Clare Hickman
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drhick.bsky.social
Clare Hickman
@drhick.bsky.social
3.1K followers 1.5K following 570 posts
Environmental & medical historian at Newcastle University - hospitals, gardens, landscapes, senses, inclusive interpretation, story teller.
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Reposted by Clare Hickman
rebeccawynter.bsky.social
Incandescent. One of the best pieces I've read about what university means to people and their communities - and what will happen to a city and people after one closes. The *Labour* government and Jaqui Smith in particular should be ashamed of themselves and shamed into doing something. Deplorable.
‘If I think about what this means, I want to cry’: what happens when a city loses its university?
When Essex University’s Southend campus opened, it was a message of hope for a ‘left behind’ UK seaside town. Its closure will be felt far beyond its 800 students, some of whom will not get their degr...
www.theguardian.com
February 4, 2026 at 7:25 AM
Reposted by Clare Hickman
davidveevers.bsky.social
Escaped enslaved people on St Kitts fled into the rainforest in the interior, making use of a series of trails which connected many of the villages around the island. They would knock on the hollow roots of the Banyan tree (pictured) to give directions to escapees or warn of approaching pursuers.
February 3, 2026 at 8:14 PM
Reposted by Clare Hickman
josiahmortimer.bsky.social
Cornwall Council has an online translation service for the Cornish language.

They have been translating some nursery rhymes for me to sing to Rowan, and it's made my day.

I realise no one asked, but here's 'Heads, shoulders, knees and toes' in Kernewek:
Please see the completed Cornish translation below: Head, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes Head, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes And eyes and ears and mouth and nose Head, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes. ============================================== Penn, skoodh, glin ha troos, glin ha troos Penn, skoodh, glin ha troos, glin ha troos Ha lagas ha skovarn ha min ha tron Penn, skoodh, glin ha troos, glin ha troos Translation note: Many of the Cornish plurals are too long to fit the original tune, so these are all singular. Similarly, ‘toes’ would be ⟨besies troos⟩, so the Cornish given is ‘foot’. As an example, the first line above reads ‘Head, shoulder, knee and foot’.
February 3, 2026 at 11:35 AM
Reposted by Clare Hickman
nichecanada.bsky.social
Postdoc and PhD positions at Ghent University: Ecological Entanglements and Biodiversity in Late Medieval Northern Europe, 1400-1600

niche-canada.org/2026/01/31/p...

#envhist #medieval #envhum
PostDoc & PhD Opportunities - Ecological Entanglements and Biodiversity in Late Medieval Northern Europe, 1400-1600
The European Research Council (ERC)-funded project ‘Ecological Entanglements and Biodiversity in Late Medieval Northern Europe, 1400-1600’ (ECOLENT), led by Sander Govaerts, offers several PhD and pos...
niche-canada.org
February 2, 2026 at 7:02 PM
Reposted by Clare Hickman
brodiewaddell.bsky.social
‘Tasting History: Researching and Experiencing the Development of the Cheese Trade’, with @cheesetastingco.bsky.social and @cheeseandpeople.bsky.social, hosted by Birkbeck's Centre for Medieval and Early Modern Studies, Feb 24th!

Register here: www.bbk.ac.uk/events/event...
Tasting History Researching and Experiencing the Development of the Cheese Trade Keynes Library, Gordon Square Tuesday 24 February 2026 1500-1730 This interactive, experiential event will include a discussion with Ned Palmer, author of A Cheesemonger’s History of the British Isles, and Alasdair McNeill, a Birkbeck doctoral student researching the early modern cheese trade. It will be accompanied by a free tasting of six historic cheeses. Ned will introduce each cheese by placing it in its historical context, and the tastings will be interspersed with a conversation between Ned and Alasdair about the development of the trade and its importance to broader histories of commercialisation, labour relations, and women’s social and economic role. They will also discuss the value, and limits, of experiential food studies. How can the history of cheese – from milking to mongering – illuminate the role of ordinary women and men in their local communities and wider society? How can producing and tasting historic foods help us understand their histories?
February 3, 2026 at 10:23 AM
Reposted by Clare Hickman
historiamagoria.bsky.social
So happy to see the cover of this collection! Out this spring/summer as the final volume of A Cultural History of the Environment, huzzuh! #EnvHist
February 3, 2026 at 5:47 PM
Reposted by Clare Hickman
alicemarples.bsky.social
Looks like my book 'The Transactioneer: Hans Sloane and the Rise of Public Natural History in Eighteenth-Century Britain' will finally be published by Johns Hopkins University Press later this year!

