A long shot: is anyone currently doing research at the Biblioteca Nacional del Perú in Lima? I'm trying to track down two seventeenth-century single-sheet printed broadsides. I'd be very grateful to connect. Thanks! #earlymodern

I saw black swans for the first time today at Peking University. It felt momentous!

Somewhere a university academic is being told to "do more with less" by someone whose job title didn't exist two reorgs ago.

I join you from the Blaenavon wildfire in Southeast Wales, brought to you by BP, Shell and Equinor. Though it does not look dramatic, the fire has been out of control for days - for a very particular reason. 🧵

You couldn't make this up. The father who has been KIDNAPPED is called father Placid.

Claire Willett@clairewillett.bsky.social · 2w ago

exCUSE me??????????? I take a week off and there’s a KIDNAPPING?!!?!????????

I'm reading a list of manuscripts once held by a 17th century pandit (because of course I am) and found the name of a lost text called "A Treatise on Gambling" (Dyūtaśāstra)! I bet it's so much fun.

[NEW VIDEO] The Odyssey ON DRUGS Drugs are an essential ingredient in Homer's Odyssey. In this video, I explore their role in the epic poem in anticipation of Christopher Nolan's film. LINK: youtu.be/akBLFtE7DD0

The Odyssey ON DRUGS

YouTube video by Archaeology with Flint Dibble

youtu.be

Dearest readers: don’t send authors typo corrections. There are a lot of reasons for that which I will detail below, but the tl;dr: it helps nobody but your own sense of superiority.

fbaldassarriphilo.wordpress.com/cfp-rsa-2027... Giancarla Periti and mine cfp for @rsaorg.bsky.social #RSA2027 #RSAPhila27 on #CraftingNature, we welcome contributions that address the production, cultivation and uses of veg materials, and the artistic and scientific knowledge #histsci #arthist🌱

CfP RSA 2027 – Crafting Nature: Vegetal Materials

CFP on RSA websiteThis is part of our project on natural crafts – here the series we direct. Despite their silent existence, plants were considered more than passive medicinal and agricultura…

fbaldassarriphilo.wordpress.com

One of my favorite exhibits at the Musêe des Arts et Métiers in Paris was Vaucanson's & Jacquard's punch card looms. Good to remember that we owe computers to the ARTS! #HPS #sciart #histtech #STS

Thony Christie @rmathematicus.bsky.social · 4w ago

The first programmer was neither Ada Lovelace nor Charles Babbage but the French weaver and inventor Joseph Marie Jacquard, who was born 7 July 1753 #histsci #histtech thonyc.wordpress.com/2018/12/26/c...

Today is Nonidi the 19th of Messidor in the year 234. Messidor is the month of harvest. Today we celebrate cherries. #JacobinDay See today's page

I see some misconceptions on compulsory redundancies (CR) on here. Yes, it is correct that it is a post and not a person that is made redundant, but in the case of CR, employers can unfortunately create criteria for selection of people. ACAS and gov.uk have good pages www.gov.uk/staff-redund...

Making staff redundant

Rules employers must follow when making staff redundant - consultations, notice periods, compulsory and non-compulsory redundancy and redundancy pay.

gov.uk

Not particularly happy to have received a request for a donation from UCL, addressed to Mr Totelin (the degree I took there was the PhD, but I would have been content with Ms).

oh hey, remember that article about Cardiff not knowing how much it spends on consultancies? Yeah, that's kinda regular in unis up and down the country: every Department's budget micromanaged to draw out 50-60% cash generation, and central has no clear overview of their spent. Let's reform that...

Times Higher Education (THE)@timeshighered.bsky.social · last mo.

A “complete breakdown in cash management” and a “lack of expenditure control” at the top of the University of Dundee contributed to its perilous financial state, according to long-awaited accounts finally released today. Georgia Louise Luckhurst reports #jobcuts #edusky https://ow.ly/mc0V50ZjhYM

the museum of the royal library on mont des arts is free this afternoon. it's a great place to visit, even if you are not interested in historical things. there is even a self guided tour for children. and a cool roof top café overlooking brussels!

[LIVESTREAM] Today I'll be hosting Dr Jackie Murray to discuss race in the Iliad and Odyssey It's obviously a timely discussion given all the culture wars fluff about the Odyssey movie Live at 7pm UK/2pm EDT. If you miss it, it'll be recorded. #AncientBlueSky www.youtube.com/live/TmfYpfq...

