Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Jonathan Potter

@profjonathanpotter.bsky.social

780 followers 1.2K following 83 posts

Rutgers distinguished emeritus professor, discursive psychologist, now back in the UK. Views everyone else’s (see Barthes, etc). Currently building an emotionography for American Psychological Association Books with @alexahepburn.bsky.social .. more

Videos

Jonathan Potter is a British psychologist and Dean of the School of Communication and Information at Rutgers University. He is one of the pioneers of discursive psychology.

Source: Wikipedia

Psychology 41%

Communication & Media Studies 26%

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Pinned

Jonathan Potter @profjonathanpotter.bsky.social · 17d

#1
Following on from my earlier thread about claims of “bias” in universities (link below 👇), I was struck by James Marriott’s column in today’s Times. It’s full of anecdote & caricature. The real story of UK universities is structural, financial, and political. 🧵
👉 bsky.app/profile/prof...

Jonathan Potter @profjonathanpotter.bsky.social · Apr 28

Listening to Rest is Politics, Rest is Politics US, and reading respected commentators, it's striking how 'left-wing bias' in universities is now taken for granted. That matters, especially in the US, where academia faces political attack. Thoughts from having worked in US/UK universities. 🧵

2 14 21

Jonathan Potter @profjonathanpotter.bsky.social · 15d

Reposting as still relevant. And pondering May Mailman’s extraordinary attack on universities on behalf of Trump captured in the NYT.

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/25/o...

1 3

Jonathan Potter @profjonathanpotter.bsky.social · 17d

#9
If we want universities to defend society against pseudoscience & conspiracy (ever more needed), they need sustained support rather than caricatured takedowns.

1 6

Jonathan Potter @profjonathanpotter.bsky.social · 17d

#8
Lazy claims about squeamishness or bias obscure the real bind: govt frameworks + financial erosion + political hostility particularly from the right. That is what’s crippling UK universities.

1 3 5

Jonathan Potter @profjonathanpotter.bsky.social · 17d

#7
It’s glib to sneer at “VR caves” or gender theory syllabi. The real crisis is a system trying to do more with less while navigating hostile policy & public misunderstanding.

1 1 5

Reposted by John Drury

Jonathan Potter @profjonathanpotter.bsky.social · 17d

#6
Staff precarity, casualisation, and burnout don’t come from “fashionable taboos.” They come from impossible workloads, insecure contracts, and too much compliance paperwork.

2 2 7

Jonathan Potter @profjonathanpotter.bsky.social · 17d

#5
The gap has been filled by international students. Now govt policy in the form of visa restrictions, and hostile rhetoric is driving them away. This is financial self-sabotage.

1 1 4

Jonathan Potter @profjonathanpotter.bsky.social · 17d

#4
Meanwhile central funding has been hollowed out. Domestic fees frozen since 2017 while costs rise steeply. Govt support shrinks year by year.

1 4

Jonathan Potter @profjonathanpotter.bsky.social · 17d

#3
REF, TEF, KEF aren’t abstract acronyms. They tie every university to govt metrics: research outputs, teaching “excellence,” knowledge exchange. All policed, all audited. They are good and bad, but any serious criticism of universities in the UK needs to address their role.

1 2

Reposted by John Drury

Jonathan Potter @profjonathanpotter.bsky.social · 17d

#2
Marriott paints universities as indulgent, decadent, and squeamish. But the reality is very different: an over-regulated, underfunded system caught between REF, TEF, KEF, and shrinking resources.

1 2 6

Reposted by Jonathan Potter

Institute of Art and Ideas @iai.tv · 28d

“With deep roots in Western history, and blossoming in the 20th century, we find a widely shared belief in the ideal of what can be termed a unified self,” writes Kenneth Gergen. | https://bit.ly/4n5Rfm2

Gergen argues that the desire for self-unity is ultimately mistaken.

#socsky #philsky

There is no unified self | Kenneth Gergen

Throughout history the West has promoted the unified self. Whether it is the Christian emphasis on inner purity or the rationalist focus on eliminating contradictions in thought and reason, we have lo...

iai.tv

3 9

Jonathan Potter @profjonathanpotter.bsky.social · 28d

Wonderful!

Jonathan Potter @profjonathanpotter.bsky.social · 28d

Excellent thesis! Now the publications! 😊

Reposted by Jonathan Potter, Tim Bale, Maria Abreu

John Drury @profjohndrury.bsky.social · Aug 7

'Why do people riot?'

New from me in @theconversation.com, summarizing our recent work funded by @ukri.org & @behaviourresuk.bsky.social

theconversation.com/why-do-peopl...

Why do people riot?

