📢PROJECT UPDATE📢 You may have seen the news that the University of Exeter, home of the wills project, has placed 500 academics at risk of redundancy. The project leader Prof. Jane Whittle & project co-investigator Dr Laura Sangha are both at risk, alongside almost all of the History department. 1/

A new essay for all my trans siblings and our allies. "As the UK enters a new era of state-mandated segregation, I find myself asking: was it all worth it?"

What we have won

It was the largest trans protest in British history. We travelled from across the country to central London. We were joined by allies, especially cis gay, lesbian, bisexual, and queer people who re…

ruthpearce.net

Please share! A rare PhD studentship @kingshistory.bsky.social *fully* funded by @slaveryinwar.bsky.social to work with myself and Maeve Ryan, supported by a broader community of experts in Caribbean history, transatlantic slavery, and the history of war. www.kcl.ac.uk/study/fundin... 🗃️

AHRC Studentship: Slavery and the Seven Years’ War within and across the Caribbean Archipelago | King's College London

The Leverhulme Centre for Research on Slavery in War (CRSW) is pleased to announce the availability of a fully funded AHRC doctoral studentship, to be jointly supervised across History and War Studies

kcl.ac.uk

My new article in @modamhist.bsky.social is out now in first view and open access and is a preview of chapter 6 of the 'The World Awheel' (@columbiaup.bsky.social). It's a story of American mobility, femininity, and power in the spaces of European empires. doi.org/10.1017/mah....

Why are car-centric transport systems so difficult to undo? Because automobiles represent the dominance of private property over public space. In this @urbancyclinginstitute.org essay, I look to history to uncover how we got here. #StealingCars

Stealing Cars: Property, Automobility, and the Colonial Crisis of Car Culture

Long Ride | Historian John Munro delves into the past in order to understand how the primacy of private property shapes mobility hierarchies in the present

urbancyclinginstitute.substack.com

New Q&A: Is anthropology hopelessly politicized, more than any other humanistic field? That's the charge that's been flying around this summer, so I wanted to hear from Carolyn Rouse, the president of the American Anthropological Association. She had a lot to say. www.chronicle.com/article/is-a...

Is Anthropology Hopelessly Politicized?

We asked Carolyn M. Rouse, head of the American Anthropological Association. She had a lot to say.

chronicle.com

How do you cope with a collapsing UKHE scene and an antagonistic employer? In my case, you write. And find solace in and inspiration from colleagues who really are here for the ideas. Book manuscript sent off. #skystorians #earlymodern

'About 150 academic roles are set to go at the south-west institution, which said it was targeting areas that are “no longer sustainable” or have seen changes in student demand.' History and English are name-checked. 1/3

University of Exeter cuts an ‘existential threat to humanities’

Russell Group institution cites changing student demand as it puts 500 staff at risk of redundancy, with 150 jobs set to go

timeshighereducation.com

CFP: Mid-career workshop for early modern British historians at USC-Huntington Early Modern Studies Instutute Jan 2027. Applications due 31 July 2026.

'(Ironically, the history degree has proven hugely valuable in a business that is all about first-hand reporting, detecting narrative bias and the second source.)' Weird use of 'ironically'. Surely this value is also part of why so many lawyers have studied history at university.

Why bother with university?

As costs soar and graduate prospects dim, the value of higher education can no longer be taken for granted

ft.com

Bleak

QM_UCU@qmucu.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Relieved to see more coverage of the grip Nous is getting on #UKHE. Thanks @privateeyenews.bsky.social! A million pound @cardiffucu.bsky.social alone. That’s a lot of money for the very same PowerPoint…

Know a young Londoner (14-19 y/o) with big ideas? 🏛️✨ @migrationmuseum.org is looking for 10 passionate young people to join our paid Young People’s Panel. You'll help shape events programming and the way we work with young people in our new museum!👇

We’re halfway through the #MBS2026 (3-5 June, University of Birmingham) and celebrating with 30% off a curated reading list of key titles in the field. manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/blog/2026/05...

If you know a Masters student who would like to go on to the PhD and knows Dutch, there's a Phd position open in Alisa van de Haar's exciting "Leveraging Language, Proclaiming Power: Linguistic Politics in Early Colonial North America" project at Leiden: careers.universiteitleiden.nl/job/Leiden-P...

Join the ICS & IHR for the Creighton Lecture where Joy Connolly, Melissa Lane, David Cannadine and Philip Murphy will discuss Political Life and Political Crises, bringing historical depth to contemporary challenges. Tues 9 Jun, 6pm Chancellors Hall, Senate House ics.sas.ac.uk/news-events/...

Creighton Lecture 2026 | Political Life and Political Crises: A Conversation with Joy Connolly, Melissa Lane, and David Cannadine

Please enable JavaScript in your web browser to get the best experience.

ics.sas.ac.uk

A reminder that you can join the hybrid keynote #MBS2026 tomorrow June 4, 5.30pm: Catherine Hall, 'Laying an axe to the roots': history writing for the present. Sign up link below, free to all www.birmingham.ac.uk/events/moder...

