Margot C. Finn | Lightnews

Margot Finn

@eicathomefinn.bsky.social

17K followers 4.5K following 10K 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

Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 18h

'Some 50 per cent of complaints this year were deemed not justified and 20 per cent judged as not eligible, with a further 9 per cent of grievances withdrawn or terminated, the report says.' 20% resolved in favour of student complainant.

Reposted by Paul Davies, Margot C. Finn

Jonathan Portes @jdportes.bsky.social · 18h

And all credit to the PM for doing just that.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

PM tells Sir Jim Ratcliffe to apologise for saying UK 'colonised by immigrants'

Sir Keir Starmer said comments by the businessman and Manchester United co-owner were

www.bbc.co.uk

Reposted by Margot C. Finn

Annie Leymarie @annieleymarie.bsky.social · 21h

Sir Jim will decolonise Man United - and all football? 😵‍💫

Karl Bode @karlbode.com · 23h

Likely-historic photo by NBC News of all the Epstein victims asked to raise their hands if they've not yet been asked to meet with the DOJ as Bondi testifies in foreground

photo of Pam Bondi testifying in the foreground as a group of 7 women and 1 men raise their hands

Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 1d

'A total of 4,234 complaints were received by the Office of the Independent Adjudicator during 2025'.

Is this a big number, or a very small number? How many universities, how many students, how many modules and assessments? How many complaints? How does this level compare with comparable services?

Financial crisis drives student complaints to record high

Sharp rise in grievances may reflect financial pressures on universities and ‘heightened expectations’ of procedural fairness, says ombudsman

www.timeshighereducation.com

Reposted by Jonathan Portes, Dave O’Brien, Juan Cole , and 2 more Jonathan Portes, Dave O’Brien, Juan Cole, Margot C. Finn, Douglas M. Peers

Prof Katherine Schofield 🇬🇧🇦🇺🇪🇺 @katherineschof8.bsky.social · 1d

I am thrilled that my book Music and Musicians in Late Mughal India: Histories of the Ephemeral 1748–1858 has now won the 2026 Ananda Kentish Coomaraswamy prize (Association for Asian Studies/South Asia Council)! www.asianstudies.org/grants-award...

Honoured to share it with the great Charu Gupta.

Coomaraswamy Prize - Association for Asian Studies

Ananda Kentish Coomaraswamy Book Prize The Ananda Kentish Coomaraswamy Book Prize honors a distinguished work of scholarship in South Asian Studies that promises to define or redefine the understandin...

www.asianstudies.org

Reposted by Margot C. Finn

Anne Goldgar @annegoldgar.bsky.social · 1d

FRIDAY FEB 13: Jeroen Puttevils on “Back to the Future: What can we Learn about Future Thinking from Late Medieval and Early Modern Merchant Correspondences from the Low Countries.” 5:30 pm London time, IHR Wolfson Rm 2 and online. Register here: www.history.ac.uk/news-events/...

Back to the Future: What can we Learn about Future Thinking from Late Medieval and Early Modern Merchant Correspondences from the Low Countries

www.history.ac.uk

Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 1d

'Cathedral bosses said documents found at the local record office showed sign language was used in a marriage ceremony at St Martin's Church - as it was formerly called - on 6 February 1576.' #Skystorians

Neil Younger @neilayounger.bsky.social · 1d

Well this is a very touching local news story.

Leicester Cathedral reveals sign language wedding held in 1576

Cathedral bosses believe the signed service could have been one of the first in England.

www.bbc.co.uk

Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 1d

'LECTIO, KU Leuven Institute for the Study and Transmission of Texts, Ideas and Images in Antiquity, the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, invites applications for its Visiting Fellowship Program 2026–2027. The program supports a research stay of 4–6 weeks in Leuven (or Turnhout). PhD required.

LECTIO @lectio-institute.bsky.social · 27d

The call for Visiting Fellowships is open!

In a nutshell:
📚 Open topic (x2) or a more specific theme (x3)
⏳ 4–6 weeks in the academic year 2026–2027
💶 Non-stipendiary (alas!), but we will cover travel to/from Leuven and accommodation
📆 Apply by 6 March 2026
🔗 www.kuleuven.be/lectio/visit...

Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 1d

'which had its grants cut and frozen by the administration': alternatively, 'which complied in advance and called in armed police on its student body, actions not renowned for boosting academic staff morale'.

Dozens of researchers will move to France from US following high-profile bid to lure talent

Large proportion worked at Columbia University, which had its grants cut and frozen by the administration of US President Donald Trump.

www.nature.com

Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 1d

Might there perhaps be long-term (fiscal, instrumental, intellectual, etc) advantages to fostering the Arts & Hums and indeed Social Sciences, alongside (not instead of) STEM subjects?

Such might even be subject to analysis.

Or, instead, one could simply cut off one's nose to spite one's face. 5/5

Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 1d

Indeed, of the top 6 THE 'global' universities, only 1 (Princeton, ranked 3rd overall and 7th in A&H) ranks under 6th in Arts & Hums.

Of course, correlation is not causation. But if perceived research excellence often occurs hand in hand with excellent Arts & Hums, perhaps we should ask why? 4/5

Album cover for pop group beFour's 2007 winter album, 'Hand in Hand'. The 4 band members are featured (two on the left, 2 on the right) with 'Hand in Hand' printed beneath them and a 'beFour' emblem in the top centre.

Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 1d

Not really. The 2 most specialised universities are Cal Tech (ranked 7th) and Imperial (8th). Neither performs as highly as MIT (2nd), which outside its STEM strengths ranks 1st in Arts & Humanities, 1st in Business and 1st in Social Sciences. 3/5

MIT's List Visual Arts Center in its Wiesener Building. It's very modern, with white and glass tiles. There are steps to the left and a small tree to the right. It houses a contemporary art museum and is the administrative hub for MIT's permanent art collection. Funny that, an institution of technology that invests in the arts...

Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 1d

So, league tables are fundamentally problematic at multiple levels. They're also routinely used by university managers to register success, or its absence. (Go figure).

Does the Times Higher Education 2026 global league table suggest that research specialism really rocks? 2/5

A square league table, with 'Team' column on the left and points in columns to the right (descending from 26 points to 1 point). Colours are mainly orange and blue. No actual team names are given, just team numbers.

Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 1d

If research excellence is linked to research specialisation, why don't more specialist universities routinely outcompete more generalist ones in global league tables?

And should UK HEIs intent to climb the rankings think twice before mothballing their Arts & Humanities?

Asking for a friend. 1/5

World University Rankings 2026 | Times Higher Education (THE)

Explore the 2026 World University Rankings by Times Higher Education. Compare over 2,000 top universities and discover this year’s leading institutions.

www.timeshighereducation.com

Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 1d

This is an interesting, and important, wrinkle. 'It comes after Ofcom...launched an investigation into the platform and its AI chatbot, Grok, last month following concerns around the generation of deepfake images and the use of applications to create illicit imagery of people without their consent.'

Belfast City Council and QUB pledge to step away from X amid site’s safeguarding concerns

Belfast City Council and Queen’s University are quitting X amid safeguarding concerns over AI misuse, including deepfake imagery. Discover the latest developments here.

www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk

Reposted by Margot C. Finn

Miriam Elder @miriamelder.bsky.social · 1d

OpenAI fired a VP who opposed their erotica rollout (and had started a company-wide peer mentorship program for women), allegedly telling her it was because she discriminated against a man 🤔 www.wsj.com/tech/ai/open...

Exclusive | OpenAI Executive Who Opposed ‘Adult Mode’ Fired for Sexual Discrimination

Ryan Beiermeister, who served as the vice president leading OpenAI’s product policy team, had raised concerns about the upcoming launch of erotic content.

www.wsj.com

Reposted by Charles West, Margot C. Finn

Neil Younger @neilayounger.bsky.social · 1d

Well this is a very touching local news story.

Leicester Cathedral reveals sign language wedding held in 1576

Cathedral bosses believe the signed service could have been one of the first in England.

www.bbc.co.uk

Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 1d

Big difference then, very big.

Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 1d

So was it not used to distribute core research funding? That would be a big difference with uk.

Reposted by Margot C. Finn

Karen Gregory @karengregory.bsky.social · 1d

The Real Cost of the UK’s ‘Free AI Training for All’ is Democracy

via @elinorcarmi.bsky.social and co. Thank you for writing this.

www.techpolicy.press/the-real-cos...

The Real Cost of the UK’s ‘Free AI Training for All’ is Democracy

Researchers argue the UK's 'AI Skills Hub' should be re-thought with input from civil society groups and public interest organizations.

www.techpolicy.press

Reposted by Charles West, Margot C. Finn

Peter Mandler @petermandler.bsky.social · 1d

Third lecture now online - www.history.ox.ac.uk/james-ford-l... - on the New Psychology and ideas of the self. (1/2)

Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 2d

'Which is probably why Reform is apparently considering the perfectly normal alternate approach of defunding the university in revenge if it ever has the power to. Which would put it in breach of section 18 (institutional autonomy) of the Tertiary Education and Research (Wales) Act 2022.'

Hat2 2/2

Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 2d

'All of which rather assumes that Bangor University is in England, and is regulated by the Office for Students. And I have bad news for Reform on that front too. None of the parts of the Act I have mentioned actually apply in Wales.'

Chapeau no. 1 1/2

Was there a freedom of speech breach at Bangor?

A proper 2022-style freedom of speech on campus panic plays out

wonkhe.com

Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 2d

Alternatively, reduce the number and value of senior investigator awards to invest more directly in the research aspirations rising generation. 2/2

Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 2d

'In the 2024 call for applications, the commission awarded €417 million to 10,360 researchers, which amounted to a success rate of 16.6 per cent. In the previous year, 15.8 per cent of the 8,039 applicants were selected for funding.'

At under 10%, I'd be considering partial randomisation. q/2

‘Brutal’ success rate for European postdoctoral fellowships

Only 9.6 per cent of applicants awarded coveted Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions fellowships, with many postdoctoral researchers saying the programme has become too competitive

www.timeshighereducation.com

Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 2d

One for Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (SHAPE) researchers interested in open science, and hot off the press (as well as, naturally, open access).

Openness in the arts, humanities and social sciences: Documenting open research practices beyond STEM (A MORPHSS Project Report)

Conceptual frameworks of 'Open Science' and their implementation by funders, journals, institutions and other organisations have been criticised on the grounds that they are tailored primarily to quan...

works.hcommons.org

Reposted by Elizabeth Stokoe

Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 2d

'The REF team said that, from April, Hackett would return to provide “overall strategic leadership to the programme going forward”. Research Professional News understands a recruitment process to appoint a successor is now underway.'

Research Professional News @resprofnews.bsky.social · 2d

Breaking: Research Excellence Framework director to step down in April.

Former director Kim Hackett returning to oversee strategy while successor to Rebecca Fairbairn is found.

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