Grant Macaskill
@grantmacaskill.bsky.social
Lightfoot Professor of Divinity, Durham University. Honorary Co-Director, Centre for Autism and Theology, Aberdeen
Delighted to see @durhamtheology.bsky.social at @durham.ac.uk ranked #4 in this year’s QS World Rankings by Subject. www.topuniversities.com/university-s...
QS World University Rankings for Theology, Divinity & Religious Studies
Discover the world's top universities for Theology, Divinity & Religious Studies 2026. Explore the QS World University Rankings by Subject in various disciplines.
topuniversities.com
My colleague Douglas Davies, director of the Centre for Death and Life Studies @durhamtheology.bsky.social @durham.ac.uk was involved in this process, sitting on the advisory panel. The topic has also been the subject of doctoral research here. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Scotland becomes first UK country to allow water cremations
The process - called alkaline hydrolysis - will offer families a third option instead of burial or traditional cremation.
bbc.co.uk
The capacity for this event has been increased (again!), so do register to join tomorrow if you are able. The Neurodivergent Humanities network includes strong representation from @durham.ac.uk, particularly through @louisecreechan.bsky.social
Neurodivergent Humanities Network@ndhumanities.bsky.social · 8mo ago🚨 NEURODIVERSITY IS MORE THAN... symposium 📅 4 March 2026, 9-5pm GMT, online. Free to attend, all welcome! Sign up below: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/neurodiver...
One of the many things that drew me to work at @durham.ac.uk was the quality of genuine interdisciplinarity that marks the institutional culture, particularly in the area of Medical Humanities. Join us for the launch of this book, edited by Adam Powell. www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-routle...
The Routledge Handbook of Spirituality, Religion, & The Medical Humanities
Join the Institute for Medical Humanities for this hybrid book launch, featuring a panel interview, followed by an opportunity to network.
eventbrite.co.uk
For those able to access the article, this is a good piece on the neurological effects of covid. It would be nice if some of those who have published books that argue for a predominantly psychogenic cause would read the research cited. neurosciencenews.com/covid-flu-br...
COVID-19 Uniquely Rewires the Brain Compared to the Flu - Neuroscience News
Researchers discover that COVID-19 uniquely causes brain inflammation and disrupts serotonin/dopamine pathways, explaining "brain fog" in Long COVID.
neurosciencenews.com
Some more info about the Addison Wheeler postdoctoral fellowship scheme @durham.ac.uk. There will be up to 6 positions across all subjects, and each department can only nominate 3 candidates, so we will need to run a preliminary stage to make our selection. 1/3 www.durham.ac.uk/research/ins...
addison-wheeler-fellowship - Durham University
durham.ac.uk
I wonder if anyone else has found that the display on a Macbook is making their eyes swim since upgrading to Tahoe. I’ve done everything to minimise liquid glass, but still find it hard to use for more than a few minutes at a time.
Respectfully, @theguardian.com : the island is only “remote” to those who assume that the capital city is the basis for all perspective. To islanders, London is the remote place.
How a TV interior designer is helping revive a remote Scottish island
On Ulva, in the Inner Hebrides, Banjo Beale and his husband are transforming a rundown mansion into their dream hotel, while another adventurous couple have created a charming bothy for hardier folk
theguardian.com
Day 1 of “The ‘Other’ and ‘Empire’ in Christianity: Postcolonial Readings of Late Antique Literature,” a small conference/workshop organised by Classics and Ancient History at Durham University (www.durham.ac.uk/departments/...). This has been a superb meeting so far.
16-dec - Durham University
durham.ac.uk
Good to see our Head of Department, Simon Oliver, here, representing @durhamtheology.bsky.social and @durhamcathedral.bsky.social as Durham joins UNESCO’s Network of Learning Cities www.durham.ac.uk/news-events/...
Durham joins UNESCO’s Global Network of Learning Cities - Durham University
durham.ac.uk
Two fully paid PhD positions at Lund University! One in Hebrew Bible and the other in Jewish studies, focus late antiquity. Gorgeous location and gorgeous colleagues. Don't sleep on this! (Set filter to HT to access these two in particular.) lunduniversity.lu.se/vacancies
Vacancies | Lund University
lunduniversity.lu.se
Are you an established or senior researcher in the humanities and social sciences? Our British Academy/Leverhulme Senior Research Fellowships allow successful award-holders to concentrate on bringing a major piece of research to completion. Find out more: https://bit.ly/3VMeTZ9
Here’s my brief introduction to the Race & Class in UK Religious Studies and Theology project I’m co-convening with Dulcie McKenzie and Caroline Starkey. Do join us for the project launch on Wed 1st October to hear more.
