youve heard of failing upwards. well academic careers in 2026 encapsulate the reverse: succeeding downwards. so many talented, highly qualified people, being punished for their achievements

This brilliant collaboration between a historian and a musician has been amazing to follow - congratulations to Laura and Chris!

Dr Laura Sangha@lsangha.bsky.social · 2w ago

🎉 🥳 🏅 🎵 📜 🗃️ Chris Hoban and I are absolutely delighted that our collaboration has received an Honorary Mention as 'Cultural Knowledge Exchange Project of the Year' in the inaugural National Centre for Academic and Cultural Exchange (NCACE) Future Icons awards. 1/

🎉 🥳 🏅 🎵 📜 🗃️ Chris Hoban and I are absolutely delighted that our collaboration has received an Honorary Mention as 'Cultural Knowledge Exchange Project of the Year' in the inaugural National Centre for Academic and Cultural Exchange (NCACE) Future Icons awards. 1/

The sec of state who has seen at least 15000 academics lose their jobs just said this. Out loud. Mercy me. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

‘It hurts to lose a job you love’: Starmer loyalist Bridget Phillipson fights on despite cabinet demotion

Exclusive: The former education secretary on her new role as Labour chair and continuing as the minister for women and equalities

theguardian.com

#DefendExeterUni www.timeshighereducation.com/news/new-bri...

New British Academy fellows at risk in Exeter jobs cull

Being at the ‘top of your game’ no guarantee of job security, warns decorated historian now facing the chop

timeshighereducation.com

I done a podcast! I joined 'This Shakespeare Life' to talk about Alehouses in Shakespeare's England: www.cassidycash.com/tankards-and...

Tankards and Trouble: Alehouses in Shakespeare’s England - Cassidy Cash

Shakespeare mentions dragons over 5 times in his plays, and all of his descriptions give fearsome images and terrifying attributes.

cassidycash.com

All the swirling feelings experienced by a university lecturer under threat are eloquently described here by a colleague at Exeter, Lizzie Williamson. #DefendExeterUni substack.com/@lizzywillia...

On Redundancy

Four weeks ago, the university that I have been working at for 9 years announced massive, unjustified, reckless job cuts, predominantly targeting the humanities, arts and social sciences.

substack.com

Is it coming home? No. But for centuries football, home and identity have been closely entwined, as @aucointaylor.bsky.social reveals in this fab new blog post... manyheadedmonster.com/2026/07/17/b...

Becoming Home: Football and Geographic Identity in Early Modern Britain

This summer’s football World Cup has prompted lots of talk of ‘historic’ matches and rivalries that have played out over decades, but the game’s history – and its conn…

manyheadedmonster.com

Congratulations to our new @britishacademy.bsky.social fellows. But also sobering as they point out when @exeter.ac.uk is simultaneously putting their jobs &those of a hundred others in humanities, arts and social sciences, The Academy's remit, under threat! #DefendExeterUni @exeterucu.bsky.social

Is it coming home? No. But for centuries football, home and identity have been closely entwined, as @aucointaylor.bsky.social reveals in this fab new blog post... manyheadedmonster.com/2026/07/17/b...

Becoming Home: Football and Geographic Identity in Early Modern Britain

This summer’s football World Cup has prompted lots of talk of ‘historic’ matches and rivalries that have played out over decades, but the game’s history – and its conn…

manyheadedmonster.com

#Football was fashioning national & local identities well before the #Worldcup & modern game. ⚽️ 🏉 My new blogpost for the manyheademonster explores how #earlymodern & #medieval football forged a sense of place & home. #history manyheadedmonster.com/2026/07/17/b...

Becoming Home: Football and Geographic Identity in Early Modern Britain

This summer’s football World Cup has prompted lots of talk of ‘historic’ matches and rivalries that have played out over decades, but the game’s history – and its conn…

manyheadedmonster.com

📘From our latest issue! James Fox @jamesafox.bsky.social @glasgow.ac.uk on 'Numeracy, Otherness, and the Invention of ‘Civilization’ in Seventeenth- and Eighteenth-Century Anglo-European Travel Writing' #Science #China #Americas 17thc 18thc 🗃️ 👉Open access: www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Do non-migrants have any idea how *utterly terrifying* it is for those who have IDL in the UK; have built a life here, have British kids & forged a sense of love & belonging to be bombarded with news that a sizeable % of the population & government want to be able to take that away & deport us?

Easily over 30,000 signatures. Do we already have a Parliamentary petition for all of #UKHE? Now would be the time to get parents, employers, local communities, as well as students & staff to tell Parliament that if they want growth & regional revival, they're going to have stop cutting the engines.

Pascale Aebischer (she/her)@pascaleexeter.bsky.social · last mo.

Who's not signed this petition yet? Please help us out! The official line is that this is not targeting Arts and Humanities. So why are 85% of cuts in these subjects? #DefendExeterUni c.org/DTcBbvqxn6

'More than half of the free school meal pupils in inner London had entered higher education by age 19, compared with just 18.4 per cent in the south-west of England.' (Research Professional News, 8 am Playbook) Great time to cut course provision in the south-west of England, then.

