Tessera

Tom Hulme

@tomhulme.bsky.social

Historian @ Queen’s Uni Belfast Author of “Belfastmen: An Intimate History of Life before Gay Liberation” (Cornell, 2026) & “After the Shock City: Urban Culture & the Making of Modern Citizenship” (Boydell, 2019) 🏳️‍🌈

984 Posts4506 Follower 762 Folgt

David Higham @oldtrotter.bsky.social · 4d ago

This should be self evident but clearly isn’t. From @lewisgoodall.com

The problem is not that higher education has failed as an engine of social mobility. It is that, for too long, it has been treated as the only engine. The curriculum is not the problem which is driving our NEET malaise; the weakness of local economies is. Any Labour administration should therefore tread very carefully before dismantling any part of the comprehensive educational settlement created by the Labour governments of the 1960s. Burnham's proposals also misunderstand the multi-layered nature of the modern university, which in many cases is as likely to offer vocational courses as strictly academic ones.
In any case, let's stop the obsession with STEM subjects and
"practical" training. There is already too much snobbery in the assumption that working-class students are somehow less interested in the arts and humanities. And we've never needed those graduates more. In an age in which we are already outsourcing so much of our critical thinking to machines, and in which none of us can be entirely sure of the truth of what we see, where the world's complexity is ever deepening, subjects like philosophy, history, political science, linguistics, classics and literature have rarely been more important.
I'm sure our English graduate prime minister might agree.

Tom Hulme @tomhulme.bsky.social · 3d ago

Astonishing that this person kept their job. Plagiarising 4000 words of a students essay and your defence being you were just using it as an ‘aide mémoire’?! WTF!

Chris King@chrisfk.bsky.social · 3d ago

The case of William O'Reilly, a Cambridge associate professor, who is white, is an interesting comparator. An investigation found that O'Reilly had plagiarised an undergrad's work, but decided this was just negligence, and he kept his job. This has attracted far less publicity than Prof Arday's case

Tim Osborne Photography 🍁@timosborne.ca · 4d ago

I think I could probably post a Puffin photo every day for the next couple of years I took so many. They are just such an amazingly photogenic bird! #wildlife #birds

A Puffin standing on the rocky cliff edge with its wings spread out behind her. The ocean can be seen in the background. The puffin's trademark bright orange big is visible.

will pooley @willpooley.bsky.social · 5d ago

incredible discovery here: the 1762 original of the ha ha ha yes sicko cartoon courtesy of thomas waters new book “Magic”

DECODING HOGARTH'S CREDULITY, SUPERSTITION AND FANATICISM
English artist William Hogarth s iconic engraving Credulity, Superstition, and Fanaticism. A Medley
(1762) expresses the growing tendency, in the 18th-century West, to mock magic. The scene brims with contemporary references and tropes, showcasing different examples of misplaced beliefs.

The print shows a confused scene of various dramatic poses inc a witch on broomstick, preacher etc and crucially a Turkish Muslim looking in through the window

Detail of the Turkish man from larger image “TURKISH MAN
A Turkish Muslim man looks in from the window, smiling at the foolishness of the Christians gathered inside.”

Yes, ha ha ha, yes Sickos meme of man looking through a window.

Tom Hulme @tomhulme.bsky.social · 5d ago

this is such a brilliant survey - insightful & incisive, bringing together a huge (& diverse) number of scholars without it ever feeling ‘list like’

Photo of book by Matt Cook titled Writing Queer History

Royal Historical Society @royalhistsoc.org · 5d ago

Joe's article also features in selection of recent 'Transactions' articles which consider 'The Historian's Craft and Practice: new writing on history teaching and historical research' bit.ly/4bPGJvW All 15 articles are published Open Access and free to read #Skystorians 2/2

The Historian's Craft and Practice: new writing on history teaching and historical research - RHS

The Society's academic journal, Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, publishes a wide range of content from historians of all disciplinary backgrounds and career stages, worldwide. This inclu...

bit.ly

Urban History @urbanhistory.bsky.social · last wk.

Some recent book reviews to check out 📚 Parul Behl on Alissa Walter's Contested City (@stanfordpress.bsky.social) "a methodological and disciplinary conversation about how the built environment and social history should be studied in tandem with each other" 🔗 doi.org/10.1017/S096...

Alissa Walter, Contested City: Citizen Advocacy and Survival in Modern Baghdad. Stanford: Stanford University Press, CA, 2025. vii + 340pp. 14 figures. Bibliography. $140.00 hbk. $25.00 pbk. | Urban H...

Alissa Walter, Contested City: Citizen Advocacy and Survival in Modern Baghdad. Stanford: Stanford University Press, CA, 2025. vii + 340pp. 14 figures. Bibliography. 25.00 pbk.

doi.org

Tarik Abou-Chadi @tabouchadi.bsky.social · last wk.

Being queer means being the target of violence. Every queer person knows this. It's deeply engraved in who we are. We live with it every day of our lives. Not because of terrorism but because it is structurally enshrined in our "free" societies. Violence against queer people is not an exception ...

