will pooley
@willpooley.bsky.social
historian of witchcrafts, folklore, France 18-20th c
ass. ed. French History
ed. Cambridge Elements in Magic
also #CreativeHistories
that’s an actual photo of me
ass. ed. French History
ed. Cambridge Elements in Magic
also #CreativeHistories
that’s an actual photo of me
Pinned
will pooley
@willpooley.bsky.social
· Nov 10
Sheet Happens
When I started working on witchcraft cases in France from 1790-1940, I knew I wanted to count them. This, of course, was my first mistake. The oldest version I have of the Excel spreadsheet I built…
williamgpooley.wordpress.com
My reintroduction: historian of french magic, folklore, witchcraft, tarot. I blog about all that, as well as writing, creative historical methods, quantification and research process.
A surprising number of you sickos can’t get enough spreadsheet chat🗃️
williamgpooley.wordpress.com/2024/05/22/s...
A surprising number of you sickos can’t get enough spreadsheet chat🗃️
williamgpooley.wordpress.com/2024/05/22/s...
“Scholarly effort is in decline everywhere as never before. Indeed, cleverness is shunned at home and abroad. What does reading offer to pupils except tears?”
this guy has his finger on the pulse amirite
www.history-uk.ac.uk/history-in-p... 🗃️
this guy has his finger on the pulse amirite
www.history-uk.ac.uk/history-in-p... 🗃️
‘Doing the Readings’
Dr Will Pooley (Associate Professor in Modern History), University of Bristol The students, we often grumble, don’t read the secondary readings we set for class. Every year, we find ourselves press…
www.history-uk.ac.uk
November 28, 2025 at 6:13 PM
“Scholarly effort is in decline everywhere as never before. Indeed, cleverness is shunned at home and abroad. What does reading offer to pupils except tears?”
this guy has his finger on the pulse amirite
www.history-uk.ac.uk/history-in-p... 🗃️
this guy has his finger on the pulse amirite
www.history-uk.ac.uk/history-in-p... 🗃️
Reposted by will pooley
If you have the means I highly recommend the cause of supporting a fellow scholar
The @royalhistsoc.org is running a charitable donation campaign to fund the research of historians who lack support. The number of applications we're seeing is way up. I've been very lucky to have a career as a historian, I've donated, and I think this Christmas you should too. Pay it forward.
royalhistoricalsociety2.beaconforms.com
November 26, 2025 at 10:01 AM
If you have the means I highly recommend the cause of supporting a fellow scholar
easy to forget that “black friday” was only invented in the nineteenth century by bassetts to sell more licorice allsorts. really makes you think
November 28, 2025 at 11:43 AM
easy to forget that “black friday” was only invented in the nineteenth century by bassetts to sell more licorice allsorts. really makes you think
hello, i am an academic journals publisher. you have a subscription to a journal i publish which doubles as your membership of a society. on my website i have a page where you can see this subscription. but is it possible to renew from that page? NO, because that would be too SIMPLE
November 28, 2025 at 11:37 AM
hello, i am an academic journals publisher. you have a subscription to a journal i publish which doubles as your membership of a society. on my website i have a page where you can see this subscription. but is it possible to renew from that page? NO, because that would be too SIMPLE
And reminder that among the amazing things about Paper Trails, the variety of formats the BOOC invites is very expansive 🗃️
November 28, 2025 at 7:46 AM
And reminder that among the amazing things about Paper Trails, the variety of formats the BOOC invites is very expansive 🗃️
Reposted by will pooley
What makes historic collections difficult? And how do researchers work with “difficult” collections?
New CFP from Paper Trails here:
blogs.ucl.ac.uk/special-coll...
Deadline for proposals 31/1/2026
🗃️
New CFP from Paper Trails here:
blogs.ucl.ac.uk/special-coll...
Deadline for proposals 31/1/2026
🗃️
Call for Papers: Difficult Collections | UCL UCL Special Collections
UCL Homepage
blogs.ucl.ac.uk
November 27, 2025 at 6:21 PM
What makes historic collections difficult? And how do researchers work with “difficult” collections?
New CFP from Paper Trails here:
blogs.ucl.ac.uk/special-coll...
Deadline for proposals 31/1/2026
🗃️
New CFP from Paper Trails here:
blogs.ucl.ac.uk/special-coll...
Deadline for proposals 31/1/2026
🗃️
Reposted by will pooley
Why is the University of Exeter Classics Department ground zero for the robot takeover?
thesphinxblog.com/2025/11/27/a...
thesphinxblog.com/2025/11/27/a...
