“Abolish ICE” isn’t radical, it doesn’t go far enough. Latest in @theguardian.com written with my friend @victorerikray.bsky.social. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

I've got a new post on my blog for you: 'Invasion of the Hemisphere Snatchers', my commentary on the US abduction of #Venezuela president #Maduro and what it has in common with the ideology of sixteenth-century #empires and the conquistadors. empirespastdotblog.wordpress.com/2026/01/18/i...

this is the sickest shit ive ever seen

A 1940s Anishnawbek birchbark box with quillwork and sweetgrass stitching.

Missing from the coverage of redundancies at Edinburgh: this was done in such a haphazard, uncoordinated way, there are now core teams who have gone from 5 people to 1 with no change in workload or pressure and huge loss in knowledge of institutional process. www.heraldscotland.com/news/2576321...

We teach young people, some of whom kindly consent to feature in our marketing and branding images, they do this based on a sense of trust in their institutions not to misuse those images or put them at risk! and yet, how many of those images now end up on X? has that risk been assessed at all?

On advance access: "The Making and Unmaking of Religious Toleration in Spanish Manila, 1571-1755" by Adrian Masters (University of Trier) #OpenAccess doi.org/10.1093/past...

Fantastic online training session from @ihrlibrary.bsky.social @senatehouselib.bsky.social colleagues on the History of Emotions. All welcome! @sas-news.bsky.social @ihr.bsky.social www.history.ac.uk/news-events/...

We're pleased to report that Tim Soens' 2013 article 'Flood Security in the Medieval and Early Modern North Sea Area: A Question of Entitlement?' is now #openaccess, thanks to @vuamsterdam.bsky.social. You can read the piece here: www.doi.org/10.3197/0967... #envhist #northsea @eandhwhp.bsky.social

A Carthusian miscellany of poems, chronicles, and treatises in Northern English, including an epitome or summary of (John) Mandeville's travels.' 1460-1500. Written in a northern dialect it is believed to originate from a 'A Yorkshire or Lincolnshire

Reposting for the Sunday morning crowd. I'm starting a blog on dealing with the confusing and scary present through long-term history. Would love some reads and discussion from everyone here!

Well, I'm finally doing what everyone else is doing and starting a blog. The way the world is going, I've felt compelled to finally put my thoughts together into something potentially meaningful. I hope some of you will come along on the journey. empirespastdotblog.wordpress.com/2026/01/10/a...

Reminder that “Say her name” was developed specifically to call attention to murders of Black women

An exquisite rendering in silver of a figure flying a kite. It's 17th century Netherlandish and only 4cm high (Rijksmuseum)

Just to back up Anthony as a medievalist, that’s one of the dumbest fucking claims imaginable. There have never NOT been people from continental Europe, Africa, and Asia moving to/ from the British Isles for 2000 years. In early modernity, this included the Americas!

To (re)introduce myself, I'm an historian of global French commerce under Louis XIV. My works below are all free to download! Book on commerce, risk and absolutism: t.ly/NMc17 Female agency in Atlantic colonialism: t.ly/VNM4- Power and sovereignty under Louis XIV: t.ly/v2vfH #MaritimeHistory 🗃️

Bindo Altoviti, c. 1515 by Raphael (National Gallery of Art, Washington)

Bear as a hunter - with detachable head to use as a drinking vessel. Made by Gregor Bair, 1580-1581 (Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien)

'resisting the violation of rules and insisting on adherence, even if certainly in vain, is how norms are established and then maintained. Lying low and hoping that this too shall pass is cowardice, denial and historical illiteracy.'

Council for British Research in the Levant grants of up to £7000 for UKHEI-based early career researchers. Deadline 9 January.

Pour one out for the Latin American historians. May the gods of patience be with you as you do your public-facing work right now.

Overthrowing the government of Iran and installing the shah led to the Iranian revolution and the Ayatollah. Funding the Mujahideen in Afghanistan led to the taliban and Al queda. These unlawful actions could have destabilizing consequences for decades and this will haunt the US for generations.

I'm absolutely delighted to share that I have just been appointed Project Officer for Lincolnshire County Council's new Mud and Stud project. Really looking forward to getting stuck into the first proper county-wide study of its indigenous building technique!

We are thrilled to share our Lent CFP! Please share widely and get in touch if you have any questions!

A little quirkiness. Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, called Guercino A Young Man with an Owl on a Stick, ca. 1630s (RISD Museum) The artist d. #otd 21 Dec 1666.