Tom Hulme @tomhulme.bsky.social · 2w ago

love this review of Belfastmen! Happy Pride (tomorrow!) 🏳️‍🌈

A book review that reads:

Sapphos wrote:

Someone will remember us

I say

even in another time

This book does just that. The lives of gay men in Belfast were just as full of love, joy and tragedy as our own.

It was a privilege to spend a few hours with them and learn about their incredible lives.

Ada Palmer @adapalmer.bsky.social · 2w ago

Historian friend was reading a civil war era letter in an archive, the letter said “In this envelope I include my smallpox scabs” and sure enough there they were. Had to call CDC for a hazmat team.

Curtis @curtislee.bsky.social · 2w ago

Hi peeps, because I seemingly hate having free time 🤣 I recently established Rainbow Connections NI - a new LGBTQ+ social group for adults in the north. We prioritise connection & strengthening sense of community in what can feel like an increasingly divided world. 🧵 More to follow in this thread.

Tom Hulme @tomhulme.bsky.social · 2w ago

I’ve got a sabbatical coming up for first half of 2027 but nothing lined up in terms of a visiting fellowship. It feels like there isn’t much to apply for right now, at least not that includes any financial assistance, but if you know of anything queer/irish/urban pls do reply or DM…

Dr Vanessa @hpsvanessa.bsky.social · 3w ago

"don't cite what you haven't read" remains the basic entry level academic responsibility; & if your discpline "doesn't have that as a norm" then sorry, your discipline needs reforming for this new world. Citations are structural parts of trust and knowledge building, not trinkets or optional extras

Miles Klee 🦉@milesklee.bsky.social · 8mo ago

Academics and technologists are sounding the alarm about a growing crisis in scholarship as we know it: AI-generated citations of nonexistent papers that have infested real journals. Despite being fake, the sources are widely assumed to be authentic the more they appear in published literature.

Sam Wetherell @samwetherell.bsky.social · 3w ago

I wrote a book about how Liverpool’s modern history helps us think differently about Britain’s twentieth century - how it demands histories of wagelessness, environment ruin, obsolescence and new forms of resistance. It’s out in paperback today!

Richard Hayton @richardhayton.com · 3w ago

The USS pension fund reported yesterday that is now running a £16.9bn surplus, so is now 127% funded (assets vs liabilities). Not so many years ago, University leaders were telling us that a defined benefit pension was totally unsustainable and must be scrapped. www.uss.co.uk/news-and-vie...

Latest valuation finds USS is in a very strong position

USS’s funding position has continued to improve since its last valuation in 2023, which showed a surplus after more than a decade of reporting deficits.

uss.co.uk

Charlotte Lydia Riley @lottelydia.bsky.social · 3w ago

Father ted “is there anything to be said for saying another mass”, but with “adding another defender” and Tuchel’s face superimposed

Conor @ernekid.bsky.social · 3w ago

Saladin in 1189:

Katelyn Burns@katelynburns.com · 3w ago

The English crosses are weak

Tom Hulme @tomhulme.bsky.social · 3w ago

The book launch for "Belfastmen: An Intimate History of Life before Liberation", at the Linen Hall Library in May, was filmed and is now available on YouTube - an 'in conservation' event with the brilliant @elainefarrell.bsky.social! www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8oi...

Belfastmen: An Intimate History of Life before Gay Liberation

YouTube video by TheLinenHall

youtube.com

Dr Dave Hitchcock @davehitchcock.bsky.social · 3w ago

Post-92s have seen a 25% fall in the number of staff teaching history. 25% since 2018-19.

Royal Historical Society@royalhistsoc.org · 3w ago

Changes in staffing vary considerably by institution / region. The period 2018/19 to 2024/25 has seen a 25% (200 FPE) decline in History staff in Post-92 institutions. HESA regions with marked falls in staff for this period incl: South-East (-32%), East of England (-22%), Yorks & Humber (-18%) 2/3

Screen shot of British Academy mapping staff in SHAPE showing decline in History staff for 2018-19 to 2024-25 in Post-92 institutions: 25% decline (200 FPE).

Royal Historical Society @royalhistsoc.org · 3w ago

The Society will write up a summary for History for next week. Key points at this stage include: > 11% decline (-440 FPE) across all History staff between 2018/19 and 2024/25, compared with a 7% decline across all humanities > loss of 140 FPE History roles 2022/23 to 2024/25 #Skystorians 1/3

Screen shot from British Academy mapping SHAPE staff resource, showing change in History staff between 2018/19 and 2024/25. A loss of 440 FPE or 11% of the total.

Neil Mackay @neilmackay.bsky.social · 4w ago

It tells you everything you need to know about the state of British society when the Anne Frank Trust has to step in because of the dehumanising attacks on the LGBT community. What a disgrace we’ve become

British Library @britishlibrary.bsky.social · 4w ago

Exciting news - our online platform of over 650,000 metadata records of UK doctoral theses (EThOS) is now available again  Find out more about EThOS and how to use it on our website link.bl.uk/kxk

Photograph taken from above showing a man working at his laptop at the British Library.