Are We Human, Or Are We Chancer?
It’s weird that I haven’t seen any discussion of this, as it seems improbable that the robots would choose the University of Exeter’s Classics Department as the bridgehead for world conquest, but t…
thesphinxblog.com
November 27, 2025 at 5:45 PM
Why is the University of Exeter Classics Department ground zero for the robot takeover?
thesphinxblog.com/2025/11/27/a...
thesphinxblog.com/2025/11/27/a...
What makes historic collections difficult? And how do researchers work with “difficult” collections?
New CFP from Paper Trails here:
blogs.ucl.ac.uk/special-coll...
Deadline for proposals 31/1/2026
🗃️
New CFP from Paper Trails here:
blogs.ucl.ac.uk/special-coll...
Deadline for proposals 31/1/2026
🗃️
Call for Papers: Difficult Collections | UCL UCL Special Collections
UCL Homepage
blogs.ucl.ac.uk
November 27, 2025 at 6:21 PM
What makes historic collections difficult? And how do researchers work with “difficult” collections?
New CFP from Paper Trails here:
blogs.ucl.ac.uk/special-coll...
Deadline for proposals 31/1/2026
🗃️
New CFP from Paper Trails here:
blogs.ucl.ac.uk/special-coll...
Deadline for proposals 31/1/2026
🗃️
Reposted by will pooley
I'm thrilled to have received the Natalie Zemon Davis Award from @sfhs.bsky.social for my paper on Tamil consumers, caste, and mechanical timepieces in 18C Pondicherry. NZD is such an inspiration to early modernists and it's a huge honor to receive this award!
November 27, 2025 at 2:18 PM
I'm thrilled to have received the Natalie Zemon Davis Award from @sfhs.bsky.social for my paper on Tamil consumers, caste, and mechanical timepieces in 18C Pondicherry. NZD is such an inspiration to early modernists and it's a huge honor to receive this award!
plur1bus is a dystopian sci-fi show about a woman who wakes up one day to the chilling realization that she lives in new mexico
November 27, 2025 at 2:23 PM
plur1bus is a dystopian sci-fi show about a woman who wakes up one day to the chilling realization that she lives in new mexico
ok. the way social historians have used “margins” renders the term near useless, a figurative marker with no conceptual consistency, to be used for the masses (as if the majority could be marginal), spaces (a more literal use at least), the stigmatized and many other things too 🗃️
November 27, 2025 at 1:22 PM
ok. the way social historians have used “margins” renders the term near useless, a figurative marker with no conceptual consistency, to be used for the masses (as if the majority could be marginal), spaces (a more literal use at least), the stigmatized and many other things too 🗃️
Reposted by will pooley
🚨 Call for Papers! 🚨
📣Join us @lancasteruni.bsky.social 1-3 July 2026 as we return to our original home to celebrate our 50th anniversary!
We welcome proposals from historians at all career stages across 8 thematic strands.
📅 CfP deadline: 16/01/26
🔗 socialhistory.org.uk/events/confe...
#CFP 🗃️
📣Join us @lancasteruni.bsky.social 1-3 July 2026 as we return to our original home to celebrate our 50th anniversary!
We welcome proposals from historians at all career stages across 8 thematic strands.
📅 CfP deadline: 16/01/26
🔗 socialhistory.org.uk/events/confe...
#CFP 🗃️
SHS Annual Conference 2026
Our 50th anniversary conference will be held at Lancaster University, the academic home of the Social History Society. A Significant Milestone The Social History Society was founded at Lancaster Un…
socialhistory.org.uk
November 27, 2025 at 10:42 AM
🚨 Call for Papers! 🚨
📣Join us @lancasteruni.bsky.social 1-3 July 2026 as we return to our original home to celebrate our 50th anniversary!
We welcome proposals from historians at all career stages across 8 thematic strands.
📅 CfP deadline: 16/01/26
🔗 socialhistory.org.uk/events/confe...
#CFP 🗃️
📣Join us @lancasteruni.bsky.social 1-3 July 2026 as we return to our original home to celebrate our 50th anniversary!
We welcome proposals from historians at all career stages across 8 thematic strands.
📅 CfP deadline: 16/01/26
🔗 socialhistory.org.uk/events/confe...
