Catriona Seth

@catrionaseth.bsky.social

2.1K followers 70 following 210 posts

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

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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%

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Reposted by Catriona Seth

Peter Ricketts @lordrickettsp.bsky.social · 14h

Some thoughts from me here on what makes Trump unlike any other post-war US President: he doesn’t accept that the US should be constrained by any form of international rules/norms, and does not believe in the value of allies. observer.co.uk/news/nationa...

Whitehall split over the special relationship – while Sta...

After a week of US aggression, senior UK government figures wonder if the alliance can survive Trump – or, indeed, whether it should

observer.co.uk

Reposted by Virginia Braun, Teresa Cremin, Sabine Pahl , and 4 more Virginia Braun, Teresa Cremin, Sabine Pahl, Margot C. Finn, Catriona Seth, Alex Drace‐Francis, Lorna Hughes

Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 1d

‘If a drug boasted such benefits [as the arts] governments would be pouring billions into it. Instead, funding has been slashed across the culture sector.’
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Art Cure by Daisy Fancourt, professor of psychobiology and epidemiology at University College London, brings together numerous research projects confirming what we have always suspected - art is good for us. It helps us enjoy happier, healthier and longer lives. One study found that people who engaged regularly with the arts had a 31% lower risk of dying at any point during the follow-up period, even when confounding socioeconomic, demographic and health factors were taken into account.
Studies also show that visiting museums and attending live music events can make people physiologically younger, and a monthly cultural activity almost halves our chances of depression. As Fancourt argues, if a drug boasted such benefits governments would be pouring billions into it. Instead, funding has been slashed across the culture sector and arts education has been devalued and eroded in the UK.

Reposted by Catriona Seth

Centre de recherche du château de Versailles @crcversailles.bsky.social · 1d

📣 Conférence au château de Versailles (CRCV) - 31 janv. 2026, 15h :

« Le duc d’Aiguillon : grandeur, exil et mécénat au siècle des Lumières » (Adrien Enfedaque & Delphine Desbourdes).

Gratuit sur inscription (40 places) : www.chateauversailles-recherche.fr/article1591....

#VersaillesRecherche

Reposted by Charles West, Robert Wolfe, Margot C. Finn , and 2 more Charles West, Robert Wolfe, Margot C. Finn, Catriona Seth, Gail Marshall

Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 1d

‘Contra the narrow focus of policymakers on Stem subjects or coding, now more than ever our economy rewards broad skillsets: team players, problem solvers, good communicators and creative thinkers.’ @jburnmurdoch.ft.com
www.ft.com/content/5e25...

How to AI-proof your job

The data suggests soft skills more than quantitative competency equal success in a rapidly changing labour market

www.ft.com

Reposted by Catriona Seth

Matthew McCormack @historymatt.bsky.social · 2d

Their prizewinning resource is "Books and Borrowing, 1750-1830". Check it out here!
borrowing.stir.ac.uk

Books and Borrowing 1750-1830

borrowing.stir.ac.uk

Reposted by Catriona Seth

Catherine Colonna @ccolonna.bsky.social · 3d

Hard to see how this decision serves the security or the prosperity of the United States.

apnews.com/article/unit...

US will exit 66 international organizations as it further retreats from global cooperation

The Trump administration will withdraw from dozens of international organizations, including the U.N.’s population agency and the U.N. treaty that establishes international climate negotiations.

apnews.com

Reposted by Catriona Seth

Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 3d

'Investing in languages is not a sentimental project; it is a strategic one.' Great blog from Martha Lane Fox
martha6j5h2.substack.com/p/britain-is...

Britain isn’t a serious country if it only speaks English

In the age of AI, language skills are becoming national security infrastructure. Britain is dismantling its own.

martha6j5h2.substack.com

Reposted by Catriona Seth

Peter Ricketts @lordrickettsp.bsky.social · 3d

My letter @thetimes.com today. Trump can achieve ALL his security objectives in Greenland by cooperating with Denmark (under their 1951 Treaty) and NATO. To show that Arctic security is a genuine NATO endeavour, the UK, France and others should also make military deployments in and around Greenland

Reposted by Anna O. Law, Andrew Jacobs, Margot C. Finn , and 2 more Anna O. Law, Andrew Jacobs, Margot C. Finn, Christine Kooi, Catriona Seth

Karin Wulf @kawulf.bsky.social · 4d

Friends, I hope you’ll share this widely. The @jcblibrary.bsky.social is hiring 2 3-yr research associates for collaborative work on religions and freedoms in the early Americas. Info is here and I’m happy to take questions offline: brown.wd5.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/staff-...

