… yeah sure why not

The Independent@the-independent.com · 10h ago

BREAKING | An out-of-control SpaceX rocket has collided with the Moon READ MORE: trib.al/mGkWuJh

does anyone know of any work that’s been done on career trajectories of (UK humanities) academics who have been made redundant? eg information about how many go into school teaching, early retirement, independent research? appreciate this is complex, sensitive and much data is too recent

A 🧵with an update on the wills project: #EarlyModern 🗃️

The Material Culture of Wills Project@materialwills.bsky.social · 9h ago

📢PROJECT UPDATE📢 You may have seen the news that the University of Exeter, home of the wills project, has placed 500 academics at risk of redundancy. The project leader Prof. Jane Whittle & project co-investigator Dr Laura Sangha are both at risk, alongside almost all of the History department. 1/

Funding for UK researchers to attend a research collaboration symposium on the broad theme of ‘Humans and Nature: More resilient towards the future’.

The British Academy@britishacademy.bsky.social · yesterday

Are you an early career researcher in the humanities and social sciences? Join the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and the British Academy Knowledge Frontiers Symposium to network with fellow researchers in an in-person symposium in Bonn, Germany. Apply now: https://bit.ly/4yL3Stm

Scottish Government is #hiring #social #researchers. B2 is our entry level grade, for masters or PhD with an interest in applied social research. 2x 4yr posts initially, but with a reserve list. Apply by 20/08/2026 Pls share to folks! fa-evxn-saasfaukgovprod1.fa.ocs.oraclecloud.com/hcmUI/Candid...

Social Researcher

Want to help shape Scotland’s Census, informing the decisions that improve public services and capture the story of Scotland for generations to come?

fa-evxn-saasfaukgovprod1.fa.ocs.oraclecloud.com

UK history is at a crisis point in academia. More & more people are going freelance on a part time basis, or as a whole new form of employment. IHN is creating support network for all historians who work independently. We aim to bring people together, promote your work, and be a hub of information.

Lucy Delap@lucydelap.bsky.social · yesterday

Great discussion at the 'crisis in UK history' meeting hosted by @ihr.bsky.social, @royalhistsoc.org, @histassoc.bsky.social and History UK. Horror stories of closures and redundancies, balanced by new resources. Check out for ex. the new Independent Historians Network independenthistorians.org

This came out a year and half ago as online first in @sthv.bsky.social Really happy to see it now as part of an issue! The article is #openaccess and theorizes the implications of environmental care using seagrass Posidonia in the Balearics as a case study. journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....

Blocks and Overflows of Care: Territorialization and Marine Conservation in the Balearic Sea - Jose A. Cañada, 2026

The article expands upon care theory in Science and Technology Studies by attending to marine spaces and practices for conservation of marine and coastal ecosys...

journals.sagepub.com

Fantastic to see the publication of the ACCESS Adaptation and Resilience Task Force's new report: "Putting people at the centre of UK climate adaptation and resilience", co-led by CAST's Prof Irene Lorenzoni (University of East Anglia) & Dr Rory Walshe (Government Office for Science). 👇

Putting people at the centre of UK climate adaptation and resilience

This report summarises evidence on how placing people at the heart of climate adaptation policy and action can improve outcomes.

gov.uk

Might anyone know of a small, non-intimidating zine-y guidebook that helps folks navigate the logistics (+ ethics) of *collaborative* publication — demystifying the design + production process; explaining formatting + rights clearances; addressing mutual accountability + collaborative review, etc.?

Why Self-Publish Under Fascism?

This publication was prompted by an invitation from Mariame Kaba to join her in a discussion titled: Why Make Zines in 2025: Information Control Under Fascism

halfletterpress.com

"AI can’t give us authentic love. It can only offer devotion. And while this devotion can feel good, if we’re looking for real love – authentic love – we’ll need to look elsewhere" - @lucyosler.bsky.social and Joel Krueger for @uk.theconversation.com 💕 theconversation.com/you-can-love...

You can love an AI but can it love you back? Philosophy has the answer

If you’re looking to be loved, Simone de Beauvoir would warn you to look away from AI.

theconversation.com

In my current manuscript, I argue that the increase of instances where animal welfare (couched in the language of animal rights, preserving biodiversity, ecological conservation, etc.) are valued over human rights is a sign of ecofascism's ascendancy. This is just one example of many.

worm@rfksbrainworm.bsky.social · 2d ago

the onion ass headline

theconversation.com/new-museum-f...

New museum find shows nature can’t stop inventing seahorses

No one has ever seen one of these fish alive. But they are most likely still swimming in a part of the sea we hardly ever visit.

theconversation.com

Behind the bewildering transformation of British universities, are management consultants being paid millions Really proud to have this vital piece on our unis are being gutted from the inside by @jheathershaw.bsky.social on Democracy for Sale. Do read democracyforsale.substack.com/p/inside-bri...

