Catriona Seth
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catrionaseth.bsky.social
Catriona Seth
@catrionaseth.bsky.social

18th-century cultural history, French literature, art etc. Currently Marshal Foch Professor of French Literature, University of Oxford/All Souls College

Catriona Jane Seth, FBA is a British scholar of French literature and the history of ideas. Since 2015, she has been Marshal Foch Professor of French Literature at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford. .. more

Political science 39%
Philosophy 16%

Reposted by Catriona Seth

**New article** on The Conversation UK about languages and the government's national curriculum review - theconversation.com/englands-nat... - @uk.theconversation.com @ilcs.bsky.social @sas-news.bsky.social
England’s national curriculum review misses opportunity to revitalise language learning
Capitalising on children’s existing multilingualism would be beneficial.
theconversation.com

Reposted by Catriona Seth

Opinion: “More than ever before, we need British diplomats, spies and soldiers to speak the language of our adversaries. We need universities like Nottingham to be pumping out Russian and Mandarin graduates each year, to work across Whitehall.”

🖊️ Ian Proud

https://ow.ly/N6yw50XwM3X
Happy St Katherine's Day to all scholars, librarians, and Katherines. May you win an argument against an annoying man today, in the true spirit of Katherine herself.
Are you worried about the devastating cuts we are seeing to arts, humanities & social sciences in UK universities? Last call for my lecture in Leicester this Thurs 27th Nov on the value of these subjects and how they support UK security, cohesion and prosperity www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/shaping-a-...
Shaping a Brighter Future
The first event in our Vice-Chancellor’s Distinguished Lecture Series, delivered by Hetan Shah, Chief Executive, The British Academy
www.eventbrite.co.uk

Reposted by Catriona Seth

Announcement: 2 Fellowships for Postdoctoral Researchers and 1 Fellowship for Doctoral Students

Gerda Henkel Fellowship for the History of Knowledge and the History of Science (IZEA, Halle).

Deadline for applications is 15 January 2026.

www.izea.uni-halle.de/en/opportuni...
Important role - new Chair of the Board of @ukri.org
£33k for one day a week. Closes 11 Jan. Would be good from my perspective to get someone who understands higher education and the value of the arts, humanities and social sciences!
plusportal.perrettlaver.com/VacancyDetai...
Perrett Laver - Leading Global Executive Search Firm
plusportal.perrettlaver.com

Reposted by Catriona Seth

I represented @houseoflords.parliament.uk at a Summit in Stockholm to remind the world of Crimea’s plight since 2014: killings, children sent to Russian camps, cultural heritage destroyed etc. Zelensky put it powerfully in his speech to us ‘Putin wants legal recognition for what he has stolen’.

Reposted by Catriona Seth

Job Alert! DH postdoc at Edinburgh - Post-Doctoral Research Fellow to work on the AHRC-funded project "Voices in Slavery’s Archive: Law, Place and Testimony in British Guiana", which will build a digital archive out of the recorded words of enslaved people. www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DPN147/p...
Postdoctoral Research Fellow at The University of Edinburgh
Explore an exciting academic career as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow. Don't miss out on other academic jobs. Click to apply and explore more opportunities.
www.jobs.ac.uk

Reposted by Catriona Seth

I’ve been quoted in @thespectator1828.bsky.social about the importance of taking a strategic approach nationally to language provision as universities are making individual decisions to slash provision which may collectively be very bad for the national interest
www.spectator.co.uk/article/in-p...
'Ahead of the autumn budget on 26 November, Universities UK (UUK) has calculated that funding per student for teaching in 2025-26 is at 64 per cent of the level it was in 2015-16.' 1/3
University teaching income ‘£6.4 billon less’ than 10 years ago
UUK says shortfall in teaching money is ‘baked in’ to higher education funding system as institutions brace for new tax in upcoming budget
www.timeshighereducation.com
i: Reeves to unveil £600m raid on foreign student
university fees #TomorrowsPapersToday
Come and apply to be the Professor of Bibliography & Modern Book History @engfacoutreach.bsky.social & @jesusoxford.bsky.social (and work closely with us @bodleian.ox.ac.uk). Following a long line of great scholars: Don McKenzie, Kathryn Sutherland, & Dirk van Hulle ... my.corehr.com/pls/uoxrecru...
my.corehr.com

Reposted by Catriona Seth

The task for the European team in Geneva today should be to channel Trump’s impatience for a ceasefire into a plan which respects Ukraine’s vital interests and its sovereign right to decide its own security arrangements - and doesn’t leave Europe paying the whole bill.

