I’m so lucky to work with brilliant people like Sasha. Fascinating stuff worth checking out.

We are dismayed by news regarding UG History, and other subjects, at Hertfordshire. This follows recent job losses at Essex and elsewhere, and makes clear the crisis in UK HE. The Society is in touch and working with historians at UoH. As ever, we invite contact from others affected #Skystorians

🚨 REMINDER ⏰ Join us tomorrow to attend our final seminar of the academic year! In person and online tickets available via the link below 👇🏾

Applications are now invited for the Society's 2026 Funded Book Workshops - for historians currently writing a 2nd or 3rd monograph bit.ly/4uwep8C. Grants enable authors to hold a day workshop with upto 6 specialist readers to discuss a MS in detail before submission to a publisher #Skystorians

Tonight! After voting in local elections, come along to this seminar:

Read in full! ⬇️

Completely devastating. At breakneck speed and based on data staff cannot see, so management is carefully managing away any attempt at actual solutions.

If you’re interested in themes in religious history, Catholic internationalism and the history of human rights, join us this evening for a paper from Daniel McDonald (Somerville, Oxford) at the IHR Modern Religious History Seminar, in person or online: www.history.ac.uk/news-events/...

If you need a giggle… SNL UK’s sketch on British Pork Board advertising from the 1980s. Brilliant. youtu.be/0NlKS4kdsjM?...

'The president of the British Academy has said that too many decisions made about UK higher education and research are “fragmented”, and outlined her ambitions for a joined-up approach to funding the system sustainably.' 1/3

Looking forward to being part of this RHS Visit to Aberystwyth! If you’re in the area and able to come along, hope to see you there.

The IHR Fellowship was an essential support for me after the instability of my former academic job and facing the uncertainty of current job market. A wonderful community, I highly recommend applying if you’re a historian looking for a nonstipendiary affiliation with a university.

📢 Applications are now LIVE for the IHR Fellowship! Join our vibrant community of scholars. 🏛️✨ 🗓️ Deadline: 30th June 2026 🔗 Apply here: www.history.ac.uk/fellowships-...

I still get the impression that many (most?) Labour supporters don’t understand how badly Labour’s anti-immigration policies come across, or how many of us are personally angry about them.

Can we have some influencers for Brainmaxxing, who learn to gain expertise in a range of subjects and then, I dunno, get bestowed with a marker to signify their proficiency and achievement? We could call it a university degree. Just spitballing here. The Times will do a piece about it. New trend.

Didn’t expect the first five minutes of The Devil Wears Prada 2 to be so relatable for historians / university lecturers / people working in the arts.

AI produces MORE editorial labor, not less. “[To weed out slop] the journal doubled its deputy editors from 6 to 11 & nearly doubled its sr editors from roughly 30 to 60. All of this is volunteer labor, unpaid academics donating time to maintain scientific quality.“ www.forbes.com/sites/johndr...

On the sunny campus of the University of Warwick today with @royalhistsoc.org for our council meeting and a brilliant lecture by Professor Sasha Handley on ‘The haunting at the rectory: ghost stories and women’s lives in early modern England.’

some good news FOR ONCE “Perhaps most damaging for the regulator meant to oversee freedom of speech, the accusation of bias in the process was also upheld.” www.bbc.com/news/article...

"The study of history is not merely an intellectual pursuit but a civic obligation, essential to the maintenance of a reflective, resilient and democratic society ... And yet opportunities to learn the skills of historical practice are disappearing at an alarming rate." bit.ly/3QyZQCO

'Protecting what matters': a new government policy paper identifies history as central to social cohesion. At the same time, history teaching and research, in our schools and universities, is at risk as never before. To ensure cohesion, we must protect what matters: bit.ly/3QyZQCO #skystorians

“Lock up your libraries if you like; but there is no gate, no lock, no bolt that you can set upon the freedom of my mind.” ― Virginia Woolf, A Room of One's Own #WomensArt #Monday

Cartoon by @mygumsarebleeding.bsky.social

Came across this older thread via a related post. Worth reading on how much of our labour is being exploited without our control and consent to the detriment of our students and institutions who cough up vast sums for these platforms.

