I did work on my birthday, which means I wrote an absolutely unhinged review of Beauty and the Beast (1991) that actually comes to a solid argument about how widespread the fuckery of toxic masculinity is in society. (Fair warning: the title absolutely does not match the tone of this review.)

The Social Costs of Toxic Masculinity – Black and White and Read All Over

A Marxist Approach to Beauty and the Beast (1991)

blackwhiteandread.com

I had a fantastic time at this year's @imc-leeds.bsky.social, and the sessions on the #Lombards I co-organised with @worthjrw.bsky.social and Kaiyue Zhang were a great, well-attended success. All the papers, including the case-study I presented from my own thesis, led to interesting discussion.

Delighted to be returning to the @imc-leeds.bsky.social in 2026 - quite a busy one this year, too! I'll be joined by my good friends @karanthir.bsky.social and @history-w-hilbert.bsky.social across 2 panels dedicated to the Early Medieval Frisians, perhaps a first for the IMC!

One of the greats, and among her many other accomplishments, author of what imho remain two of the greatest introductory books available to anyone wanting to learn about the late Roman world (namely, "The Mediterranean World in Late Antiquity" and "The Later Roman Empire").

Pauline Stafford@pstafford.bsky.social · 4mo ago

The great historian of Late Antiquity Averil Cameron, who has died, reminding us that class matters alongside gender in British society wcc-uk.blogs.sas.ac.uk/2017/05/22/s...

It was an absolute pleasure to speak at @bristolcmspgr.bsky.social on Monday on the socio-linguistic aspects of charter names as performances of power in Langobard Italy, chaired by Dr. Anna Havinga. Admittedly, I hadn't been intending on imitating Hozier's fabulous hair quite so closely...

In person early modern metals event in London next month with me, @laurenworking.bsky.social, and Lubaaba Al-Azami. Please repost and share widely! And register here -- forms.office.com/Pages/Respon...

♬ Hello MS my old friend, I've come to tackle you again ♬

Revealing the paper that might tank any credibility I have left #IMC2026

🥁🥁🥁Hello academic blueskyers, we are hiring again. We are looking for a proactive, communicative, motivated post-doc 🦸‍♂️🦸‍♀️ for our ISF project Josephus Christianus (sinowloc.wixsite.com/josephus-chr...). Feel free to circulate!

The Lombards are travelling through Time (not via TARDIS) to @imc-leeds.bsky.social for 2026! Especial thanks to @samdrowe.bsky.social and Kaiyue Zhang for their significant efforts in bringing this together. We can't wait to see you all!

Finally recovered my copies of the English Historical Documents from home. An older purchase (thanks to those who sold them for cheap!) but I've never been happier to own something so wonderfully resourceful and infinitely useful (even, dare I say, aesthetic?).

Thoroughly enjoy the fact that this year has been (almost) topped and bottomed by Gothic Horrors: Nosferatu in January with Frankenstein in November? A phenomenal year for cinema (for me).

Ms. 4, Leges Langobardorum (11th century): Lombard / Latin legal vocaboulary 💙 Biblioteca statale del monumento nazionale della Badia di Cava dei Tirreni #medievalsky

Only 10 days left! If you know of anyone who might be interested in joining us to this coming IMC ("long beard" not a requirement), then please forward this over!

James Worth@worthjrw.bsky.social · 12mo ago

The Lombards - not to be confused with the Lumbar - form the backbone of this panel. Whether you specialise in Late Antiquity or the Renaissance, we'd love to hear from you! After all, who *are* the Lombards to you? #IMC2026 #MedievalSky

if you know anyone who might be interested, please circulate this Call for Papers: "Rethinking Popular Religion from Late Antiquity to the Early Medieval Period" 📍Venezia / Università Ca' Foscari / 12-13th March 2026 💣 deadline: 30th September 2025 #medievalsky #cfp #Venice @rmblf.bsky.social

Circulating this CfP for Leeds #IMC2026 on the evolution of the Lombards and Lombard identities through time. #MedievalSky #skystorians

The Lombards - not to be confused with the Lumbar - form the backbone of this panel. Whether you specialise in Late Antiquity or the Renaissance, we'd love to hear from you! After all, who *are* the Lombards to you? #IMC2026 #MedievalSky

Something odd in older philological texts are the wild presumptions being made. Gamillscheg (1935, p. 62), for instance, simply throws out that the Lombards entered Italy 'fast ohne Kenntnis des Lateinischen' (barely knowing Latin), and bases it on Germanic toponyms.

