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Reposted by Christine Ferguson

21 Group @21group.bsky.social · 2d

Universities of Dundee, Kent, Brunel, Coventry & Swansea defer pay rises

Kent’s “review in the coming months” is temporal evasion at its finest, while Coventry’s “break even position” heroically rebrands “we won’t pay” as “fiscal courage”

The academic austerity opera continues

Times Higher Education (THE) @timeshighered.bsky.social · 2d

At least five UK universities have told staff they will not be paying them the sector-wide uplift that was due in August for almost a year. Juliette Rowsell reports
https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/five-uk-universities-tell-staff-they-cant-afford-pay-rises

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Reposted by Christine Ferguson

NT at Oxford @nt4ox.bsky.social · 5d

2026-27 Humanities Fellowships, British School at Rome, Italy. Fixed term: 3 or 9 months. "Any aspect of the social, religious, political, & economic cultures of the Italian peninsula", etc. Deadline 14 November. nt4ox.link/bsr-fell26

NEW OPEN CALLS 2026-27 | Humanities Fellowships - bsr.ac.uk

The British School at Rome is pleased to invite applications for the 2026-2027 academic year for the following award competitions, all with a deadline of 14 November 2025. References will be due on…

nt4ox.link

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Reposted by Christine Ferguson

Martin Hewitt @vicmanch.bsky.social · 4d

I might have solved the mystery of Sarah Lewis, author of *Woman's Mission*, key text of Victorian separate spheres ideology. The ODNB states nothing is known about her, but I have evidence to suggest she was Sarah Lewis (1807-1878), headmistress of a girls' boarding school in Putney in the 1840/50s

A picture of the title page of Sarah Lewis's "Woman's Mission"

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Reposted by Christine Ferguson

Cambridge Skeptics @cambskeptics.bsky.social · 4d

The unusual concoctions of village witches have historically been dismissed as nonsense hocus pocus, but is this the whole story? Victoria Atkinson investigates the chemistry behind the myth and whether there was more to witchcraft than ritual and superstition. www.chemistryworld.com/features/fro...

From flying ointments to healing herbs: the forgotten chemistry behind historical witchcraft practices

The unusual concoctions of village witches have historically been dismissed as nonsense hocus pocus - but is this the whole story? Victoria Atkinson investigates the chemistry behind the myth and…

www.chemistryworld.com

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Reposted by Christine Ferguson

Glen O'Hara @gsoh31.bsky.social · 6d

ICYMI on Tuesday, here's my *new* and *free* short-form summary of what's gone wrong in our universities. This is something of a last word really, because unless the Budget and White Paper do something really radical, the fate of much HE is already sealed.
politicalquarterly.org.uk/blog/where-n...

Where now for Britain’s Universities?

UK higher education now faces a very bleak future, retreating in the face of little public sympathy and limited political interest.

politicalquarterly.org.uk

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Reposted by Christine Ferguson

Popehat Agitates And Irritates @kenwhite.bsky.social · 6d

Every few months now I re-read this "Who Goes Nazi?" piece from 1941 and am blown away by how it captures the people we are dealing with 80 years later.

harpers.org/archive/1941...

Who Goes Nazi?, by Dorothy Thompson

harpers.org

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Reposted by Christine Ferguson

Brendan Cantwell @cantb.bsky.social · 8d

We are approaching a situation where working or enrolling in public higher ed means that the state wields inordinate power to control your speech and impose partisan rules on your conduct. What do we do when higher ed is a special site of state oppression?

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Christine Ferguson @cferguson.bsky.social · 8d

An office toaster, you say? I know whose door il be knocking on with some Hovis slices…😀

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Reposted by Christine Ferguson

FredRIK WORTHam 🎃 @rikworth.bsky.social · 9d

A stack of some research I did for Hocus Pocus.

I very much feel like Rincewind, in that I cannot perform magic but in my bones I know I’m a magician.

A pile of books:
Confessions of a Medium
The Last Greatest Magician in the World
Tricks of the Mind
The Secret Life of Houdini
Flim flam
Fads and Fallacies
Hiding the Elephant
The Secret History of Magic
Paranormality

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Reposted by Christine Ferguson

Charlie Lynch @charlielynch.bsky.social · 8d

“Asked whether there was any hope that Labour could turn things around, he [Sir John] initially remained silent, leading to laughs across the room. Then he replied: ‘The honest answer to that is no.” www.thenational.scot/news/2550267...