#CFP 🗃️
deity hands me sheet of paper. “and this is the list of all the students who learned to get this right from your teaching and feedback”
me: “oops you just gave me a blank piece of paper”
deity: “…”
me: “oops you just gave me a blank piece of paper”
deity: “…”
me, arriving in afterlife, greeted by deity with a video monitor
“and now,” deity intones in somber voice, “we will watch a video of all the hours of your life you spent telling students what a sentence fragment and a run on sentence are.
the video is 200 days long.”
“and now,” deity intones in somber voice, “we will watch a video of all the hours of your life you spent telling students what a sentence fragment and a run on sentence are.
the video is 200 days long.”
November 27, 2025 at 11:47 AM
deity hands me sheet of paper. “and this is the list of all the students who learned to get this right from your teaching and feedback”
me: “oops you just gave me a blank piece of paper”
deity: “…”
me: “oops you just gave me a blank piece of paper”
deity: “…”
me, arriving in afterlife, greeted by deity with a video monitor
“and now,” deity intones in somber voice, “we will watch a video of all the hours of your life you spent telling students what a sentence fragment and a run on sentence are.
the video is 200 days long.”
“and now,” deity intones in somber voice, “we will watch a video of all the hours of your life you spent telling students what a sentence fragment and a run on sentence are.
the video is 200 days long.”
November 27, 2025 at 11:22 AM
me, arriving in afterlife, greeted by deity with a video monitor
“and now,” deity intones in somber voice, “we will watch a video of all the hours of your life you spent telling students what a sentence fragment and a run on sentence are.
the video is 200 days long.”
“and now,” deity intones in somber voice, “we will watch a video of all the hours of your life you spent telling students what a sentence fragment and a run on sentence are.
the video is 200 days long.”
reset the simulation please i wanna get off
November 27, 2025 at 11:08 AM
reset the simulation please i wanna get off
Reposted by will pooley
'Going with a flat fee rather than a percentage is thought to favour elite institutions, including those in the Russell Group, who typically charge higher fees.' 2/3
November 26, 2025 at 2:14 PM
'Going with a flat fee rather than a percentage is thought to favour elite institutions, including those in the Russell Group, who typically charge higher fees.' 2/3
Reposted by will pooley
Where I work, grad student enrollment in Engineering and Business is down 70% and 40%, respectively.
Now, to cover the loss in revenue from these Departments, the rest of the colleges have to take MASSIVE hits. History Dept alone has cut/closed 6 TT lines. Forget about raises or salary equity. 🫠
Now, to cover the loss in revenue from these Departments, the rest of the colleges have to take MASSIVE hits. History Dept alone has cut/closed 6 TT lines. Forget about raises or salary equity. 🫠
Enrollment by international students from China dropped by 3 percent, from India by 4 percent, and enrollment from students from Mexico has flatlined. Here are the likely consequences for Texas' education and economy:
The High Cost of Targeting International Students in Texas
The Trump administration’s bans and airport detentions are derailing the academic dreams of students who carry out important research—and sometimes pay hefty tuition—to attend Texas institutions.
www.texasobserver.org
November 25, 2025 at 2:18 PM
Where I work, grad student enrollment in Engineering and Business is down 70% and 40%, respectively.
Now, to cover the loss in revenue from these Departments, the rest of the colleges have to take MASSIVE hits. History Dept alone has cut/closed 6 TT lines. Forget about raises or salary equity. 🫠
Now, to cover the loss in revenue from these Departments, the rest of the colleges have to take MASSIVE hits. History Dept alone has cut/closed 6 TT lines. Forget about raises or salary equity. 🫠
Reposted by will pooley
The important thing in all this is we don’t cut the >£100k-ers who do jobs at universities that don’t add anything - can’t stress this enough
all those years work pitching the value of the humanities and STILL when financial crunch comes and management consultants role in, they could not care less.
history doesn’t have enough commercial applications! humanities aren’t engaged enough with AI! why isn’t my house a helicopter!
history doesn’t have enough commercial applications! humanities aren’t engaged enough with AI! why isn’t my house a helicopter!
November 26, 2025 at 7:11 PM
The important thing in all this is we don’t cut the >£100k-ers who do jobs at universities that don’t add anything - can’t stress this enough
all those years work pitching the value of the humanities and STILL when financial crunch comes and management consultants role in, they could not care less.
history doesn’t have enough commercial applications! humanities aren’t engaged enough with AI! why isn’t my house a helicopter!
history doesn’t have enough commercial applications! humanities aren’t engaged enough with AI! why isn’t my house a helicopter!
