Margot Finn
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eicathomefinn.bsky.social
Margot Finn
@eicathomefinn.bsky.social
16K followers 4.4K following 9.4K posts

Historian of Britain and colonialism, material culture, the EIC. Also works on equalities, museums, open access & research policy. Download the EIC @ Home open access volume here: https://www.uclpress.co.uk/products/88277 (or individual chapters via JSTOR) .. more

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Margot C. Finn is a British historian and academic who specialises in Britain and the British colonial world during the long nineteenth century. She has been Professor of Modern British History at the University College, London (UCL) since 2012. Finn was previously the President of the Royal Historical Society and a trustee of the Victoria & Albert Museum. .. more

Political science 31%
Economics 26%
Posts Replies Media Videos

Reposted by Margot C. Finn

reuters.com
Reuters @reuters.com · 6h
Purpose-led companies perform better. They can help the UK perform better too reut.rs/4bw7AO9
Purpose-led companies perform better. They can help the UK perform better too
The last century ended with a consensus that business’ sole focus should be maximising shareholder value. But in the first quarter of the new millennium, it became clear that those beliefs were steering us into a series of crises.
reut.rs

Reposted by Steve Peers, Margot C. Finn

sundersays.bsky.social
Sunder Katwala (sundersays) @sundersays.bsky.social · 6h
Liz Kendall speaking in the House of Commons now: "it is not just an affront to decent society; it is illegal ... this is child sexual abuse"

"It is insulting to victims to say: you can still have this service if you are willing to pay. It is monetising abuse"

eicathomefinn.bsky.social
Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 7h
'Eligible early career researchers are those working in the humanities or social sciences, within six years of their first academic appointment or the award of their PhD, whichever is later (excluding career breaks), who wish to publish their first academic book.' 2/2

Reposted by Jennifer Evans

eicathomefinn.bsky.social
Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 7h
'The prize-winning books will be published fully open access on OUP’s Oxford Academic platform, with a full OA fee waiver'

Deadline 31 January. 1/2
Early Career Researcher First Book Prize | Oxford Academic
<img data-image-id='712a691a73d711308c03' data-image-title='ECR book prize - Banner - design 1.png' data-link-id='5a4dc5aa-9e00-4d33-892d-c89fb0ea117a' dat
academic.oup.com

eicathomefinn.bsky.social
Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 7h
'Ferdinand von Prondzynski....dismissed the idea that the SNP government might introduce tuition fees—but said that some form of student-derived funding should be considered....[he pointed] to Ireland, where domestic students pay an annual contribution fee of about €2,500 (£2,100), maximum.' 3/3

eicathomefinn.bsky.social
Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 7h
'Anton Muscatelli...said that with Scottish elections coming in May...“it’s highly unlikely that at this stage any of Scotland’s political parties will agree to move away from a position that universities in Scotland should be publicly funded, and without student contributions”.' 2/3

eicathomefinn.bsky.social
Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 7h
'Mathieson...said...that it was “perfectly possible” to introduce a system in which students would pay for tuition, “either…in the form of tuition fees, or they can do it in the form of some kind of graduate repayment scheme”. He said he believed the idea “needs to be considered”.' 1/3
resprofnews.bsky.social Research Professional News @resprofnews.bsky.social · 8h
Scotland ‘must consider student contributions’, say leaders.

Current and former principals call for alternative funding debate, despite long-standing political opposition to fees.

www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-p...

Reposted by Margot C. Finn

theguardian.com
The Guardian @theguardian.com · 8h
British Library acquires archive of rural life writer and essayist Ronald Blythe
British Library acquires archive of rural life writer and essayist Ronald Blythe
Exclusive: Collection includes workbooks and index cards, and papers that show his research for bestseller Akenfield
www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Margot C. Finn

resprofnews.bsky.social
Research Professional News @resprofnews.bsky.social · 8h
Scotland ‘must consider student contributions’, say leaders.

Current and former principals call for alternative funding debate, despite long-standing political opposition to fees.

www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-p...

eicathomefinn.bsky.social
Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 11h
'The sweeping reform affects nearly half the country’s student population and marks an end to a decades-long practice that allowed extended enrolment to support lifelong learning and breaks for work.'

Approximately 40% of Greek students complete 4-year degree programmes within 6 years.
Greek purge of 300,000 ‘eternal’ students ‘long overdue’
Big cut in enrolments seen as way of modernising country’s universities but some warn further changes are needed to stop students lingering for years
www.timeshighereducation.com

eicathomefinn.bsky.social
Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 12h
'“We have decided to open a formal investigation to establish whether X has failed to comply with its legal obligations under the Online Safety Act,” said Ofcom.'

