Dr Cath Feely
@cathfeely.bsky.social
Cultural historian of modern Britain. Senior Lecturer at the University of Derby and Councillor of the Royal Historical Society. All views my own.
'Disability history largely remains a missing part of the UK's story. Understanding it helps explain why contemporary debates often feel so fraught' New article by me in The Conversation theconversation.com/todays-argum...
Today’s arguments about disability benefits have been raging for 500 years
From Tudor welfare claims to modern PIP assessments, disabled people have long faced suspicion and bureaucracy.
theconversation.com
Here a compilation of stupid things library consultants have said to me in solidarity with library pals at Lambeth Libraries where genius consultants has decided that a qualified head of library service post isn't really essential.
If you've signed the Exeter petition and not this one, you need to think about whether you are part of the problem:
Joanna Bourke@joannabourke.bsky.social · 3mo agoShocking news about redundancies in the Humanities at the University of Hertfordshire, despite their exceptional research activities. I have signed the petition against these actions: it would be great if you would as well: c.org/kDQynZV7J4 @bbkhistorical.bsky.social @bisa-bkk.bsky.social
This was important meeting to attend today. I tried to articulate my belief that we must defend universities as engines for social mobility, soft power, and local economies. It was encouraging that some attendees are thinking about the current HE crisis in practical, realistic terms 🗃️
Royal Historical Society@royalhistsoc.org · yesterdayThank you to all who attended today's meeting on the 'Crisis in UK HE: the Future for History'. Very valuable proposals in difficult times for history in HE / UK HE more widely. We've also a new guide bit.ly/4z1fAjO listing 100+ UK #history societies & networks supporting historians #Skystorians
How it used to be is that historians would meditate on a historical event and the facts would kind of come to us, as if in a dream. You’d maybe do like two facts a day, ten if you’d taken psychedelics. But now, AI can download and sort like 3000 facts a second. I’m out of a job. It’s a game changer
Everything right now except my cat is profoundly depressing.
"History involves sorting and organizing hundreds of thousands of facts" I remain astounded by how loud and wrong people are about what history actually is.
Very short notice (deadline 18 August) but we're advertising a 0.5fte lectureship in public history for next year. Covers my 3rd year undergraduate course on public history of Rome (ancient to modern) plus some MA public history teaching.
Lecturer in Public History and Heritage - (9363) | Manchester Metropolitan University Careers
All about Manchester Metropolitan - an exciting, modern university in the heart of one of the UK's great student cities.
manmetjobs.mmu.ac.uk
‘Between 2015 and 2024, nearly a billion pounds of public money was lent on favourable terms to developers who built almost no affordable housing – almost two-thirds of it to one company.’ @harrystopes.bsky.social on Manchester, new on the blog. www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2026/au...
Harry Stopes | Manchesterisms
Bev Craig, leader of Manchester City Council before she was comfortably elected last week to replace Andy Burnham as...
lrb.co.uk
Yep, this would be an excellent time for my internet to stop working.
This is an absolutely disgusting state of affairs. While only Russell Groups are in the news, the humanities at many other universities are being eviscerated.
Owen Davies@odavies9.bsky.social · 4d agoSo 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.
Ignore the Russell Group-fixated headline. The universities with the largest declines are: Lincoln Bishop (down 51.4%), University for the Creative Arts (down 50.5%), Norwich University of the Arts (-40.4%), Falmouth University (-35.1%) and Goldsmiths, University of London (-30.0%). 1/2
Russell Group universities take £10m teaching grant hit - Research Professional News
Funding allocations confirm impact of £51m cut to Strategic Priorities Grant
researchprofessionalnews.com
Worth remembering that this government is subsidising a theme park to the tune of £1.3bn. An amount that would go some way to preserving the intellectual and economic footprint of our universities.
James Woodfield@jameswoodfield.bsky.social · 4d agoAccording to the parliamentary annual report & accounts for the 2025/26 financial year, the cost of subsidising the bars in the House of Commons alone was around £5.8 million. Meanwhile, to save £3 million less than that, Jodrell Bank is being defunded and shut down. share.google/MRHIvCsCsKoc...
Joe's article also features in selection of recent 'Transactions' articles which consider 'The Historian's Craft and Practice: new writing on history teaching and historical research' bit.ly/4bPGJvW All 15 articles are published Open Access and free to read #Skystorians 2/2
The Historian's Craft and Practice: new writing on history teaching and historical research - RHS
The Society's academic journal, Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, publishes a wide range of content from historians of all disciplinary backgrounds and career stages, worldwide. This inclu...
bit.ly
People who think Wilson’s review of Nolan’s Odyssey was harsh clearly don’t read Bryn Mawr Classical Review on the regular. When Classicists go scorched earth it’s really a sight to behold. By our standards that review is a solid ‘6/10 please do go buy the book’ 😂😂😂
No professional accomplishment has ever made me happier than this. theonion.com/translator-o...
Translator Of Original ‘Minions’ Epic Poem Slams ‘Sexless, Bloodless’ Film Adaptation
PHILADELPHIA—In a 4,500-word essay published in Harper’s Magazine, Emily Wilson, known for her popular translation of the Minions epic poem, blasted the latest film Thursday as a “sexless, bloodless” ...
theonion.com
Great-grandparents: tram conductor, cleaning for the couple they were boarding with, widow owner of furniture shop - who then married a cocktail waiter much her junior after meeting him on a boat.
Revan@revan.eurosky.social · 7d agoEnough “what would you do on the commune questions” If you got sent back 100 years and were given your grandparent’s job, what are you doing?
Half the planet is having a massive fight about how to correctly interpret an Ancient Greek poem but go ahead, close some more humanities departments.
All I see here is that Hobsbawm does indeed rule!
Gabriel Flynn@gabrielflynn.bsky.social · 6d agobuying a book by hobsbawm: fuck yeah let’s go, this guy rules reading a book by hobsbawn: even after 1820, barley production on the island continued to rise, reaching an annual average of 40 tonnes per year by 1832, and this in a period when trade conditions greatly incentivised wheat production
Because you don’t save, Mr Deasy said, pointing his finger. You don’t know yet what money is. Money is power. When you have lived as long as I have. I know, I know. If youth but knew. But what does Shakespeare say? Put but money in thy purse.
We have the following 3 calls for research funding for RHS Fellows & Members: bit.ly/4wwSMGu > 'Open Research Grants', for mid & later career historians > 'Early Career Fellowship Grants', for postdocs > Martin Lynn Scholarship', for PhD research in African history Closing 4 September #Skystorians
Calls for research funding from the Royal Historical Society: September 2026 deadlines - RHS
The Society invites applications for the following three schemes — open to historians at a range of career stages — with closing dates of 4 September 2026. Early Career Fellowship Grants, 2026-27* off...
bit.ly
Every commentator saying too many kids go to university has to tell their own kid to not do a degree
mildly funny that X is having blazing rows about Nolan’s Odyssey because he cast black people in it and Bluesky is having blazing rows about whether a noted Homeric translator’s LRB review of it misses the point or not
This is a very niche question but when did people start carrying around bunches of flowers at graduation for pictures? As somebody with dyspraxia, this is my worst nightmare. Haven't you got enough going on without having to carry a massive bunch of flowers? What are these people thinking?!
People who think Emily Wilson is being mean have clearly never presented a paper at an academic conference
FYI: there are bad-faith actors who will do everything they can to discredit black scholars, just as there are scholars who plagiarise and misrepresent their work. Both can be true at the same time...
ChatGPT requests are starting to turn up as evidence in criminal trials and these ones are going to be hard to beat