Young man seated in a window; his head resting in his left hand, a wide-brimmed hat on his knee. c. 1655 Abraham van Dijck (British Museum)

The new Polish president, endorsed by Trump, has ended the tradition of lighting a Menorah at Poland's presidential palace, a gesture of coming to terms with Jewish history. He said he ended the lighting because "I take my attachment to Christian values ​​seriously." forward.com/opinion/7919...

AI-assisted writing in 1716. #skystorians

“Ancient boundaries were more ambiguous than what is often shown in historical maps. While the modern understanding of borders relies on recent concepts of territorial sovereignty, the frontiers of pre-modern states were fluid and frequently contested.” www.africanhistoryextra.com/p/african-ot...

Gemeinsame Pressemitteilung: Offener Brief – Der Bund hat die Pflicht zur Kolonialismus Aufarbeitung und Erinnerung Hier geht es zum Offenen Brief: decolonize-berlin.de/de/pressemit... Mitzeichnung über den Link weiterhin möglich!

I write a newspaper column about Scottish history, historians and heritage. I’m keen to feature more Early Career Researchers. Their work might not otherwise be publicised to a wide audience. Do you know anyone who might like to be in the column?

Ongoing decimation of British universities part 252: Apx. 1000 academic staff at University of Essex just received formal ‘risk of redundancy’ letters via email. Please share @ucuessex.bsky.social @ucu.org.uk

if you would like to read about early modern hammocks, it's publication day for the article the brilliant @marcynorton.bsky.social and I wrote about them! (open access) link.springer.com/article/10.1...

Hey, folks - remember when we told you the essentialism of total biological difference between sexes that underlies the current wave of transphobia was gonna hurt ALL women, not just trans women? Yeah, about that ...

Congratulations to Emily Selove and the Magic Centre at the University of Exeter for their new PhD programme in magic! I know the Magic Centre folks via my husband (who is doing a drama PhD there involving esoteric studies), and they are an amazing group of scholars. www.exeter.ac.uk/study/pg-res...

Good morning! Today is the publication day of the 1927 occult novel POSSESSED by Rosalie and Edward Synton, discovered by me and reprinted by the British Library for their Tales of the Weird line. There now follows a thread about the authors. If you buy a copy, use the hashtag #SYNTONSPOSSESSED

all academic applications should have consolation prizes. doesn’t have to be much, like a mug that says “i applied for leverhulme 2020” or a t-shirt “UKRI reject 2023”

God I hate how anti-intellectual out times are. I’d rather be sitting here reading interesting books, or learning about astronomy stuff, or making a movie about weird shit - but I gotta spend energy constantly explaining my existence to a world that empathizes more with Nazis then marginalized ppl.

Very happy to graduate from @hcaatedinburgh.bsky.social after passing my Viva with zero corrections! (With the help and support of a lot of scholars, family and friends!)

'The government will charge universities £925 per international student for each year of study from August 2028, in a blow to cash-strapped higher education institutions.' 1/3

Great news for all who care about telling the truth & the full story of American history. The Mississippi Delta barn where Emmett Till died is now owned by the Emmett Till Interpretive Center thanks to a major donation from Shonda Rhimes. It will open as a memorial by 2039.

And we are hiring! We have been incredibly lucky to get this funding and are very grateful for the opportunity to work on this. Please circulate to people who would be interested in applying. www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DPN147/p...

🎨 In our final seminar of the semester, Neil McClelland joins us from @uofglasgow.bsky.social to discuss his ongoing doctoral research into the the history of art commissions from across the social strata from late medieval and early modern Naples.

We need it. Not only are the classes full, but also concert halls, libraries - we've gone to a bunch of classical concerts this year as an antidote to despair and guess what - they are full. They were not as full before, but they are now. "Humanities are shrinking" is artificially imposed top down.

It would have been hard to believe, when I moved to the UK over 15 yrs ago to start my PhD at Edinburgh, that successive Conservative and Labour governments would actively undermine one of the UK's most successful and strategic sectors and run it to the ground. Unbelievable, really. And here we are

"Wilderness: a tract or region uncultivated and uninhabited by human beings." That sound you hear is millions of Native Americans grinding their teeth.

Latest update from @britishlibrary.bsky.social says they are launching a new version of their main catalogue on Monday 8 December and around that time also launch an interim version of their Archives and Manuscripts Catalogue. Hooray! www.bl.uk/stories/news...

"According to the report, [...]during the 2024-25 television season, queer characters increased across platforms by 4%, bringing the total to 489. However, the Thursday report found that 41% of those characters will not return." www.thewrap.com/glaad-where-...

“History shows us that the right to literacy came at a heavy cost…those oppressed recognized that literacy is liberation. To my students & to anyone who might listen, I say: Don’t surrender to AI your ability to read, write & think when others once risked their lives & died for the freedom to do so”