Christine Ferguson
@cferguson.bsky.social
Professor of English, specialising in Esotericism Studies,Victorian Literature, and History of Spiritualism & Occultism. Fan of Indian cinema and all things horror related. Based in Glasgow
Farewell to an absolute powerhouse of an actor who had the erratic, uncanny energy of an Otto Dix painting come to life. HIs performance as a malevolent baby spirit being delivered in a painful labour by Brigitte Rabberg in Lars Von Trier's The Kingdom will forever haunt my nightmares.
November 24, 2025 at 1:34 PM
Farewell to an absolute powerhouse of an actor who had the erratic, uncanny energy of an Otto Dix painting come to life. HIs performance as a malevolent baby spirit being delivered in a painful labour by Brigitte Rabberg in Lars Von Trier's The Kingdom will forever haunt my nightmares.
Reposted by Christine Ferguson
Feels like a good time to remind people: pensions are deferred wages. Moving someone forcibly to a worse pension is wage theft. Always unjustifiable, but particularly appalling in the context of years and years of real-terms pay cuts. Why do they NEVER have any solution other than paying us less?
Please sign and share: www.megaphone.org.uk/petitions/no...
November 24, 2025 at 10:02 AM
Feels like a good time to remind people: pensions are deferred wages. Moving someone forcibly to a worse pension is wage theft. Always unjustifiable, but particularly appalling in the context of years and years of real-terms pay cuts. Why do they NEVER have any solution other than paying us less?
Reposted by Christine Ferguson
And what lessons have been learned?
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
November 21, 2025 at 12:23 PM
And what lessons have been learned?
Reposted by Christine Ferguson
Once again a quick reminder- still time to submit a proposal for the conference and an application for the bursary!!
You just need to submit a proposal for the @bars.bsky.social conference before 30 Nov and write a *short* application note to apply for the bursary.
Of you're a historian, filmmaker, lawyer, architect, consultant, teacher, librarian - or anything else - share your new #romanticism insights with us!
Of you're a historian, filmmaker, lawyer, architect, consultant, teacher, librarian - or anything else - share your new #romanticism insights with us!
Also a reminder that @bars.bsky.social are offering a new conference #bursary this year, for professionals outside academia (not only teaching, heritage, alt-ac but any job) who are interested in #Romanticis and want to present their research.
Details on BARS website
#funding #IndependentScholars
Details on BARS website
#funding #IndependentScholars
November 18, 2025 at 12:43 PM
Once again a quick reminder- still time to submit a proposal for the conference and an application for the bursary!!
Reposted by Christine Ferguson
Someone tag the Labour party: ““This was a cynical strategic manoeuvre to avoid losing voters to the far right, but it seems, based on polling, that all they have done is prime their own voters to join the far right rather than stay with the Social Democrats.””
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
Centre-left tipped to lose Copenhagen for first time in electoral history
Political rivals say PM’s divisive politics have encouraged voters to ditch the Social Democrats for the far right
www.theguardian.com
November 18, 2025 at 7:36 AM
Someone tag the Labour party: ““This was a cynical strategic manoeuvre to avoid losing voters to the far right, but it seems, based on polling, that all they have done is prime their own voters to join the far right rather than stay with the Social Democrats.””
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...
Reposted by Christine Ferguson
Coming soon; The Lumber Room and Other Tales: The Ghost Stories of Mary Ann Bird. I spent five years rediscovering this forgotten author. What I found was fascinating; emotional turmoil, destitution, ostracism, marital failure. And some great ghost stories. #ghosts #gothic #victorian #literature
November 18, 2025 at 7:36 AM
Coming soon; The Lumber Room and Other Tales: The Ghost Stories of Mary Ann Bird. I spent five years rediscovering this forgotten author. What I found was fascinating; emotional turmoil, destitution, ostracism, marital failure. And some great ghost stories. #ghosts #gothic #victorian #literature
Reposted by Christine Ferguson
*stares in trans* whoever indeed...
“on article 8 of the ECHR in particular the right to family life ..we want to constrain in legislation the way that that is applied in immigration cases” Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood tells Sky’s Trevor Philips
Who would have imagined we would ever hear this from a Labour government
Who would have imagined we would ever hear this from a Labour government
November 16, 2025 at 9:58 AM
*stares in trans* whoever indeed...
Every time I think they can’t get any lower, display less empathy to some of the most vulnerable people on this planet, or tongue polish the jackboots of English fascism any more ardently, I am proven wrong.
The Home Secretary is set to change immigration rules to force asylum seekers to wait 20 years before they can apply for permanent settlement
20-year wait for refugees seeking settlement in UK, Home Secretary to announce
www.thenational.scot
November 16, 2025 at 11:34 AM
Every time I think they can’t get any lower, display less empathy to some of the most vulnerable people on this planet, or tongue polish the jackboots of English fascism any more ardently, I am proven wrong.
Reposted by Christine Ferguson
Shabana Mahmood went on telly to explicitly say that Reform were right about everything. That's your modern Labour Party, cementing support for the far right with bullshit.