Excited doesn't cover it!
February 3, 2026 at 6:05 PM
Reposted by Clare Hickman
angelaofthenorth.bsky.social
Interested in the intersections of #medhum and #envhum? Join us for another instalment of our Weather, Climate, and Health Research Theme's online talk series with our wonderful colleague @drhick.bsky.social (Newcastle University). All details and registration (free) via link below.
Intersections in Medical and Environmental Humanities
An online talk by Dr Clare Hickman about Air, Weather and Multispecies Encounters in the British Tuberculosis Sanatoria.
www.eventbrite.co.uk
February 3, 2026 at 4:15 PM
drhick.bsky.social
Really looking forward to this!
angelaofthenorth.bsky.social Angela Marques Filipe @angelaofthenorth.bsky.social · 1d
Interested in the intersections of #medhum and #envhum? Join us for another instalment of our Weather, Climate, and Health Research Theme's online talk series with our wonderful colleague @drhick.bsky.social (Newcastle University). All details and registration (free) via link below.
Intersections in Medical and Environmental Humanities
An online talk by Dr Clare Hickman about Air, Weather and Multispecies Encounters in the British Tuberculosis Sanatoria.
www.eventbrite.co.uk
February 3, 2026 at 5:09 PM
Reposted by Clare Hickman
eicathomefinn.bsky.social
Quite important if you are relying on Google Books for teaching or research. Short-term snag or is it a hack? Just searched for 10 titles to no effect. #Skystorians
vicmanch.bsky.social Martin Hewitt @vicmanch.bsky.social · 1d
@thomasgermain.bsky.social Are you aware that Google Books has effectively stopped working - the material is still there, but all search functions no longer seem to work, making fresh access impossible. Can't find any reportage on this but it seems a major story with huge implications..
February 3, 2026 at 1:38 PM
Reposted by Clare Hickman
alisonstenning.bsky.social
When direct connections between the mouth of Tyne and London and Norway were just part of the fabric of our ordinary transport infrastructures.
neheritagelib.bsky.social North East Heritage Library @neheritagelib.bsky.social · 4d
Standing exactly where the boat trains came in to transfer passengers from land to sea. Fully loco hauled stock came from London, reversed at Percy Main and met the liners to Norway
January 31, 2026 at 9:27 AM
Reposted by Clare Hickman
levparikian.bsky.social
I love everything about this story, not least the care and interest shown by the lorry driver.
birdguides.bsky.social BirdGuides @birdguides.bsky.social · 4d
In a remarkable story from Slovenia, a breeding pair of White Wagtails travelled all over the country in a lorry last summer, successfully raising young:
Nesting on the go: incubating White Wagtail travels 2,000 km
A breeding pair of White Wagtails travelled all over Slovenia in a lorry in June 2025.
bit.ly
January 31, 2026 at 10:01 AM
Reposted by Clare Hickman
katlister.bsky.social
Words for then, words for now. How he continues to guide us. Happy Birthday, Derek Jarman. The last day of the long drag of January, now time for more light:
January 31, 2026 at 9:49 AM
Reposted by Clare Hickman
carsoncenter.bsky.social
Want to organize the 2026 ESEH Summer School in Environmental History? Check out our new call: eseh.org/call-for-pro...

#EnvHist #EnvHum
January 30, 2026 at 4:56 PM
Reposted by Clare Hickman
lottelydia.bsky.social
my dad didn’t go to university and he was extremely happy to pay taxes for his four children to do so; and, indeed, for the doctors who treated him at Addenbrookes to have gone to university as well.
2damntrans.bsky.social sasha @2damntrans.bsky.social · 6d
Rachel Reeves: "It is not right that people who don't go to university bear the cost for others to." I don't use local leisure centres and I don't drive, so will I be made exempt for taxation that pays for all that stuff? Or is it only education we'll be going after
January 29, 2026 at 10:22 PM
Reposted by Clare Hickman
gsoh31.bsky.social
Absolutely brutal news in the research world to kick off the day. How we're making such a mess of this I have no idea.
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-r...
MRC instructs grant review boards to slash funding rates - Research Professional News
Boards asked to recommend just three applications for funding, as BBSRC also suspends calls
www.researchprofessionalnews.com
January 30, 2026 at 9:18 AM
Reposted by Clare Hickman
dollyjorgensen.bsky.social
We are now accepting proposals from scholars interested in applying for the EU's Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowships program in 2026. This is a great program for early career (<8 yrs from PhD) scholars to be with @greenhouseuis.net for 2 years on own project.