Ahead of tomorrow's opening day of #MBS26, Caitlin Harvey @uniofhull.bsky.social reflects on placing indigenous people at the foreground of modern British history, our latest #HistoriesFromHere post modbritstud.org.uk/indigenous-h...

Indigenous Histories from ‘Here’ - The Modern British Studies Association

King Charles III’s coronation in 2023 brought hundreds of Indigenous leaders from the Commonwealth to Britain, showcasing some of the Crown’s oldest diplomatic ties outside of Europe. It wasn’t the fi...

modbritstud.org.uk

Just a week to go until 'Learning in Emergency States: Flourishing, Universities and the Future', with Wendy Brown, Paul Gilroy, Margot Finn, Eva von Redecker and Sasha Roseneil, convened by John Sabapathy. It's on 5 June starting at 17:30 in UCL's Gustave Tuck Lecture Theatre. 1/3

John Sabapathy@jwwsabapathy.bsky.social · 3mo ago

What emerges in emergencies? A major @anthropoceneucl.bsky.social & #UCL200 series on 'Emergence | Emergencies' will ask some big questions in this critical series. UCL 1-12 June. www.ucl.ac.uk/anthropocene #Anthropocene #Emergency @ucl.ac.uk @ucl-ias.bsky.social @uclhistory.bsky.social

Applications are due June 5!!!! This program provides funding up to $1000 for precariously employed early career scholars to attend our in-person annual meeting!

TheNACBS@thenacbs.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Our application for the NACBS/ NAVSA Early Career Network Collaboration is now open! This program will bring together precariously employed ECRs from both organizations, culminating in events at our conferences in Pasadena. More info and application: www.nacbs.org/early-career...

#earlymodern fabulousness next week at SCB.

IHR Society, Culture & Belief, 1500-1800@ihrscb.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Our next and final event of this academic year is on Thursday 4 June! Melissa Calaresu will be giving the following paper ‘Painting by Numbers: Writing the Life of Thomas Jones (1744-1803)’. Thomas Jones was known for his strikingly exact portrayals of urban Naples: www.history.ac.uk/news-events/...

Call for Papers (deadline 15 June 2026). #Skystorians

Call for Papers | Maritime Histories from the Margins: People, Places, and Practices, 1500–Present

An interdisciplinary conference co-convened by Royal Museums Greenwich and the Centre for Port Cities and Maritime Cultures, University of Portsmouth

rmg.co.uk

Very much enjoying Anna Harrington's talk on Empire's Imagined Spaces @long18thsem.bsky.social

The American Revolution was linked to a surge of working-class political activity on both sides of the Atlantic. The struggle against British rule unfolded in tandem with another struggle over who would dominate the post-independence US.

Class Struggle Was a Crucial Part of the American Revolution

The American Revolution was linked to a surge of working-class political activity on both sides of the Atlantic. The struggle against British rule unfolded in tandem with another struggle over who would dominate the post-independence US.

jacobin.com

Very good, if extremely depressing, piece by Stefan Collini to explain what has been and is being done to this country’s universities. If interested to find out, I recommend reading it.

Stefan Collini · Squadrons of Pigs: Bonfire of the Universities

The problems with Britain’s universities are systemic and deep-rooted, not just local or contingent. Yet political and...

lrb.co.uk

Extended CFP deadline to 15 June 2026: Please do share widely!! "Belonging to the Victorians? Community, Collections, and Care" - 1 day conference 4 September 2026, keynote @janehamlett.bsky.social to be held at Wilton's Music Hall [1/9]

"Manchester’s vice-chancellor, Duncan Ivison, said no student should graduate having done three years of just academic study." Mate, have you spoken to an undergraduate student recently? The chances of them having got through 3 years having only done academic work are slim to none

Manchester University to offer work placements to all undergraduates

Russell Group university promises students, from chemical engineering to classics, ‘meaningful real-world experience’

theguardian.com

'Funders are being pushed into taking measures to cope with a widespread increase in grant application numbers, with factors including artificial intelligence and university financial pressure blamed for the rise.' Not to mention some HEIs' policy of mandating x number of applications p.a. 1/3

Research Professional News@resprofnews.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Funders scramble to limit demand as research grant applications rocket. Research council moves to cap institutions come alongside high-level concern about “pushing pressure down system”. www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-r...

This a very exciting job for someone... a cultural heritage landscape curator covering NT places in the North including the Lake District... careers.nationaltrust.org.uk/OA_HTML/a/#/...

Oh, an update on this to reassure staff and students that 'we will not be getting rid of "all books" ... " Well well that's reassuring. Which books will be 'gotten rid of', then? Who gets to choose?

Mark Williams@mrfw17thc.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Librarians here found out about this via social media on Monday. Those I've spoken to are devastated and furious. No consultation, no attempt to respond to concerns. Just a constant stream of violence against the Humanities in any form it takes by people who do not value it. #skystorians

🚨Job! 🚨 Lecturer in Global History of Science at UCL! In London! Permanent, full-time! #histstm #histsci www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/...

UCL – University College London

UCL is consistently ranked as one of the top ten universities in the world (QS World University Rankings 2010-2022) and is No.2 in the UK for research power (Research Excellence Framework 2021).

ucl.ac.uk