In further extremely boring fights with Outlook, I figured out that while "categories" are easy to manage but hard to use in the desktop app, the opposite is true for the mobile. Lesson 1: If you can avoid Outlook, do so. Lesson 2: If you are stuck with it (like I am), try different clients/apps.

New post—a quick overview of the UD Latin treebanks and how we are using them in LatinCy development... exploratoryphilology.org/posts/latinc... #LoveDataWeek

I do lots of things that are challenging and cool (like coordinating large funding applications, for instance), but the writing group is my favourite initiative. It's small, it's cheap, it doesn't bring funding or visibility, but it has its own real impact. (Cheesy, I know, but that's how I feel!)

Took me forever to add my Google Calendar (private) to my Outlook App (work), but without syncing all 100500 emails that sit in the Gmail account. Finally, I succeeded (by trying it on the web version, no idea why). But... now all my Google events appear double. *Faut pas chercher à comprendre*.

"Your books have turned your life upside down" ἀντέστροφέν σου τὸν βίον τὰ βιβλία #Theognetus

Presenting today in Liège www.mondesanciens.uliege.be/cms/c_128000...

Next Wed 28 Jan I’ll be running a *free* 60-minute webinar on ‘How to Start Learning Grant Writing’ (4-5pm CET). It’s intended for grad students and ECRs in the arts/humanities planning to apply for their first big grants. Please share widely! www.eventbrite.com/e/pbp-how-to...

Why do so many reviewers feel the need to assume that the author may not be a native speaker? Just say that the writing has its flaws (and list them if possible). #AcademicSky

Jinxed that, I'm afraid. Still, maybe this will happen one day, one way or another...

The call for Visiting Fellowships is open! In a nutshell: 📚 Open topic (x2) or a more specific theme (x3) ⏳ 4–6 weeks in the academic year 2026–2027 💶 Non-stipendiary (alas!), but we will cover travel to/from Leuven and accommodation 📆 Apply by 6 March 2026 🔗 www.kuleuven.be/lectio/visit...

An opinion: (1) hybrid participation – at least passively – is a good thing for lots of reasons; (2) it is not hugely difficult to arrange, and we all should be able to handle the setting up by now; (3) those not doing the setup still need to acknowledge that it needs people and thinking through.

Among other things, I'm preparing a suggestion to teach an MA course on ancient books, hopefully to begin next autumn. It's getting more and more real, with ECTS and exam description, so it's very exciting (and a bit scary).

The Helsinki Centre for Intellectual History 2025 conference asks what it means to be in and out of the canon in intellectual history. 📅 15–17 December 2025 📍 University of Helsinki 🗂️ Conference schedule now available: www.helsinki.fi/en/researchg...

Picard management tip: If you're on red alert every day, then red alert means nothing.

A very nice volume coming from an event at LECTIO (@lectio-institute.bsky.social), also featuring my collection of thoughts on prefaces and names. Always strange (but also enjoyable) to think back to the original conference when the publication comes out.

Just found a cool painting and thought I'd share it here. nmwa.org/art/collecti...

Just about ten years now in the making: The IE-CoR database paper has finally been published. C. Anderson, M. Scarborough, [ ... 96 further authors ... ], R. Gray & P. Heggarty. 2025. The Indo-European Cognate Relationships Dataset. Scientific Data 12:1541.

I still don't have a good way to bookmark cool things on here... so I'll just repost them instead.

"the infernal lecture"!

Want to work with the FitMA-team? Here is your chance! Join our great project and get paid for it! Two postdoc positions open! #classicsky #medievalsky #philsky www.kuleuven.be/personeel/jo...

Can anyone recommend a tool for creating 'bookmarks' or saving posts on here? Or is there an obvious one which I've missed?

📢 Don’t miss the first articles from CHR’s themed issue, Expanding the Toolkit: Large Language Models in Humanities Research! Read the issue #openaccess here: 📚 cup.org/4lvH2Ow #computationalhumanities #CHR @comphumresearch.bsky.social @nolauren.bsky.social @folgertk.bsky.social

For #EpigraphyTuesday a Trier black slipped ware motto beaker bearing the Latin inscription: PARCE AQVAM ADIC MERVM - save the water, pour unmixed #wine! Trier motto beakers are frequently decorated with toasts to life and wine. From Trier, dating around 300 AD. 📷 me 🏺 #archaeology

One more point on this: dear fellow academics, when you announce conferences or events without a hybrid option [another topic...], please do so at least 1-2 months in advance. This way, those who have it a bit harder to arrange travel/visas/other things can make sure they can attend. Accessibility!