@raceclassrst.bsky.social · 11mo agoThe Race and Class in UK Religious Studies and Theology Project will take place over the next 5 years. If you want to find out more about the project and how you can get involved, join our launch event on the 1st October at 4:15pm. Register here: queens-ac-uk.zoom.us/meeting/regi...
The last week has seen the release of three U.K. university league tables and @durhamtheology.bsky.social has been ranked 1st in all of them. www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/league-table...
Theology & Religious Studies Subject League Table 2026
Theology & Religious Studies focus on the world's major religions from a non-biased, academic perspective
thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk
Now available: my new book co-authored with computer scientist Dr. Ankur Gupta. The title is REAL INTELLIGENCE: Teaching in the Era of Generative AI. The book is open access (i.e. free), published by PALNI Open Press.
It is wonderful to see Douglas Davies from @durhamtheology.bsky.social @durham-university.bsky.social honoured for his incredible work. www.durham.ac.uk/news-events/...
Durham professor honoured for pioneering contributions to death studies - Durham University
durham.ac.uk
New digs (or, really, the view from my new digs). @durhamtheology.bsky.social (also, not sure if “digs” translates for non UK readers …)
I’m sorry that I couldn’t be at this year’s @bntsoc.bsky.social in person, with such a great line up of papers, many representing important interventions and disruptions in the field. This week is my first in post @durham-university.bsky.social @durhamtheology.bsky.social and I have to be in Durham
British New Testament Society@bntsoc.bsky.social · 11mo agoSession 1 will feature Lydia Lee on ‘Not an Echo but a Reverb: Transformative Dynamics within Aesthetic Figural Interpretation’ and Session 2 will feature Aminta Arrington on ‘The Foreigner Who Returned: Narrative Repair and Counterstory in the Healing of the Ten Lepers’.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Time for a reality check: Britain cannot be a big player on the world stage unless we speak more languages | Sophia Smith Galer
For all the talk of addressing the problem, things have got worse. Which is criminal when there is so much we could do, says journalist Sophia Smith Galer
theguardian.com
Anyone here living in New Hampshire? I'm looking to fill a show in or near Portsmouth NH on Friday 17th October for Iona Fyfe! If you know any halls, concert promoters, venues or bars looking for a Scottish folksinger and pianist, please comment! 🏴🇺🇸
UK: What if everyone had masked up? Analysis of app data has the answer: "Respirators would have dropped the rate of COVID transmission by an estimated factor of 9, compared with 0.6 for surgical masks. A factor of 9 is enough to put SARS-COV-2 into exponential decay! www.nature.com/articles/d41...
What if everyone had masked up? Analysis of app data has an answer
Modelling study based on almost 250,000 positive COVID-19 tests in the United Kingdom shows that universal masking could have cut transmission markedly.
nature.com
Thanks to Emily Dugan and the Sunday Times for exposing this aspect of how Maeve died from ME. A Devon County Council cover up. Maeve was taking them to judical review, dying in the attempt. Devon County Council may have learnt nothing from the inquest. I have learnt a lot about them. 1/4
The Scotsman: “Charities quit SNP Government's Long Covid network over 'broken promises' as £4.5m fund not spent” ‘Long Covid Scotland and Long Covid Kids have quit a Scottish Government network’ www.scotsman.com/health/chari...
Charities quit SNP Government's Long Covid network over 'broken promises' as £4.5m fund not spent
Long Covid Scotland and Long Covid Kids have quit a Scottish Government network.
scotsman.com
So many of us living with long covid have no idea if this is our soon-to-be fate. One of the reasons we talk about it so much is we don’t know how long we’ll have to do so. Saddened to hear of yet another advocate losing their life.
Miles W. Griffis@mileswgriffis.bsky.social · 12mo agoGraphic designer & advocate Derrick Kardos passed away last month due to complications of Long COVID 🕯️ "I am 52 and I have experienced more discrimination and stigma for being openly disabled by #LongCOVID than I ever did for being openly gay," he wrote in 2024. thesicktimes.org/2025/08/08/b...
