Liesbeth Corens
@onslies.bsky.social
Historian: mobility & recordkeeping of #earlymodern Catholic minorities. Book: confessional mobility and English Catholics in Early Modern Europe. Also grumpy about the state of UK Higher Education so likely to talk about how it is being failed...(She/Her)
Pinned
Liesbeth Corens
@onslies.bsky.social
· Nov 10
About me: I'm really interested in how (Catholic) minorities persevere.
Confessional Mobility: oxford.universitypressscholarship.com/view/10.1093...
Archives & Information: britishacademy.universitypressscholarship.com/view/10.5871...
Social History: academic.oup.com/past/issue/2...
Confessional Mobility: oxford.universitypressscholarship.com/view/10.1093...
Archives & Information: britishacademy.universitypressscholarship.com/view/10.5871...
Social History: academic.oup.com/past/issue/2...
Reposted by Liesbeth Corens
Hey @ucu.org.uk, can we please have a national strategy on how to deal with these chancers? Because they're finding very gullible victims in our managers all over #UKHE, and their short-term money grabbing is causing long-term structural harm.
The consultancy Nous takes hundreds of thousands of pounds from universities, leaves the exact same path of destruction everywhere, and keeps trying to avoid transparent contracts.
We’re urgently need control over consultancy spent in #UKHE, @bphillipsonmp.bsky.social
We’re urgently need control over consultancy spent in #UKHE, @bphillipsonmp.bsky.social
‘Nousferatu’: the notorious consultancy advising Edinburgh uni amid 'huge' cuts
Scotland’s largest university has turned to Nous Group at the same time as it is making savings that could lead to nearly 2,000 job losses. Staff say they were misled about the extent of its work.
www.theferret.scot
November 30, 2025 at 11:08 AM
Hey @ucu.org.uk, can we please have a national strategy on how to deal with these chancers? Because they're finding very gullible victims in our managers all over #UKHE, and their short-term money grabbing is causing long-term structural harm.
Reposted by Liesbeth Corens
'Coventry is a great example' should have set off all the alarm bells.
Nous grab data, give the same generic powerpoint, know that cutting programmes doesn't reduce cost but do it anyway because it looks like 'tough decisions', & staff can't challenge because we're not given access to the data.
Nous grab data, give the same generic powerpoint, know that cutting programmes doesn't reduce cost but do it anyway because it looks like 'tough decisions', & staff can't challenge because we're not given access to the data.
November 30, 2025 at 12:15 PM
'Coventry is a great example' should have set off all the alarm bells.
Nous grab data, give the same generic powerpoint, know that cutting programmes doesn't reduce cost but do it anyway because it looks like 'tough decisions', & staff can't challenge because we're not given access to the data.
Nous grab data, give the same generic powerpoint, know that cutting programmes doesn't reduce cost but do it anyway because it looks like 'tough decisions', & staff can't challenge because we're not given access to the data.
Reposted by Liesbeth Corens
Bookish Holiday Fun and Games For... YOU!
Now in its sixth year, for this #NewberryLibrary Advent Calendar, we'll play around with the collection! Cards, Board Games, Puzzles, Gambling...
What's up first?
CHESS!
December 1 (1/24)
Here's last year's extra-shiny offering:
bsky.app/profile/drka...
Now in its sixth year, for this #NewberryLibrary Advent Calendar, we'll play around with the collection! Cards, Board Games, Puzzles, Gambling...
What's up first?
CHESS!
December 1 (1/24)
Here's last year's extra-shiny offering:
bsky.app/profile/drka...
December 1, 2025 at 1:23 PM
Bookish Holiday Fun and Games For... YOU!
Now in its sixth year, for this #NewberryLibrary Advent Calendar, we'll play around with the collection! Cards, Board Games, Puzzles, Gambling...
What's up first?
CHESS!
December 1 (1/24)
Here's last year's extra-shiny offering:
bsky.app/profile/drka...
Now in its sixth year, for this #NewberryLibrary Advent Calendar, we'll play around with the collection! Cards, Board Games, Puzzles, Gambling...
What's up first?
CHESS!
December 1 (1/24)
Here's last year's extra-shiny offering:
bsky.app/profile/drka...
