Gillian Roberts
@citizenofblue.bsky.social
Settler Canadian migrant in the UK. Reader, writer, professor, knitter, runner, cyclist, roller skater, stepmom, dog mom. Dress code: blue. Co-host of Borders Talk: Dots, Dashes, and the Stories They Tell. She/her.
A humble academic proposal: let's not have stars. Everyone hired as an academic at a university is there to teach younger generations, to make new knowledge, to have that knowledge critically evaluated by others, and to act on collective insights. We do not need to designate some people as stars.
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 agoIf 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...
YES to solar power, YES to ongoing experimental farm practices in ever-changing climate conditions, YES to finding and celebrating greener, more sustainable ways of approaching life and industry. NO to these improvements positioned as data centers enablers. Something to keep an eye on.
Canada’s aerial firefighting system is too slow, and front-line communities are paying the cost
Canada’s aerial firefighting system is too slow, and front-line communities are paying the cost
Buying more planes will not help Canada tackle wildfires if there is not a thought-out plan for their use well ahead of a fire.
theconversation.com
Woken at 4am by wildfire smoke filling the house. Southeast Wales, one of the UK's wettest regions, is shrouded in smoke today. You can feel it in your lungs. The climate crisis is now.
Great to see the Guardian champion the SHAPE (Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences) subjects, but this piece gives impression that they are expensive, whereas many are 'cheap to teach' subjects subsidising more expensive subjects, mainly in STEM and medicine. The crisis demands better understanding.
The Guardian view on humanities cuts in universities: academic departments are more than cost centres | Editorial
Editorial: Literature, the arts and social sciences must not be sacrificed as higher education funding is squeezed
theguardian.com
If he’s not lying then we need to ask Fairer for whom? And acknowledge that he is proud of policies that have made life worse for migrants, trans people, and disabled people. Including policies specifically aimed at children in each of those groups.
Pippa Crerar@pippacrerar.bsky.social · 2w ago"Since then, it's been the privilege of my life to serve you and this great country as PM. I'm confident Britain is now stronger & fairer than two years ago "I thank the British people for the opportunity to serve. I go with good grace. I go with a smile. I go proud of everything we've achieved."
Our 7th episode of Season 2, “Borders and Partition,” featuring special guest Sinéad Moynihan, has now been piblished! Check it out: www.buzzsprout.com/2355740/epis...
Borders and Partition - Borders Talk: Dots, Dashes & the Stories They Tell
Not only has Professor Sinéad Moynihan not appeared in Hollyoaks, but she has also not appeared in Drop Dead Gorgeous or How Not to Live Your Life.Find out more about the Partition of Ireland, the&nbs...
buzzsprout.com
*** Lectureship in Creative Writing *** School of English, University of Leeds Salary £41,064 to £59,966 p.a. jobs.leeds.ac.uk/Vacancy.aspx...
🧊✈️ This happened so much during the World Cup, we stopped reporting on it. But yes, most teams flew on at least one ICE Air plane 👀
Fifa flies Portugal’s World Cup team on plane used for ICE deportations
Aircraft that transported team to match is same one used to deport dozens of Venezuelans to Cecot mega-prison
theguardian.com
Jesus. 35 UK universities quietly- without debate - joined the Ministry of Defence’s “Battlefield Alliance” which seeks to “reorientate academia towards Defence and National Security” They’re destroying the social sciences and humanities while militarising the institutions
This phase of the British Academy's SHAPE Observatory project focuses on academic staff, analysing trends since 2012/13 to explore how staffing levels vary by subject, region and employment characteristics. The data lag: the 2025-26 redundancies you've been reading about are not yet captured. 1/3
Loss of academic staff and "cold spots" for humanities and social science degrees threaten strategically important skills for UK, says British Academy
A new data map released today shows a sharp and widespread decline in opportunities for university staff in the humanities, social sciences and arts subjects in 2024-25. The data shows a precarious la...
thebritishacademy.ac.uk
My university is special. It’s broke now but claims it will be awash with cash very shortly. It’s abolishing humanities because it wants to, not because it has to.
