Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Dr Janette Leaf @janetteleaf.bsky.social · 6h

All fine! Latest area of research is the Hypnotic Gothic😵‍💫😴I've got a Victoriographies article due out very soon on my core stuff: Satanic Scarabs & Orientalist Art in fin-de-siecle Gothic. 🪲Apart from that, I'm branching out into singing/songwriting 🤠💀. Hope you, your partner & little'un are well!

Dr Janette Leaf @janetteleaf.bsky.social · 1d

Hey! This is incredibly late, but massive congratulations on the doctorate! I happened to see that you were now Dr Craig Thomson! Fabulous! 🐺

a silhouette of a person standing in front of a full moon with capcom written on the bottom right

ALT: a silhouette of a person standing in front of a full moon with capcom written on the bottom right

media.tenor.com

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Dr Janette Leaf @janetteleaf.bsky.social · 7d

Thank you very much! And, I hope you know I think you're incredible too! 🤩

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Dr Janette Leaf @janetteleaf.bsky.social · 8d

I'm grateful to @bavs-uk.bsky.social @vpfa.bsky.social @issegyptomania.bsky.social bsls.ac.uk @incsa.bsky.social @thebsls.bsky.social & so many individuals within the #Victorian #Gothic #Egyptomania #LitSci #PreRaphaeilite communities for friendship & support during my Research Fellowships.

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Dr Janette Leaf @janetteleaf.bsky.social · 8d

Delighted to take up my 3rd Birkbeck Honorary Research Fellowship today. Looking back at some of the 30 conference papers I've presented since being awarded my doctorate, I'm excited for 2025-2026. @19birkbeck.bsky.social @theprofrog.bsky.social @drvickymills.bsky.social @luisacale.bsky.social

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Dr Janette Leaf @janetteleaf.bsky.social · 18d

Bathed in blood-red light at #Dracula @lyrichammersmith.bsky.social soaking up the staging, centring of the relationship between Mina and Lucy, & Mina's key editorial role. Nice nod to those in the know with the appearance of the yellow-backed 1897 edition! Loved it! #Gothic @indiekid.bsky.social

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Dr Janette Leaf @janetteleaf.bsky.social · Jul 28

Happy Birthday to Beatrix Potter: born 28 July 1866! An incredible woman: a writer, illustrator, nature lover and natural scientist, botanist, mycologist, entomologist, zoologist, archaeologist . . .

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Devin Garofalo @devingarofalo.bsky.social · Jul 26

When you are determining where to submit your scholarly essay for potential publication & you opt not to send it to a specific journal bc their publisher is, say, licensing “content” to train AI — please tell the journal editor. This info is crucial for editors but shadowy / difficult to document.

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Dr Janette Leaf @janetteleaf.bsky.social · Jul 27

It was really great to see you, Jen! I also loved the shoutout to @britishlibrary.bsky.social Tales of the Weird editors in your talk, especially as @dremilyvincent.bsky.social, @pamplemoussepam.bsky.social & I were all sat near each other. Pam spotted our books in ‪@blackwelloxford.bsky.social‬! x

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Dr Janette Leaf @janetteleaf.bsky.social · Jul 26

I absolutely loved our panel too! It was wonderful to present alongside you and to chat! Your research is amazing and your 'thanks for listening' slide one of the very best. Hope to see you soon at another event! 🪲💀

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Dr Janette Leaf @janetteleaf.bsky.social · Jul 26

Thanks very much! 🪲

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Dr Janette Leaf @janetteleaf.bsky.social · Jul 26

#BAVS2025 you were a blast! 5 x Birkbeck papers from @drvickymills.bsky.social @nonfictioness.bsky.social @helenaesser.bsky.social Julia Kuehn and me! Great to hang with @jeremynewton64.bsky.social too! Such fun and sociability with so many great #Victorian scholars! @19birkbeck.bsky.social

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Open Culture @openculture.bsky.social · Jul 17

The Metropolitan Museum of Art Puts 490,000 High-Res Images Online & Makes Them Free to Use

Update: The Metropolitan Museum of Art has put online 492,000 high-resolution images of artistic works. Even better, the museum has placed the vast majority of these images into the public domain, mea...

www.openculture.com

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Dr McInnes’s Monster @drbeard79.bsky.social · Jul 21

CFP for Sex in the #19thC (deets in alt)

Abstracts (300 words), biographies (100 words), and should be submitted on Monday 22d September 2025 to rrr @ soton.ac.uk. Please
indicate if you would like to be considered for a travel bursary, and include your full name, discipline & institution.