NEW 🚨 12 British universities have paid a private firm run by former military intelligence officials to “spy” on student protesters and academics including those who have expressed solidarity with Palestine. Read the full story with @aljazeera.com www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/4/...

On my way to do something I haven’t done since parting from my role as Lecturer in Black British History at Goldsmiths 7 months ago… teach in a university classroom. Giving a guest lecture on ‘writing marginalised histories’ for some students at NYU’s London campus. I’ve really missed this!

Remarkably, despite how bad this story is, the trend seems to be towards worse not better. And neither of the cited responses to these findings, from Shabana Mahmood's department or the National Police Chiefs’ Council, even pretends to address the issue of racism.

This is *not* a company that deserves good faith partnership or access to our sensitive data. Palantir leadership is open about their motives and they are anti-democratic, intolerant, regressive and totalitarian.

Cartoonist: Daniel Medina

The utter cruelty of some university management teams is staggering.

Research funding for historians: the Society currently invites applications for 5 grant programmes: to support individual and project-based research by historians across a range of career stages bit.ly/4vzzNeB. Closing dates for eligible applicants fall between 8 May and 5 June 2026 #Skystorians

Just watched higher ed in the US turn into a sad farce, as the right destroys academic freedom for all save bigotry, moving to bankrupt any uni that still allows their staff and students to demand racial justice, protest war crimes or defend the trans community. Now Labour is on the same ugly track.

'Universities will also be banned from using non-disclosure agreements to silence victims of campus misconduct. Staff pressured to sign such agreements will be able to seek redress through the complaints scheme.' The one good thing about this scheme.

We're in Sheffield today to co-host our annual day conference, 'History and Archives in Practice', with @ihr.bsky.social, The National Archives, and University of Sheffield Library #HAP26 40+ speakers explore the contributions of history to social and civic identity: bit.ly/4tj8DqW #Skystorians

At the University of Sheffield today with @royalhistsoc.org, @ihr.bsky.social and @nationalarchives.gov.uk.web.brid.gy for History and Practice 2026! Great to hear of so many wonderful initiatives bringing historians and archivists together to shape communities and society #HAP26

Londoners: in the spirit of celebrating simpler pre-2008 technology (iPods, dumb phones) I can’t say enough about using an actual Oyster card again to get around the city. Especially with the cost of a day travel card being so high. Much simpler, money easier to track, no tapping on different cards

Among many other things: I’m really looking forward to seeing how this accelerates Carney’s plans for trans-Canadian trade and infrastructure, and could we see a version of UBI?

This, plus the overwhelming rejection of American goods in stores. Canada has provided a leading example for the world on this

We need more historians because history is one of the most powerful forms of knowledge. Just ask any autocrat why they want to control it! #TalkAboutHumanities

Brutal but accurate.

Need to see the international community rally around Lebanon, its sovereignty, and work collectively to defend the Lebanese people against these attacks…. This cannot be left unchecked.

Sources say Pentagon officials raised the threat of an Avignon papacy!? What century is this! No one can say enough how unhinged the US is acting on the world stage.

A sensible summing up of where we are now, from one of @theguardian.com’s best columnists. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

One month of the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran could plunge four million more people across the Arab world into poverty and could cost the region $194 billion in lost economic output, according to projections by the UN Development Program.

"We are confident we could do it if we wanted to." (Senior government official, on using the contract's break clause in 2027). So, keep up the pressure. giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...

Last week we launched a new programme to help historians, resident outside the UK and Ireland, to undertake research in the UK. Closing date: Friday 8 May #Skystorians

It’s hard to fit it all on a sign… If you’re going to the Stronger Together demo in Central London today, I hope to see you there.

apparently Wikipedia has more rigorous standards than every university on the planet, university administrators, edtech enthusiasts, (certainly more than) AI bros, several prominent academic journals, and too many professors and teachers

What did Google do to get so much purchase over Keir? Can’t have just been those Taylor Swift tickets… If anyone thinks American tech is the answer, you’re not paying attention to the problems.

This Thursday, a special lunchtime talk from experts on the history of modern Iran about the short and long term causes and consequences of the war US/Israel war in Iran Booking link below ⬇️