overheard students on the bus discussing The Waste Land.

Journalists, politicians, and others who talk populist nonsense about universities ought to meet my brilliant first-year group.

Unfassbar!

Very much looking forward to our conference next week at @friasunifreiburg.bsky.social and to discussing post-war times in the (early) modern period with @doctoressa.bsky.social @claudiussittig.bsky.social @andrekrischer.bsky.social @paulinastarski.bsky.social

Mutuals, have you come across instances of academic imperialism in your fields?

Dream PhD opportunity! We are recruiting another doctoral researcher in our @erc.europa.eu synergy project BLOCKADE - this one is on interwar blockades and sanctions. 4 years, fully funded at @uvahumanities.bsky.social and supervised by the amazing and super kind @samuelkruizinga.bsky.social

Ich habe heute ein Gespräch mit Bundeskanzlerin a.D. Angela Merkel geführt, zum Tag der Deutschen Einheit. www.zdf.de/nachrichten/...

I discuss the genocide concept in my bad German here. Recorded in one take so I could not clean it up. FWIW www.deutschlandfunk.de/genozid-in-g...

87 years ago today, Britain and France threw Czechoslovakia under the bus and allowed Hitler to annex huge parts of its territory. The general question remains in the light of ongoing Russian aggression against Ukraine: how should Western democracies deal with expansionist dictatorships? 1/2

“The ECHR isn’t Brussels meddling. It’s the foundation that protects you from your own government.” 👏👏👏

I wrote a thing.

Bonded with a taxi driver who was listening to James O'Brian's programme.

Farage’s plans to abolish Indefinite Leave to Remain would ruin lives and tear families apart. Rather than dismissing Reform’s xenophobic proposals as 'unrealistic' or 'unaffordable', our government should be clear that they are cruel and unjust. We must stand up for migrants' rights.

“Cataclysmically bad” This new series of ECR blog posts on the French History Network makes for grim reading, perhaps grimmer even than some in UK #FrenchHistory might have realised. 1st post, anon ECRs in French History on what it’s like right now out there: frenchhistorysociety.co.uk/6691/ 🗃️

Ich hoffe sehr, dass sich das ZDF robust hinter Theveßen stellt und nicht der massiven Schmutz- und Desinformationskampagne nachgibt, die gerade gegen ihn und jeden gefahren wird, der nur Kirks eigene Worte wiederholt. Meinungsfreiheit gilt bei MAGA nur für die eigenen Leute- nicht für den Rest.

Will there be a statement by PM Starmer on the dreadful fascist rally?

Verstehe ich das richtig: 1 Faschist ermordet 1 Faschisten, weil der ihm nicht faschistisch genug ist, aber wir sollen über Linksradikalismus reden?

Why did the authorities allow the London rally of fascists, racists, and violent thugs to go ahead?

Zwei Bücher zum NS-Heldenkult fallen mir gerade ein von: 1. Sabine Behrenbeck 2. Jay M. Baird

In the late 1930s, Fascist and Nazi spectacles celebrating the Axis alliance created a political dynamic that led to a maelstrom of destruction. Not good to see a similar pattern last week In Beijing.

It is absurd that a Zeit journalist is blaming the left for the rise of the far right. In the late 1980s, it was Die Zeit which sternly refuted Ernst Nolte' tendentious arguments about Nazism as a reaction to Bolshevism.

The American Association of University Professors condemns the targeted elimination of humanities departments and programs at the University of Oregon #WarOnEducation #edusky #signalboost #UniversityofOregon www.aaup.org/news/aaup-pr...

Shrill headlines from a German historian. War was caused by political, not economic factors. And Tim Mason and Richard Overy debated these questions decades ago, followed by Adam Tooze. www.faz.net/aktuell/feui...

Presumably, Mr Putin sees the Trumpist "security guarantee" for Ukraine as something similar to the guarantees Czechoslovakia received at Munich in September 38 in exchange for ceding territories to Hitler. 1/2

The meeting with Trump helped Putin achieve much of what he wanted, including putting Russia on an equal footing with the United States. Americans Need to Wake Up - Praising a War Criminal 🤦‍♀️ #US #dkpol #Ukraine

The Alaska summit was a shabby piece of diplomatic spectacle. A betrayal of liberal democracy, the rules-based international order and Ukraine. Putin must be celebrating the US government's stupidity, weakness and cowardice.

disappointing to see how Trump gives the wanted war criminal Putin the red carpet treatment on US soil.

Strongmen diplomacy is nothing new. See my book yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300...

Do President Trump and his associates know the history of the Munich agreement?

Letter of the day (in the Times)

Einige vermeintlich bürgerlich-moderate Konservative in der CDU scheinen Herrn von Papen und Konsorten imitieren zu wollen.

mainichi.jp/english/arti... An extremely unwise move which will damage Japan‘s universities. Pandering to xenophobia.

If blind obedience to the ruler is the only criterion for holding office state, society and the world will suffer.

A future in which [ANU] brings up the rear of the Group of Eight and then, unable to compete, evolves in short time into a middle-ranking Australian regional university. That is what is at stake here, writes Frank Bongiorno #auspol #ANU

Self-inflicted embarrassment for the University of Warwick — first it rebrands hyper-generically, then someone totally unhinged decides the *front page of the uni website* should say ‘Learn more about our Brand’.

Burgtheater heute. Trauerflagge für Claus Peymann. RIP.

What an irony that Lord Browne whose report did so much damage to the UK university sector is standing for election as Chancellor of Cambridge University.

A rare opportunity for a permanent lectureship in German in our fabulous School! Please circulate to your networks. @ucfl-eca.bsky.social @ucflangs.bsky.social

Very sad to hear of Alfred Brendel’s death. RIP, maestro. www.faz.net/aktuell/feui...

Tomorrow! At UManchester, let’s talk global activism, transnational history, and how to publish! Hosted by @siobhanhearne.bsky.social , Contemporary European History, and featuring Daniel Laqua, @jolaycock.bsky.social , @laurehumbert.bsky.social + the amazing CEH board! @conteurohistory.bsky.social

Hillary Clinton recommends Senators to ‚speak out.‘ Good. Will it really stop the ascent of dictatorship?

At the heart of the general crisis of the 21st century is the erasure of a meaningful distinction between content and substance.

This Wednesday: Special lecture by Simon Visiting Professor Lucy Riall. Details below. events.manchester.ac.uk/event/event:...

Are there any collective lawsuits in the UK against AI companies using copyrighted work without permission?

My piece in The Critic, defending the idea of the university against the mercenary, the transactional and the silly. thecritic.co.uk/university-a...

Spot on. The principal threat to academic freedom is always the state. Not students. Not academics. The state. It was true in the twentieth century and it is true right now.

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