Also, miss me with your 'not realistic' language, as this crop of managers has been the ones who handed absolutely absurd projections of student growth (and thus projected fee income) to the Office for Students, and then used that to take out equally absurd loans.
But supposedly the realistic ones are those consultants that swoop in smash everything, grab their ludicrous fee & run before we can see the consequences of their reduction of what is a complex ecosystem to a silly table of Stuff To Cut.
They're the ones with the easy story & the gullible audience
They're the ones with the easy story & the gullible audience
December 9, 2025 at 5:14 PM
Also, miss me with your 'not realistic' language, as this crop of managers has been the ones who handed absolutely absurd projections of student growth (and thus projected fee income) to the Office for Students, and then used that to take out equally absurd loans.
We've asked that here -- "what is an example of Nous *improving matters*" -- and no answer. Because the structures are so set up that nobody ever sees the Nous guys, and all the meetings are so stage managed that some can speak to managers, and then need to feed down without further knowledge.
If it has EVER WORKED, someone would give the faculty who ask these questions in every single damn meeting right before the next knife goes in an example of a school this saved. Instead, the consultant/administrative/business class insists it does with no examples of how or where and when.
December 9, 2025 at 5:02 PM
We've asked that here -- "what is an example of Nous *improving matters*" -- and no answer. Because the structures are so set up that nobody ever sees the Nous guys, and all the meetings are so stage managed that some can speak to managers, and then need to feed down without further knowledge.
Reposted by Liesbeth Corens
If it has EVER WORKED, someone would give the faculty who ask these questions in every single damn meeting right before the next knife goes in an example of a school this saved. Instead, the consultant/administrative/business class insists it does with no examples of how or where and when.
December 9, 2025 at 4:56 PM
If it has EVER WORKED, someone would give the faculty who ask these questions in every single damn meeting right before the next knife goes in an example of a school this saved. Instead, the consultant/administrative/business class insists it does with no examples of how or where and when.
Reposted by Liesbeth Corens
IT NEVER WORKS. NEVER. EVER. NEVER WORKS. IT HAS NEVER WORKED. AUSTERITY LEADS TO ENROLLMENT COLLAPSE LEAVES TO UNIVERSITY CLOSURE. EVERY TIME. ALWAYS.
December 9, 2025 at 4:55 PM
IT NEVER WORKS. NEVER. EVER. NEVER WORKS. IT HAS NEVER WORKED. AUSTERITY LEADS TO ENROLLMENT COLLAPSE LEAVES TO UNIVERSITY CLOSURE. EVERY TIME. ALWAYS.
Reposted by Liesbeth Corens
Expensive silence though, as that Freedom of Information request last Autumn showed: uk-highereducation.neocities.org
December 9, 2025 at 9:16 AM
Expensive silence though, as that Freedom of Information request last Autumn showed: uk-highereducation.neocities.org
Reposted by Liesbeth Corens
Charmed by a university's social media actually amplifying the contribution of one of theirs to this (excellent!) piece. Here people have been told off for talking to the FT...
Assistant professor Joshua Brown comments on UK universities’ growing reliance on unregulated agencies—now responsible for two-thirds of overseas student recruitment.
Read more: https://www.ft.com/content/3f496166-4292-46af-b690-114a4d2b3fd0
Read more: https://www.ft.com/content/3f496166-4292-46af-b690-114a4d2b3fd0
The shadow economy behind the international student boom
A lucrative revenue stream for universities has led to an industry of unregulated agents now under scrutiny for making lofty promises
www.ft.com
December 9, 2025 at 2:56 PM
Charmed by a university's social media actually amplifying the contribution of one of theirs to this (excellent!) piece. Here people have been told off for talking to the FT...
Reposted by Liesbeth Corens
Funny that. Funny that. Because, guess what, the FIRST thing the Principal did when he came in in 2017 was to drastically shrink student bursaries. Our students had to occupy the octagon for weeks on end to get him to reason -- excellent webpage still up.
Almost as if he'll take any excuse?
Almost as if he'll take any excuse?