Visa application centres are the greatest scam ever. You cannot opt out, you pay extra, and then they have a website upload system that crashes (but if you don't want to use it, you have to pay to scan your documents there). Well, at least now I don't have to travel for 2h to get to one!

Presented my graphs and tables at #papycongress2025 :)

In Köln for #papycongress2025. Already spotted three people with conference bags at the hotel breakfast and one person studying the programme.

You can turn this off if you go to settings, tab Generative AI, and just uncheck "Enable generative AI features in Acrobat." Though I do still find it mind-boggling that there isn't a good academic-oriented free open-source PDF reader. But that's another issue ...

Even scammers are mocking me...

The top three things driving me mad as I'm finalising the volume edits: 1. OneDrive / SharePoint sync issues 2. Bibliography entries for conference proceedings without editors (n)or traditional publisher 3. [still vacant]

Quick note of appreciation to those who name their files correctly and clearly (not "paper_Leuven.docx" or "fig_1.png" but at least including the last name and the title). They most probably won't read it here, but still!

@yaelrice.bsky.social and I co-authored this piece precisely to combat misguided work like this so people don't have to constantly rehearse the arguments about why it's specious. We laid it all out here for you! hyperallergic.com/604897/how-s...

A Hedgehog in a French bestiary, c.1270.

Now I can spam from two accounts at the same time! But it's of course a good idea to separate my personal bluesky and the institution's bluesky account, even if I will probably repost a lost between the two.

Hello BlueSky! This is a new account for the LECTIO Institute. We are an interdisciplinary research institute based in Leuven devoted to the study of the intellectual history of pre-modern and early modern Europe. www.kuleuven.be/lectio

This is my first time looking for reviewers, and it has been a nightmare. Nobody has the time. "Ask X?" "Ask me again in May." "No, sorry." I have nothing against people protecting their time: I completely understand (and even admire) them. But how should this work, if it is to work at all?..

📢 Call for Applications: we invite ECRs to apply for a 'LECTIO & Trismegistos+ Visiting Fellowship' at @kuleuvenuniversity.bsky.social ✅ 4–6 week research stay ✅ travel & accommodation covered ✅ collaboration with TM team 🔗 Apply here (due March 16): www.kuleuven.be/lectio/visit... #Trismegistos

I don't really know much about Vesalius. But since I am working on authorial practices in antiquity, I am so excited to see what research comes from this!

Inspiring or frightening?

The Stoa: a Review for Digital Classics Call for Submissions: blog.stoa.org/editorial

I have finally prepared everything to send out the next call for Visiting Fellowships in Leuven (www.kuleuven.be/lectio/visit...). They are non-stipendiary, but we do cover accommodation and travel costs and strive to provide a great academic experience. Check it out? The deadline is 16 March.

With cold and foggy January moving into...cold and foggy February, we're not going to leave the comforts of our snug sofa just yet. Luckily there's TM Sunday Funday to keep you occupied! Don't forgot to enjoy free, unlimited access for 24 hours starting from midnight (CET) tomorrow! trismegistos.org

got to talk to some actual readers (almost certainly the first real readers if we do not count the reviewers)!

On the train to Leipzig to be part of a workshop on DH skills for our MECANO Doctoral Network PhDs. (That is, if we all do not get stuck in Frankfurt, but still, yay trains!) mecano-dn.eu/events/works...

What better news to get when on holiday -- my* first book* is out! *in co-authorship with 10 other amazing people **a smol one It's called "Unprinted: Publication beyond the Press" and discusses all kinds of things, such as inscriptions, carols, or drafts. Check it out :) doi.org/10.1017/9781...

Happy New Year! We are starting 2025 with an entry about the open PhD positions available with the support of @leverhulme.bsky.social via a collab between @memsunikent.bsky.social and @kingsartshums.bsky.social Read all about it here: research.kent.ac.uk/medieval-ear... #PhD #cfa #postgraduate

Finally, I broke the Facebook algorithm: I clicked on one video from a hedgehog rescue station, and now I have a feed full of amazing charities saving hedgehogs. 10/10, highly recommend.

My tiny little writing group, which I started as a research manager in an attempt to create some community within the institute, just got a mention in the acknowledgements of a PhD defence. 😶 And I know it sounds trite, but if it has benefitted one PhD candidate, it's already more than enough.

I need Spotify wrapped, but from Outlook. How many emails did I write? Who did I have to chase most often? What is my favourite day to take an email break? All very important questions...