Reposted by Catriona Seth

Magdalen College @magdalenoxford.bsky.social · 4d

Magdalen College invites you to a concert for Holocaust Memorial Day on Sun 25 Jan.

Introduced by by Professor Shirli Gilbert, the programme features works composed by Krása, Klein, and Shostakovich; performed by the Leonore Piano Trio and Rachel Roberts.

🎟️ www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/music-for-...

Music for Holocaust Memorial Day at Magdalen College

A concert of commemoration in Oxford

www.eventbrite.co.uk

Reposted by Colin Murray, Leo McCann, Catriona Seth

Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 4d

'Despite all their difficulties, universities remain an enormous and irreplaceable national asset. As well as educating millions of people, they generate about £24bn in export earnings, which is about 1% of GDP – more than aircraft manufacturing and legal services combined'. 1/2

The Guardian view on universities: Labour needs a clearer plan | Editorial

Editorial: Ministers promised a ‘change of approach’, but their new tax could tip weaker institutions over the edge

www.theguardian.com

Catriona Seth @catrionaseth.bsky.social · 6d

Very excited that an article about #KatherineRead prepared whilst I was @iashedinburgh.bsky.social has finally come out in The Burlington Magazine.

Reposted by Lesley A. Hall, Douglas Guilfoyle, Catriona Seth , and 2 more Lesley A. Hall, Douglas Guilfoyle, Catriona Seth, Carmen M. Mangion, Alex Drace‐Francis

Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 6d

'Despite persistent myths, employment rates for humanities graduates are comparable to those of STEM graduates, as Humanities Indicators data shows. Early earnings differ but the salary gap narrows significantly mid-career, particularly for graduates who pursue further study'. 1/2

How universities can cultivate arts and humanities in practical, affordable ways

Are the arts and humanities still needed as universities retrench staff and cut costs? Patty Raun explains why curtailing or eliminating these disciplines is an egregious mistake

www.timeshighereducation.com

Reposted by Catriona Seth

Benoît Melançon @benoitmelancon.bsky.social · 9d

Autopromotion 879

La 685e livraison de XVIIIe siècle, la bibliographie de l’Oreille tendue, est servie. La bibliographie existe depuis le 16 mai 1992. Elle compte 79 600 titres. À partir de cette page, on peut interroger l’ensemble des livraisons grâce à un rudimentaire moteur de recherche et…

Autopromotion 879

La 685e livraison de XVIIIe siècle, la bibliographie de l’Oreille tendue, est servie. La bibliographie existe depuis le 16 mai 1992. Elle compte 79 600 titres. À partir de cette page, on peut interroger l’ensemble des livraisons grâce à un rudimentaire moteur de recherche et soumettre soi-même des titres pour qu’ils soient inclus dans la bibliographie. Illustration : «Machines de théâtre», dixième volume des planches de l’Encyclopédie, Paris, 1772, première section, planche XIII

oreilletendue.com

Reposted by Catriona Seth

Naomi Pullin @naomipullin.bsky.social · 9d

Come work with me: portal.unitemps.com/Search/JobDe...

I'm co-leading a project on the experiences of student carers (esp. PhDs) at Warwick. We're recruiting for a part-time Project Officer (1 day week) to support in data analysis and writing report. Deadline 08/01.

Feel free to get in touch.

Unitemps

portal.unitemps.com

Reposted by Catriona Seth

Patrick McGuinness @padrig.bsky.social · 11d

Very pleased to end 2025 with a nice review in @thetls.bsky.social of Ghost Stations , available from @cbeditions.bsky.social . Giving nostalgia a good name.

www.the-tls.com/regular-feat...

Remembrance of infrastructures past

The themes that bind together this disparate collection of occasional pieces are nostalgia and railways. In the essay that begins Part II, “The Future of

www.the-tls.com

Reposted by Catriona Seth

Art Herstory @artherstory.bsky.social · 14d

Exciting news - a room in Museo di Roma–Palazzo Braschi now permanently displays work by women artists who worked in Rome in the period c. 1600-1900!

Read about the new "Sala delle Pittrici” in this post -

A Home for Women Artists in Rome
by Alessandra Masu
artherstory.net/a-home-for-w...

