's from a room that had underfloor heating and was probably a dining room. www.romansociety.org/Imago/Image-...

Philology. A field wide open for re-evaluation, fresh approaches, new theoretical perspectives, and breaking open new understandings of our texts. Actually.

I got this very sad email today (as a parent of a member). It's terrible than an explicitly inclusive organisation has been pressured into this, and I hope it can be put right very, very soon.

What kind of sadist puts the bibliography for both volumes at the end of volume 2. Which I do not have.

Oh look! A thing to say no to has arrived already!

Can someone just gently remind me periodically not to say yes to any more things, thanks.

A day for people nerding out about the corn dole, I see. Excellent, carry on.

Happy St Katherine's Day to all scholars, librarians, and Katherines. May you win an argument against an annoying man today, in the true spirit of Katherine herself.

Journalists, why not reach out to some of the fine people in my replies to ask them how the British Library cyberattack of 2023 has had an impact on their research, their creative work, and their careers? This could make for a powerful piece revealing the human side to the damage this has done.

I think it was @alexandraerin.com who said to the effect of: "The purpose of a college essay is to prove understanding of the material, not to produce a college essay. There is no global shortage of college essays that needs to be automated."

We enjoyed Lumiere yesterday despite the rain. You'll need someone more skilled than me to take a sensible photo of it though.

Fascinating mega-thread about race in Wuthering Heights (well worth reading all the way to the end).

There's a Classical reception point to be made here, I feel.

Ha, Vinted seems to have changed its sizing system overnight so that L has changed from size 12 to size 16-18. INCLUDING ON CLOTHES ALREADY FOR SALE. This is going to be chaos.

Note from my notebook (2016)

Ha, what? Did you know this, @nevillemorley.bsky.social? @rebeccalanglands.bsky.social? @lemonamarshall.bsky.social? This is very Devon. We have an excellent system; it is a secret system and we will not tell newcomers. www.roads.org.uk/blog/devon-h...

Can recommend leftover Halloween sweets as an accompaniment to checking proofs.

Academics in Assyria in the 7th c BC complain that admin is preventing them from doing research and teaching

Me: Huh, a few people coming round for lunch today, not sure what I have in for this many people. Also me: ...you have pumpkins... Impromptu spicy pumpkin soup turned out pretty well! 😄

If anyone's on the lookout for a C17th house, I'm pretty sure this one in Barnard Castle has been on the market for quite a while... (haunted...?) www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/1...

It's just two words, but a personal favourite find in a medieval manuscript is this signature of Anne, a princess of Kievan Rus and Queen (Regent) of France. Written on a 1063 charter, it reads "АНА РЪИНА" ('ana rъina' ~ 'Anne Queen'). The language is Old French, but the script is Cyrillic!

The Cambridge Companion to Classics and Race has truly been the most rewarding edited volume to be involved with. We had reading groups! We had online discussions across multiple timezones! The editors were involved, encouraging and wonderful. www-cambridge-org.ezphost.dur.ac.uk/core/books/c...

may i present for your edification, the pictish beast and the nebra sky disc in pumpkin moonshine form. i will post pics of them lit up this evening after it gets dark too

five years ago open days up and down the country, subjects like history giving talks about “unparalleled range of choice at [name of university]”. presumably in the near future the pitch will be more like: “we still offer some history!”

First day back at work after three weeks off sick, lots of tea at the ready. If I owe you something, I promise I'm getting there. (P.S. don't get pneumonia, it's rubbish.)

It doesn't matter how many grant writing workshops you put on, or how much pressure you put on academics to apply - if the money isn't there, the money simply isn't there.

The Pompeii casts are human remains and should be displayed and treated as such.