Tom Hulme @tomhulme.bsky.social · 4w ago

quite jarring to read the Wikipedia page for Ann Widdecombe, which describes her various consistently bigoted views & controversies, from LGBT discrimination to racism, followed immediately by a long list of plummy 'media work and appearances'

Tom Hulme @tomhulme.bsky.social · 4w ago

It’s Pride in Belfast this month - celebrating its 25th anniversary! 🏳️‍🌈 I recently did a wee interview with GNI to talk a bit more about my book and queer life before liberation - out now, pp. 49-51 issuu.com/lambpromotio...

The cover of GNI Magazine, showing various LGBT figures from Northern Ireland and further afield

A photograph of Tom Hulme, sat at a desk, and his book Belfastmen.

Mary M. Burke @maryburke.bsky.social · 4w ago

www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DSD862/l...

Lecturer/Senior Lecturer in Irish at Queen's University Belfast

Apply now for the Lecturer/Senior Lecturer in Irish role on jobs.ac.uk - the leading job board for higher education jobs. View details.

jobs.ac.uk

The English Historical Review @enghistrev.bsky.social · last mo.

Tom Hulme @tomhulme.bsky.social reviews 'Love in the Lav: A Social Biography of Same-Sex Desire in Ireland, 1922–1972', by Averill Earls @aearls.bsky.social academic.oup.com/ehr/advance-... @templeunivpress.bsky.social

Love in the Lav: A Social Biography of Same-Sex Desire in Ireland, 1922–1972, by Averill Earls

In the last decade or so, Ireland has emerged as one of the world’s most progressive countries when it comes to matters of sexuality and gender. It was the

academic.oup.com

Matthew L Reznicek @drreznicek.bsky.social · last mo.

Who could have seen this coming? Besides every liberal arts faculty member in the country, I mean.

Lauri Donahue@lauridonahue.bsky.social · last mo.

futurism.com/future-socie... lol

As one New York financier told Financial Times journalist Gillian Tett, new hires who were seen as “AI natives” are turning out to have alarmingly shallow ideas. So much so, the anonymous finance worker admitted, that his firm now actively avoids seeking out AI-literate STEM graduates, and opts to comb through humanities students instead.

Matthew Kelly @matthewjkelly.bsky.social · last mo.

New book from me & @littletollerbooks.bsky.social! Marking the centenary of the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England, a pacy (I hope) history of one of UK’s most important environmental pressure groups. An avatar of the Great Acceleration… www.littletoller.co.uk/shop/books/l...

Tom Hulme @tomhulme.bsky.social · last mo.

My @enghistrev.bsky.social book review of @aearls.bsky.social’s brilliant and pathbreaking study of male queerness in mid-20th century Ireland. academic.oup.com/ehr/advance-...

Love in the Lav: A Social Biography of Same-Sex Desire in Ireland, 1922–1972, by Averill Earls

In the last decade or so, Ireland has emerged as one of the world’s most progressive countries when it comes to matters of sexuality and gender. It was the

academic.oup.com

Rachel Hope Cleves @rachelcleves.bsky.social · last mo.

My response to D&Q's statement:

D&Q packaged and marketed Walden’s book as an independent work with no acknowledgment that it was an adaptation of my book. There is exactly one sentence in the notes at the back that acknowledges the existence of my book. Walden has repeatedly presented the work as based on her research, even going so far as to claim on CBC that she’s the only person who’s read all the letters, and saying in a video she made for the Henry Sheldon Museum that she worked exclusively from the diaries and letters. Readers of reviews, people who’ve listened to her CBC interview, and readers of the book have no way to know that she adapted my work. Many people who bought Walden’s book have commented exactly that on social media. Additionally, D&Q took my title, and cover image. I’ve heard from readers that when they tried to buy my book, bookstore owners have pointed them towards Walden’s graphic novel. In the future when people search for “Charity and Sylvia” on the internet the algorithm will point them to Walden, who has a far bigger platform as a cartoonist than I will ever have as an academic. In short, Walden and D&Q are profiting off eight years of my labor and pretending otherwise. It pains me to have to correct the record this way. Walden was initially given a grant to work exclusively from the papers at the Sheldon. Instead, as her website makes clear, she read my book twice closely and outlined and drafted, then went to look at documents to supplement the story I had written. My book is based on research at over 20 archives and historical sites. I am the author of the story. Walden took that story and illustrated it beautifully, but she and D&Q should have acknowledged the adaptation and they should compensate me.

Rachel Hope Cleves

Comicsbeat@comicsbeat.bsky.social · last mo.

Updated with a statement from Drawn & Quarterly: Professor Rachel Hope Cleves wants Walden's CHARITY & SYLVIA licensed as an adaptation