A painting of a woman in a red dress with white sleeves, and her brown hair braided and piled on her head. She is seated in an ivy-draped window; in her right arm she cradles a book. Her left arm is around the daughter standing at her side, wearing a white gown with olive green trim. In the background, visible out the window are two tall hills or mountains.

Reposted by Catriona Seth

Catherine Colonna @ccolonna.bsky.social · 14d

In addition to demonstrating it wants war not peace, Russia mostly attacked residential buildings in Kyiv today.
This is a war crime according to international law.

Catriona Seth @catrionaseth.bsky.social · 17d

Ah yes, I wrote about French Enlightenment approaches to this debate, some years ago:
shs.cairn.info/revue-litter...

shs.cairn.info

Catriona Seth @catrionaseth.bsky.social · 18d

For obvious reasons I have a soft spot for this one which came out a few years ago...

Stamp with a picture of a man in spectacles and hat reading a book called Clyde Fans, by Ontario graphic artist Seth

Reposted by Martin McKee, Dirk Pilat, Jack Stilgoe , and 2 more Martin McKee, Dirk Pilat, Jack Stilgoe, Catriona Seth, Olivier Mannoni

Anton Gerashchenko @antongerashchenko.bsky.social · 18d

Carol of the Bells in #
Kyiv subway.

Voices of the Embassies of Germany, France, and the United Kingdom came together to perform Shchedryk in the Kyiv metro as a sign of solidarity with Ukraine.

Thankful to everyone who stands with us!

Reposted by Catriona Seth

Adam Smyth @adamwithbooks.bsky.social · 18d

www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2025/de...

Adam Smyth | Like No One in Existence

In September, I invited people to record themselves reading a short passage from an English translation of Rousseau’s...

www.lrb.co.uk

Reposted by Catriona Seth

Steven Wilson @profstevenwilson.bsky.social · 19d

AI translation is replacing interpreters in GP care – here’s why that’s troubling

Across GP surgeries and hospitals, as migration increases and health systems strain, doctors are turning to an untested helper: Google Translate.

theconversation.com

Reposted by Catriona Seth

Oxford Clarion @oxfordclarion.bsky.social · 20d

A hoard of 21 silver pennies, dating back to the mid-7th to 8th centuries, has been saved for Oxfordshire’s museums following a successful community fundraiser. Villagers from Stoke Row, together with local businesses, raised £1,300 to acquire the treasure. news.oxfordshire.gov.uk/stoke-row-co...

Stoke Row community unite to bring unique treasure to the Oxfordshire Museum

An early medieval treasure hoard is now in the hands of Oxfordshire County Council’s museum service to go on display following a successful fundraising campaign by residents in Stoke Row.Dating back t...

news.oxfordshire.gov.uk

Reposted by Catriona Seth

UCFL - University Council For Languages @ucflangs.bsky.social · 20d

UCFL is seeking nominations for six roles. Deadline: 16 January.

More information here: university-council-for-languages.org/2025/12/ucfl...

➡️ Chair of Wales
➡️ Early Career Academic Rep
➡️ French Studies Rep
➡️ Linguistics Rep
➡️ Lusophone Studies Rep
➡️ Slavonic and Eastern European Studies Rep

Catriona Seth @catrionaseth.bsky.social · 22d

Honestly, Dinah, when have you known Magdalen not to look ravishing!

Reposted by Jesse H. Kroll, Caroline Krafft, Chris Hanretty , and 24 more Jesse H. Kroll, Caroline Krafft, Chris Hanretty, Rebecca Sear, Manuela Boatcă, Jörg Oechssler, Michelle Everson, Christian Breunig, Robert Wolfe, Vincent Noël, Margot C. Finn, Will Lowe, Ben Crum, Bessma Momani, Jonathan Birch, Martin Kreidl, Graeme Warren, Aurélien Mondon, Mark Rice, Santiago Gassó, Catherine J. Frieman, Mauro Gatti, Catriona Seth, Juan Ramón, Césari Laurent, Olúfẹ́mi Táíwò, José Pina-Sánchez

Monica H Green @monicamedhist.bsky.social · 23d

This report in Nature on the costs of competing for & administering scientific grants is shocking: "In other words, European taxpayers will have spent more on the funding process than on the funding itself, and the scientific ecosystem has been drained." www.nature.com/articles/d41... 🧪