CFP with caricature of a throuple on a sofa: a man in the middle between two women with breasts more or less exposed

Sex in the Long Nineteenth Century
15th January 2026
University of Stirling, Scotland
Keynote speaker: Dr. Michael Shaw
In The History of Sexuality (1976), Foucault outlines the 'discursive explosion' that occurred around
sex during the long nineteenth century. Sexuality became a distinct personal identity for the first time, as shown in literature and art, and sexual discourses often reflected the period's political and
social anxieties around gender and power. Modern queer theorists first situated their work within
nineteenth-century studies (Eve Kofosky Sedgewick, Between Men, 1985), and recent work in the
field historicises marginalised groups (Jen Manion, Female Husbands: A Trans History, 2020). Sex
encourages us to consider the broader cultural and societal dynamics of the long nineteenth century, and the lasting influence of these structures today.
We invite papers of 15 minutes on the topic of sex in the long nineteenth century (1789-1914) in all its forms and in a global context for our in-person conference. We encourage broad interpretations of the topic and invite submissions that explore its fluid and multifaceted nature. The journal
encourages multi- and interdisciplinary papers from across the Arts, Social Sciences, and Humanities and invites contributions from those at any career stage, including PGRs and ECRs.
Possible topics may include, but are not limited to:
• Sexuality and queer studies • Women's writing
• Gender, feminism, and masculinities • Sexual health, contraception, and the medical
• Trans studies humanities
• Pregnancy, childbirth, and childcare • Sex work
• Sex scandals in court and politics • Print culture; pornography and Victorian erotica
• Gothic literature • Postcolonial and ecocritical perspectives on
• Decadence; hedonism gender and sex

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Rami Ismail (رامي) @ramiismail.com · Jul 14

Bye forever, WeTransfer.

WeTransfer TOS says they can use all your uploaded content for genAI

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Dr Janette Leaf @janetteleaf.bsky.social · Jul 21

It will be so great meeting in person! Really looking forward to your Gothic panel on Friday too! x

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Dr Janette Leaf @janetteleaf.bsky.social · Jul 20

This is really good news, not least because it's some sort of recognition of the huge amount you do! It definitely deserves celebration and congratulation! I'm really happy for you!

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Tom Gauld @tomgauld.bsky.social · Jul 20

My cartoon for this week’s @theguardian.com books.

Two figures approach the Baggage Reclaim area of an airport.

One says “We wouldn't need to put things in the hold if you brought fewer books on holiday.”

Arriving on the carousel, amongst the bags and suitcases is a very large, well-stocked bookcase.

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Dr Janette Leaf @janetteleaf.bsky.social · Jul 20

This is such fun! And many congratulations on your doctorate!

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Brian Groom @groomb.bsky.social · Jul 19

Architect Alfred Waterhouse born #OTD 1830 to a Liverpool Quaker family. Buildings include Manchester Town Hall, London’s Natural History Museum, Liverpool University's Victoria building. His love of red brick and terracotta led to him being nicknamed 'Slaughterhouse Waterhouse'.

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Dr Janette Leaf @janetteleaf.bsky.social · Jul 17

Just to give a flavour of Birkbeck C19th doings at #VPFAExtremes ! @19birkbeck.bsky.social @drvickymills.bsky.social @luisacale.bsky.social @theprofrog.bsky.social @andrewkingc19.bsky.social @helenaesser.bsky.social

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Chris Louttit @drchrislouttit.bsky.social · Jun 22

Also, if you're working on C19 sources, see @patrickleary.bsky.social's invaluable list of open-access 19th-c periodicals here:

VRW: Open Access Periodicals

www.victorianresearch.org

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Dr Janette Leaf @janetteleaf.bsky.social · Jul 17

‪Still buzzing after an amazing #VPFAextremes conference! What a treat to hear so many talented speakers and to present on Hypnotic Gothic alongside Birkbeck pals!
@vpfa.bsky.social #Gothic #victorian

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Dr Janette Leaf @janetteleaf.bsky.social · Apr 14

One of the things I enjoyed pre submission was generating word clouds for each of my chapters. Bizarrely, it helped with re-structuring. I was also obsessive about keeping track of my wordcount for the intro, each chapter & conclusion to make sure it didn't become unbalanced! You're nearly there!

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John J Johnston @johnjjohnston.bsky.social · Feb 18

Delighted to welcome my splendid colleagues at @issegyptomania.bsky.social to Bluesky 🦋. Please consider giving them a follow on this platform, or even in becoming a member, they do incredible work on the reception of ancient Egypt and host numerous online lectures, seminars, and conferences!

The International Society for the Study of Egyptomania @issegyptomania.bsky.social · Feb 18

Hello! We are ISSE, The International Society for the Study of Egyptomania! ISSE is dedicated to the ethical study and research of the historic & modern day fascination with Egypt #Egyptomania #ReceptionStudies

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