'[This is an academic] system in which institutions [...] have shifted ever greater pedagogical and administrative responsibilities onto increasingly shorthanded and overburdened workforces, even as salaries have seen significant cuts in real value.' Please amplify and circulate if you can!

Scottish Society for Northern Studies@northernstudies.bsky.social · 2d ago

The Humanities at Risk: A Statement from the Scottish Society for Northern Studies The Society expresses deep concerns about ongoing university cuts to research, teaching, and engagement in Hums and Social Sciences - sounding the alarm about long-term consequences and losses to Scottish and UK HE

The Humanities at Risk: A Statement from the Scottish Society for Northern Studies The Society expresses deep concerns about ongoing university cuts to research, teaching, and engagement in Hums and Social Sciences - sounding the alarm about long-term consequences and losses to Scottish and UK HE

The Humanities at Risk: A Statement from the Scottish Society for Northern Studies - Scottish Society for Northern Studies

A statement from the Scottish Society for Northern Studies on the current crisis faced by Humanities and Social Sciences in UK Higher Education.

ssns.org.uk

Ran into an unexpected runic inscription (of sorts) this week in the Society of Antiquaries of London. In the lobby hangs a portrait of Humfrey Wanley, librarian of the Harleian library, surrounded by various antiquities. The work was painted by Thomas Hill in c. 1711.

Ran into an unexpected runic inscription (of sorts) this week in the Society of Antiquaries of London. In the lobby hangs a portrait of Humfrey Wanley, librarian of the Harleian library, surrounded by various antiquities. The work was painted by Thomas Hill in c. 1711.

How did they know the title of our forthcoming paper?

Dr. Nick Posegay@nposegay.northsky.social · 5d ago

Punching my ticket to Kalamazoo

Super exciting news out of Lismore this morning!! www.theguardian.com/science/2026...

‘Hugely exciting’ finds on tiny Scottish island shed light on spread of Christianity

Community-funded archaeological excavations of ‘really important’ sixth-century monastery also rewrite story of Lismore

theguardian.com

It's easy - and correct! - to focus on just how ghoulish and profane this view of human creativity is. But even if you're the most cynical capitalist on earth, the evidence that people would enjoy entirely dehumanised content, at anything like a scale that would justify this hype, is extremely thin!

Very concerning that they don't mention which models were used in the process, and whether/how applications were protected vis-à-vis data ethics, GDPR, AI training, etc. It not only risks that no human will read what you have spent months working on, but that your work is hoovered up along the way.

Crikey, hadn't realised this was already happening.

John Stott@jpsastro.bsky.social · 3w ago

Had a UKRI funded grant proposal rejected at the "AI triage stage". "This AI-based triage was used only to identify approximately 50% of the strongest proposals to take forward to full human review." 🧪 #academicsky

The one where Peppa Pig joins the hydrarchy

Making a Warrior@makingawarrior.bsky.social · 4w ago

Today's vikingism: 'Viking Day', a 2020 Peppa Pig episode, featuring horned helmets, dragon heads, boat hijackings, viking shanties, and a raided food stall ⚔️🥪 Full(ish) episode here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dFF...

'Vikings in the Mediterranean' (ed. Price et al.) has been out for a few years now, but happy to see my review on it in the new issue of Northern Studies, which landed on my doormat this week. DM me if you'd like a PDF.

Same (but three-time alumnus and several-times past employee). So sad for former colleagues and today's students that an institution we're all desperate to be proud of is behaving so abysmally.

Christian Cooijmans@ccooijmans.bsky.social · 4w ago

As a two-time alumnus of Edinburgh Uni, it's hard not to despair at the short-sighted plans by management to decimate degree programmes across the arts, humanities, and social sciences. Solidarity to all affected by this act of utter vandalism.

As a two-time alumnus of Edinburgh Uni, it's hard not to despair at the short-sighted plans by management to decimate degree programmes across the arts, humanities, and social sciences. Solidarity to all affected by this act of utter vandalism.

James_AL_Downs@magiclantern.bsky.social · 4w ago

The extent of the programmes being cut at the University of Edinburgh (where I took part in an event with Raja Shehadeh a fortnight ago) is extraordinary (archive.is/tACqv) - Celtic & Scottish Lit (UG), Scottish Literature (UG) & BD Divinity (UG) among the 90, not to mention Arabic & Persian.

No to Leeds Data Centre and thanks you to Judith Kerr.