November 26, 2025 at 6:59 PM
all those years work pitching the value of the humanities and STILL when financial crunch comes and management consultants role in, they could not care less.
history doesn’t have enough commercial applications! humanities aren’t engaged enough with AI! why isn’t my house a helicopter!
history doesn’t have enough commercial applications! humanities aren’t engaged enough with AI! why isn’t my house a helicopter!
am i surprised to learn that the historian who was recently in the news with the team splashing hitler’s “micropenis” is one and the same as the retraction in the TRHS on grounds of plagiarism (which he denies)?
November 26, 2025 at 2:40 PM
am i surprised to learn that the historian who was recently in the news with the team splashing hitler’s “micropenis” is one and the same as the retraction in the TRHS on grounds of plagiarism (which he denies)?
Reposted by will pooley
oh man, literally my professional life and my hobby are colliding! Interesting library job at Games Workshop!
jobs.games-workshop.com/search-and-a...
jobs.games-workshop.com/search-and-a...
Collections Management Librarian - Games Workshop Jobs
About the Job Games Workshop has an exciting new role for a Collections Management Librarian to join our Archiving team, where you will be responsible for
jobs.games-workshop.com
November 25, 2025 at 10:16 PM
oh man, literally my professional life and my hobby are colliding! Interesting library job at Games Workshop!
jobs.games-workshop.com/search-and-a...
jobs.games-workshop.com/search-and-a...
“but will, it’s 10:50am GMT, what do you mean the end of the day?”
RUDE
RUDE
*me at the end of every day of marking season*
have i done my marking? no
but have i at least done the other urgent tasks? also no
ok that must mean i am at least being kind to myself and setting reasonable boundaries around ha ha ha ha ha
have i done my marking? no
but have i at least done the other urgent tasks? also no
ok that must mean i am at least being kind to myself and setting reasonable boundaries around ha ha ha ha ha
November 26, 2025 at 10:50 AM
“but will, it’s 10:50am GMT, what do you mean the end of the day?”
RUDE
RUDE
*me at the end of every day of marking season*
have i done my marking? no
but have i at least done the other urgent tasks? also no
ok that must mean i am at least being kind to myself and setting reasonable boundaries around ha ha ha ha ha
have i done my marking? no
but have i at least done the other urgent tasks? also no
ok that must mean i am at least being kind to myself and setting reasonable boundaries around ha ha ha ha ha
November 26, 2025 at 10:21 AM
*me at the end of every day of marking season*
have i done my marking? no
but have i at least done the other urgent tasks? also no
ok that must mean i am at least being kind to myself and setting reasonable boundaries around ha ha ha ha ha
have i done my marking? no
but have i at least done the other urgent tasks? also no
ok that must mean i am at least being kind to myself and setting reasonable boundaries around ha ha ha ha ha
Reposted by will pooley
7 x 3000+ students + 17 smaller institutions must mean 30,000+ affected students. That’s about the same size as Sheffield uni, which employs 8000ish staff. Why is the government tolerating the impending collapse of up to 24 related employers and 8000+ more lost jobs? Where is the sense of crisis?
Chief exec of OfS 'said the OfS believes there are 24 institutions at risk of exiting the market in the next 12 months, seven of which are large providers with more than 3,000 students. There are another 25 or so institutions of various sizes at risk over a two- to three-year period, she added.'
Seven ‘large providers’ at risk of going under in the next year
Skills minister says no higher education institutions are at imminent risk of collapse this year but OfS confirms more than 20 providers are being closely monitored
www.timeshighereducation.com
November 26, 2025 at 8:57 AM
7 x 3000+ students + 17 smaller institutions must mean 30,000+ affected students. That’s about the same size as Sheffield uni, which employs 8000ish staff. Why is the government tolerating the impending collapse of up to 24 related employers and 8000+ more lost jobs? Where is the sense of crisis?
Reposted by will pooley
The @royalhistsoc.org is running a charitable donation campaign to fund the research of historians who lack support. The number of applications we're seeing is way up. I've been very lucky to have a career as a historian, I've donated, and I think this Christmas you should too. Pay it forward.
royalhistoricalsociety2.beaconforms.com
November 26, 2025 at 9:40 AM
The @royalhistsoc.org is running a charitable donation campaign to fund the research of historians who lack support. The number of applications we're seeing is way up. I've been very lucky to have a career as a historian, I've donated, and I think this Christmas you should too. Pay it forward.