Dr Rebecca Williams@augustaquarius.bsky.social · 3w ago
We're universities. We don't *have* a business model. We're not a business. The only thing these ignorant attempts to treat us as one for the last 26 years have achieved is that our "consumers" are drowning in debt without our income actually increasing. I don't suppose he's proposing to fix *that*.
Robert Saunders@robertsaunders.bsky.social · last mo.Intrigued to hear Danny Kruger, of Reform UK, tell Any Questions that universities need to "change their business model". What would he suggest? Selling crypto? Acting as "brand ambassadors" for Direct Bullion? Recording videos saying "Up the Ra"? Or getting a billionaire to chuck us £5 million?
This petition needs as many signatories as the Exeter one. Please sign and share — don’t let Hertfordshire managers get away with this just because a Russell Group one took the spotlight. #UKHE
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
Mrs Global Cricket is now unable to attend the World Cup Final on Sunday, so I have a ticket available face value if someone is willing to put up with sitting next to me. I've had no interest from my friends on Facebook, so I am also in need of some new friends.
First they came for the languages. In the hope that no one would have the words to say what was happening. 1/9🧵
University of Aberdeen's plans to cut modern language degrees were 'rushed' - review
The University of Aberdeen says it accepts there were "missteps" in its process in 2023.
bbc.co.uk
On the day of England's SF v South Africa, the British government are calling on the ICC to recognise the Afghanistan women's cricket team. Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper: "International institutions need to stand in solidarity with Afghanistan's women." Over to you, ICC.
There’s a permanent modern British history post going at Manchester 🎉Come and join a great department and please share with anyone who might be interested. (Don’t let the short deadline put you off). #skystorians 🗃️
Lecturer in Modern British History (post-1800) at The University of Manchester
Apply now for the Lecturer in Modern British History (post-1800) role on jobs.ac.uk - the leading job board for higher education jobs. View details.
jobs.ac.uk
Something deeply troubling & shocking is happening at Exeter University*, where a mass cull of staff is planned, even though it's in surplus. No good justifications given. @jamesgdyke.info provides the details: www.technosphere.earth/the-bonfire-... *Disclosure: I have a Visiting Fellowship here. +🧵
The bonfire of the humanities
150 academic posts at the University of Exeter are to be cut, most in the humanities but also in social sciences, engineering and environmental sciences
technosphere.earth
As Britain swelters through another heatwave, few people will have heard that ministers have quietly dropped plans for solar carports. Cars cooler in summer. Shelter from the rain in winter. Clean electricity all year round. A missed opportunity?
As Britain bakes, ministers quietly park plans for solar carports
Ministers have quietly shelved plans that could have transformed Britain's biggest car parks into shaded power stations
eastangliabylines.co.uk
The first women's cricket match at The Oval was played between England and the Rest of England in 1935.
With hardly any media coverage one of Britain’s few world-leading sectors is, right now, being decimated. The university funding model does not work and anti-immigrant hysteria has deprived the country of the means by which we met the shortfall: international students.
Margot Finn@eicathomefinn.bsky.social · last mo.A grim day in a grim week in a grim month for UK higher education, with Dundee, Exeter and Hertfordshire all making major announcements of planned redundancies. Shrinkage of the research & teaching base by the invisible hand's visible fist is not an 'us' or 'them', SHAPE or STEM phenomenon. 1/2
ah, we see the QS rankings are out. #UKHE Reminder to journalists how much money gets thrown at these things, for an artificial table. If government was serious about plugging some of the leaks of money out of the sector, they might put an end to the rankers.
QM_UCU@qmucu.bsky.social · last yr.If journalists & MPs wonder how uni finances are so leaky: have a look at all that public money going to commercial consultancies Just at QMUL agencies: www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/recr... recruitment: www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/recr... data ranking www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/paym...
September is closer than we think - you can pre-order the second edition of Indigenous Writes now and celebrate its tenth year anniversary with me! apihtawikosisan.com/2026/06/ten-...
Ten Years of Indigenous Writes
I began this little blog back in 2011 with posts focusing mostly on the Cree language, with some forays into reflections on Aboriginal law. I had maybe ten regular readers which was fine really. I …
apihtawikosisan.com