www.uis.no/en/research/...
January 16, 2026 at 10:56 AM
Reposted by Clare Hickman
claireturner.bsky.social
I'm delighted to share details of the first of two workshops I'm hosting this year on The Senses and Medical Humanities. The first workshop will take place in Durham on 24 February. Spaces are limited, so reserve yours now.

www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-senses...
The Senses and Medical Humanities
A one-day workshop exploring sensory studies and medical humanities through short talks, creative activities, and networking.
www.eventbrite.co.uk
January 28, 2026 at 11:14 AM
Reposted by Clare Hickman
eicathomefinn.bsky.social
In 2026, do we need these (and other) disciplines' knowledge, skills and understanding less than we did in 2016, or more?

Much more, to my mind, so much more.
eicathomefinn.bsky.social Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 6d
Physics is under the cosh, Astronomy and Chemistry in peril, Geography is losing territory, English, Modern Languages and History are among the many shrinking UK disciplines.

Surely it's time to have a concerted, structured conversation about universities and the national research base.
resprofnews.bsky.social Research Professional News @resprofnews.bsky.social · 6d
UK physics research and science facilities face ‘substantial’ cuts.

Major cuts will hit UK science facilities and government research grants for physics and astronomy over the next four years, Research Professional News can reveal.

www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-r...
January 29, 2026 at 5:53 PM
Reposted by Clare Hickman
drkatedevlin.bsky.social
If my workload continues over the next decade the way it's going now then I'll be a burnt-out husk by 60 and will be begging to retire.
www.nature.com/articles/d41...
www.nature.com
January 29, 2026 at 5:37 PM
Reposted by Clare Hickman
emmajourno.bsky.social
This is worth paying attention to particularly for those who have concerns about Palantir's involvement in NHS data.... www.bmj.com/content/392/...
ICE and Palantir: US agents using health data to hunt illegal immigrants
US immigration agents are using an app developed by Palantir that draws on the health records of millions of Americans to find and detain illegal immigrants. The revelation comes as the US’s Immigrat...
www.bmj.com
January 28, 2026 at 2:35 PM
Reposted by Clare Hickman
georgemonbiot.bsky.social
Please spread this far and wide, as stories don't get much bigger than this. When the government blocks even the intelligence services from telling us we're heading for environmental catastrophe, you know we have a problem. A very big problem.
Thank you.
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
The UK government didn't want you to see this report on ecosystem collapse. I'm not surprised | George Monbiot
It took an FOI request to bring this national security assessment to light. For ‘doomsayers’ like us, it is the ultimate vindication, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot
www.theguardian.com
January 28, 2026 at 7:18 AM
Reposted by Clare Hickman
draflint.bsky.social
How did communal open-air singing in early 20th century Britain connect with fellow-feeling, bodily experience, and ideas of the countryside?
These are topics @drhick.bsky.social and I discuss in our Element - Outdoor Singing in Modern Britain. Out now & free to read online
doi.org/10.1017/9781...
Outdoor Singing in Modern Britain
Cambridge Core - History of Ideas and Intellectual History - Outdoor Singing in Modern Britain
doi.org
January 27, 2026 at 11:52 AM
Reposted by Clare Hickman
pamplemoussepam.bsky.social
www.theguardian.com/travel/2026/...

Anyone reading this and pondering an academic version, I am for hire. I offer one day and multi day retreats at your university or residentially.

See my website for feedback and more information: Writing with Pam share.google/BCwMCwNVIsmu...
Do writing retreats actually work? Reader, I finished my novel in style …
The distractions of daily life can make writing a book a frustrating task, so I sought boltholes offering creative support and solitude in inspiring landscapes
www.theguardian.com
January 27, 2026 at 7:47 AM
Reposted by Clare Hickman
beapichel.bsky.social
Reminder that this is happening on Thursday! Kat, Kate and Savannah are careful, insightful, brilliant speakers. Can't wait
January 26, 2026 at 4:39 PM