An expert in crowd psychology explains why some peaceful protests turn violent, and why riots can spread.

theconversation.com

4 15 25

Reposted by Jonathan Potter

John Drury @profjohndrury.bsky.social · Dec 6

@profjonathanpotter.bsky.social

Reposted by Jonathan Potter

Richard Ogden @richardogden.bsky.social · Dec 6

New book out! A great resource. I have a chapter in here called Listening to talk in interaction: ways of observing speech. It’s written for people who are familiar with conversation analysis and want to know more about phonetic approaches to conversational data.

Galina Bolden @galinabolden.bsky.social · Dec 6

It's wonderful to see this amazing resource now available online #EMCA
doi.org/10.1017/9781...

The Cambridge Handbook of Methods in Conversation Analysis

Cambridge Core - Discourse Analysis - The Cambridge Handbook of Methods in Conversation Analysis

www.cambridge.org

2 1 27

Reposted by Alexa Hepburn

Jonathan Potter @profjonathanpotter.bsky.social · May 15

Aija Logren kicks off the Finnish Social Psychology conference. An exciting group!
@alexahepburn.bsky.social

2 7

Jonathan Potter @profjonathanpotter.bsky.social · May 15

Will do!

Jonathan Potter @profjonathanpotter.bsky.social · May 14

In lovely Kuopio getting ready for the Finnish Social Psychology Conference. Exciting!
@alexahepburn.bsky.social
@darg-sessions.bsky.social
@rucalteam.bsky.social
#emotionography

Potter & Hepburn in Kuopio’s central square.

1 10

Jonathan Potter @profjonathanpotter.bsky.social · May 8

There is an increasingly common and very lazy notion that universities are left biased. That needs countering as universities are under attack in the US but also elsewhere.

I wrote a thread about it.

Jonathan Potter @profjonathanpotter.bsky.social · Apr 28

3 6

Reposted by Jonathan Potter, Charlotte Taylor

Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · Apr 30

'Universities exist to foster and disseminate research, learning and critical analysis.' But this rarely comes across in recent media discussions of higher education says @eicathomefinn.bsky.social - a Vice President of @britishacademy.bsky.social
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-v...

To save UK higher education, start talking about knowledge - Research Professional News

Until debate on universities foregrounds their core purposes, their woes will deepen, says Margot Finn

www.researchprofessionalnews.com

21 55

Jonathan Potter @profjonathanpotter.bsky.social · Apr 30

Thank you. There is much more to be said, of course!

Jonathan Potter @profjonathanpotter.bsky.social · Apr 29

Universities aren’t “biased” because they care about inequality or social justice.
They’re biased toward evidence. Toward facts.
Especially in the US, careless talk of “left-wing bias” invites real damage.
Thoughts from US/UK experience here: 👇

Jonathan Potter @profjonathanpotter.bsky.social · Apr 28

1 1 5

Reposted by Jonathan Potter

EUPHA @eupha.bsky.social · Apr 29

📣 Join us on 13 May for Stand Up for Global Public Health and Science—a #EUPHW event exploring the EU's role in global health.

🗓️ Tuesday 13 May
⏰ 15:00 - 17:00 CEST
📍 Online: us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

1 7 12

Reposted by Jonathan Potter

Rachel Coldicutt @rachelcoldicutt.bsky.social · Apr 29

New blog post from
me on what AI is and isn't, and why we all have a democratic duty to do some myth busting before the dreaded management sci-fi comes to get us www.careful.industries/blog/2025-4-...

What we talk about when we talk about AI — Careful Industries

Can AI really do all of the things people want it to do — and what exactly are people actually talking about when they talk about AI? Yutong Liu & The Bigger Picture   / https://betterim...

www.careful.industries

5 48 86

Jonathan Potter @profjonathanpotter.bsky.social · Apr 28

Yes - but why?!
As I said:
It’s not surprising that being through higher education correlates with support for parties addressing inequality and diversity. It reflects informed engagement with the world, not partisan bias.

Jonathan Potter @profjonathanpotter.bsky.social · Apr 28

Universities aren't biased toward left-wing politics — they're biased toward knowledge. Thoughts here 👇

Jonathan Potter @profjonathanpotter.bsky.social · Apr 28

Serious conservative arguments are always welcome — but like everything in universities, they must meet the same standards: evidence, coherence, and rigor.

3 40

Jonathan Potter @profjonathanpotter.bsky.social · Apr 28

Calls for 'balance' between evidence and populist denial don't protect free speech — they undermine intellectual rigor. Universities thrive on serious, evidence-based challenges, not superficial parit

1 5 61

Jonathan Potter @profjonathanpotter.bsky.social · Apr 28

DEI hiring has strengthened universities. In both the US and UK, there’s a highly qualified, historically excluded pool of scholars. Hiring them raises the quality of academic life – it doesn’t dilute it.

1 11 89