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Unexpected Learning Journey

@unexpectedlj.bsky.social

220 followers 370 following 30 posts

Chronically ill student and writer exploring the ancient world from home | Open University classics undergraduate | Lytham St Annes Classical Association ambassador https://linktr.ee/unexpectedlearningjourney

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Unexpected Learning Journey @unexpectedlj.bsky.social · Mar 18

I'm over the moon to have been chosen as the Senior category winner in the 2025 Classical Association 'Write | Speak | Design' competition!

Huge congratulations to my fellow finalists and all those shortlisted!

You can read more about the competition here: classicalassociation.org/under-25s-co...

Under 25 Competition - The Classical Association

As part of our Celebrating Classics Campaign, we launched a Write | Speak | Design competition open to everybody, across the world, which celebrates how and why we study the ancient past. We received ...

classicalassociation.org

Unexpected Learning Journey @unexpectedlj.bsky.social · Jul 27

One of my most anticipated reads of 2025 is available to pre-order!! 👀

#AncientBluesky #Odyssey #ClassicsBluesky #Homer #Odysseus

Greek Myth Comix @greekmythcomix.bsky.social · Jul 25

✨Pre-orders of You Are Odysseus are now open! ✨
Search for it wherever you order your books! (My favourite links are up in a mailing list post on my personal site.)

A sign saying Pre Orders are Open for You Are Odysseus with a picture of the book underneath.

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Reposted by Unexpected Learning Journey

Dr Cora Beth Fraser @corabeth.bsky.social · Jul 16

So pleased to have an article out (open access) this week about designing for autistic students! 🎉

Do take a look, if you're a teacher interested in accessibility...

The relaxed tutorial project: designing synchronous online tutorials for autistic students www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

www.tandfonline.com

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Working Classicists @workingclassicists.bsky.social · Jul 5

✊⚡🏆
Working Classicists Awards 2025
✊⚡🏆

It's time to announce the winners of #WCA2025!

Our six categories this year:

🎨Creative Classicist
🦸Unsung Classicist
🧑‍🏫Educator Classicist
🤝Community Classicist
🌱Newcomer Classicist
and
⭐Working Classicist of the Year

And our winners are...

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Unexpected Learning Journey @unexpectedlj.bsky.social · Jun 16

So excited to hear what you think!! 😍🫶🏻

Unexpected Learning Journey @unexpectedlj.bsky.social · Jun 15

9/9 I will end here as I do not want to drop any major spoilers! But, in short, you are all in for such a treat when #BoudiccasDaughter hits the bookshops on 28th August!

Huge thanks to @Elodie_Harper and @HoZ_Books for the opportunity to read it early!

#AncientBluesky #ClassicsBluesky

Unexpected Learning Journey @unexpectedlj.bsky.social · Jun 15

8/9 It was also fabulous to see some cameos from the wider Elodie Harper Fictional Universe! I adored every scene featuring Senovara (who you may know by another name in #TheWolfDen) and I enjoyed seeing a slightly different side to Pliny through Solina’s eyes…

#BoudiccasDaughter

Unexpected Learning Journey @unexpectedlj.bsky.social · Jun 15

7/9 All of the characters are beautifully complex! I especially liked how Elodie handled Paulinus and his dynamic with Solina – my emotions were in knots by the end!

#BoudiccasDaughter

Unexpected Learning Journey @unexpectedlj.bsky.social · Jun 15

6/9 Elodie has constructed such an evocative vision of the ancient British and Roman landscapes - I tabbed lots of passages (see below) because they were so beautifully written!

#BoudiccasDaughter

Unexpected Learning Journey @unexpectedlj.bsky.social · Jun 15

5/9 Elodie has captured the nature of war in all its messiness and nuance, not shying away from the impact on its victims or those who deliver it, and navigating the more distressing aspects with thought and empathy.

#BoudiccasDaughter

Unexpected Learning Journey @unexpectedlj.bsky.social · Jun 15

4/9 #BoudiccasDaughter is also a story about survival - carving out as many pockets of happiness that your circumstances allow and the sacrifices one must sometimes make to do so.

Unexpected Learning Journey @unexpectedlj.bsky.social · Jun 15

3/9 It enriched the tapestry of the Roman world that Elodie Harper wove in #TheWolfDen trilogy, as well as my understanding of Iceni society and their revolt against Rome, which I have only ever briefly touched on until now.

#BoudiccasDaughter

Unexpected Learning Journey @unexpectedlj.bsky.social · Jun 15

2/9 How do I begin to describe how much I loved this book? Through the tale of Boudicca's eldest daughter, Elodie reimagines not a legend but a woman, as we peer into what their lives may have been like and how the idea of “Boudicca” was forged.