“How do you respond to people who say you’re being panicked into a racist immigration policy?”
Trevor Philips
Trevor Philips
November 16, 2025 at 10:27 AM
Shabana Mahmood went on telly to explicitly say that Reform were right about everything. That's your modern Labour Party, cementing support for the far right with bullshit.
Reposted by Christine Ferguson
My biography of Thomas Holloway, my Victorian quack doctor cousin, is el cheapo at the moment.
It's got...
💊 Dubious cures
❄️ Haunted polar bears
🤡 A literal clown dentist
💰Philanthropy as competitive sport
www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/The-Mighty-H...
It's got...
💊 Dubious cures
❄️ Haunted polar bears
🤡 A literal clown dentist
💰Philanthropy as competitive sport
www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/The-Mighty-H...
The Mighty Healer
Verity Holloway’s nineteenth-century cousin Thomas Holloway’s patent medicine empire was so ubiquitous, Charles Dickens commented that if you’d murdered someone with the name Holloway, you’d…
www.pen-and-sword.co.uk
November 16, 2025 at 11:09 AM
My biography of Thomas Holloway, my Victorian quack doctor cousin, is el cheapo at the moment.
It's got...
💊 Dubious cures
❄️ Haunted polar bears
🤡 A literal clown dentist
💰Philanthropy as competitive sport
www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/The-Mighty-H...
It's got...
💊 Dubious cures
❄️ Haunted polar bears
🤡 A literal clown dentist
💰Philanthropy as competitive sport
www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/The-Mighty-H...
Reposted by Christine Ferguson
Congratulations to Labour who have won the coveted Tommy Robinson endorsement. Excited for sensibles to explain to me why I have to vote for the people enacting actual fascist policy.
November 16, 2025 at 10:18 AM
Congratulations to Labour who have won the coveted Tommy Robinson endorsement. Excited for sensibles to explain to me why I have to vote for the people enacting actual fascist policy.
Reposted by Christine Ferguson
Reposted by Christine Ferguson
"Live updates on exactly which UK universities are on strike right now over huge job cuts"
Live updates on exactly which UK universities are on strike right now over huge job cuts
Staff at eight UK unis are on strike at the moment
bit.ly
November 14, 2025 at 8:15 AM
"Live updates on exactly which UK universities are on strike right now over huge job cuts"
Reposted by Christine Ferguson
Dundee Uni won ‘Entrepreneurial University of the Year’ in 2024… then its principal resigned amid a £30m deficit that exposed serious financial mismanagement
THE awards are spin, branding & optics
They don't align with what's happening behind the scenes
THE awards are spin, branding & optics
They don't align with what's happening behind the scenes
#THEAwards 2025: the full list of winners: ow.ly/5Zu050XpZqN
November 14, 2025 at 7:21 AM
Dundee Uni won ‘Entrepreneurial University of the Year’ in 2024… then its principal resigned amid a £30m deficit that exposed serious financial mismanagement
THE awards are spin, branding & optics
They don't align with what's happening behind the scenes
THE awards are spin, branding & optics
They don't align with what's happening behind the scenes
Reposted by Christine Ferguson
The latest threat to UK modern languages is yet another faux pas
www.timeshighereducation.com/opinion/late...
www.timeshighereducation.com/opinion/late...
The latest threat to UK modern languages is yet another faux pas
Nottingham and Leicester are taking a swing at language departments. But those proposing closures have taken their eye off the ball, say four linguists
www.timeshighereducation.com
November 14, 2025 at 8:07 AM
The latest threat to UK modern languages is yet another faux pas
www.timeshighereducation.com/opinion/late...
www.timeshighereducation.com/opinion/late...
Reposted by Christine Ferguson
Deterring foreign students ‘risks shutting out generation of talent’.
Policy experts warn of long-term implications for research from tightening UK policies on international students.
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...
Policy experts warn of long-term implications for research from tightening UK policies on international students.
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...
Deterring foreign students ‘risks shutting out generation of talent’ - Research Professional News
Policy experts warn of long-term implications for research from tightening UK policies on international students
www.researchprofessionalnews.com
November 14, 2025 at 9:04 AM
Deterring foreign students ‘risks shutting out generation of talent’.
Policy experts warn of long-term implications for research from tightening UK policies on international students.
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...
Policy experts warn of long-term implications for research from tightening UK policies on international students.
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025... All I can say is that this is fantastic publicity for the excellent @helleborezine.bsky.social !
‘Demonic’ Wind in the Willows jumper banned from Westminster Abbey
Woman told to remove or cover up garment featuring 1908 illustration of Pan lest it offend worshippers
www.theguardian.com
November 14, 2025 at 7:38 AM
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025... All I can say is that this is fantastic publicity for the excellent @helleborezine.bsky.social !