Thanks to @seaxeducation.bsky.social for the opportunity to speak at the @imc-leeds.bsky.social #onomastics panel. It was wonderful to participate in such a vibrant field, and hear so many fascinating papers!

Excited to talk on the Associative Naming practices of Names as "Lombard Histories Beyond Paul the Deacon" at Tuesday's 14:15 @imc-leeds.bsky.social #onomastics panel as chaired by @seaxeducation.bsky.social.

When you graduate from your degree just to end up working in a completely unrelated field.

woody and buzz lightyear from toy story giving each other high fives

ALT: woody and buzz lightyear from toy story giving each other high fives

media.tenor.com

It was a pleasure chairing and speaking today at @themamoconf.bsky.social as part of the panel at @kingscollegelondon.bsky.social Strand Campus. Thanks to all the organisers for making this happen!

Our final panel in the Middle Ages in Modern Games thread at MAMO is Wednesday's 'Education and Exploration'! Feat. Josip Mihaljević (Old Church Slavonic Institute), James Worth (@worthjrw.bsky.social, UCL), and Thom Gobbit (@booksoflaw.bsky.social, Graz). 👇 #MAMOmonth

One of my favourite cinematic scenes will always be Théoden's crisis just before the climax of The Two Towers. His struggle with personal insecurity and the weight of responsibility for the lives of those he lead to this point, all whilst facing an inevitability, is powerful and moving.

If you’ve registered for #IMC2025, you can securely check the details of your booking via the confirmation email sent to you from our registration site or by emailing imc@leeds.ac.uk. We released a statement on our website regarding the phishing attempts: www.imc.leeds.ac.uk

Any #medievalsky members heading to the Leeds International Medieval Congress take care about emails from Global Travel Experts (ops@gtravelhost.com) asking you to 'confirm your booking.' Seems to be an elaborate scam & has targeted other international conferences: www.faops2024.org/gnuboard/bbs...

James Harland@jmharland.bsky.social · last yr.

Hi @imc-leeds.bsky.social, is an organisation called 'Global Travel' affiliated with your accommodation bookings this year? I have received the following, odd email, which has incorrectly named the dates of my planned stay at the IMC, and have never received anything like this during previous IMCs.

One of my favourite Latin misunderstandings comes from Paul the Deacon's story about the Lombards leaving Pannonia for Italy and taking with them 'all their household possessions'. Cue the mental image of a group of Lombards bearing their beloved Aloe Veras, Sea Monkeys, and Lava Lamps into Italy.

Sent over a chapter, and the relief is overwhelming. Unpicking ~150 years worth of philological assumptions (no guys, not all anthroponyms confer equal linguistic data) and their critics (yes, some are influenced by pronunciation) through Derridean Écriture and Différance was not a picnic.

Interested in working with us on The Place-Names of #Herefordshire? We're recruiting a Research Assistant! Fixed term, full- or part-time. Closing date 14 March. Please share widely. #academicsky #medievalsky jobs.nottingham.ac.uk/Vacancy.aspx...

Job Vacancy at the University of Nottingham: Research Assistant (Part time, fixed-term)

Do you have experience in producing high quality, accurate text? Do you have a keen eye for technical detail? Do you have particular interest and some experience in the history of English, Welsh or th...

jobs.nottingham.ac.uk

Finally getting around to seeing the Medieval Women Exhibition! Although, par for the course, I seem to have chosen the literal last moment to do it...