#BoudiccasDaughter

Unexpected Learning Journey @unexpectedlj.bsky.social · Jun 15

1/9 In #BoudiccasDaughter @elodieharper.bsky.social gives us both a fierce reimagining of one of the most famous conflicts in history and a beautiful exploration of the relationship between a girl and her mother, culture and conflicting desires for love, freedom, justice and revenge.

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Emma Butler-Marr @19thcenturyem.bsky.social · Jun 1

Happy Pride Month! Here's a sonnet from Wordsworth being a (questionable?) ally - about the Ladies of Llangollen, Lady Eleanor Butler and Sarah Ponsonby who were clearly just very 'good friends'...

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Unexpected Learning Journey @unexpectedlj.bsky.social · May 26

7/7 I also loved the incorporation of quotes attributed to some of the women who featured in the book - it made them feel more tangible and complemented the idea of handing the narrative back over to them.

#TheMissingThread #AncientBluesky #ClassicsBluesky #bookreview #history

Unexpected Learning Journey @unexpectedlj.bsky.social · May 26

6/7 I am in awe of how much research must have gone into this book! Daisy Dunn has such an accessible, immersive, often witty style of communicating history so all that information trickles out at a great pace.

Unexpected Learning Journey @unexpectedlj.bsky.social · May 26

5/7 There was lots to discover about the more familiar names too! I especially loved learning about an extraordinary letter attributed to Cornelia Gracchus urging her son, Gaius, not to use his tribuneship to take revenge on the senators who had assassinated his brother.

Unexpected Learning Journey @unexpectedlj.bsky.social · May 26

4/7 A name that really stood out to me was Telesilla, who not only played a crucial role in defending her city when the Spartans invaded in 494 BCE, but was also an accomplished poet, having taken it up on advice from the Oracle at Delphi as a way to cope with chronic illness.

'The Missing Thread' open on the page that recounts the story of Telesilla (pages 114-115)

Unexpected Learning Journey @unexpectedlj.bsky.social · May 26

3/7 This book opens up so many new angles from which to understand the ancient world! Each chapter covers a specific segment of time, pulling together both distinct and shadowy evidence to shine a light on a variety of female experiences and their connections to events within it.

Unexpected Learning Journey @unexpectedlj.bsky.social · May 26

2/7 We decode hidden messages with a Spartan princess, gallop across the Steppe with the Scythian women, and cut through the freezing waters of the Aegean with Hydna, who, along with her father, sabotaged an invading Persian fleet by severing their moorings under the cover of night.

'The Missing Thread' open on the first page of the introductory chapter (page 1).

Unexpected Learning Journey @unexpectedlj.bsky.social · May 26

1/7 Spanning three thousand years, from the first stirrings of Minoan Crete to the fall of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, #TheMissingThread by @daisydunn.bsky.social is a fantastic guide to ancient (especially Greco-Roman) history through an incredible cast of women who inhabited and often shaped it.

Lorna's outstretched hand in the process of removing a copy of 'The Missing Thread' by Daisy Dunn from a dark wood bookcase. A variety of ancient-world-related books are visible on the shelves.

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Unexpected Learning Journey @unexpectedlj.bsky.social · May 22

This brilliant book is publishing in paperback today!

#books #AncientBluesky #ClassicsBluesky

Daisy Dunn @daisydunn.bsky.social · Apr 11

#TheMissingThread is out in UK paperback in 6 weeks with a regal new cover! A new history of the ancient world foregrounded by women: 3,000 years, 500 pages, £12.99. I'd be so grateful if you'd consider pre-ordering a copy from anywhere you like waterstones.com/book/the-mis...

The Missing Thread by Daisy Dunn | Waterstones

Buy The Missing Thread by Daisy Dunn from Waterstones today! Click and Collect from your local Waterstones or get FREE UK delivery on orders over £25.

waterstones.com

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Unexpected Learning Journey @unexpectedlj.bsky.social · May 15

A fantastic opportunity to study an AS level in Ancient Greek ONLINE through @classicsforall.bsky.social 🏺🏛👇

#ClassicsBluesky #AncientBlueSky #ancientgreek #remotelearning #onlineeducation #homeschool #education

Classics for All @classicsforall.bsky.social · May 15

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Unexpected Learning Journey @unexpectedlj.bsky.social · May 14

Spent the afternoon lying in my garden enjoying the sunshine and a new edition of @hellenicsociety.bsky.social ARGO magazine! #ancientbluesky #classicsbluesky

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Working Classicists @workingclassicists.bsky.social · Apr 23

So many great people doing great work in Classics, ancient history, archaeology and other related disciplines. 😊

AND WE WANT TO HEAR ABOUT EM! 📣

Nominate someone and share the story of their brilliant work.

docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

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