Mark Williams
@mrfw17thc.bsky.social
Reader in Early Modern History. Currently writing a cultural history of the English East India Company. He/Him. Immigrant. Academic. Father.
All opinions my own.
All opinions my own.
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Mark Williams
@mrfw17thc.bsky.social
· May 7
Validate User
academic.oup.com
New article!
'Seeing Women in the Early English and Dutch East India Companies' is now available as an Advance Article with Historical Research.
It's been years of work, but I'm proud of this one. I hope #earlymodern #skystorians enjoy it!
Some context below:
academic.oup.com/histres/adva...
'Seeing Women in the Early English and Dutch East India Companies' is now available as an Advance Article with Historical Research.
It's been years of work, but I'm proud of this one. I hope #earlymodern #skystorians enjoy it!
Some context below:
academic.oup.com/histres/adva...
Reposted by Mark Williams
I think at this point if you're including Diane Abbott - a woman who has never held government office, has been a backbencher since 2020, and is scarcely a government ally - on your list of political wrongdoers, we all know exactly what your real concerns are
November 26, 2025 at 12:28 PM
I think at this point if you're including Diane Abbott - a woman who has never held government office, has been a backbencher since 2020, and is scarcely a government ally - on your list of political wrongdoers, we all know exactly what your real concerns are
Reposted by Mark Williams
Good morning to Brazilian reporter Manuela Borges, who’s been waiting eleven years for this petty moment. ❤️ 🇧🇷
November 26, 2025 at 1:04 PM
Good morning to Brazilian reporter Manuela Borges, who’s been waiting eleven years for this petty moment. ❤️ 🇧🇷
This sucks as an individual choice and from a pedagogical standpoint.
But just wait and see what the institutions are going to impose for the sake of 'workload' and 'time-saving' ...
But just wait and see what the institutions are going to impose for the sake of 'workload' and 'time-saving' ...
November 26, 2025 at 12:40 PM
This sucks as an individual choice and from a pedagogical standpoint.
But just wait and see what the institutions are going to impose for the sake of 'workload' and 'time-saving' ...
But just wait and see what the institutions are going to impose for the sake of 'workload' and 'time-saving' ...
Reposted by Mark Williams
0.2% growth in productivity over five years from "AI".
That's your revolution, lads, really?
The sort of blip that could be reversed by a particularly rainy bank holiday.
That's your revolution, lads, really?
The sort of blip that could be reversed by a particularly rainy bank holiday.
Anyway, tech-wise, AI will have a "positive effect on productivity growth", the OBR say, with a 0.2 percentage point impact in five years
November 26, 2025 at 12:27 PM
0.2% growth in productivity over five years from "AI".
That's your revolution, lads, really?
The sort of blip that could be reversed by a particularly rainy bank holiday.
That's your revolution, lads, really?
The sort of blip that could be reversed by a particularly rainy bank holiday.
Some encouraging noises here for HE in Wales, but also a lot of meaningless waffle about collaboration and the primacy of the economy.
This isn't about minor tweaks. It's a matter of HE's survival or extinction in Wales.
This isn't about minor tweaks. It's a matter of HE's survival or extinction in Wales.
NEW on Wonkhe: Ahead of an evidence paper and call for submissions, Minister for Further and Higher Education Vikki Howells sets out her understanding of the key challenges faced by higher education in Wales buff.ly/gbquzUM
November 26, 2025 at 7:32 AM
Some encouraging noises here for HE in Wales, but also a lot of meaningless waffle about collaboration and the primacy of the economy.
This isn't about minor tweaks. It's a matter of HE's survival or extinction in Wales.
This isn't about minor tweaks. It's a matter of HE's survival or extinction in Wales.
Ah those wonderful few years when it was evidently understood that it was best to let David Bowie narrate everything for everyone.
Wiser times.
Wiser times.
November 26, 2025 at 7:22 AM
Ah those wonderful few years when it was evidently understood that it was best to let David Bowie narrate everything for everyone.
Wiser times.
Wiser times.
Reposted by Mark Williams
I wish I didn’t have to share this. But the BBC has decided to censor my first Reith Lecture.
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
November 25, 2025 at 9:26 AM
I wish I didn’t have to share this. But the BBC has decided to censor my first Reith Lecture.
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
They deleted the line in which I describe Donald Trump as “the most openly corrupt president in American history.” /1
Reposted by Mark Williams
If you’re a journalist who’s still on Twitter, from now on in your writing you have to replace “the American people want” with “troll bots in Eastern Europe demand”
Being there makes your judgment suspect. I don’t care how savvy you think you are, you’re marinating in a disinformation campaign.
Being there makes your judgment suspect. I don’t care how savvy you think you are, you’re marinating in a disinformation campaign.