Reposted by Margot C. Finn

theguardian.com
The Guardian @theguardian.com · 12h
Ofcom investigating Elon Musk’s X after outcry over sexualised AI images
Ofcom investigating Elon Musk’s X after outcry over sexualised AI images
Media regulator investigating site under Online Safety Act, with a de facto ban among possible punishments * UK politics live – latest updates The UK media watchdog has opened a formal investigation into Elon Musk’s X over the use of the Grok AI tool to manipulate images of women and remove their clothes. Ofcom has acted following a public and political outcry over a deluge of sexual images appearing on the platform, created by Musk’s Grok, which is integrated with X. Continue reading...
www.theguardian.com

eicathomefinn.bsky.social
Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 12h
Keen to know more about how we got to be where we are today? Explore 'Thermal Horizons: Energy and Infrastructures of British Global Power, c. 1830-1900'.

Sign up today (Monday) to attend either in person at the Institute of Historical Research, Malet Street, London or online tomorrow (Tuesday).
eicathomefinn.bsky.social Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · Dec 11
The Spring programme for the London Group of Historical Geographers is now live. We start again on 13 January with Thermal Horizons: Energy and Infrastructures of British Global Power, c. 1830-1900. In person at the IHR, London and on Zoom. Free and open to the public. All welcome, please register.
London Group of Historical Geographers
Since 1989, the London Group of Historical Geographers has organised fortnightly themed seminars that are interdisciplinary in focus.
www.history.ac.uk

Reposted by Margot C. Finn

suttontrust.bsky.social
The Sutton Trust @suttontrust.bsky.social · 13h
Applications for our FREE UK Summer Schools are now open! This year we have partnered with 13 leading universities, to offer summer schools across 40+ subjects.

Our summer schools are for students in Year 12 (Eng & Wls), S5 (Scot) or Year 13 (NI).

Apply now ⤵️

summerschools.suttontrust.com

Reposted by Margot C. Finn

lsepress.bsky.social
LSE Press @lsepress.bsky.social · 13h
An important, timely and nuanced volume that will appeal both to experts and wider audiences, writes Mark Bennister for LSE Review of Books.

🔗 https://bit.ly/4rNKybr

Australia's Evolving Democracy is free to read and download via #OpenAccess publishing: https://bit.ly/44SvAXH
The state of Australia’s democracy - LSE Review of Books
Australia’s Evolving Democracy edited by Mark Evans, Patrick Dunleavy and John Phillimore is a comprehensive audit of Australian democracy, unpacking its stable political system and the challenges it ...
blogs.lse.ac.uk

Reposted by Will Jennings, Margot C. Finn

cjayanetti.bsky.social
Chaminda Jayanetti @cjayanetti.bsky.social · 13h
Falls in the number of pupils have been hitting schools in London for a number of years - but now the problem is reaching beyond the capital.

It's a story of birthrates, housing, funding and disruption.

By me, for @schoolsweek.bsky.social schoolsweek.co.uk/how-falling-...
How falling school rolls are not just London's crisis
Declining childbirth rates are hitting school demographics as the issue spreads across England
schoolsweek.co.uk

Reposted by Lesley A. Hall, Margot C. Finn

timhitchcock.bsky.social
Tim Hitchcock @timhitchcock.bsky.social · 13h
Very much looking forward to @kategibson.bsky.social speaking about 'Fostering in 18th Century Britain' to @long18thsem.bsky.social @ihrlibrary.bsky.social on Wednesday. All welcome either online or in person, but please register www.history.ac.uk/news-events/...
Fostering in eighteenth-century Britain
www.history.ac.uk

eicathomefinn.bsky.social
Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 14h
'One takeaway from Daring to be Free is the anxiety and inefficiency of the slave system in the New World. The slavers were forced to maintain constant militarized vigilance over an unwilling workforce'.
Daring to be Free: Rebellion and Resistance of the Enslaved in the Atlantic World by Sudhir Hazareesingh
Daring to the Free accommodates many voices as it pivots between continents, uncovering the often forgotten yet crucial role of enslaved women in organizing and supporting resistance and the occasiona...
shepherdexpress.com

eicathomefinn.bsky.social
Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 15h
'Those involved from Swansea University, Neath Port Talbot council and Margam Abbey Church said the discovery offered "unparalleled information about Wales' national story".'
Margam park Roman villa find could be 'Port Talbot's Pompeii'
The largest Roman villa ever found in Wales lies less than a metre under Margam Country Park.
www.bbc.co.uk

eicathomefinn.bsky.social
Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 15h
'So to describe a course as “mickey mouse” is to make a judgement that it is either academically frivolous, politically suspect, or economically worthless: and – importantly – popular.'

