Greg Walker
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gregmw4.bsky.social
Greg Walker
@gregmw4.bsky.social
530 followers 110 following 220 posts

Literature Prof at the University of Edinburgh, fan of Prog rock and Nottingham Forest.

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Greg Walker is Regius Professor of Rhetoric and English Literature at the University of Edinburgh. He is a graduate of the University of Southampton. His specialist field is the history of literature and drama in the late-medieval period and the sixteenth century. Before taking up the Regius Chair he was the Masson Professor of English at Edinburgh. Before that he was Professor of Early-Modern Literature and Culture and Director of the Medieval Research Centre at the University of Leicester. Between 1986 and 1989 he was a British Academy Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Southampton and has also taught at the Universities of Queensland and Buckingham. He was the Head of Edinburgh's School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures between 2008 and 2011. .. more

History 48%
Art 24%
Posts Replies Media Videos

Reposted by Greg Walker

eicathomefinn.bsky.social
Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 2d
'The Scottish Greens have lodged an amendment to the Scottish Government's Tertiary Education and Training Bill – set to be debated this week – which they believe will help to "boost the wages of ordinary workers".' 1/2
Plans lodged for crack down on 'obscene' pay of university principals
Propsals have been lodged to crack down on the 'obscene' pay inequality across Scotland's universities and colleges
www.thenational.scot

Reposted by Greg Walker

eicathomefinn.bsky.social
Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 3d
Not reposting in agreement with the 10 principles (I disagree strongly on several), but because it's the 1st open, comprehensive agenda responding to post-16 White Paper (and the obvious direction of travel in DSIT/UKRI) I've seen from a sitting VC.

Principle 2, subject provision, merits more. 1/6

Reposted by Greg Walker, Constance Bantman

eicathomefinn.bsky.social
Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 4d
'Michael Lynas, the UK country director for the Duolingo language app, who argues there is no good substitute for the hard graft of learning a language as a way of seeing another country’s culture from the inside.' 1/3
Universities blame ‘societal shift’ for axing foreign language degrees
Numbers taking languages at A-level and beyond has been falling for decades, although Duolingo says its app is most popular with young people
www.theguardian.com

gregmw4.bsky.social
Greg Walker @gregmw4.bsky.social · 6d
What does ‘Speaking English to A Level standard’ mean here?

gregmw4.bsky.social
Greg Walker @gregmw4.bsky.social · 6d
To obtain Settled Status, legal migrants must wait ten years and ‘There will be minimum standards, including having a clean criminal record, speaking English to A Level standard, made "sustained" national insurance contributions, and have no debt in the country.’

gregmw4.bsky.social
Greg Walker @gregmw4.bsky.social · 6d
Is spoken English really examined at A-Level? (Asking for an immigration system…)

Reposted by Lesley A. Hall, Greg Walker, Catriona Seth , and 1 more

royalhistsoc.org
Royal Historical Society @royalhistsoc.org · 6d
Applications are now invited for the Society's 2026-27 Centenary PhD Fellowships for early career historians completing a doctorate bit.ly/48pWB72

Fellowships provide support of £8500 per award for 6 months and are held jointly with @ihr.bsky.social. Closing date: 31 January 2026 #Skystorians
Applications invited for the Society's Centenary PhD Fellowships, 2026-27 - RHS
Applications are now invited for the Royal Historical Society’s Centenary PhD Fellowships to support postgraduate historians to complete a doctorate. Two Fellowships, of six months each, are offered f...
bit.ly

Reposted by Greg Walker, Margot C. Finn

ihr.bsky.social
Institute of Historical Research @ihr.bsky.social · 7d
🎉 All stipendiary IHR Fellowships, Bursaries, & Prizes are now LIVE! 🎉

universityoflondon.smapply.io/prog/lst/

(All of our open competitions start with "IHR" in the title.)

