When Egyptologists run MLMs we call them "Pyramid Schemes"

And the women’s team: - the daughter of Chinese immigrants who rebuffed an aggressive campaign to get her to skate for China - the daughter of an Italian immigrant embryologist mom who named her after a Michelle Pfeiffer character - the pansexual daughter of a Texas cop (who is her biggest fan)

Yes. My MP is good and I’d vote for her again. Juliet Campbell, Broxtowe. But then I’m very literal minded about representative democracy.

Unfortunately. Between the start of my undergrad and the end of my PhD I heard about inappropriate behaviour towards undergraduate students by three academic men then in both my city and my general area of study. No further away than third hand, mind you. And I wasn't exactly the most clued in.

Yes, participating in a dialogue is a good way to think of it, as is contributing to keeping the balance of discourse on the right side. This both frees up anxiety and motivates expression.

I mean it’s not heavy rain, I guess?

Goddamn Homer.

Regarding the Discourse, lemme just say that if you can't draw, yes you can. Everyone can draw, and folks will almost certainly respond more positively to your stick figures than some generic "A.i." slop. Also, there are LOADS of resources for free images. Like this! 🧵 www.nga.gov/artworks/fre...

Second restart today for computer doing weird things reasons. Tired.

The best way to start writing: start writing. Now just to keep going.

when a commercial magazine/ website emails you asking you to write a piece for them for free

No joke: I got angry hate mail today for writing an obituary of a Black woman scientist—because the person felt she did didn’t deserve the recognition. Which just makes me want to share it again: www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Actually managed to finish a research task! That’s two in two weeks!! Starting to feel better, maybe?

Can we more widely adopt the British academy’s lottery method of allocating scarce funding? Decide the applications meet a minimum quality requirement. Draw lots. Done. Transparent, does not perpetuate the myth of meritocracy, efficient, equitable.

Patience low, irritability high. I may have an academic admin role.

Tomorrow, I'm excited to meet @uonhumanities.bsky.social @uonclassarch.bsky.social students at my drop in desk in the Humanities Building where I'll be answering all and any questions about becoming a #historyteacher. #TeacherTraining #PGCE #ITT @uonsoe.bsky.social

Milton tangent complete, I am returning to my work on erased/struck out/obliterated inscriptions. For many reasons they aren't the easiest things to locate in online catalogues. So if you come across any fun ones (esp. in books published prior to ~1750), here is a public request to think of me.

For some reason I keep looking at the image of the Kathisma, where the emperor would watch the chariot racing. The rear of this led right into the Great Palace. static.cambridge.org/binary/versi...

Sincerely my favorite part of this special is David Macaulay, sitting in a Roman archaeological site, drawing diagrams with a sharpie on a big pad of paper. However, the animated story is its own delight and features some truly classic and far from unproblematic physiognomies

A PhD opportunity at CCCU in History/Archaeology/Heritage. Preference is for a modernist, but proposals in other areas will be considered. Dr @davehitchcock.bsky.social is the point of contact. www.canterbury.ac.uk/study-here/f... #skystorians #medievalsky #archaeology

This is true but I wish we could just value hard working, reliable, collegial, emotionally intelligent, generous and other qualities coded feminine more, and be less on the look out for lone wolf genius psychopaths?

This is excellent practice and I need to figure out how to do the same. Spent yesterday learning how to use Zoomtext, and one function is to grab text and record audio from it. I’d like to learn more about working with audio.

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

In the current climate one really successful arts education ambassador could make a massive difference at the university

I’m on my way home, it’s not totally dark, week one is done and one of our former students is directing an immersive theatre production on the Trojan war myth ! Things are looking up

Just wondering how much of the university lack of support for arts and humanities is due to Campus Solutions and underlying assumptions baked into the software about what a university degree is and how it works (same modules run every year, no optionality, single convenor/teacher). Computer says no

Very interesting and chimes with my recent experience of marking a big batch of student projects in a module with an AI policy of allowing AI use if declared and done ethically and transparently (students had a 500 word reflective statement to discuss their usage). Only about 5% declared usage 1/2

Made it through the first Tuesday of term. 4-6 lecture slot is a mixed blessing, especially in physics.

Going up to Nottingham is hard at this time of year, but I do love my students. So much earnest thoughtful careful work in the Children’s literature module, with a particular emphasis on inclusion.

No such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing. (Repeat until inside and dried out)

Cognitive functionality currently low, but it is January

A #Roman gladiator's helmet, missing the face mask it originally had, found in Hawkedon (Britain). It dates to the C1st AD, suggesting that gladiatorial combats were introduced to Roman Britain quite early in its history 🏺 #AncientBlueSky

Husband in fridge. Oh my god there are four of these. When are we going to eat this! So much beetroot!! Another two things. Etc etc everything is wrong. I can tell I’m about to start going up to Nottingham again. This does not mean he will cook or eat any of it. (Venting)

Five projects to go! I can envisage finishing January!! I may even start doing all the overdue research and maybe my tax return

This is what Britishness means to me: weaponising bureaucracy to do the decent thing.

The US granted visas to Jews but only allowed 30,000 in from Germany a year. You had to wait for your number to come up. Meet Robert Smallbones. An unassuming British diplomat who 'hacked' this system so effectively (saving 48 THOUSAND Jews) the UK government kept his scheme secret for decades /1 🧵

For 9 months he worked 18hr days signing visas and arguing with the Gestapo. "After two hours sleep my conscience pricked me. The feeling was horrible that there were people in concentration camp whom I could get out and that I was comfortable in bed. I returned to my desk and stayed there" /15

Today we're celebrating perfect imperfections! This rather unremarkable bowl has at sometime in its past been damaged. The cracks were repaired using gold (a Japanese technique called kintsugi or kintsukuroi) turnig this bowl into a symbol of resilience.

I present the concept of the anti-holiday. You go somewhere gloomy, miserable and uncomfortable, and when you return you are profoundly grateful to be in your normal life and chosen home.

A few years ago, @sentantiq.bsky.social and I wrote this piece on the deplorable and false nature of the Hero’s Journey. I do still truly believe that the idea of “rugged individualism” is an extremely harmful philosophy. lareviewofbooks.org/article/the-...

NVidia chief creep says resistance and scorn for AI have done a lot of harm. Good. Nice confirmation it's working. Keep it up. Although the main thing is this stuff is harmful crap so the mind and body tend to revolt against it automatically.

First snowdrops! #tinyjoys

"This image (of earned settlement) isn’t neighbours and good friends, it’s guests and strangers. Allowed to stay but never invited to belong." Yep This whole thing is worth a read and not just if you're in the uk because every western country seems to follow the same migration policy.

Exercise on cross trainer while listening to essay - double punishment or double fun? Peak January

This thread is so funny I had to repost it twice. Also makes me feel better about the essays

Politicians: don't use AI to make your maps.

AI AI o Another day, another piece of work characterised by vague generalities, stereotypes and only tangentially relevant reading and research

*blushing demurely* Some more brilliant free research training events coming up this term... www.history.ac.uk/study-traini...

One of the core rots at the heart of UK higher education is the unquestioned belief that the more expensive research is the better it is.

The FT got is architecture critic Edwin Heathcote to write about data centres and it's wonderful. www.ft.com/content/7692...