Friends, if you've ever worked in the Dutch National Archives, consider signing this petition. Its administrators want to completely shut down its public educational programs and turn it into a repository of exclusively government records. #skystorians 🗃️

Judith Pollmann@judithpollmann.bsky.social · 4w ago

Belangrijke petitie. Ik heb meteen getekend! Jij ook?

I think the emphasis on bigger grants is counterproductive in the humanities, where you can do a huge amount just by providing a salary and reasonable overhead. Forcing people to apply for vast sums they don’t actually need for their core project adds to the pressure and reduces resources elsewhere.

Dr. Erika Graham-Goering@jeanneologist.bsky.social · 4w ago

For the record, "fewer larger grants" is the opposite of how to fund good research. Give a bunch of researchers financial stability and basic funding, without wasting their time on increasingly competitive applications and widening the have/have-not gap, and look how far we'll go.

Some more candid thoughts from the Great Viking Survey:

The manuscript has been fully digitised as well - available here (click on right-hand side image): archives.collections.ed.ac.uk/repositories...

Christian Cooijmans@ccooijmans.bsky.social · last mo.

Ending the week on a high by meeting what may be the oldest Scottish book still in Scotland. Late C10/early C11, it is a psalter in Irish minuscule, presumably created in Scotland, exact provenance unknown. Richly illum. initials throughout, with fine interlacing and lots of brilliant animal heads.

Ending the week on a high by meeting what may be the oldest Scottish book still in Scotland. Late C10/early C11, it is a psalter in Irish minuscule, presumably created in Scotland, exact provenance unknown. Richly illum. initials throughout, with fine interlacing and lots of brilliant animal heads.

Gleefully offering the option to surveil those around you at all times without knowledge or consent - the thing tech companies have long been accused of doing on the sly is now simply marketed and outsourced to the user as a trendy feature, rather than the privacy violation it is.

If Meta Glasses Freak You Out, Wait Until You Hear About the New Apple Watch Features

Live Rewind and Siri Recap just killed the dreams of always on AI wearables.

gizmodo.com

A quick skip across the Kilbrannan Sound to see magnificent Skipness Castle in Kintyre. Originally built sometime during the early 1200s, the coastal fortress was in use for well over four centuries, subject to numerous additions and modifications. The view back to Arran is something else ⛰️

May be worth noting that the Bayeux museum itself, which is currently being renovated, will also display the tapestry this way upon its return in 2027: no longer upright, and no longer turning corners.

Follow the stages of the project to the new Bayeux Tapestry museum - Bayeux Museum

bayeuxmuseum.com

Leonie V. Hicks@lvhicks.bsky.social · last mo.

I was lucky and got to go to the reception at the British Museum last night to see the #BayeuxTapestry. I've seen it before, but it makes a huge difference seeing it displayed in one continuous length, rather than the U shape in the old museum in Bayeux. #medievalsky #skystorians 1/

Probably would have been drier to swim, but the site of the viking burial mound at Kingscross Point, overlooking Lamlash Bay on Arran, is worth the trek. A furnished cremation grave was excavated here in 1909, and has been dated to the mid/late ninth century

We have reopened funding schemes, supporting scholars and students in their research, training, travel, and conference organisation - with an emphasis on PGRs and ECRs! Research Grant Deadline: 1 December 2026! All Other Grants Deadline: 2 November 2026! For details, see ssns.org.uk/funding/

A bit windswept and weary, but Tato made it to the top of Goat Fell! 🥔⛰️

Viking scholars attempting to counter misinformation about vikings:

Simon Coupland@scoupland.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Should we laugh or cry??

Viking scholars attempting to counter misinformation about vikings:

Simon Coupland@scoupland.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Should we laugh or cry??

The first 100 coins from the Mørstad hoard have now been put online - read more here www.khm.uio.no/om/aktuelt/a...

Some more wisdom from the Great Viking Survey dataset:

An urgent appeal to academic colleagues around the world, to sign and share this petition in support of the suspension of Nathan Cofnas. The letter explains at length (both in English and French) what is at stake, how someone like Cofnas could ever get hired, and why this is a grave mistake.

Open letter on the suspension of Nathan Cofnas at Ghent University

***Version française en dessous*** We, colleagues of Nathan Cofnas - supported by many colleagues internationally - want to respond to the negative and incorrect framing of Ghent University’s decisio...

docs.google.com