Got a question? Please check the application page & our website for more information.

www.history.ac.uk/fellowships-...
Programs - School of Advanced Study
universityoflondon.smapply.io

Reposted by Lesley A. Hall, Greg Walker, Margot C. Finn , and 2 more

misswalsingham.bsky.social
Nadine Akkerman @misswalsingham.bsky.social · 8d
Here’s another fully funded 4-year PhD position at Leiden within the ERC project LangPro led by Dr Alisa van de Haar, and co-supervised by yours truly, on guilds and associations supporting early modern language professionals bit.ly/49rsLA3

Apply by 15 Feb. 2026; starting date 1 Aug. 2026
PhD position, project LangPro: 'Societies and Guilds in the Language Industry'
PhD position, project LangPro: 'Societies and Guilds in the Language Industry'
bit.ly

gregmw4.bsky.social
Greg Walker @gregmw4.bsky.social · 8d
Tee hee. I read a paragraph of my thesis book a few weeks ago. It was like hearing a bag of spanners falling down a flight of stairs. But thank you!

gregmw4.bsky.social
Greg Walker @gregmw4.bsky.social · 8d
I’m hoping I might be half decent by the time I’m 70… And who uses the word ‘facility’ in casual advice…

Reposted by Greg Walker

eicathomefinn.bsky.social
Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 10d
Not to mention the effects of 2 local universities making staff redundant, closing taught programmes and reducing their research and civic engagement capacities (in response to government policies).

Reposted by Juan Cole, Greg Walker, Jennifer Evans , and 3 more

eicathomefinn.bsky.social
Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 15d
'people who are multilingual are half as likely to show signs of accelerated biological ageing than are those who speak just one language.'

Good thing that schools, universities and governments are so actively promoting modern languages then, isn't it? 1/2
Want a younger brain? Learn another language
A vast study suggests that being multilingual can slow down cognitive ageing.
www.nature.com

Reposted by Elizabeth Stokoe, Lesley A. Hall, Rebecca Sear , and 3 more

eicathomefinn.bsky.social
Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 16d
What's lost when we lose staff, departments, programmes and faculties in Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, and what's that got to do with organ donation?

Amid the looming losses faced by Cardiff, Edinburgh, Lancaster, Leicester and Nottingham (among many others), here's a worked example. 1/8
The organ donation ‘opt-out’ has been a fatal failure | The Observer
observer.co.uk

Reposted by Greg Walker, Laura Bradley, Catriona Seth

artsandhums.bsky.social
Arts and Humanities Alliance @artsandhums.bsky.social · 18d
Excellent article here. Our students are our greatest advocates. Counter proposals will be put forward, and we are supporting colleagues in Music, Modern Languages, Philosophy, Theology and Religious Studies at Nottingham with their campaigns www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
University of Nottingham students fight 'insane' cull of courses
Traitors composer Sam Watts is among those against plans to cut University of Nottingham courses.
www.bbc.co.uk

Reposted by Helen Fulton, Greg Walker, Dolly Jørgensen , and 1 more

iashedinburgh.bsky.social
The Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities @iashedinburgh.bsky.social · 20d
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

Reposted by Greg Walker, Judith Jesch

norseincork.bsky.social
NorseInCork @norseincork.bsky.social · 21d
A reminder that there are still a few days left to apply for this funded PhD, working on literary and cultural reception of the Vikings. University fees and a budget for conference attendance included in addition to the stipend: it's a great opportunity for someone! www.ucc.ie/en/hr/vacanc...
Research Vacancies | University College Cork
Learn, Study and Research in UCC, Ireland's first 5 star university. Our tradition of independent thinking will prepare you for the world and the workplace in a vibrant, modern, green campus.
www.ucc.ie

Reposted by Greg Walker, Margot C. Finn, Andrew Thacker

ronaldhartz.bsky.social
Ronald Hartz @ronaldhartz.bsky.social · 21d
“Four years ago, we suffered an earlier redundancy programme that we were told would secure the future of the university. That clearly was not true."

#UKHE

www.leicester.news/university-o...
University of Leicester moves forward with plans to cut 150 jobs
A 'large number of staff' across several schools could be impacted
www.leicester.news

Reposted by Greg Walker

suiss-edi.bsky.social
Scottish Universities' International Summer School @suiss-edi.bsky.social · 22d
The Edinburgh University-based Scottish Universities' International Summer School is open for registration for 2026. Come study Theatre during the Festival; or immerse yourself in our literature programmes, or hone those writing skills on our Creative Writing course: www.suiss.ed.ac.uk/programme/
SUISS Summer School - Programme
We offer a summer programme in Literature, Creative Writing, and Theatre and Performance at the University of Edinburgh.
www.suiss.ed.ac.uk

gregmw4.bsky.social
Greg Walker @gregmw4.bsky.social · 23d
Exceptionally sad news for scholars of early English Drama. The great Jean-Paul Debax, a towering figure in Tudor theatre Studies in France, and a kind, generous scholar, has passed away at the age of 90: the last of the founders of the delightful Tours Tables-Rondes.

