Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Dominic O'Key

hannah @hannahkateboast.bsky.social · 19d

Really sorry to see news of more voluntary redundancies planned at Sheffield. As a Sheffield evangelist - it famously happens to everyone who studies there! - I'm so sad to see what's being done to my favourite university www.thestar.co.uk/education/un...

Bosses announce new round of voluntary redundancies at university

A second round of voluntary redundancies has been announced at the University of Sheffield.

www.thestar.co.uk

1 6 14

Dominic O'Key @dominicokey.bsky.social · 22d

I've got a new open access article out in BMJ Medical Humanities, co-written with my friend Georgia Walton. It's about the species politics of animal testing, human reproduction and horror cinema. Basically: what if we see animal testing for the horror that it is?

doi.org/10.1136/medh... #medhums

1 2 5

Reposted by Dominic O'Key

Yara Rodrigues Fowler @yararf.bsky.social · Sep 5

I’ve written a long read for @tribunemagazine.bsky.social about happened with Baillie Gifford, @fossilfreebooks.org and all the festivals. A lot of fake news circulated at the time so, whatever side you came down on, I’d be grateful if you read and shared it. tribunemag.co.uk/2025/09/writ...

Writers Unbound

As another literary festival season draws to a close, a writers’ group is highlighting the connections between publishing, the fossil fuel industry, and the genocide in Gaza.

tribunemag.co.uk

1 26 30

Dominic O'Key @dominicokey.bsky.social · Aug 20

For it, I had a lot of fun thinking about Jordan Peele and deer, rabbits, horses, chimps and aliens.

Jordan Peele's Animals: Zoological Horror, Afropessimist Allegory and the Alien Superstar.

Available here with paywall: link.springer.com/chapter/10.1.... Or, DM me.

3

Dominic O'Key @dominicokey.bsky.social · Aug 20

Published this week: ANIMALITY AND HORROR CINEMA: CREATURELY FEAR ON FILM.

Another fantastic title from Palgrave Studies in Animals and Literature.

Brilliantly edited from Peter Sands, Mo O'Neill and
@samjhind.bsky.social

link.springer.com/book/10.1007...

1 6 14

Reposted by Dominic O'Key

Noreen Masud @noreenmasud.bsky.social · Aug 19

Pls sign and share this open letter to the Bristol VC, against the School of Humanities's decision to withdraw the BA in English Literature and Community Engagement (ELCE): the only part-time, flexible undergraduate degree programme available at the University forms.gle/SbyhXPSJgQTc...

Save our pioneering widening participation undergraduate degree in English Literature and Community Engagement at the University of Bristol

19 August 2025 Dear Evelyn Welch (Vice-Chancellor) cc Judith Squires (Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Provost), Tansy Jessop (Pro Vice-Chancellor for Education and Students) The School of Humanities has ...

forms.gle

4 68 61

Reposted by Dominic O'Key

hannah @hannahkateboast.bsky.social · Aug 18

Thanks to Avi Shlaim for covering our open letter in The Independent. Almost 5,000 academics and university workers call for the UK government to defer biometrics requirements for Gaza students: www.independent.co.uk/voices/pales...

Why can’t Palestinian students from Gaza take up their university places in Britain?

Unless the UK expedites the safe passage of Palestinians with university offers, the government will have abetted the wiping out of scholarship in Gaza, says Oxford emeritus professor Avi Shlaim

www.independent.co.uk

6 7

Reposted by Dominic O'Key

Ryan Topper @ryantopper.bsky.social · Aug 10

Animist Poetics: Ancestral Trauma and Regeneration in African Literature is in print! The paperback will be out in Feb. Please request that your library order a copy. 30% off with the discount code SNWF25. @sunypress.bsky.social @rcolesworthy.bsky.social

sunypress.edu/Books/A/Anim...

Animist Poetics

sunypress.edu

8 13

Reposted by Dominic O'Key

Humanimalia @humanimalia.bsky.social · Jul 30

Out Now: Humanimalia 15.2!
Featuring timely essays on human–animal entanglements, including 🐴 a taxidermied horse in London, 🐗 a feral pig in Australia, 🐐 “happy” goats in Italy, 🐾 robot dogs in Gaza, 🐦 pheasants in NL, and 🐑 sheepdogs in the UK.
🔓 OA here: humanimalia.org/issue/view/1...

11 24

Reposted by Dominic O'Key

Prof. Liz Oakley-Brown @earlymodlancs.bsky.social · Jul 30

- 400 jobs to go at Lancaster University

- 1 in 4 people will be made redundant

But where's the financial evidence for this extreme action?

Please read 👇

Sign the petition 👇

chng.it/7F52bThYqn

Sign the Petition

Stop Mass Redundancies at Lancaster University – Hold Senior Management Accountable

chng.it

3 92 91

Dominic O'Key @dominicokey.bsky.social · Jul 2

I've written a short essay on animal studies and its methods for English Language Notes' brilliant "Of Note" section @dukepress.bsky.social. A pleasure to write alongside @mortizrobles.bsky.social.

read.dukeupress.edu/english-lang...

Volume 63 Issue 1 | English Language Notes | Duke University Press

read.dukeupress.edu

1 7

Dominic O'Key @dominicokey.bsky.social · Apr 30

Seconded! ✊

1 2

Reposted by Dominic O'Key

Humanimalia @humanimalia.bsky.social · Dec 2

Humanimalia 15.1 coming soon!

