Dr Hannah Charnock

@hannahcharnock.bsky.social

Historian researching sexuality, youth, gender & education in C20 Britain. Book ‘Teenage Intimacies’ out now! Editor of 'Modern British History'. Often still thinking about the pop culture of the 00s/10s. She/her.

For further details of 100+ UK subject societies in history, please see our new resource bit.ly/43xhXw6 All are membership groups, offering support for historians from a wide range of backgrounds. If you seek fellow researchers in your field, we hope this guide proves useful #Skystorians.

Guide to UK history societies and networks, with text: 

"The Royal Historical Society works closely with a number of other UK and Irish societies dedicated to the study, communication and promotion of historical knowledge and understanding.

Once a year, the Society hosts a half-day meeting of heads of UK history societies to discuss subjects of shared interest, such as publishing, membership and advocacy for the discipline. The Society also holds regular online meetings with its equivalent national organisations worldwide."
Royal Historical Society@royalhistsoc.org · 2mo ago

This afternoon @royalhistsoc.org hosts its annual meeting of heads of UK #history societies. We'll be joined by representatives of 35 subject societies which support and champion historians and our discipline. They, and other societies, are a vital part of UK scholarly and civic life #Skystorians

Assorted logos of UK history societies.

It is wild to me how many people there are who are doing "dream" jobs like being a writer, a lawyer, a professor - vocations that require a lot of luck & personal investment to get into, and which have 100s of would-bes for every actual success - who hate their job & want a machine to do it instead

How do we enhance the engagement of history students in their degree programmes? A new article - 'Rethinking Engagement: Insights from UK History Departments' - bit.ly/4viEKru, by Sarah Jones and Simon Peplow offers discipline-specific proposals. Latest Open Access article in 'Transactions' 1/2

Front page of Transactions of the Royal Historical Society article: 'Rethinking Engagement: Insights from UK History Departments', by Sarah Jones and Simon Peplow.

Full abstract: 'This comment examines the shifting landscape of student engagement in UK history departments, drawing on research conducted at the universities of Bristol and Warwick. Moving beyond narrow definitions of engagement as attendance, the study explores the complex interplay of workload pressures, relationships and community, and the cultures and environments of learning that shape students’ everyday experiences. Student testimony highlights how financial precarity, mental‑health challenges and competing demands on their time profoundly influence how (and indeed if) they engage. At the same time, factors – ranging from staff/student interactions to seminar atmosphere and assessment design – are powerful determinants of whether students feel able and motivated to participate fully. While acknowledging the broader socio‑economic forces that constrain both staff and students, the comment proposes a set of principled, discipline‑specific approaches centred on reflection, communication, adaptability and compassion. It argues that, although no single solution can resolve the problem of engagement, history departments can meaningfully support students by cultivating inclusive, responsive and relational learning environments.'

If a Croque Madame talked to another Croque Madame about anything other than a Croque Monsieur Would they have passed the Béchamel test?

Periodic reminder from ex-journal editor that if we all turn down peer review requests, nothing will be reviewed and things grind to a halt. Clear that job losses, workload in the sector are having a pinching effect. Any room for (£££) publishers to hire human reviewers to help?

The top page at BISH for over 10 years has been my How To Have Sex article. However Google has been messing around with the algorithm (enshittification) and so it's not being ranked like it used to. Can you please share it and post about it for me? www.bishuk.com/sex/how-to-h...

How To Have Sex - how to make it safe and pleasurable

This expert guide teaches you how to have sex that is safe *and* pleasurable. Learn how to make it feel good for both of you.

bishuk.com

Yep. In fact, the real failing of students was when we stopped requiring them to regularly search a library catalogue for their reading and instead produced lists with hyperlinks that students simply had to click. As soon as they have to go off list, they’re lost.

Lauren Fraser@walkyouhome.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Controversial but - students *perceive* they have been failed when what has happened is they have failed to understand information retrieval is a skill requiring effort. I don't believe a zero friction experience is realistic or desirable in learning, actually.

"More alignment between university and national attitudes. This includes a legitimacy observatory to track public trust and gaps between university culture and wider public attitudes." This reads ominously, another way of stifling academic freedom to address injustices & uncomfortable truths.

Margot Finn@eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 5mo ago

'“Questions about universities’ role, purpose and value for money are resurfacing, alongside renewed scrutiny of the student experience and graduate outcomes. In short, the sector’s storytelling is about to face its toughest audience yet,” it says.' 2/2

Final lecture online - www.history.ox.ac.uk/event/self-v... - on all the concepts stacking up in the late 20th century, not superseded by ‘neoliberal’ or economic ones. Feedback welcome for the book now in progress. And farewell with warm thanks to all in Oxford.

Self vs. Society

The Ford Lectures - The Language of Social Science in Everyday Life

history.ox.ac.uk

Peter Mandler@petermandler.bsky.social · 5mo ago

Fifth lecture now online - www.history.ox.ac.uk/event/self-a... - about self-assertion, identity and rights talk from the '50s to the '70s, and clashes over it from the late '60s. Final lecture on those continuing clashes & whether neoliberalism overrode them this Thursday 5pm Exam Schools Oxford.