Inside Britain's university crisis

As teaching staff face job loss, their bosses have netted pay rises and bought advice from a “vampiric” management consultancy, writes Prof. John Heathershaw of the University of Exeter

democracyforsale.substack.com

This piece is by my excellent colleague @jheathershaw.bsky.social and you should read and share it.

C🅰️S Ⓜ️UDDE@casmudde.bsky.social · 2d ago

Higher education is far from perfect but neither illiberalism nor neoliberalism has addressed the imperfections. Instead, they are destroying many of the aspects of higher education that did work well.

I’ve been writing a counter narrative of shutdowns that has me revisiting media from that time. And let me tell you, the only other option was everybody die. So yeah.

Peter@notalawyer.bsky.social · 3d ago

it’s pretty obvious that a lot of people remember that COVID lockdowns were unpleasant and from there just extrapolate that they were therefore bad policy

Since #COVID & pandemic handling is in the news, I want to recommend the brand new COVID Studies: A Reader: www.pennpress.org/978151282949... This is a fantastic collection of essays based in SSH fields. It is available to read #openaccess for free too.

Very early in the pandemic, I spent 2 terrible weeks in isolation, unable to breathe or walk across the room. Waiting my temp. to spike. Worrying about my kids. Fighting against dying. In the middle of this covid revisionist, anti-vax bullshit, it was worth saying what that felt like:

Do Vice Chancellors get paid just shy of half a mil a year to pick between consultants?

Alex Prichard@profalexp.bsky.social · 2d ago

The government has effectively outsourced HE policy to consultants, including Nous, KPMG and others. At Exeter it’s Nous www.theferret.scot/consultancy-...

‘Since then it has served two purposes: where we buy things, and where we meet. The first paid for the second without anyone noticing they were separate.’ Good insight from @pollymackenzie.bsky.social on the different functions of the high street www.ft.com/content/f438...

How to save the British high street

Communities need help to tackle the blight of delinquent landlords who let empty properties decay

ft.com

This is devastating. Working myself in a smaller, "second" campus, I fully empathise with how staff and students in Southend must have felt. The down-sizing and/or closure of universities in smaller, "peripheral" locations will have huge impacts on these communities www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

University of Essex's Southend campus shuts and staff say goodbye

The university says the closure is due to financial pressures, leading to 400 staff redundancies.

bbc.co.uk

While we are discussing drought, and food supply, it is worth remembering that virtually the entire objective of land improvement over the last centuries has been more drainage. We have worked very hard to dry out our island, removing ponds, wetlands, floodplains and forests in the process.

I never thought that I would have to write this piece about my university. But after weeks of demonstrating privately to senior managers that their case is based on a false prospectus, that their data are inaccurate and their claims misleading, there was little choice. substack.com/@lucasamin/n...

Inside Britain's university crisis

As teaching staff face job loss, their bosses have netted pay rises and bought advice from a “vampiric” management consultancy, writes Prof. John Heathershaw of the University of Exeter

substack.com

I see some people are reading this post as being about Exeter but it’s referring to the University of Hertfordshire. And that’s Owen’s point. Less coverage about the axe falling there but it’s equally sad.

Owen Davies@odavies9.bsky.social · 4d ago

So a whole lot of my talented Humanities colleagues are now unemployed as of today. A lot of understandable concern over Exeter. But for over two decades my Hums colleagues were in the top quartile for their research contribution to society. History top 10. Now gone with only a national whisper.

Would you trust someone to accurately model future financial projections if they messed up so badly with the analysis of data they already have?

Brilliant from my colleague John in Politics at Exeter. democracyforsale.substack.com/p/inside-bri... #DefendExeterUni If you want to see a snapshot of the errors in @exeter.ac.uk UEB's analysis of teaching capacity see the next one 1/2

Inside Britain's university crisis

As teaching staff face job loss, their bosses have netted pay rises and bought advice from a “vampiric” management consultancy, writes Prof. John Heathershaw of the University of Exeter

democracyforsale.substack.com

Definitely the case here. In two weeks we find which 9 of 12 in my group will be gone. The other 3 will then have a month to prepare and find hourly-paid replacements for all the classes across two degrees. And supervise 25 PhDs. Plus admin and pastoral care and research. Management doesn’t care.

Glen O'Hara@gsoh31.bsky.social · 3d ago

If you're arriving at uni this autumn, or maybe dropping your kids, remember that there could be a ghostly phalanx of absent redundant staff, lost modules and degraded degrees making it a very unhappy place. It may *look* the same, but it won't *be* the same. www.ft.com/content/e5b0...

Terrifying, but nowhere near as horrifying as having two different species carry out a pincer attack on someone during a “difficult” moment.

I really want to believe a badger made this sign then placed it at the campsite up the road from me, solely because it gets high from being an agent of chaos.

Do you know what would help us avoid “harms” to children from future lockdowns? Not having an education system that treated itself as a race. ”Getting shoved out the end with as many GCSEs as possible” is not actually an ethos.