Half the planet is having a massive fight about how to correctly interpret an Ancient Greek poem but go ahead, close some more humanities departments.
Kate Simpson
@kilmun.bsky.social
Programme Convenor MSc Digital Humanities, University of Glasgow. Digital Humanist. Specialist in 19th C digital creation and curation.
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While we are in this Greek Mythology moment, may I remind you that Emma Thompson is adapting Pat Barker’s take on The Iliad, and she’s struggled to get it made bc the focus on what acts of war against women and survival thereafter actually look like (the core of Barker’s narrative) is too intense.
Emma Thompson adapting feminist retelling of Iliad for big screen
The actress told the Hay Festival she is writing a film version of Pat Barker’s The Silence of the Girls to draw attention to sexual abuse in war zones
thetimes.com
I like that the #DH2026 Book of Abstracts available at: doi.org/10.5281/zeno... also provides the underlying #TEI-XML.
Digital Humanities 2026: Book of Abstracts
doi.org
We also have digital exhibits. You can learn more about DUSLR at: www.vrt.viraltexts.org/index.php/du... Or check out my two related short papers at #DH2026 — Friday at 2pm (Daejeon time). More on that soon!
Data – The Virality of Racial Terror
vrt.viraltexts.org
Palantir delivers again, just not for patients, hospitals or the state.
Palantir tool has not cut hospital discharge delays, study says
Think-tank’s findings likely to add to calls for audit of NHS England claims around Federated Data Platform
ft.com
'Universities were central to our DSIT comms strategy; we probably did more ministerial visits to higher education institutions than any other type of organisation....This is about to change.' 1/3
How to work with the department formerly known as DSIT
Former DSIT director of communications Abigail Morris explains what Whitehall's latest reshuffle means for universities Former DSIT director of communications Abigail Morris explains what Whitehall's ...
wonkhe.com
Day 53 in Albania and the streets are STILL alive! 🇦🇱🔥 What began as a fight over luxury resort developments has grown into a relentless daily movement in Tirana. Every single night, thousands take to the streets demanding real political accountability. The people aren't backing down! 🦩
The newly discovered fortlet dates to the mid-second century to the mid-third century AD, radiocarbon dating revealed. It was built on the southern side of the Antonine Wall in the town of Bearsden, about 8 km NW of Glasgow. Image of reconstruction by Eduardo Pérez-Fernández #RomanFortThursday
Haha these people have clearly never been in a school classroom for 20+ years. Imagine the loss of authority a teacher would suffer if they had to ask a robot what they should teach next. The robot would, in fact, undermine the teacher at every turn, just by its panoptic presence.
Jane Rosenzweig@janerosenzweig.bsky.social · 3w ago2)do teachers really need a robot to help them find their place? Is there really demand for such a feature? And to do this presumably the robot is "listening" to everything the teacher is doing? /2
'Early career opportunities have rapidly declined in the fields of arts and humanities amid UK job cuts, with teaching-only roles increasingly the only positions available for those just starting out, an analysis by the British Academy has found.' 1/3
Humanities hardest hit as early career opportunities disappear
Analysis of staff data finds skew to teaching-only roles in entry-level positions, with scale of cuts not reflected at more senior levels
timeshighereducation.com
Keen to engage through your research with a UK government department? Check out its Areas of Research Interest.
Professor Tom Crick@proftomcrick.com · 2mo agoToday, DCMS published its refreshed Areas of Research Interest on GOV.UK. These set out priority research and evidence needs across culture, creative industries, media, sport, civil society, youth, tourism, heritage and gambling. www.gov.uk/government/p...
Why not take what we’re really good at and starve it of funding, that seems a smart competitive strategy for an economy
Rachel Pope@prehistorian.bsky.social · 4w ago“In a letter to the Office for Students, which distributes the funding, Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, said funding should no longer be given to support nursing, computing, history, creative arts, performing arts, archaeology, and geography courses.” removepaywalls.com/https://www....
'Students’ positivity about all aspects of UK higher education courses has increased despite the problems facing the sector, according to the latest National Student Survey (NSS) results.' 80.9% positivity, up from 78.4% last year. So go on, sack us. 1/3
NSS 2026: positivity scores up across the board despite pressures
Students more positive about teaching and free speech but some institutions still perform poorly on course management
timeshighereducation.com
Historian of science Margaret Rossiter (b #OTD in 1944) coined the term #MatildaEffect (1993). Named after suffragist Matilda Joslyn Gage, the Matilda Effect describes a systemic bias where women's scientific achievements are ignored, minimized, or directly attributed to their male colleagues. 1/3
#Namibia: Erase the language to kill a nation observer24.com.na/erase-the-la... #indigenous #language #oshiwambo #langsky
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
[VID] Polish minority fights to save endangered #Wymysorys #language www.dw.com/en/polish-mi... via @deutschewelle.dw.com #Poland #langsky
Polish minority fights to save endangered Wymysorys language
Wymysorys, a rare regional language, is fighting for survival in Poland. A small group of young enthusiasts is trying to keep it alive.
dw.com
Personal views from @christophersmith.bsky.social "Universities that aren’t fully committed to arts and humanities as a flourishing part of their science offering aren’t committing to the future." 👏👏👏 anatomiesofpower.wordpress.com/2026/06/28/w...
Why an industrial strategy needs arts and humanities (and why UKRI are funding us to deliver it)
I joined UKRI six years ago because I was deeply attracted to the ambition of unifying curiosity led research and strategic or mission led interventions with the power of science to drive a just ec…
anatomiesofpower.wordpress.com
-From Quarks to Quasars 1/ Fired government scientists just launched a new site to keep climate data public.The site is called Climate.us & it was created by former staffers behind Climate.gov, the NOAA-run website long used by many for trusted climate information."
Western Illinois University librarians have won their jobs back with back pay after illegal layoffs last year. Their fight underscores not only the importance of university librarians but also the need for a greater investment in public higher education.
Western Illinois University librarians win their jobs back after illegal layoffs
In a major win for University of Illinois Professionals, Local 4100, five faculty librarians and two university professionals at Western Illinois University, a four-year regional university in rural I...
aft.org
'Many more female PhD graduates are delaying parenthood until they have established an academic career, says a major international study whose results suggest younger mothers face significant professional disadvantages.' Men, in contrast, often become parents as PhD students. 1/2
Female academics ‘increasingly delay motherhood’ until age 35
‘Pronounced penalties’ for those early-career staff with children may explain why PhDs postpone becoming a parent, finds study
timeshighereducation.com
“But in a recently updated NHSE page outlining the methodology behind the figures, the health service stated it could not “draw conclusions about cause and effect as other variables have not been controlled for” www.ft.com/content/9348...
NHS England admits key data does not prove Palantir’s effectiveness
Health service adds caveat saying that performance improvements cannot be attributed to £330mn contract
ft.com
“Digital humanities gives us a space for connecting people who care about this kind of thing and who have the linguistic and cultural competence to be appropriately skeptical of the machine's results.” - @quinnanya.me and Regina Pieck 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 #ACH2026
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
can’t believe a narcissist is being so publicly humiliated by a reflecting pool