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Alexander Samson

@samsonaws.bsky.social

610 followers 320 following 15 posts

Professor of Early Modern Studies at UCL, historian of Marian England, early modern Spain, Anglo-Spanish intercultural exchanges…

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History 26%

Art 20%

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Reposted by David M. Farrell, Steven French, Lesley A. Hall , and 4 more David M. Farrell, Steven French, Lesley A. Hall, Felicity Callard, Marina Dossena, Alexander Samson, Steven Fielding

Jenni Hyde @wallyberry.bsky.social · Jul 31

Goodbye to the history department at Lancaster University, where the @socialhistsoc.bsky.social was founded 49 years ago. From tomorrow we are
part of a School of Global Affairs. Next year, who knows what will be - please sign our petition against mass redundancies chng.it/PZfTFDjNcr

Sign the Petition

Stop Mass Redundancies at Lancaster University – Hold Senior Management Accountable

chng.it

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Reposted by Alexander Samson

UCL Centre for Humanities Education @ucl-che.bsky.social · Jul 22

🎭 From lost comedias to lucid dreams, each year students from around the world reimagine Spanish Golden Age Theatre for the Our New Gold Festival.

Watch '24-'25's prize winners and read @samsonaws.bsky.social's (@uclselcs.bsky.social) reflections on the Festival in our latest blog:
bit.ly/4kQwid4

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Alexander Samson @samsonaws.bsky.social · Jul 8

For anyone interested who couldn’t make it to my inaugural ‘Time Frames: Marking the Early Modern’ here’s a recording: mediacentral.ucl.ac.uk/Play/124439

Time Frames: Marking the Early Modern

Time Frames: Marking the Early Modern Professor Alexander Samson Before the shattering of organic and providential temporalities by universal clock time, a period dubbed the ‘early modern’ foreshado...

mediacentral.ucl.ac.uk

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Reposted by Alexander Samson

Dr Steve Taylor @drstevetaylor.bsky.social · Jun 2

The UK is a relatively low tax economy

This means the revenue raised by Government as a proportion of GDP has been low historically

Less funding raised for infrastructure/healthcare/education etc

A thread 🧵

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Alexander Samson @samsonaws.bsky.social · May 29

Thank you so much for coming!

Reposted by Alexander Samson

Liesbeth Corens @onslies.bsky.social · May 28

Barnstormingly brilliant inaugural! Amazing reflections on the importance of recognising different conceptions of time, and capping it off with a call, in the midst of universities & humanities in crisis, to imagine other futures, inspired not just by present or immediate past.

Quote from Derrida’s the future of the profession, p 55-6

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Reposted by Alexander Samson

Liesbeth Corens @onslies.bsky.social · May 28

Verrrrrrrry excited about @samsonaws.bsky.social’s inaugural on marking the #EarlyModern

Picture of a speaker in front of slides with beautiful pocket watches on it

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Reposted by Alexander Samson

Liesbeth Corens @onslies.bsky.social · May 27

LOL. Yes, UCL Events Team, I too am excited about @samsonaws.bsky.social's inaugural tomorrow! UCLUCL!

screenshot of an email which opens with Liesbeth Liesbeth!

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Alexander Samson @samsonaws.bsky.social · May 16

Really looking forward to delivering my inaugural lecture, do sign up, be lovely to see you there fellow early modernists! www.ucl.ac.uk/early-modern...

Time Frames: Marking the Early Modern

Before the shattering of organic and providential temporalities by universal clock time, a period dubbed the ‘early modern’ foreshadowed and heralded our ‘modernity’. But how are our times different f...

www.ucl.ac.uk

Alexander Samson @samsonaws.bsky.social · May 14

Female street performers in early modern Europe still a few slots left, do come along... www.ucl.ac.uk/institute-of...

Rope-Dancing and Female Performance

An Early Modern Exchanges event with Prof Clare McManus (Northumbria) and Prof Thibaut Maus de Rolley (UCL)

www.ucl.ac.uk

Alexander Samson @samsonaws.bsky.social · Apr 28

Do pop along tomorrow for our event at 5 on Muslim ambassadors: www.ucl.ac.uk/institute-of...

The Play of Negotiation: Muslim Ambassadors in Spanish Classical Theatre

Early Modern Exchanges welcomes Ruben Gonzalez Cuerva to discuss unearthing cultural heritage and analysing the interplay between actual Islamic representatives in Habsburg Madrid and the different ar...

www.ucl.ac.uk

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Reposted by Alexander Samson

Manchester University Press @manchesterup.bsky.social · Mar 21

And here's @samsonaws.bsky.social with his book MARY AND PHILIP: The marriage of Tudor England and Habsburg Spain.

Also available for 30% off on our Renaissance Literature and History Reading List: manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/blog/2025/02... 👈

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Alexander Samson @samsonaws.bsky.social · Mar 20

This puts paid to that idea net zero = net profit by 2060… www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Factcheck: Kemi Badenoch’s claim that net zero is ‘impossible’ by 2050

Tory leader provides no evidence to support position that flies in face of expert reports and her own words

www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Alexander Samson

Melissa Terras @melissaterras.bsky.social · Mar 20

Fabulous night yesterday at @edincollegeofart.bsky.social who threw me an inaugural party, talking digital/arts/hums/creativity. Packed house and packed zoom! Thanks to all who were there. And don’t let the dystopian nightmare bullshit dim your sparkle.

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Reposted by Alexander Samson

Anna-Lujz Gilbert @annalujz.bsky.social · Mar 17

For anyone interested in the early Bodleian Library or early modern book owners, the Shaping Scholarship project at CELL, UCL has made the project data available: ebdo.org.uk/data/ It details every officially recorded donation made c. 1600-1620, plus some extras, which is around 10,000 items.

