Tim Hitchcock
@timhitchcock.bsky.social
Historian of 18th century London; Professor Emeritus of Digital History at the University of Sussex. Just coughing in the ink to the end of time.
From Tudor welfare claims to modern PIP assessments, disabled people have long faced suspicion and bureaucracy.
Today’s arguments about disability benefits have been raging for 500 years
From Tudor welfare claims to modern PIP assessments, disabled people have long faced suspicion and bureaucracy.
theconversation.com
Delighted to be contributing to the brilliant work of the University of Hertfordshire Heritage Hub. #PublicHistory www.linkedin.com/posts/univer...
Meet the Research Assistant 📖 Dr Helen Esfandiary is a Research Assistant on the AHRC-IAA funded Victorian Travellers project, led by Dr William Bainbridge and North Herts Museum. Helen is a… | Uni...
Meet the Research Assistant 📖 Dr Helen Esfandiary is a Research Assistant on the AHRC-IAA funded Victorian Travellers project, led by Dr William Bainbridge and North Herts Museum. Helen is a histor...
linkedin.com
'On Tuesday the government published its response to the Education Committee’s report on higher education funding and the threat of insolvency. It’s 37 pages...read quickly, amount to a department competently batting away an inconvenient select committee.' 1/2
Ministers are throwing students to the wolves
On Tuesday the government published its response to the Education Committee’s report on higher education funding and the threat of insolvency.
wonkhe.com
Royal Historical Society open meeting (online) for historians working in universities, 4 Aug 2026 - ‘The crisis in UK higher education: the future for history’ www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-crisis.... It’s a definite sign of the times that places are almost gone.
The Crisis in UK HE: the Future for History
An open meeting for historians in UK higher education on what is needed to best support and protect the profession and discipline.
eventbrite.co.uk
AI Search Is Rebundling Everything Libraries Know About Discovery - Aaron Tay aarontay.substack.com/p/eleven-ways-… (great, thoughtful overview) #AI #libraries #search
AI Search Is Rebundling Everything Libraries Know About Discovery
Ten established traditions, an emerging eleventh, and why libraries need to have a more holistic view of discovery
aarontay.substack.com
This was actually meant for a keynote but was a bit long. Still it does reflect my feeling that we need a more holistic view of search rather than assume one community has all the answers to AI search
Nicole Hennig@nic221.bsky.social · 3w agoAI Search Is Rebundling Everything Libraries Know About Discovery - Aaron Tay aarontay.substack.com/p/eleven-ways-… (great, thoughtful overview) #AI #libraries #search
For all the talk of failed delivery and under resourcing in so many areas, the state has also never delivered as much, particularly in healthcare for the elderly. This tends not to be acknowledged.
Read this and have a think. It's important. With a sharing link for 3 non-subscribers to the FT. giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...
We need humanities more than ever in the age of AI
Subjects like literature, languages and history are vital to a thoughtful and prosperous society
giftarticle.ft.com
Rabbit & Mortar netsuke carved ivory Edo period 18th century CE Japan Tokyo National Museum #handmade #rabbit #mortarandpestle #carved #ivory #netsuke #edoperiod #18thcentury #Japan #tokyonationalmuseum #antique #japanesecraft #japaneseantiques #figural #animal #carving #ivorynetsuke #antiqueivory
Fantastic to see the British Library Ethos system is up and running. A hugely valuable resource. ethos.bl.uk
Hyku
ethos.bl.uk
Helpful analysis for UK #Skystorians of History NSS results from the Royal Historical Society. Quality and value of teaching, and students' appreciation of intellectual rigour and complexity of their degrees score especially well, in relative terms.
History and its historians in the National Student Survey, 2026 | Historical Transactions
blog.royalhistsoc.org
In case you missed it, here's Count Binface's appearance on the BBC this morning.
Money for languages. What’s not to like? Apply while we still have languages to teach, research, speak and write.
UCFL - University Council For Languages@ucflangs.bsky.social · 4w agoHave a languages project in mind? Apply for a UCFL Small Grant! 📢 Deadline 17 July 2026 university-council-for-languages.org/our-research...