Great history of the use (and abuse) of the term.
Identifying "mickey mouse" courses
Critiques of the value, validity, and political foundation of degree courses have been with us for generations. David Kernohan searches for the meanings behind "mickey mouse"
wonkhe.com

Reposted by Paul Goldberg, Margot C. Finn

hetanshah.bsky.social
Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 15h
Interesting discussion between @jburnmurdoch.ft.com and & @sarahoconnorft.ft.com on what developments in AI like Claude Code might mean for social science, including the risk it will lead to an increase in low quality work
www.ft.com/content/9183...
always clear that this is true. As economics professor Joshua Gans muses, when you reduce the cost of doing something, people will do more of it, but this tends to mean a reduction in the quality of the marginal activity that gets done. In social science this could mean more low-quality research: writing up second-rate ideas that wouldn't have been acted upon if it required more effort. This is consistent with what we've seen in job applications, and is supported by a paper published last month (before the new agentic tools) finding that researchers who use LLMs publish many more papers, but much of the additional work is relatively low quality, and Al dilutes the signals previously used to spot valuable work.

eicathomefinn.bsky.social
Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 15h
'UK universities have been criticised for offering PhD studentships with significant teaching loads, often without offering doctoral candidates extra time to complete their studies.'
Calls for longer PhD scholarships as teaching loads creep up
Doctoral candidates offered hybrid ‘stipend and salary’ studentships with significant teaching hours will struggle to balance competing pressures, union fears
www.timeshighereducation.com

Reposted by Martin Paul Eve

eicathomefinn.bsky.social
Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 15h
'In total, the 20 universities spent £8.3 million on remuneration for their vice-chancellors. The accounts also reveal they collectively let go almost 7,000 staff in the same year – costing £124.6 million in compensation for loss of office.'
Russell Group v-c salaries rise as 7,000 job losses confirmed
Leaders of research-intensive universities see pay top £350,000 despite financial strife faced by institutions
www.timeshighereducation.com

Reposted by Maria Abreu

eicathomefinn.bsky.social
Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 15h
'This year, one of the aims of the conservation charity will be to make people feel more at ease in its grand houses and, where practical, allow them to sit on historic chairs and use libraries and reading rooms rather than simply peer into them.' Excellent initiative.
‘We want people to sit, pause, relax’: National Trust to open its libraries for public use
Charity plans to make stately homes more welcoming by inviting visitors to use furniture and reading rooms
www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Lesley A. Hall, Alan Lester, Tim Hitchcock

eicathomefinn.bsky.social
Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 16h
'Khan said addressing the causes of serious violent crime, such as the effects of poverty and lack of opportunities, had been key, as had the work of the Violence Reduction Unit covering London that was set up in 2019, which took a longer term approach.'
London’s homicide rate drops to lowest in more than a decade
Sadiq Khan says ‘public health’ approach has made the capital one of the safest cities in the western world
www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Joshua Gans, Caroline Krafft, Edgar Morgenroth , and 3 more

scientificdiscovery.dev
Saloni @scientificdiscovery.dev · 1d
Economists!

I am looking for someone to coauthor an article on the massive decline in costs of genome sequencing.

The science is all fine, but I'm interested in the economics of it all: the innovation, funding, prizes, patents, etc.

Does anyone come to mind? Thanks!

Reposted by Margot C. Finn, Judith Jesch

simontillotson.bsky.social
Simon Tillotson @simontillotson.bsky.social · 1d
In Our Time returns this week. Thanks for waiting patiently and/or impatiently www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...
In Our Time - Welcoming Misha Glenny to the In Our Time studio - BBC Sounds
Misha Glenny introduces himself to you as he prepares for his first episode of In Our Time
www.bbc.co.uk

Reposted by Margot C. Finn

bandytstamp.bsky.social
Sarah Alice @bandytstamp.bsky.social · 1d
Let me tell you: some of our countries aren’t where we left them.

Jane Zwart, from her luminous collection ODDEST & OLDEST & SADDEST & BEST
#smallpoemsunday
Go Back to Your Own Country Let me tell you about countries: nobody has their own and where we come from moves. Our mothers' wombs aren't where we left them. Continents calve. Jerusalem holds a tray full of glasses that a scrum of men take and put back, take and put back, unworried for the weight she must shift. Let me tell you: some of our countries aren't where we left them. Someone pulls a string and six tumble from Yugoslavia's pocket. Someone halves Sudan like a branch over their knee. Someone crumbles a bailey between Berlins and Germany is one place again. Only Adam had his own country, and he could not go back. A country is land that's learned to disown.

Reposted by Margot C. Finn

washingtonpost.com
The Washington Post @washingtonpost.com · 1d
The first crash test dummy specifically based on a woman’s body is here.

Developers say it will deliver more detailed data automakers need to address the specific risks women face, including a greater chance of lower leg injuries or dying in a crash.
This new crash test dummy could keep women safer in car accidents
While regulators have been testing crash impacts for decades, there’s a dearth of data on women, who face a higher risk of death in auto accidents.
wapo.st

Reposted by Margot C. Finn

thekingsfund.bsky.social
The King's Fund @thekingsfund.bsky.social · 1d
How has social prescribing progressed since its integration into national policy? And what does the future of social prescribing look like?
Take a look at our long read to find out more: https://bit.ly/4aObq56
Quote from Loreen Chikwira, a researcher at The King's Fund, stating, "There is a growing body of evidence that social prescribing can lead to a range of positive health and wellbeing outcomes for individuals. Many studies (both qualitative and systematic reviews) show an increase in an individual's self-esteem and improvement in their mental and physical health."