November 23, 2025 at 4:27 PM
If you’re a journalist who’s still on Twitter, from now on in your writing you have to replace “the American people want” with “troll bots in Eastern Europe demand”
Being there makes your judgment suspect. I don’t care how savvy you think you are, you’re marinating in a disinformation campaign.
Being there makes your judgment suspect. I don’t care how savvy you think you are, you’re marinating in a disinformation campaign.
Reposted by Mark Williams
I will add the following: our students lack the research skills required to audit an LLM essay for errors. They don’t arrive on campus with these skills; we teach it to them over four long years. So throwing freshmen in the deep end and saying “swim your way to a shore of rectitude” is folly.
November 24, 2025 at 1:23 PM
I will add the following: our students lack the research skills required to audit an LLM essay for errors. They don’t arrive on campus with these skills; we teach it to them over four long years. So throwing freshmen in the deep end and saying “swim your way to a shore of rectitude” is folly.
Reposted by Mark Williams
Seriously, UK establishment, try to show your humane side in this.
International students are reading these headlines, and they are seeing how they’re turned into a political football, not the learners in a very precarious position that they are.
International students are reading these headlines, and they are seeing how they’re turned into a political football, not the learners in a very precarious position that they are.
Props to the first journalist who asks how international students are actually doing while being turned into a political football.
Could start with the dangers of reporting bullying and the way university’s research reputations are upheld by those they make most precarious (and try to silence):
Could start with the dangers of reporting bullying and the way university’s research reputations are upheld by those they make most precarious (and try to silence):
November 24, 2025 at 7:36 AM
Seriously, UK establishment, try to show your humane side in this.
International students are reading these headlines, and they are seeing how they’re turned into a political football, not the learners in a very precarious position that they are.
International students are reading these headlines, and they are seeing how they’re turned into a political football, not the learners in a very precarious position that they are.
Me, driving in South Wales during the winter storms.
Good Lord! is this the road that Jonah went?
November 23, 2025 at 1:49 PM
Me, driving in South Wales during the winter storms.
Reposted by Mark Williams
Wonderfullest things are ever the unmentionable; deep memories yield no epitaphs
November 23, 2025 at 11:47 AM
Wonderfullest things are ever the unmentionable; deep memories yield no epitaphs
Reposted by Mark Williams
Oxford Handbook to the End of Academia
November 22, 2025 at 7:59 PM
Oxford Handbook to the End of Academia
Reposted by Mark Williams
My favorite piece of content today.
November 21, 2025 at 8:28 PM
My favorite piece of content today.
Leafing through the illustrations accompanying Charles Knight's 1851 edition of Shakespeare's works and just love the elegance of them.
November 22, 2025 at 8:28 AM
Leafing through the illustrations accompanying Charles Knight's 1851 edition of Shakespeare's works and just love the elegance of them.
In a fair and sensible world this would keep Reform UK in Wales from government for a generation.
But anything to permit people hating a migrant.
But anything to permit people hating a migrant.
Incredible not just that this happened, but that it’s not even a second or third tier news story, let alone something Farage will actually be held accountable for. Doesn’t make the top 15 stories on either the BBC or the Guardian! Filed under “Wales”.
November 21, 2025 at 3:24 PM
In a fair and sensible world this would keep Reform UK in Wales from government for a generation.
But anything to permit people hating a migrant.
But anything to permit people hating a migrant.
Imagine my disappointment in finding there isn't a niche charcuterie business in Norfolk called Jamon Le Strange.
Disappointing for #earlymodern #skystorians.
Disappointing for #earlymodern #skystorians.
November 21, 2025 at 3:07 PM
Imagine my disappointment in finding there isn't a niche charcuterie business in Norfolk called Jamon Le Strange.
Disappointing for #earlymodern #skystorians.
Disappointing for #earlymodern #skystorians.
Reposted by Mark Williams
Out now!
The Routledge Companion to Digital Humanities, ed. Constance Crompton, @raysiemens.bsky.social , Richard J. Lane, and myself
And better yet? It's #openaccess!
www.taylorfrancis.com/books/oa-edi...
Order hard copies here: www.routledge.com/The-Companio...
Thanks to all contributors! 🎉
The Routledge Companion to Digital Humanities, ed. Constance Crompton, @raysiemens.bsky.social , Richard J. Lane, and myself
And better yet? It's #openaccess!
www.taylorfrancis.com/books/oa-edi...
Order hard copies here: www.routledge.com/The-Companio...
Thanks to all contributors! 🎉
November 19, 2025 at 7:09 PM
Out now!
The Routledge Companion to Digital Humanities, ed. Constance Crompton, @raysiemens.bsky.social , Richard J. Lane, and myself
And better yet? It's #openaccess!
www.taylorfrancis.com/books/oa-edi...
