Naomi Waltham-Smith
@auralflaneur.bsky.social
Professor at Oxford. Politics of listening, continental philosophy, music and sound studies, academic freedom. On the left. Views mine.
While some on here are happy to bemoan standards of PhD examining at some universities, we ought not forget that institutional failures to tackle the impact of structural racism on academic pipelines lay the foundations for a horrible scenario like this.
And the espresso from a little cafe drunk at the counter
Stephen Bush@stephenkb.bsky.social · 4d agoOne reason why inter-railing in Italy is such a delight is it is so hard to eat badly. For good and for ill, the meals I think about the most are in London, New York, Paris, but Italy is the master for “I had a meal in a small cafe in a tiny town/in a train carriage/a garage. It was 7/10.”
"Students anted to know what their classmates thought rather than what a large language model produced; they wanted to wrestle with difficult readings+complex ideas. They didn’t want to outsource any of this effort to gen AI. They wanted to do the work.” www.insidehighered.com/opinion/care...
Students as Conscientious Objectors to Gen AI (opinion)
We should listen to them—and treat their objections with respect.
insidehighered.com
Education is also for expanding the mind and deepening understanding of the world, for widening the scope of the possible and fostering curiosity. Tell businesses to pay for job training. Their employees will be empowered to do better at theirs if education is allowed to do its job.
Rob Dale@robdale.bsky.social · last wk.How about we make education about the fundamentals of being able to navigate the world and democratic citizenship, and leave workplace training until the actual workplace. Local business needs aren't one thing, and they change quickly (and even more quickly). www.theguardian.com/politics/202...
All Souls College, Oxford, is seeking 5 Postdoctoral Research Fellows in - Asian and Middle Eastern Studies - History of Art/History of Music - Law - Life Science - Theoretical Computer Science These are 5-year appointments starting autumn 2027. Deadline: 4 Sep 2026 www.asc.ox.ac.uk/post-doctora...
Post-Doctoral Research Fellowships | All Souls College
asc.ox.ac.uk
✨ KCL is offering a fully-funded MPhil/PhD in French via the Sévigné Scholarship 🖋️. Details here: www.kcl.ac.uk/study/postgr...
French Research | King's College London
MPhil/PhD Research in French at King's College London.
kcl.ac.uk
What can we learn from data about the current trends in university staffing in the humanities, social sciences and arts subjects? 🧵 Read on for key insights or see the full analysis: www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/policy-and-r...
An interview with John Healey on regional economic policy that is very worth reading: sites.harvard.edu/uk-regional-...
John Healey
John Healey has served as Member of Parliament for Wentworth and Dearne since 1997. He served as a Treasury minister from 2002 to 2007, and Minister of State for Local Government, then Housing...
sites.harvard.edu
Military-industrial complex at home, climate justice abroad
Quick statement from me on John Healey being appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer
Agree with the second part of this (though no worse that Starmer), but I’m also gutted that he’s going to cave into pressure over Ed Miliband who seems to be the only one with any serious intellectual curiosity about the challenges facing the country.
Mayfair Cynic@mayfaircynic.bsky.social · 2w agoAndy Burnham watchers are fretting over his choice of cabinet members but I'm fretting over his choice of tailor.
Some thoughts on the potential direction of travel for Andy Burnham's political economy. The interesting ideas on the left relate to with the supply side -- ownership, control and distribution -- and offer scope for action. The macro constraints still bind however. blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandp...
Will Andy Burnham’s political economy be any different? | LSE British Politics
Andy Burnham is about to become Prime Minister having signaled he wants to break with the political economy of the past 40 years. At the same time, he has committed to sticking with Rachel Reeves' fis...
blogs.lse.ac.uk
"A closed country will be poorer. A country that underinvests will not grow. A state that refuses to reform tax will ration ambition. And a Labour government afraid to say these things will discover once again that caution, too, has costs." www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Burnham must learn from Starmer’s mistakes: Labour was elected to transform the economy, not just stabilise it | Jonathan Portes
Devolution, tax, the EU and immigration: these are all opportunities for growth if Burnham abandons the excessive caution of the past few years, says economist Jonathan Portes
theguardian.com
UK première of Life Support with a Q&A with two of the doctors who worked to save lives in Gaza and who bear witness to the genocide, its silencing by states incl. the UK, their disbelief and anger receiving a standing ovation before director Daniele Rugo and chair Louis Theroux join them on stage.
That’s what cowardly Deans do to torture departments into folding, so probably.
David Higgins@davidhiggins.bsky.social · 4w agoI’m starting to suspect that many in government think UKHE is too big and actively want courses to close, staff to be sacked, and unis to collapse. But this is hard to say publicly, so instead they go for a funding squeeze, leading to total chaos.
“In this nostalgia for the contemporary, the industrial worker-citizen, the authorised emblem of a post-utopian depoliticised post-war modernity, now reappears…in the galling mise en scène of coal workers flanking Trump as he abrogates environmental regulations.” (Alberto Toscano, Late Fascism)
Jim Dickinson@jimdickinson.bsky.social · last mo.If you're wondering why it was the Skills Minister sent out on the morning media round today, this thin gruel was the excuse www.gov.uk/government/n...
The Blue Labour clique so influential under Starmer thought they had a genius plan to turn Camden marginal in order to save Barnsley. Well, Camden is marginal and in Barnsley, Labour is marginalised. Unsurprisingly, the Labour party wants to survive, not die.
There can be no Labour revival if Starmer remains
The prime minister still sounds like an opposition leader
ft.com
Laughable account from Starmer of the state of his party when he took over. He lost the trust of a sizeable chunk of constituents precisely because he showed contempt for the hope the Corbyn-McDonnell years inspired, whatever the limits of that project. He smeared them then and smears them today.
NEW What the Palestine Action appeal decision tells us about terrorism law An already broad law is now matched with broad ministerial powers The Weekly Constitutional at @prospectmagazine.co.uk www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/ideas/law/th...
“God never gave [them] a chance.” Shouldn’t we? Or at least give a chance to the people of conscience who want to give them a chance? www.theguardian.com/global/comme...
You may not sympathise with the Elbit four’s methods. But you should be outraged by their treatment under the law | Geoffrey Robertson
The jurors who found the pro-Palestine activists guilty of criminal damage had no idea their verdict would be treated as a verdict on terrorism, says Geoffrey Robertson KC
theguardian.com
c.org/JGxvMV2MPq Please sign this petition to save Philosophy and our wonderful colleagues under threat at the University of Dundee.
Sign the Petition
Save the Philosophy Programme at Dundee University
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Feeling the Burnham effect in Ealing as men who usually go into to offices Mayfair or the city hang out drinking posh coffees in shorts on the pavements on a Friday morning, looking very relaxed about those fiscal vibes.
As his time is up not a moment too soon, let’s remember Starmer’s greatest achievements. Top of my list: getting my lovely pol prof colleagues to come out more explicitly as left-progressive. Or maybe Goodwin has a claim to that one, so Starmer’s achievements… 🤔
Starmer’s strategy has shed Remain votes at a faster rate than Leave votes, so that’s the McSweeney strategy for you
Is Burnham bringing any academic economists on board? The people who ask critical questions about economic policy.
Pope Leo: "Every boat that arrives does not bring only migrants; it brings with it a question: what world have we built, if so many brothers must risk death to seek life?"
Sobering conversation today about preparing for a Farage *majority* government that abolishes the HRA on day 1.
NEW on Wonkhe: Is Burnham about to fall headfirst into the education policy trap? wonkhe.com/wonk-corner/...