December 9, 2025 at 3:01 PM
Funny that. Funny that. Because, guess what, the FIRST thing the Principal did when he came in in 2017 was to drastically shrink student bursaries. Our students had to occupy the octagon for weeks on end to get him to reason -- excellent webpage still up.
Almost as if he'll take any excuse?
Almost as if he'll take any excuse?
Reposted by Liesbeth Corens
'It’s not the role of the Commons Library to make policy recommendations – it provides background information to inform parliamentary debates and committee hearings. But it is difficult to imagine that anyone could read this document and conclude that students are adequately supported.' (DK) 2/2
The value of student maintenance support
How have student maintenance support levels changed over time? What support are students eligible for this and next academic year, is it enough and how much are their parents meant to contribute?
commonslibrary.parliament.uk
December 9, 2025 at 4:54 PM
'It’s not the role of the Commons Library to make policy recommendations – it provides background information to inform parliamentary debates and committee hearings. But it is difficult to imagine that anyone could read this document and conclude that students are adequately supported.' (DK) 2/2
Reposted by Liesbeth Corens
MOVABLE TOYS!
This pair of 18th c. religious prints are literally interchangable. Nice to see a 1626 Rubens painting of the Assumption of the Virgin) in the mix! #NewberryLibrary (Case folio NE958.3.F7 M68 1700z)
i-share-nby.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01...
December 5 (5/24)
#AdventCalendar
This pair of 18th c. religious prints are literally interchangable. Nice to see a 1626 Rubens painting of the Assumption of the Virgin) in the mix! #NewberryLibrary (Case folio NE958.3.F7 M68 1700z)
i-share-nby.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01...
December 5 (5/24)
#AdventCalendar
December 5, 2025 at 3:35 PM
MOVABLE TOYS!
This pair of 18th c. religious prints are literally interchangable. Nice to see a 1626 Rubens painting of the Assumption of the Virgin) in the mix! #NewberryLibrary (Case folio NE958.3.F7 M68 1700z)
i-share-nby.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01...
December 5 (5/24)
#AdventCalendar
This pair of 18th c. religious prints are literally interchangable. Nice to see a 1626 Rubens painting of the Assumption of the Virgin) in the mix! #NewberryLibrary (Case folio NE958.3.F7 M68 1700z)
i-share-nby.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01...
December 5 (5/24)
#AdventCalendar
😍 #EarlyModern visual & technical delights!
MOVABLE TOYS!
This pair of 18th c. religious prints are literally interchangable. Nice to see a 1626 Rubens painting of the Assumption of the Virgin) in the mix! #NewberryLibrary (Case folio NE958.3.F7 M68 1700z)
i-share-nby.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01...
December 5 (5/24)
#AdventCalendar
This pair of 18th c. religious prints are literally interchangable. Nice to see a 1626 Rubens painting of the Assumption of the Virgin) in the mix! #NewberryLibrary (Case folio NE958.3.F7 M68 1700z)
i-share-nby.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01...
December 5 (5/24)
#AdventCalendar
December 9, 2025 at 4:55 PM
😍 #EarlyModern visual & technical delights!
ALSO: all access to data about how the uni is run, or participation in the decision making structures has been actively shrunk to next to nothing. All the while claiming that we have to provide 'hard data' and 'follow the procedures' or we won't be listened to. They try to cast us as ill-informed.
The language that it is academics who are the unrealistic ones is so insidious. We're not the unrealistic ones, we *know* a functioning democracy needs good education (cf: your Founding Fathers...), we know education needs *time*, we know research is key to keeping that education forward-looking.
Yes we all agree that this is the reason colleges are in trouble
December 9, 2025 at 4:43 PM
ALSO: all access to data about how the uni is run, or participation in the decision making structures has been actively shrunk to next to nothing. All the while claiming that we have to provide 'hard data' and 'follow the procedures' or we won't be listened to. They try to cast us as ill-informed.
The language that it is academics who are the unrealistic ones is so insidious. We're not the unrealistic ones, we *know* a functioning democracy needs good education (cf: your Founding Fathers...), we know education needs *time*, we know research is key to keeping that education forward-looking.