Order hard copies here: www.routledge.com/The-Companio...
Thanks to all contributors! 🎉
The Routledge Companion to Digital Humanities, ed. Constance Crompton, @raysiemens.bsky.social , Richard J. Lane, and myself
And better yet? It's #openaccess!
www.taylorfrancis.com/books/oa-edi...
Order hard copies here: www.routledge.com/The-Companio...
Thanks to all contributors! 🎉
Reposted by Mark Williams
'The UK should establish a network of “disruptive invention” labs outside of the university system to pursue frontier science and technology'. (Tony Blair Institute)
The UK should stabilise the disrupted university system before faffing about with shiny new disruptive networks. (actual researcher)
The UK should stabilise the disrupted university system before faffing about with shiny new disruptive networks. (actual researcher)
UK needs new ‘disruptive’ labs for frontier science, says think tank.
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-p...
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-p...
November 20, 2025 at 10:14 AM
'The UK should establish a network of “disruptive invention” labs outside of the university system to pursue frontier science and technology'. (Tony Blair Institute)
The UK should stabilise the disrupted university system before faffing about with shiny new disruptive networks. (actual researcher)
The UK should stabilise the disrupted university system before faffing about with shiny new disruptive networks. (actual researcher)
Reposted by Mark Williams
when I was young, i used to wonder how people like this would fare in life, as they didn't seem suited for gainful employment. it turns out, the internet allowed them to accumulate a massive audience of similar idiots, enriching them and turning them into a presidential advisor
November 20, 2025 at 12:58 AM
when I was young, i used to wonder how people like this would fare in life, as they didn't seem suited for gainful employment. it turns out, the internet allowed them to accumulate a massive audience of similar idiots, enriching them and turning them into a presidential advisor
Reposted by Mark Williams
When Musk's Grok repeats one of the central lies of the Holocaust deniers, it then doubles down [see replies] and insists that a) Holocaust denial is free speech and b) it has an evidentiary basis.
This is where we are.
This is where we are.
November 19, 2025 at 12:04 PM
When Musk's Grok repeats one of the central lies of the Holocaust deniers, it then doubles down [see replies] and insists that a) Holocaust denial is free speech and b) it has an evidentiary basis.
This is where we are.
This is where we are.
Reposted by Mark Williams
All men live enveloped in whale-lines.
November 18, 2025 at 7:47 AM
All men live enveloped in whale-lines.
Reposted by Mark Williams
Een ‘zondvloedland,’ zo karakteriseerde ik het beeld van de Lage Landen in 17de- en 18de-eeuwse geleerde natuurgeschiedenissen. Het denken over het verleden van de Aarde bewoog tussen Bijbelse zondvloed en de volgende dijkdoorbraak, tussen schriftgeleerden en turfstekers. 1/
November 19, 2025 at 11:44 AM
Een ‘zondvloedland,’ zo karakteriseerde ik het beeld van de Lage Landen in 17de- en 18de-eeuwse geleerde natuurgeschiedenissen. Het denken over het verleden van de Aarde bewoog tussen Bijbelse zondvloed en de volgende dijkdoorbraak, tussen schriftgeleerden en turfstekers. 1/
Reposted by Mark Williams
Trump suggests Khashoggi had it coming: "You're mentioning someone that was extremely controversial. A lot of people didn't like that gentleman that you're talking about. Whether you like him or didn't like him, things happen. But he knew nothing about it. You don't have to embarrass our guest."
November 18, 2025 at 5:46 PM
Trump suggests Khashoggi had it coming: "You're mentioning someone that was extremely controversial. A lot of people didn't like that gentleman that you're talking about. Whether you like him or didn't like him, things happen. But he knew nothing about it. You don't have to embarrass our guest."
Reposted by Mark Williams
I was just thinking the other day that it is mad that if this continues then the book I'm writing, about London 1560-1630, will contain basically no British Library manuscript material. Would have been unthinkable to me but there hasn't been a manuscript catalogue for two years now!
I’ve written a piece on the curious lack of media and political interest in the issues faced by our national @britishlibrary.bsky.social. This is strange given we live in a world where ideas, knowledge and research are a long-term source of innovation and insight
www.cityam.com/the-british-...
www.cityam.com/the-british-...
The British library is in crisis: why does nobody care?
The widespread indifference to the British Library's crippling cyberattack demonstrates a perilous failure to value the knowledge infrastructure vital for national prosperity
www.cityam.com
November 18, 2025 at 1:51 PM
I was just thinking the other day that it is mad that if this continues then the book I'm writing, about London 1560-1630, will contain basically no British Library manuscript material. Would have been unthinkable to me but there hasn't been a manuscript catalogue for two years now!