John Curtice gives damning verdict as poll finds Keir Starmer 'least popular PM' ever

JOHN Curtice has offered a damning assessment of Labour’s first year in power ...

www.thenational.scot

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Reposted by Christine Ferguson

The National @scotnational.bsky.social · 8d

EXCLUSIVE: Keir Starmer's allies hired private investigators to explore the background of an author whose book led to the resignation of the Prime Minister's director of strategy, The National has learned

Starmer allies hired investigators to look into author of McSweeney book

www.thenational.scot

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Reposted by Christine Ferguson

yipeng ge @yipengge.bsky.social · 9d

I woke up this morning to see a video of a healthcare worker colleague in Gaza be shot in the head while working in the hospital. Shot in the head by the Israeli military. While working in the hospital. Israel continues to target healthcare workers with impunity. Fuck this world.

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Reposted by Christine Ferguson

Tim Dickinson @timdickinson.bsky.social · 11d

Live from "war ravaged" Portland

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Reposted by Christine Ferguson

Dundee UCU @ducuuo.bsky.social · 12d

Remember when UEG told us “there was no plan B” for further redundancies.

Now we know, from the published Recovery Plan, that at the same time they were proposing over 400 future job losses including over 350 redundancies.

We cannot trust their words.

Vote in our ballot now to protect jobs.

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Reposted by Christine Ferguson

Martin Paul Eve @eve.gd · 12d

"Prior to becoming an occultist, Crowther was a professional entertainer and dancer woking in theatre. She also performed a puppet and magic show for children."

www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

Patricia Crowther, known as UK’s oldest witch, dies aged 97

Wiccan high priestess’s 1970s BBC radio series is credited with helping to popularise modern witchcraft

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Christine Ferguson

Gillian Branstetter @gbbranstetter.bsky.social · 16d

"In the name of 'fighting antisemitism', the Trump administration is publicly making an example out of arguably the most famous Jewish public intellectual in the country today."

Judith Butler is being targeted by the US government. We must stand up | Joel Swanson

What is happening to Judith Butler – a Jewish intellectual – in the name of fighting ‘antisemitism’ is outrageous

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Christine Ferguson

The National @scotnational.bsky.social · 17d

EXCLUSIVE: The texts that led to the resignation of Paul Ovenden, Keir Starmer’s director of political strategy, were shown to BBC Newsnight two months ago, it has been revealed

BBC failed to act on texts targeting Diane Abbott months before scandal

www.thenational.scot

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Reposted by Christine Ferguson

21 Group @21group.bsky.social · 18d

Physics is a subject in which UK universities are world leaders

Sadly, our politicians & university senior management are not world leading

There is no sustainable funding for a subject that underpins technological advances

www.theguardian.com/education/20...

Quarter of UK university physics departments at risk of closing, survey finds

Four out of five making staff cuts as physicists say findings are ‘great concern’ for UK’s leadership in important areas

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Christine Ferguson

Leonie V. Hicks @lvhicks.bsky.social · 19d

The point of going to university is to explore research and knowledge, not to start an effing business. The skills and experiences gained might help you start a business, as might the interactions with the people you meet, but it is not the purpose of a degree.

Fed up of this manure.

Ben Ansell @benansell.bsky.social · 19d

An actual quote from the Secretary of State for Business and Trade

Too often people go to university to ‘explore research and knowledge’

Look forward to Wes S saying 'too often people go to hospital to have operations' or Heidi Alexander saying 'too often people go to the station to catch a train'

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Christine Ferguson @cferguson.bsky.social · 19d

Yaaaaassss, as we say in Glasgow!

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Reposted by Christine Ferguson

Dr Jen Baker @jendeavour.bsky.social · 25d

Warwick English came 5th in The Guardian today, which is great for us.
But also notice that Lancaster came 3rd for Creative Writing & 7th for English - but the university is decimating programmes & firing 1/3 of academic staff over the next six months 🤔🤔🤔 @lancasterucu.bsky.social
#saveartsandhums

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Reposted by Christine Ferguson

The National @scotnational.bsky.social · 20d

The National's front page today asks a big question: Is it a crime to share a picture of Jeffrey Epstein and Donald Trump? 👇

The National dedicates front page to Trump and Epstein after protest arrests

www.thenational.scot

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Reposted by Christine Ferguson

Martin Paul Eve @eve.gd · 20d

All UK HE news talks of contraction. Bronze TEF providers will be defunded. Research funding is to be more "targeted". Total continuation of the Conservatives' vision for HE, under Labour.

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Christine Ferguson @cferguson.bsky.social · 20d

💯

Christine Ferguson @cferguson.bsky.social · 21d

This is fantastic— I’ve always wanted to know more about Shirley, and this is such a rich account! The son of a Regius chair in Ecclesiastical History, no less? I would love to see more work on Shirley; he is such a cornerstone figure in the early 20th-c occult milieu.

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