Yes we all agree that this is the reason colleges are in trouble
December 9, 2025 at 4:31 PM
The language that it is academics who are the unrealistic ones is so insidious. We're not the unrealistic ones, we *know* a functioning democracy needs good education (cf: your Founding Fathers...), we know education needs *time*, we know research is key to keeping that education forward-looking.
Reposted by Liesbeth Corens
Reposted by Liesbeth Corens
Could someone just try being honest with students and parents about job outcomes and what it means to get an education and how it affects you if your instructor is struggling to piece together a living wage by teaching 5 different classes at different colleges at the same time?
December 9, 2025 at 4:19 PM
Could someone just try being honest with students and parents about job outcomes and what it means to get an education and how it affects you if your instructor is struggling to piece together a living wage by teaching 5 different classes at different colleges at the same time?
Nous has been selling their powerpoint with this for months, and she... just tweeted it out...
December 9, 2025 at 4:29 PM
Nous has been selling their powerpoint with this for months, and she... just tweeted it out...
Reposted by Liesbeth Corens
Reposted by Liesbeth Corens
We only get an economy fit for people again when we refuse to be users and consumers who lease vendor products and become people who (when necessary) buy things that we then own, for as long as we need, before selling them again if we want. Landlordism has become ridiculous.
December 8, 2025 at 7:38 PM
We only get an economy fit for people again when we refuse to be users and consumers who lease vendor products and become people who (when necessary) buy things that we then own, for as long as we need, before selling them again if we want. Landlordism has become ridiculous.
I've had this ringing through my head for a full 24 hours every couple of weeks: youtube.com/shorts/6b_dZ... -- the you subscribe to absolutely everything part keeps hitting me in the face so much.
December 8, 2025 at 7:34 PM
I've had this ringing through my head for a full 24 hours every couple of weeks: youtube.com/shorts/6b_dZ... -- the you subscribe to absolutely everything part keeps hitting me in the face so much.
Reposted by Liesbeth Corens
I should dig up my anti-racism placard from when my parents took toddler-me on anti-racism marches, and I then spent the next week getting the entire playground to march against racism... 😅
(I'm nothing if not stubborn. Not effective in sorting out racism, but stubborn.)
(I'm nothing if not stubborn. Not effective in sorting out racism, but stubborn.)
December 8, 2025 at 7:23 PM
I should dig up my anti-racism placard from when my parents took toddler-me on anti-racism marches, and I then spent the next week getting the entire playground to march against racism... 😅
(I'm nothing if not stubborn. Not effective in sorting out racism, but stubborn.)
(I'm nothing if not stubborn. Not effective in sorting out racism, but stubborn.)
Reposted by Liesbeth Corens
it's gutting to see access and widening participation initiatives being binned across the university sector. ELCE here at Bristol, Essex Pathways here. nothing pushes my personal, visceral buttons like the idea of denying academic study to someone whose life it could change
In yet more devastating news, the VC has confirmed her plans to cut 80% of academic staff from Essex Pathways, our foundation year department. This would effectively close down all our existing foundation year programmes through the back door.
But it's not a done deal yet. Please share urgently.
But it's not a done deal yet. Please share urgently.
December 8, 2025 at 8:18 AM
it's gutting to see access and widening participation initiatives being binned across the university sector. ELCE here at Bristol, Essex Pathways here. nothing pushes my personal, visceral buttons like the idea of denying academic study to someone whose life it could change
Reposted by Liesbeth Corens
Just a reminder to managers that #CeasefireNOW remains a ucu policy and that, yet again, taking down posters about it is taking down union materials.
@qmul.bsky.social, get your (middle & senior) managers under control, they're not exactly acting within the law.
@qmul.bsky.social, get your (middle & senior) managers under control, they're not exactly acting within the law.
Today (Tuesday 20th February) management ordered security to break into the Queen Mary UCU office behind the Queens Building in order to remove posters expressing solidarity with Palestine.
December 8, 2025 at 6:59 PM
Just a reminder to managers that #CeasefireNOW remains a ucu policy and that, yet again, taking down posters about it is taking down union materials.
@qmul.bsky.social, get your (middle & senior) managers under control, they're not exactly acting within the law.
@qmul.bsky.social, get your (middle & senior) managers under control, they're not exactly acting within the law.