Phtotograph of Bodleian Benefactors' Register, open and showing gifts of Robert Barker and William Ballow, in italic print and manuscript on parchment.

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Reposted by Alexander Samson

Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · Mar 14

At long last: committees.parliament.uk/committee/20...

Education Committee announces session on higher education funding - Committees - UK Parliament

Education Committee Chair Helen Hayes MP has today announced a deep dive evidence session examining funding issues in the higher education sector. 

committees.parliament.uk

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Reposted by Alexander Samson

Peter Stefanovic @peterstefanovic.bsky.social · Mar 10

Five of the billionaires who attended Donald Trump's inauguration have lost a combined $210 billion in wealth since then, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index

Oh dear

www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

Billionaires at Trump’s Swearing-In Have Since Lost $210 Billion

As Donald Trump took the oath of office on Jan. 20, he was flanked by some of the world’s wealthiest people. The billionaires present that day — including Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg — h...

www.bloomberg.com

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Alexander Samson @samsonaws.bsky.social · Mar 7

Delighted to announce my professorial inaugural at UCL on 28th May, do sign up be great to see you all there! www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/time-frame...

Time Frames: Marking the Early Modern

www.eventbrite.co.uk

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Reposted by Alexander Samson

Earl Russell LD @earlrussell.bsky.social · Feb 28

#IStandWithUkraine

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Alexander Samson @samsonaws.bsky.social · Feb 18

Date and Time: Tuesday 25 February 2025, 6-8pm
Location: IAS Common Ground, G11 Ground Floor, South Wing
Register: IAS Book Launch: Political Culture in the Early Modern Iberian Worlds | Institute of Advanced Studies (IAS) - UCL
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/ias-book-l...
All welcome!

IAS Book Launch: Political Culture in the Early Modern Iberian Worlds

Join authors Mario Graña Taborelli and Adrian Masters for the launch of their books, Jurisdictional Battlefields and We, the King.

www.eventbrite.co.uk

Alexander Samson @samsonaws.bsky.social · Feb 12

Abject failure by leaders in HE to take a stand is now bearing fruit… The Guardian view on campus cuts: academics pay a high price for Westminster’s mistakes www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Alexander Samson

Research Professional News @resprofnews.bsky.social · Feb 11

Opinion: Slashing ‘unfunded’ research is a recipe for decline.

Data show universities’ international excellence is built on researchers’ freedom to explore, says Jonathan Adams.

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

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Reposted by Alexander Samson

Peter Stefanovic @peterstefanovic.bsky.social · Feb 11

Who would have known

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/f...

Far-right populists much more likely than the left to spread fake news – study

Amplifying misinformation is now part of radical right strategy, says Dutch study of tweets by MPs in 26 countries

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Lynn Abrams, Alexander Samson

Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · Feb 10

'In the letter, made public on 10 February, Julia Black...says the “range of cutbacks we are seeing across universities is leading to a severe loss in UK capability".' Nearly 100 HEIs are “contracting or closing” social sciences, humanities & the arts disciplines “in the face of a financial crisis”.

British Academy: ‘UK research threatened by university finances’ - Research Professional News

University cuts leading to a “severe loss in UK capability”, academy president warns chancellor

www.researchprofessionalnews.com

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Reposted by Alexander Samson

UCL Early Modern Exchanges @uclearlymodxcha.bsky.social · Feb 10

IAS Book Launch: Political Culture in the Early Modern Iberian Worlds
25 February 2025, 6pm-8pm
Join authors Mario Graña Taborelli and Adrian Masters for the launch of their books, Jurisdictional Battlefields and We, the King.
www.ucl.ac.uk/institute-of...

IAS Book Launch: Political Culture in the Early Modern Iberian Worlds

Join authors Mario Graña Taborelli and Adrian Masters for the launch of their books, Jurisdictional Battlefields and We, the King.

www.ucl.ac.uk

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Alexander Samson @samsonaws.bsky.social · Feb 7

chng.it/DPV9WmSPbt

Sign the Petition

Save MLANG at Cardiff University!

chng.it

Alexander Samson @samsonaws.bsky.social · Feb 6

chng.it/YBCjHcMhqk

Sign the Petition

Save MLANG at Cardiff University!

chng.it

1 1

Reposted by Alexander Samson

Peter Stefanovic @peterstefanovic.bsky.social · Jan 29

The number of Britons saying the UK was right to vote to leave the EU has hit its lowest level since the referendum, ahead of the fifth anniversary of Brexit on Friday

Right to vote to leave: 30%

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Reposted by Alexander Samson

Andy Brockman @andybrockman.bsky.social · Jan 29

At the end of a terrible day for UK Higher Education, Research Professional News has a damning scorecard of failure, with 750 jobs under threat just at Cardiff, Kent, Durham and the University of East Anglia.

Four UK universities announce plans to cut over 750 jobs - Research Professional News

Cardiff, Durham, Kent and UEA the latest institutions to join wave of sector redundancies

www.researchprofessionalnews.com

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Reposted by Katie Barclay, Alexander Samson

Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · Jan 29

'“When the Lancet commission on self-harm does an evidence review...when academic researchers do their meta scientific research, these things don’t come out in line with this tech panic,” he says. “That’s because this tech panic is not based on evidence. It’s based on vibes.”'

All in the mind? The surprising truth about brain rot

Is screen use really sapping our ability to focus and lowering our IQs? The scientists who have actually analysed the data give their verdict

www.theguardian.com

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