*not-so-fun fact There is still no authoritative translation of the Ethiopian bible, more than 500 years after the outside world learned about it So it will be long before we get any translations of the hundreds of thousands of African manuscripts discovered in the last 30 yrs
We have lift off! The first Pufflings are now leaving the Isle of May as birds are now independent. This is a big moment as they’ve never flown and not seen the sea before! Good luck :)
I've decided to compile a definitive thread of photos of the best sheep I've photographed during my walks in the countryside, together with supporting biographical information. I will put the vital story associated with each sheep in the alt text, since some of it is a little long to fit in a post.
Shocking news about redundancies in the Humanities at the University of Hertfordshire, despite their exceptional research activities. I have signed the petition against these actions: it would be great if you would as well: c.org/kDQynZV7J4 @bbkhistorical.bsky.social @bisa-bkk.bsky.social
Sign the Petition
Save the Humanities at the University of Hertfordshire
c.org
Today the government repealed the 1824 Vagrancy Act. The focus has been on rough sleeping but the government has also accidentality repealed one of the most anti-Romani pieces of legislation. I've been researching the act and here's why its interesting www.gov.uk/government/n... 1/5
Rough sleeping no longer a crime as Vagrancy Act repealed
The government will repeal the Vagrancy Act on Monday 29 June 2026, ending nearly two centuries of legislation that has criminalised rough sleeping and begging.
gov.uk
Norwegian tapestry artist in an Art Nouveau style, Frida Hansen. Sørover (Southward), 1903 #WomensArt
Being at Chalke History Festival reminds me yet again how interconnected university-based history and other forms of history-making are. The thing we do in one place explicitly supports the thing we do in another. University cuts, closures and job losses harm the entire history eco-system.
Advocating for History by Doing History - On History
This blog was written by Claire Langhamer, Director of the IHR Historians are very good at crafting arguments and in recent times very many people have advanced very many arguments about why history m...
blog.history.ac.uk
Times are terribly tough for historians at the moment, but this is a wonderful scheme, a ray of light. #Skystorians
History Workshop@historyworkshop.org.uk · last mo.📣 Call for Applications 📣 History Workshop is seeking to appoint one Editorial Fellow in 2026, with specialism in pre-1800 CE history from any part of the globe. This is a part-time, paid role. Application deadline: 7 August 2026. Please share widely!
Bluesky launched in February 2023 as an invite-only platform. As of June 2026, we have 45 million users. For reference, that's almost the population of Argentina. Thank you for being here with us 💙 Here’s to the next 45 million accounts.
How stupid is it that the Google Books API has no date-range parameter. It was a mistake to let engineers design cultural heritage platforms.
Day 23 Tirana Albania — protesters are moving towards the central Skanderbeg Square. The streets are filled with thousands of citizens in what are now the biggest demonstrations since the fall of communism in 1991.
🧵“What she did…was to make me think why capitalism is not only efficient and practical, but also moral” - Alan Greenspan, speaking about his guru Ayn Rand in 1974. It's worth understanding the role that this partnership played in unleashing the savageries of the modern market.
Therapy ferrets used to kill rats at UK’s largest children’s prison
Therapy ferrets used to kill rats at UK’s largest children’s prison
Prison officers’ union calls for immediate end to practice at HMYOI Wetherby over fears for child and animal welfare Pet ferrets kept as therapy animals at the UK’s largest children’s prison have been co-opted by managers to kill rats, resulting in a bloody incident and concerns over child and animal welfare. The unorthodox method of vermin control was waved through last month at HMYOI Wetherby in West Yorkshire following a surge in rat numbers in prison offices and grounds. Continue reading...
theguardian.com
Come & hear about @histparl.bsky.social's Oral History of Parliament on 24 June @19:00. With clips from David Blunkett, Malcolm Rifkind, Gisela Stuart & others,the session explores who makes it to Westminster, how Parliament has changed & who challenged its ways www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/westminste...
Westminster as told to the History of Parliament’s Oral History Project
‘A mix between arcane procedure and schoolboy-ish behaviour’? Westminster as told to the History of Parliament’s Oral History Project
eventbrite.co.uk
June 25 marks the 150th anniversary of Custer's death at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. No matter how you think about it, you're probably wrong. I received a Pulitzer for "Custer's Trials," yet no one's asking my opinion. That should tell me something. Still, here's how to understand it. 1/🧵
