Two of five days in. We've looked at innovation, time and progress in separate sessions but from tomorrow will embark on exploring their nexus.

Doing my civic duty and keeping up with Australian politics, the rewards of which include doozies like 'I apologise, because I was asked to apologise'.

The annual AHA (Australia) conference will always have a special place in my heart, even if the July timing makes it difficult to attend these days (Norwegian summer holidays – we are usually off camping somewhere).

With Australia's swimmers and Norway's skiers, this dual citizenship thing is set to enhance my medal count substantially.

I've been asked to contribute to a volume on the ideal-type historian. I'll take it as an opportunity to explore (and criticise) the rampant anti-intellectualism that runs rife in history departments.

My discussion with Marshall Madow on the five categories of progress I developed in my 2022 Element with @universitypress.cambridge.org and @woolf-atthedoor.bsky.social (also on Spotify and other podcast providers) www.notionsofprogress.com/five-faces-o... www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...

Drawing from his @universitypress.cambridge.org Element (2022) Progress and the Scale of History, @tysonretz.bsky.social discusses notions of progress here on this podcast: www.notionsofprogress.com/five-faces-o...

Today in my first-year course What is History? Historical writing in Antiquity and the question of authority over one's subject matter: distance or proximity to the events in question?

Today in my MA course Historical Theory and Method, the distinctions between the philosophy of history, historical theory, and the philosophy of historiography.

Since I wasn't awarded Teacher of the Year I should inform class that tomorrow I'll be absolutely hammered.

I didnt know interest had declined. It's a pity. A year in France as an undergraduate changed me more than any other experience.

I'm pleased to announce another new title in @universitypress.cambridge.org 's series Elements in Historical Study and practice is out and downloadable for free till Dec. 5. Chiel van den Akker, Knowledge and Narrative. doi.org/10.1017/9781...

I've been saying this forever: silos keep the rats out! Long live them.

All men [sic] are intellectuals... but not all men have in society the function of intellectuals...Thus there are historically formed specialised categories for the exercise of the intellectual function. —Antonio Gramsci

Yes historians are researchers but I like to think of them as writers first and foremost. Wish we'd talk more about style and good writing in history.

I like a lot about teaching but maybe most of all the opportunity to stand and walk. Somewhat too sedantry the rest of the job.

New video on our Youtube channel! Watch the talk "Existential Historicism: The Rise and Fall of a Sense-Making Framework" that @hhenriikka.bsky.social gave two weeks ago in our joint research seminar here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVZP.... Happy watching!

Ultras looked to Rome only because they accepted that the state had been successfully secularised. They are not simple reactionaries but integral agents in the history of European liberalism.

"Performative busyness". What a nice term to sum up what goes on in universities these days.

#fernandbraudel C'est dans moins d'un mois ! Découvrez le programme du colloque international "Les mondes de Fernand Braudel" 📅 Du 27 au 28 Novembre 2025 📌 la Fondation Maison des Sciences de l'Homme +Infos www.fmsh.fr/agenda/les-m...

“There is no greater educational calamity than the bored teacher” —John Passmore, 𝘔𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘚𝘦𝘮𝘪-𝘋𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥 𝘈𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘢𝘯

Stilling som stipendiat i museumspedagogikk er nå utlyst ved Institutt for kultur- og språkvitenskap, UiS. www.finn.no/job/ad/43601... Les meir om det spannande prosjektet FJORDS som stillinga er ein del av her: www.uis.no/nb/forskning...

A lot of universities are suffering from a 'space crisis' but look at mine (15.00 main building)

𝘈𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘮 is usually a sign that your interlocutor is out of ideas. Granted, people did not always practise what they preached. This might matter to the biographer, but not to the historian concerned with the influence of their ideas.

Of course anybody is 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥 to speak about the past. But like most things, it takes a certain kind of specialist training to speak 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺 about a subject. Historians are no different. Not gatekeeping – simply practising professional standards of historical method.

“Don’t bite the hand that feeds you”—yet what of criticising the state when academics are state employees/civil servants? Perhaps the biggest difference coming to Norway from Australia, where universities are publicly funded but academics are autonomous professionals at independent institutions.

