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'The number of English language and literature academics fell by 8 per cent to 4,680 – among the largest decrease of all disciplines. And the number employed in modern languages dropped 7 per cent to 4,890. This is 17 per cent below peak levels in 2015-16.' 1/3

Number of academics working in UK university English departments fell by 8% last year, with number of modern languages staff down 7% www.timeshighereducation.com/news/uk-job-... via @patrickjack.bsky.social

'The University of Leicester is to close its film studies and modern languages degree courses to new students.' 'The university has confirmed the courses would cease, but declined to comment on the number of prospective students affected, saying the figure was "commercially sensitive".' 1/2

NEW on Wonkhe: Universities serve purposes beyond market demands. Jim Dickinson asks if the pendulum between planning and markets is about to swing back - and what that should mean to protect student interests bit.ly/3XDc1z6

long shot: is anyone out there aware of writing on West African manuscript culture that is *not* in European languages? Or know any scholars working in this area who might be willing to help? #bookhistory

RIP Jurgen Habermas - one of the five major social theorists of the past 60 years. Much to learn from his work. Many gaps, some errors, but he was so rigorous that he inspired some of the best simultaneously dissenting and generative thought of any postwar academic.

Every hospital in England has been urged to disobey an NHS directive to use software operated by controversial US analytics software company Palantir www.bmj.com/content/392/...

He has been prepared for deposition. Rules are: Take time/waste time. Give as little as possible in replies. Concede nothing. Offer nothing; read slowly. Ie what looks dumb is letter of the law compliance that is typical for being deposed. He may also be dumb/ignorant. 🤷🏻‍♀️

The NY Times writes about DOGE and their assault on the NEH... USING CHATGPT TO DECIDE WHETHER A GRANT WAS DOING WOKE DEI. Just appalling. www.nytimes.com/2026/03/07/a...

Really excellent interview with tech journalist Graham Lovelace about the current situation regarding copyright law and generative AI’s illegal scraping of published books — posted by @alcs.co.uk www.alcs.co.uk/news/the-ai-...

In which people CHOOSE TO VOTE for a female plumber representing a party with broadly liberal values and an unelected life peer declares it to be the end of liberal democracy.

'The number of academics leaving their jobs...[rose] from just over 1,500 in 2023 to just over 2,800 in 2025. Across the three-year period, there were nearly 9,600 confirmed redundancies across the institutions, with more than 6,300 reported to be on academic contracts.' Fixed term excluded. 2/3

'Research Professional News made FOI requests to all 24 members of the Russell Group and 10 members of the ResearchPlus mission group of universities.' 24 institutions responded: their redundancies increased from just over 2,200 in the 2023 calendar year to nearly 4,400 in 2025. 1/3

We are looking for review essays! You can see some of our selected titles at the post below. Get in contact with our review editors @heyitsdenisew.bsky.social and @olihaslam.bsky.social to request some or for further info

This could be the greatest film review I've come across. Tremendous youtu.be/DTyUni8dbkE?... #melania

At the RBO to see Woolf Works. Fabulous!

Looking for a new challenge in 2026? Join SUP and support not-for-profit academic publishing. We have three vacancies for editorial board members. Submit your application by Monday 2 February 2026 https://www.sup.ac.uk/news/editorial-board-vacancies

Delighted to see that my article, '"Many Little Wildernesses": Harriet Monroe, Poetry, and the Reader as Tourist' is out in the latest issue of the Journal of Modern Periodical Studies! doi.org/10.5325/jmodeperistud.16.2.0107

A magical musical moment amidst the madness.

"I am a children's entertainer who specializes in face painting," writes a woman now in hiding from the federal government for witnessing a state-sanctioned street execution

The UK university sector has gone beyond the red line and is now in a stage of rapid decomposition. Only a fundamental reset could save whole chunks of it. Probably too late for large parts. blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsoci...