Reposted by Jonathan Portes, Greg Walker, Malcolm MacLean , and 3 more

eicathomefinn.bsky.social
Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 23d
'In February, Sheffield Hallam University, home to the Helena Kennedy Centre for International Justice (HKC), a leading research institution focused on human rights, ordered one of its best-known professors, Laura Murphy, to cease research on supply chains and forced labour in China.' 1/3
UK university halted human rights research after pressure from China
Exclusive: Leading professor at Sheffield Hallam was told to cease research on supply chains and forced labour in China after demands from authorities
www.theguardian.com

gregmw4.bsky.social
Greg Walker @gregmw4.bsky.social · 25d
I was deeply sorry to learn, very belatedly, of the passing earlier this year of Prof Marie-Helene Besnault, a stalwart of the long-running Table-Ronde on Tudor drama at the University of Tours. The kindest of souls and most generous of hosts to we travelling Brits. God speed M-H.

gregmw4.bsky.social
Greg Walker @gregmw4.bsky.social · 26d
‘Will he have cakes… and tea? Perhaps camomile? He’d surely like that best. No?
(OTD in 1957 John Betjeman auditioned for the role of Sauron in Leni Riefenstahl’s doomed Lord of The Rings project. His ‘lack of chemistry’ with co-star Conrad Veidt (Frodo) allegedly blighted the project from the start

Reposted by Greg Walker, Elisa Freschi

drdanielletw.bsky.social
Danielle Terrazas Williams @drdanielletw.bsky.social · 26d
Job Opportunity!

Assistant Professor in History of Knowledge Pre-1400

University of Cambridge - History and Philosophy of Science

www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DPG062/a...
Assistant Professor in History of Knowledge Pre-1400 at University of Cambridge
Looking for a new job opportunity in academia? Check out this job opening for a Assistant Professor in History of Knowledge Pre-1400 on jobs.ac.uk!
www.jobs.ac.uk

Reposted by Greg Walker

eicathomefinn.bsky.social
Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 28d
Side-lining learned societies & subject associations from these discussions is a missed opportunity. They have & will provide many of the REF expert assessors: they have a wealth of knowledge & work at the coalface. See also Main Panel and SP reports. Attention to data would be a fine thing. 3/3

Reposted by Greg Walker

eicathomefinn.bsky.social
Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 28d
'The twin or multi-track approach is seen as an increasingly likely prospect after the government’s post-16 education and skills white paper promised to reduce bureaucracy in the exercise. The approach is aimed at cutting bureaucracy for less research-active institutions'. Hmm. Is that the goal? 1/3

Reposted by Greg Walker

michaeloneill.org
Michael O’Neill @michaeloneill.org · 28d
And the British Academy @britishacademy.bsky.social has done an amazing piece of mapping for SHAPE subjects here. 7/ www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/policy-and-r...
Mapping SHAPE provision in UK higher education
This new project from the British Academy maps changing provision of SHAPE subjects in UK higher education institutions. It uses data to visually depict contractions and expansions in provision by a v...
www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk

Reposted by Rebecca Sear, Greg Walker, Margot C. Finn

resprofnews.bsky.social
Research Professional News @resprofnews.bsky.social · Oct 24
Universities ‘must avoid same traps as Dundee’, says former VC

Anton Muscatelli urges institutions to take governance failings that led to bailout “very seriously indeed”

www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...
Universities ‘must avoid same traps as Dundee’, says former VC - Research Professional News
Anton Muscatelli urges institutions to take governance failings that led to bailout “very seriously indeed”
www.researchprofessionalnews.com

gregmw4.bsky.social
Greg Walker @gregmw4.bsky.social · Oct 22
So what are the sticks going to be to ‘drive’ this particular unwelcome change? (3/2)

gregmw4.bsky.social
Greg Walker @gregmw4.bsky.social · Oct 22
But just as no HEI was willing to say ‘yeah, our degrees are probably only worth £2k pa’, do they really expect many to say, ’Actually, we’re not that good at this research malarkey’? All previous REFs show that there’s excellent research across the sector, esp in Arts and Humanities disciplines.