Blimey

Multiculturalism implies a pluralism that makes possible talk of integration, but talk of integration in states that believe their values to be universal is conceptually confused. Best be honest and frame the discussion in terms of the most appropriate means to assimilate.

Scandinavia with Simon Reeve illustrates well that multiculturalism is not the aim here. Assimilation is. The show’s talk of ‘integration’ is thus off the mark because integration belongs to a multiculturalist policy of integrating a heterogenous whole, not assimilating a homogeneous one.

In search of 'relevance' in your history degree program? Recall that nothing is more 'relevant' than bringing historical knowledge to bear on the problems of the present.

I had a wonderful conversation with Scott Stephens and Walled Aly on Radio Nationa's "The Minefield." Episode - on Beauty in the age of speed, frictionlessness and AI slop - now online: www.abc.net.au/listen/progr...

My talk ‘From Liberalism to Illiberalism' will highlight four turning points. Moral phil translated into politics (1810s), 'socialism in disguise' (late-C19), primacy of economics (1940s), perversion of founding emphasis on indiv. protections (recent) @historicalculture.bsky.social 12.30-13.30EOJ376

Cannot recommend this book highly enough: it takes history education seriously and is a history of ideas about it - it’s also a powerful philosophical enquiry. #historyeducation

Empathy and History @berghahnbooks.bsky.social—the principal arguments: 1) Empathy designates the attempt to grasp the 'context' in which people’s actions made sense 2) The methodological question raised by empathy concerns the way in which this 'context' enters a historical explanation 1/2

Spread the word about this brand new Masters in Public Environmental Humanities with me and The Greenhouse crew in Norway. For those outside of EU, registration is in second half of November, so don’t miss it!

Immensely excited that we will soon be offering this venerable programme. Huge thanks to the excellent @jonasgjerso.bsky.social for initiating PPE!

The appeal of the knowledgeable orator is timeless. And thus the academic lecture will live on.

Today 2026 booking opened for over 600 DNT cabins (hytte) dotted all over Norway. Looking forward to staying in the three that we have booked #lifeinnorway

I am all for learned criticism, but save me from the killjoys, cynics and cul-de-sac sceptics. Life's too short and, besides, I've got work to do

Our underfunded universities are spending money renting office spaces for academics who are seldom there. I don't know the answer, but whatever it is, it will involve being mindful of the way knowledge is produced in the different academic disciplines.

I am endlessly amazed by how much good historical work remains to be done.

Proud to become dual Australian-Norwegian citizen! (Norway, I know you dearly protect your fishing industry but these salmon-coloured passports are too much 😘).

Congratulations to @kreskildsen.bsky.social on the publication of his @universitypress.cambridge.org THINGS OF THE PAST: a modern yearning, in the Elements in Historical Theory and Practice series. Free to download till 13 November at DOI: 10.1017/9781009342988. www.cambridge.org/core/element...

The Department of History at Queen’s University seeks a postdoctoral fellow to start July 1, 2026. Applications are due on January 15, 2026 for the Marjorie McLean Oliver Post-Doctoral Fellowship. The full position description can be found here: www.queensu.ca/history/abou...

My family have never quite grasped my interest in history and now that I've told them about my interest in the Bourbon Restoration they seem truly poised to stage an intervention.

Dual biography, comparative biography, or two separate biographies of the figures concerned. That is the question today.

Norwegians have created a simple solution to everything being shut on Sundays. Go for a walk #lifeinnorway #mosvatnet #stavanger

In a week, I’ll be referencing Dilthey, Ranke, Burckhardt, Heidegger, Troeltsch and Benjamin, all in one talk! From historical contemplation as existential consolation to history as a source of existential Angst. Do join!

Stuart Macintyre used say, ‘start the day by picking up a book that inspires you’. Presently, that book for me is Catholicism and Democracy by Emile Perreau-Saussine. It’s the most brilliant book on Catholic political thought with sharp comparative insights into liberal Protestantism.

Well I guess that brings to an end the Long Reformation.