Reposted by Catriona Seth

This is so so so much worse than you think it is going to be - absolutely phenomenal reporting by Sirin Kale & Lucy Osborne

www.theguardian.com/world/ng-int...
Influencers made millions pushing ‘wild’ births – now the Free Birth Society is linked to baby deaths around the world
A year-long investigation reveals how mothers lost children after being radicalised by uplifting podcast tales of births without midwives or doctors
www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Catriona Seth

If you want to help Nottingham Languages ([email protected])--and frankly who wouldn't?--take a look at the resources provided (disclosure: I'm a postcard writer so that is the route down which I went!) www.savemlcatnotts.org.uk/home#how-you...
savenottinghamlanguages
www.savemlcatnotts.org.uk
AHGBI, led by Professor Sarah Wright, opposes the University of Nottingham’s move to suspend—and effectively close—all Modern Languages degrees. SRUK/CERU, led by Dr Carlos Soler Montes, has also raised concerns.

AHGBI urges immediate reconsideration.

#SaveNottinghamLanguages
“Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored.”
Aldous Huxley, English writer, author of Brave New World, died #OTD 1963.
Photo by Charles Sheeler, Michener Art Museum

Reposted by Catriona Seth

Colleagues and UCU members from UoN's Department of Modern Languages have put together this wonderful guide on supporting their programmes. A lot of what they suggest is also helpful in challenging the 48 courses at risk across the university

www.savemlcatnotts.org.uk
savenottinghamlanguages
The University of Nottingham has suspended applications to all languages degree programmes, with a view to permanent closure of all of its undergraduate languages degrees. Under the proposals, it…
www.savemlcatnotts.org.uk
We are seeing multiple university course closures across a range of arts, humanities & social sciences. I'll be in the East Midlands at De Montfort University on Thurs 27 Nov talking about why these disciplines are essential to the future of the UK. All welcome
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/shaping-a-...
Shaping a Brighter Future
The first event in our Vice-Chancellor’s Distinguished Lecture Series, delivered by Hetan Shah, Chief Executive, The British Academy
www.eventbrite.co.uk
Brexit has caused almost twice as much damage to the UK economy than estimated by official forecasts, according to new paper from a group of experts including a senior Bank of England economist
Brexit Hit to UK Economy Double Official Estimate, Study Finds
Brexit has caused almost twice as much damage to the UK economy than estimated by official forecasts, according to new paper from a group of experts including a senior Bank of England economist.
bloom.bg

Reposted by Catriona Seth

And the news is... We're recruiting! Applications are now open for our 2026 @leverhulme.ac.uk Doctoral Scholarships. So, if you want to study at PhD level pre-modern handwritten cultures and the organisation of knowledge and power within them, do investigate our refreshed website.

Reposted by Catriona Seth

Hopefully US proposals that Ukraine capitulate to Russia will fail. In the meantime Europe needs to be clear: it will never buy oil and gas from Russia unless it withdraws from Ukraine, it will not participate in G8 meetings involving Russia, and if this holds the US-EU trade deal is off.

I would encourage you to apply: I had a wonderful 4 months @iashedinburgh.bsky.social a few years ago!
Webinar: IASH Fellowship applicants for 2026-27, on Monday 15 December at 13:00 GMT. Find out about our programmes, and ask any questions you may have.

Register free: events.teams.microsoft.com/event/0fdfeb...

Please sign up even if you can't attend, as a recording will be circulated afterwards.
Microsoft Virtual Events Powered by Teams
Microsoft Virtual Events Powered by Teams
events.teams.microsoft.com
If you use GMail, AI (Gemini) was turned on yesterday by default and now scans all of your content for machine learning. To turn off, go to Settings>General and scroll down. Uncheck the box for "Smart features."

There's other "Smart" add-ons as well, but that's the one that reads your content.

Reposted by Catriona Seth

'If a lockdown had been imposed on 16 March, a week earlier than took place, modelling suggests this could have cut the number of deaths in England in the first wave of the virus by almost half, equating to 23,000 lives saved'
‘Too little, too late’: damning report condemns UK’s Covid response
Report on handling of pandemic contains stinging criticism of ‘toxic and chaotic’ culture inside Boris Johnson’s No 10
www.theguardian.com
We are pleased to launch today a new funding scheme, jointly with @ihr.bsky.social & DC Thomson.

Applied History Fellowships bit.ly/4ijiuII offer financial / practical support to develop the wider impact and application of academic work. £12,000 for 6 months. Closing date: 31 Jan 2026 #Skystorians
Society launches call for new Applied History Fellowships, with the Institute of Historical Research and DC Thomson - RHS
In November 2025, the Society joins with partners the Institute of Historical Research (IHR) and publisher DC Thomson to launch a new Applied History Fellowship programme to support recent post-doctor...
bit.ly
Help! @frenchhistory.bsky.social really wanted this for journal cover next year (we’ve got exciting things coming on quantitative and computational methods) but it’s a challenge finding higher res versions/rights holder.
Do YOU have suggestions to track these down OR alternative, similar images? 🙏🏻 🗃️

Reposted by Catriona Seth

In the East Midlands, the University of Leicester is the only provider of Italian at degree level. An now they are under threat. Please sign the petition:

www.change.org/p/save-moder...