Rewatching Twin Peaks and Twin Peaks The Return back to back, and the latter for the first time since I was in high school and… I think I finally get it now? Great thing is that I enjoy it just as much as when I didn’t
November 14, 2025 at 7:36 AM
Rewatching Twin Peaks and Twin Peaks The Return back to back, and the latter for the first time since I was in high school and… I think I finally get it now? Great thing is that I enjoy it just as much as when I didn’t
Reposted by Christine Ferguson
Want to find out how your voice can stop job cuts at the University of Dundee?
Take the first step towards having influence on what happens to you next.
Come along to our Stop The Jkb Cuts rally tomorrow at the Queen’s Hotel, 12:30-13:30pm.
#SaveHE #SaveDundeeUni
Take the first step towards having influence on what happens to you next.
Come along to our Stop The Jkb Cuts rally tomorrow at the Queen’s Hotel, 12:30-13:30pm.
#SaveHE #SaveDundeeUni
November 12, 2025 at 10:30 PM
Want to find out how your voice can stop job cuts at the University of Dundee?
Take the first step towards having influence on what happens to you next.
Come along to our Stop The Jkb Cuts rally tomorrow at the Queen’s Hotel, 12:30-13:30pm.
#SaveHE #SaveDundeeUni
Take the first step towards having influence on what happens to you next.
Come along to our Stop The Jkb Cuts rally tomorrow at the Queen’s Hotel, 12:30-13:30pm.
#SaveHE #SaveDundeeUni
c.org/Y7c4FsrDPd Please sign and share to halt the vandalism!
Sign the Petition
Stop the removal of Modern Languages courses at the University of Nottingham!
c.org
November 12, 2025 at 1:19 PM
c.org/Y7c4FsrDPd Please sign and share to halt the vandalism!
Solidarity to all of Dundee’s workers as they strike in the face of some of most caricaturishly mismanagement this sector has seen to date (although god knows the competition is heating up). May this venerable institution survive and thrive; victory to the strikers!
Day 1 of our 5 day strike done. Thanks to STV for coming along and interviewing members.
Come and have a chat with us at the front of the Tower any day this week.
news.stv.tv/north/dundee...
Come and have a chat with us at the front of the Tower any day this week.
news.stv.tv/north/dundee...
November 11, 2025 at 7:36 AM
Solidarity to all of Dundee’s workers as they strike in the face of some of most caricaturishly mismanagement this sector has seen to date (although god knows the competition is heating up). May this venerable institution survive and thrive; victory to the strikers!
Reposted by Christine Ferguson
David Szalay has won the 2025 Booker Prize for his novel Flesh! Earlier this year I interviewed David (who is a lovely guy as well as a very fine author!) about this fantastic book for @englishstudies.bsky.social
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
The English Studies Interview with David Szalay: In Conversation with Dominic Dean
David Szalay is a Hungarian-British author. His first novel, London and the South East (2008), won the Betty Trask Award, while in 2016 All That Man Is was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize. Sza...
www.tandfonline.com
November 10, 2025 at 10:35 PM
David Szalay has won the 2025 Booker Prize for his novel Flesh! Earlier this year I interviewed David (who is a lovely guy as well as a very fine author!) about this fantastic book for @englishstudies.bsky.social
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Reposted by Christine Ferguson
Do you think staff at the University of Dundee were misled when we were told there would be no redundancies? Or when he told us they hadn’t said there would be no redundancies?
November 10, 2025 at 8:36 PM
Do you think staff at the University of Dundee were misled when we were told there would be no redundancies? Or when he told us they hadn’t said there would be no redundancies?
Reposted by Christine Ferguson
Please share our posts with family, friends and collages and encourage them to give us a follow.
We’ll be posting regularly during the strike action until the end of Friday.
#SaveDundeeUni #SaveHR
We’ll be posting regularly during the strike action until the end of Friday.
#SaveDundeeUni #SaveHR
November 10, 2025 at 4:39 PM
Please share our posts with family, friends and collages and encourage them to give us a follow.
We’ll be posting regularly during the strike action until the end of Friday.
#SaveDundeeUni #SaveHR
We’ll be posting regularly during the strike action until the end of Friday.
#SaveDundeeUni #SaveHR
Reposted by Christine Ferguson
UK universities cannot thrive while continually cutting academic staff
No amount of wellness webinars, Lego play workshops, communal climbing events, bounce back sessions, desk yoga, jigsaw puzzle nights or Vice Chancellor's Special Awards for Resilience can change this
No amount of wellness webinars, Lego play workshops, communal climbing events, bounce back sessions, desk yoga, jigsaw puzzle nights or Vice Chancellor's Special Awards for Resilience can change this
November 10, 2025 at 8:30 AM
UK universities cannot thrive while continually cutting academic staff
No amount of wellness webinars, Lego play workshops, communal climbing events, bounce back sessions, desk yoga, jigsaw puzzle nights or Vice Chancellor's Special Awards for Resilience can change this
No amount of wellness webinars, Lego play workshops, communal climbing events, bounce back sessions, desk yoga, jigsaw puzzle nights or Vice Chancellor's Special Awards for Resilience can change this