Widening participation in higher education: 2026

Annual statistics on participation in higher education by pupil and study characteristics.

gov.uk

Something deeply troubling & shocking is happening at Exeter University*, where a mass cull of staff is planned, even though it's in surplus. No good justifications given. @jamesgdyke.info provides the details: www.technosphere.earth/the-bonfire-... *Disclosure: I have a Visiting Fellowship here. +🧵

The bonfire of the humanities

150 academic posts at the University of Exeter are to be cut, most in the humanities but also in social sciences, engineering and environmental sciences

technosphere.earth

Taylor is one of the most prodigiously skilled researchers out there - and now you can hire him!

Taylor Aucoin@aucointaylor.bsky.social · 2mo ago

🚨Announcement!🚨 I'm now offering freelance services (archival photography, transcription, bespoke research...) 📜✒️ Please get in touch if you or someone you know has #history research needs in the UK (esp Scotland & northern England) #Medievalsky #Earlymodern #c18th drtayloraucoin.com/freelance-hi...

We are ‘at risk’. Not just me, not just my wonderful colleagues in History, and not just the world-class community of teachers and researchers across the University of Exeter, but all of us who value the humanities. You can support us here: c.org/2cSZVFyhNF #defendexeteruni

Sign the Petition

Stop Redundancies at the University of Exeter

c.org

'Overall, 52 per cent of white working-class pupils told researchers that they were likely to attend university, versus 82 per cent of their peers.' Bit of a disconnect with the Time Higher deadline, then? 1/2

University ‘inaccessible or irrelevant’ to white working classes

Just half of white working-class pupils say they’re likely to attend university, compared with 82 per cent of their middle-class peers

timeshighereducation.com

they’re pushing through approx 25% compulsory redundancy focused on humanities & social science without anything close to a financial justification. The only reasonable interpretation is ideological motivation. I am both heartbroken and embarrassed. Sign please. www.change.org/p/stop-redun...

Sign the Petition

Stop Redundancies at the University of Exeter

change.org

#DefendExeterUni

'Several of Exeter’s strongest improvements came in indicators that carry the greatest weighting in the rankings – with Academic Reputation, Citations per Faculty, and Employer Reputation all improved significantly.' 1/3

University of Exeter@exeter.ac.uk · 2mo ago

We’re delighted to be able to share some exciting news: We’ve climbed 19 places in the QS World University Rankings 2027, and we’re now ranked 136th globally. This achievement reflects the growing strength of our reputation as one of the world’s top universities. news.exeter.ac.uk/staff-news/e...

In March 2026 the University of Exeter was boasting of its top 100 QS World Rankings status for arts and humanities. Now it is devastating the same areas with drastic cuts. Something is seriously wrong. Solidarity to all the excellent colleagues affected by this. news.exeter.ac.uk/university/e...

Exeter records sweeping successes in QS World Rankings by Subject

The University of Exeter has recorded sweeping success in the latest prestigious international ranking, reflecting its strong teaching and research excellence. Exeter has recorded significant, double-...

news.exeter.ac.uk

Petition against redundancies at Exeter. Humanities and Social Sciences staff are hardest hit, with 25% of posts in subjects including History, English, Modern Languages and Politics slated to be cut.

Sign the Petition

Stop Redundancies at the University of Exeter

c.org

Essential reading.

Amit Singh@amit-singh.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Pubs for the People has a new cover An antidote to right wing fantasies that present the pub as white England, we highlight the everyday togetherness forged in the pubs across the nation Out Oct @manchesterup.bsky.social A bargain £18.99 for hardback ⬇️ www.waterstones.com/book/pubs-fo...

Do you work on alcohol/drinking in the ancient, medieval or early modern periods? Cfp for a conference in Tampere, Finland, this October. Deadline 3rd July. events.tuni.fi/premoderndri...

'We have a tendency to romanticise the smaller face-to-face communities of the past... But actually individualism, conflict, and competition between neighbours was rife.’ Good to talk about my current research for this recent piece on 'villages' past and present: www.bristol.ac.uk/alumni/stori...

'In our modern world, we’re more connected than ever before. But are our communities closer as a result?' Nice to feature in this @bristoluni.bsky.social piece talking about my research on 17thC village life. @uobrishistory.bsky.social @uobartsmatter.bsky.social www.bristol.ac.uk/alumni/stori...

It's publication day! This Little World begins with a sixteenth-century refugee writing from Norwich to his wife abroad. It ends in the aftermath of civil war and revolution, asking what belonging and identity might mean in a world shaped by migration, empire and violence. (1/4)

In 1640 Phillip Covie of Portishead was presented to the church courts because he was 'ready to play on his vyan to the youth of the parish' when they should have been at evening prayer. Anyone know what a 'vyan' is? OED comes up empty, but I'm guessing some sort of string instrument...