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Alan Davey

@armslengthal.bsky.social

PhD researcher in Old Icelandic at Birkbeck College, University of London. Chair at Trinity Laban Conservatoire; Chair, Hall for Cornwall. Formerly Controller, BBC Radio 3, CEO Arts Council England, Director of Culture at DCMS. Great Art For Everyone.

362 Posts592 Follower843 Folgt
Alan Davey@armslengthal.bsky.social · 2d ago

Oh great. Wonder if English graduate Andy Burnham has owt to say? Or is he happy for Arts & Humanities to become just a playground for rich kids - & to kill the bedrock of Creative Industries? Science and maths degrees offer most value to the nation, says minister www.thetimes.com/article/42df...

Science and maths degrees offer most value to the nation, says minister

Chris McDonald told a room full of vice-chancellors that science, engineering and mathematics ‘offer the greatest personal, social and economic value’

thetimes.com

Alan Davey@armslengthal.bsky.social · 2w ago

It’s a uniquely odd feeling to be beginning a book and you find the pages are almost all uncut. Sad for the book to have been unread for so long (1977) but an exciting journey ahead as the first reader…

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Arts Council England@artscouncilengland.bsky.social · 2w ago

Announcing our new Music Creators Growth Fund! The Music Creators Growth Fund will invest sums of £10,000–£20,000 to support artists, artist collectives, bands, composers, DJs, groups, producers, and songwriters to develop their work and careers.

Owen Davies@odavies9.bsky.social · last mo.

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.

Marie Le Conte@youngvulgarian.marieleconte.com · 4w ago

Cambridge University should have known better, Fleet Street should have known better, the people hungrily absorbing every bit of news about it, making newsrooms feel like they had to keep going with it as a story, should have known better, horrible horrible horrible

Laura Phillips@lauraphillips.bsky.social · 4w ago

Mary Beard: ‘Maybe at the moment we should all (me included) take a break from any discussion of Cambridge's policies, and reflect on the tragic human costs -- and remember with compassion the person who paid a dreadful price.’

Glen O'Hara@gsoh31.bsky.social · last mo.

It cannot be said often enough that England and Wales in particular no longer possess many universities as governed from the c1960s to the c2000s. Many are now debt vehicles squeezed for remaining value by creditors and their proxy representatives. You have to see these things clearly.

Glen O'Hara@gsoh31.bsky.social · last mo.

A deeply destructive and inexpert management consultancy class has emerged whose sole purpose is to shrink Anglosphere universities and to undermine their future - all the better to secure more work. democracyforsale.substack.com/p/inside-bri...

Glen O'Hara@gsoh31.bsky.social · last mo.

It's very painful inside 95% of universities. The reality is that (a) 25% to 33% of posts will close; (b) a handful of unis will go bust and be forcibly merged; (c) Arts and Humanities will be restricted to a small number of institutions whose disgraceful behaviour certainly won't be forgotten.

Owen Davies@odavies9.bsky.social · last mo.

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.

Glen O'Hara@gsoh31.bsky.social · last mo.

The truth is that the UK govt missed its last chances to underpin universities and support regional societies and economies in the post-Covid recovery period and then the 2025 White Paper. Those opportunities won't come again. www.ft.com/content/e14d...

Labour has harmed universities as much as Trump, London School of Economics head says

LSE vice-chancellor Larry Kramer points to domestic students’ fees, limits on international students and rise in employers’ national insurance

ft.com

If you know you know@privatechand.bsky.social · last mo.

Even from across the pond, as we deal with the systematic dismantling of everything that made US higher education the envy of the world, it is so upsetting to see the destruction of UK academia. Of all the stupid things it could copy from the US this is the most evidently self-destructive.

Glen O'Hara@gsoh31.bsky.social · last mo.

So it's farewell to the History subject area at the University of Hertfordshire, not the first nor the last to go. One of the best departments in the country, just extinguished like a snap of the fingers. Think of the waste. (1/2)

Patch Thompson@patchthompson.bsky.social · last mo.

UoH's History department is (was?) consistently top performing in terms of research and teaching. Doing everything that a higher education department is supposed to do. And yet that isn't enough.

Glen O'Hara@gsoh31.bsky.social · last mo.

So it's farewell to the History subject area at the University of Hertfordshire, not the first nor the last to go. One of the best departments in the country, just extinguished like a snap of the fingers. Think of the waste. (1/2)

Dr Dave Hitchcock@davehitchcock.bsky.social · 2mo ago

If Global Banking School is the future of British Higher Education, count me out. Count everybody like me, out. Find someone else willing to pretend to teach you in decaying office buildings while taking your very real money.

https://www.ft.com/content/6c54f212-7491-4d41-ae57-bd67b4ea0f43?syn-25a6b1a6=1 "The UK’s biggest university is a private company Supporters say franchised providers widen access to further education, but others doubt the real value of their ‘no frills’ courses"
Pseudo Bambi@pseudo-bambi.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Politicians play with the arts like a cat with a mouse. Prior to Brexit they did the same thing but hoped no one was looking. It used to be our second largest export. Id like to tour again. I’d like to showcase the best UK talent abroad. Can’t. Can we please stop shitting over our own brilliance.

@darrensilk3.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Cutting arts funding would mean people like me wouldn't exist. Someone that started in the working class, studied fine art and art history and went into architecture, often considered a STEM field. But you see the kind of architecture produced when someone doesn't have any artistic background...

Sixes All The Way@sixesalltheway.bsky.social · 2mo ago

So only kids with very wealthy parents will be able to afford to study these degrees. The media is already massively over-represented by the wealthy this only exacerbating the issue. Clearly needs repeating: the Labour Party are not here to represent poor & working people, only the rich.

Beth@savourydeets.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Basically the two main things the UK was internationally renowned for, the arts (especially working class inclusion) and universities, so of course multiple governments in a row have/are determined to run both into the ground. It's stupid.