The BAAS website has been updated with news of a whole host of new books in American Studies 📚

join @modernistudies.bsky.social! 3 PGR Rep roles are available, see below for a blog post from @lilyvmartin.bsky.social & yours truly about our time as reps so far.

Not the main thing ofc, but indicting a foreign head of state for conspiring to possess a machine gun is low key hilarious.

Pantone just updated their Color Of The Year

British Academy's pioneering 'cold spots' work now replicated by HESA. 'University "cold spots" are developing in some parts of the country, new data analysis suggests, with courses in some subjects no longer available to students in certain regions.' 1/2

Very welcome news today that the UK will join the Erasmus+ programme in 2027. This will enable greater opportunities for study abroad and contributions in UK universities, and is something we called for in our most recent Manifesto.

NEW on Wonkhe: The abolition of the binary divide in HE made visible the wealth of research excellence in what became known as the post-92 part of the sector. Katie Normington worries that forcing specialisation risks eroding longstanding research ecosystems buff.ly/a2Lusby

Open-access and in print - Muireann Maguire (@muireanndinosaur.bsky.social), Invading the American Canon: Translators of Russian Literary Fiction, 1863-1984 (@bloomsburyhist.bsky.social, @bloomsburylit.bsky.social, 2025; h/t @jrdwrrn.bsky.social, #skystorians) www.bloomsbury.com/us/invading-...

Postdoc Opportunity! University of Rochester - Postdoctoral Fellowship in Digital Humanities networks.h-net.org/jobs/69418/u...

“Four years ago, we suffered an earlier redundancy programme that we were told would secure the future of the university. That clearly was not true." #UKHE www.leicester.news/university-o...

Private Eye nailing it.

Relectures féministes de Michel Foucault. Colloque International (2025) Feminist Re-readings of Michel Foucault, Hybrid, 7–8 Nov 2025, Sciences Po, Paris Registration link for anyone who might wish to attend online   Friday, November 7, 2025 (room K011) 9:15–10:00 – Introduction Judith Revel…

Southampton Solent University accused of “unprecedented” attempt to move staff on to “inferior” pension schemes, with those not complying facing losing their jobs www.timeshighereducation.com/news/southam... via @julietterowsell.bsky.social

New at Print Plus: "Virginia Woolf in Circulation: The Hogarth Press Order Books, Modernist Bookselling, and Digital Practice" by Alice Staveley et al sheds light on the business of modernism and reads order books as digital portals for literary history modernismmodernity.org/articles/sta...

Are you a grad student, untenured faculty member, or an independent scholar doing research in Romantic-era literature and culture? There's still time to apply for a Pforzheimer Award! Apply by Nov. 1 to be considered. Find more information here: www.k-saa.org/pforzheimera...

'And some academics are angry that universities are allowing or even encouraging the use of AI tools — many of which are controlled by companies, have unknown cognitive impacts and are dogged by ethical and environmental concerns.'

New open-access article on a peculiar type of periodical, the county magazine: Rural Modernity in an Interwar English County Magazine: Cheshire Life, 1934–39 doi.org/10.1080/1478... In Cultural and Social History

“AI has turbocharged the spread of bullshit and falsehoods. It is not able to produce actual, qualitative academic work, despite the claims of some in the AI industry. As researchers, as universities, we should be clearer about pushing back against these false claims by the AI industry.”

The most Minnesotan protest sign. #NoKings

ICYMI on Tuesday, here's my *new* and *free* short-form summary of what's gone wrong in our universities. This is something of a last word really, because unless the Budget and White Paper do something really radical, the fate of much HE is already sealed. politicalquarterly.org.uk/blog/where-n...

Tony Harrison’s poem ‘V.’ is to be performed in the Leeds cemetery that inspired it. The day of site-specific readings will now also serve as a tribute to the poet, who died last week. Read the article: www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/s... Book tickets here: www.slunglow.org/v-a-homecomi...