Cover of the forthcoming issue of Humanimalia, depicting a slug following a circuitous route toward the top left-hand corner

3 7

Reposted by Dominic O'Key

University and College Union (UCU) @ucu.org.uk · Nov 25

We're supporting the week of action United Against Scholasticide #workplaces4palestine

From 23-30 November:

✊ Educate and raise awareness
✊Join the workplace day of action 28 November
✊Send a message of solidarity

Find out more and get involved 👇
ucu.org.uk/CeasefireNow

Ceasefire NOW!

UCU joins with many others in Palestine, the UK, and beyond to reiterate the demands for an immediate ceasefire, the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, unrestricted access to humanit...

ucu.org.uk

14 23

Dominic O'Key @dominicokey.bsky.social · Nov 21

Ditto!

2

Dominic O'Key @dominicokey.bsky.social · Nov 13

De-mining rats. Stray dogs. Lal Kandhari cows. Marxist cats. And fishy resistance. My review of Animal Studies in 2023 is available here. DM me for the PDF.

doi.org/10.1093/ywcc...

Animal Studies

Abstract. This review essay explores some key contributions to animal studies in 2023. In Section 1, Humanitarianism Beyond Humanism, I consider how Benjam

doi.org

4 7

Dominic O'Key @dominicokey.bsky.social · Jun 11

My review of Peter Arnds' book 'Wolves at the Door' is now out in Society & Animals. It's paywalled, though, so give me a shout if you'd like the PDF. brill.com/view/journal...

brill.com

Dominic O'Key @dominicokey.bsky.social · Jan 31

My reading of Aminatta Forna's Happiness, a multicultural & multispecies melting pot of a novel, is now out in Contemporary Literature. Come for the urban foxes, stay for the critique of anthropocene optimism.

cl.uwpress.org/content/63/4...

Aminatta Forna’s Postcolonial Romance: Borders, Foxes, and Natural Resilience in Happiness

In a scene partway through Happiness (2018), the fourth novel by the British and Sierra Leonian author Aminatta Forna, the novel’s protagonist Attila is sitting in the backseat of a London minicab, ...

cl.uwpress.org

2

Dominic O'Key @dominicokey.bsky.social · Jan 18

I wrote about elephants, extinction and colonial history in South Africa's Addo national park for Current Conservation. www.currentconservation.org/temporary-ve...

Temporary Vertigo | Current Conservation

Current Conservation Temporary Vertigo

www.currentconservation.org

1

Dominic O'Key @dominicokey.bsky.social · Dec 12

This Friday we're hosting the final session of our conference, Fifty Years of Project Tiger: Conservation, Conflict, Critique.

Register here: project-tiger.co.uk

Homepage - Project Tiger

A conference on the pasts and futures of tiger conservation in India. Featuring talks from wildlife biologists and environmental historians.

project-tiger.co.uk

1 4

Dominic O'Key @dominicokey.bsky.social · Nov 30

Tomorrow we kick off our online symposium on the pasts & futures of India's flagship conservation programme, Project Tiger.

We'll be hearing new research from Revati Pandya and Sonakshi Srivastava, with responses from Sudha Vasan and Ambika Aiyadurai.

Register here: project-tiger.co.uk

Homepage - Project Tiger

A conference on the pasts and futures of tiger conservation in India. Featuring talks from wildlife biologists and environmental historians.

project-tiger.co.uk

2 1

Dominic O'Key @dominicokey.bsky.social · Nov 29

Last month I was moved to try & make sense of the UK government's XL Bully dog ban.

The essay I produced was imperfect & limited, but even so: it's telling –and proves my point– that noone I approached was interested in publishing it.

Here's the essay: tinyletter.com/attentivenes...

On the XL Bully Ban

The UK government has now announced its plans to ban “XL bully type dogs <https://www.gov.uk/government/news/xl-bully-type-dogs-to-be-banned>” as part of the Dangerous Dogs Act. From the end of...

tinyletter.com

Reposted by Dominic O'Key

Jared Margulies @jaredmargulies.bsky.social · Nov 17

I'm extremely excited to be taking part as a desiccant in this set of conversations about Project Tiger in December as it reaches 50. "Fifty Years of Project Tiger" An online symposium organised by Dominic O’Key, Anu Pande and Susan Haris. Some brilliant talks lined up!

project-tiger.co.uk#schedule

Homepage - Project Tiger

An online symposium organised by Dominic O’Key, Anu Pande and Susan Haris. A collaboration between the Sheffield Animal Studies Research Centre and the Indian Animal Studies Collective. Funded by th...

project-tiger.co.uk

1 1 5

Dominic O'Key @dominicokey.bsky.social · Nov 20

Thanks for sharing, Rosaleen!

1

Dominic O'Key @dominicokey.bsky.social · Nov 17

I am very pleased to share the website for our conference "Fifty Years of Project Tiger: Conservation, Conflict, Critique", featuring an incredible line-up of speakers. Register here! project-tiger.co.uk

Homepage - Project Tiger

A conference on the pasts and futures of tiger conservation in India. Featuring talks from wildlife biologists and environmental historians.

project-tiger.co.uk

1 2 9