Race in the Iliad and the Odyssey with Dr Jackie Murray

YouTube video by Archaeology with Flint Dibble

youtube.com

And those hiring committees are brutal. I have chaired some where every interviewee was as talented and experienced as Ellie. The decisions came down to minute things. Giving feedback amounted to 'you did nothing wrong. Someone shone a bit brighter on the day. I'm so sorry'.

Dr Ellie Mackin Roberts@elliemackinroberts.net · last mo.

Also: I’m not sure people realise how much work it is to be precarious academic as one is expected to do all the things our more securely employed colleagues do - in fact, often more - because we have to show excellence in every aspect of academic life in order to be noticed by hiring committees.

Kate makes a very important point. We should all have been fighting against casualisation for many years. For those of us in (relatively) safe jobs, we should avoid feeling suddenly sorry and outraged that our jobs have become more casualised.

Dr Kate Cook@katexe.bsky.social · last mo.

I think this quote really demonstrates for me something that is quite weird and hard about watching reactions to sector redundancies while precarious - because I am expected to do exactly this next year. And no one seems to find it a problem. (1/2)

Academics all over the country could put their hand up and say they're in the same boat. But when did you last see a big feature on redundancies at a post-92 university?

RHS finds cuts to history courses fall disproportionately on post-92 universities

The Royal Historical Society has warned of ‘an alarming increase’ in the number of university history departments facing cuts to staffing and degree options – even as numbers studying the subject a…

sslh.org.uk

Andy Brockman@andybrockman.bsky.social · last mo.

"The idea that people will be able to hold it together and deliver a term of teaching before they vanish off into the horizon, is bizarre, spiteful and naive as well.” The Times HE's punchy account of Exeter University's #BonfireOfTheHumanities & what one academic describes as "existential terror".

Solidarity to all colleagues at Exeter, of course, but thinking that one's department/uni is safe because it ranks high (insert any other reason) is naive and problematic. The entire sector is in trouble unfortunately 1/2

‘I thought we were safe’: shock at Exeter’s humanities ‘gamble’

Leading department being in the firing line shows how changing student preferences are fundamentally reshaping universities

timeshighereducation.com

Why are you concerned? Do you not trust your senior management team? Do you not love us? thesphinxblog.com/2026/06/24/t...

This Will Hurt You More Than It Hurts Me

[The Neville Morley of Earth 2 developed a brief stint as Faculty Education Director into a full-blown managerial career, rapidly progressing via Head of School and Dean to Pro-Vice Chancellor for …

thesphinxblog.com

A brief appreciation thread for some of my colleagues in Classics at Exeter, who the University of Exeter have put at risk of redundancy @exeter.ac.uk. A few are on here, most are not, but I'm going to say nice things about them anyway.

I got three paragraphs into this and had to stop reading. It’s such fucking nonsense. Government blaming universities and doing down young people for the failure of their own economic model. Bridget Phillipson ought to be fired into the sun.

Tom Roberts@tpgroberts.bsky.social · last mo.

The government has once more declared war on the labour market. The beatings will continue until morale improves. www.gov.uk/government/n...

The end to this BBC segment is completely out of order. My grandad died during the great French canicule of 2003. This is not a joke or an opportunity to have ice-cream for breakfast.

Ketan Joshi@ketanjoshi.co · last mo.

A statement from Exeter UCU branch @ucu.org.uk - please share far and wide.

'The University of Exeter is proposing to cut about 150 staff roles. A spokesperson for the university said it was "consulting with colleagues over limited and specific potential changes across some areas of our academic faculties".' 1/4

University of Exeter in talks to cut about 150 members of staff

The university says it is consulting with colleagues over "limited and specific potential changes".

bbc.co.uk

Okay, UKsters, the media is useless re: extreme heat, so let’s do this. I’m from Southern California, spent the last ten years living outside Seattle, which has a similar climate to Scotland, where I am now. Here’s what I know. 1. Heat exhaustion and sickness are no fucking joke. Do not tempt them.

This video took over TEN YEARS to make! So you know it's a good one It summarizes a major avenue of research that took me from PhD student to Postdoc to now Don't miss out on it! It's educational and fun youtu.be/mn_51q5mTM8?...

We solved a 94 year old mystery about ancient Greece by analyzing GOATS!

YouTube video by Archaeology with Flint Dibble

youtu.be

I'm seeing that many people caught in the current UK HE crisis are receiving bad news on a Friday. Be aware that this is a union busting tactic. 1/

A remarkable discovery at Aspendos: archaeologists have uncovered a Roman mosaic showing the river god Eurymedon. Dating to the 3rd century AD, it adds a new highlight to the city’s rich ancient heritage. 👉 www.turkiyetoday.com/culture/rare...