Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Joanne Begiato

Prof. Liz Oakley-Brown @earlymodlancs.bsky.social · 7h

I want to tell all students of the so-called 'rip-off degrees' named below that your critical thinking is important and makes valid contributions to culture and society

Without your skills, we wouldn't be able to unpack toxic discourses and do something about them

Martin Paul Eve @eve.gd · 7h

This makes me so angry. These people view all life as training for lifelong servitude/work. There's no room for interest, enjoyment, and culture in their bleak vision of education. At least she'll never be in power to see it through. Though Reform are probably worse.

Badenoch: Curb students taking "rip-off" degrees such as English. The performing arts, sociology and anthropology are among the subjects the Conservatives would like to cut

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Joanne Begiato @jbhist.bsky.social · 6h

This is utterly appalling. Why isn't this the focus of media concern rather than stoking racist fears? What a terrible society we live in.

Museum of Homelessness @ourmoh.bsky.social · 7h

With heavy hearts we release our findings of our annual investigation into the deaths of people experiencing homelessness in 2024.
Read more on our site here:

museumofhomelessness.org/news/new-res...

Our investigation finds that 1611 people experiencing homelessness died in 2024 - a 9% increase on the previous year. — Museum of Homelessness

We are devastated to share our latest research into the deaths of those who die. It has revealed the continued impact at the sharpest edge of the homelessness crisis, as the Labour Government has fail...

museumofhomelessness.org

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Reposted by Joanne Begiato

Sarah-Maria Schober @smschober.bsky.social · 19h

Want to work on the history of hair? I am looking for a doc and postdoc to join my project team researching #earlymodern hair, race, trade and multispecies history at the University of Lucerne.

Do apply and spread the word!

www.unilu.ch/en/universit...

www.unilu.ch/en/universit...

PhD position in History (100%, 4 years) - Vacancies - University of Lucerne

Assistant or doctoral positions, employment or internship: Looking for a job at the University of Lucerne? Find our listed open positions and apprenticeships here.

www.unilu.ch

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Joanne Begiato @jbhist.bsky.social · 21h

If you are in the North West, check out this talk. It's a panel and a book launch. It's a fantastic topic. Please repost!

The Victorian Hand @victorianhand.bsky.social · 1d

How might hands reveal an inner self – a soul, a character, an identity?

Join us on 12 November at Lancaster University to explore this question with Professor Alison Bashford (University of New South Wales) as she presents her book, Decoding the Hand.

Tickets: thevictorianhand.uk/alison-bashf...

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Joanne Begiato @jbhist.bsky.social · 1d

Looking forward to this exciting event!

The Victorian Hand @victorianhand.bsky.social · 1d

How might hands reveal an inner self – a soul, a character, an identity?

Join us on 12 November at Lancaster University to explore this question with Professor Alison Bashford (University of New South Wales) as she presents her book, Decoding the Hand.

Tickets: thevictorianhand.uk/alison-bashf...

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Reposted by Joanne Begiato

Brodie Waddell @brodiewaddell.bsky.social · 6d

Who did what in early modern England?

New #OpenAccess book, 'The Experience of Work in Early Modern England' by @jwhittle.bsky.social, @markhailwood.bsky.social, @hkrobb.bsky.social & @aucointaylor.bsky.social, based on thousands of #EarlyModern court depositions 🗃️

Read it: doi.org/10.1017/9781...

This book applies the innovative work-task approach to the history of work, which captures the contribution of all workers and types of work to the early modern economy. Drawing on tens of thousands of court depositions, the authors analyse the individual tasks that made up everyday work for women and men, shedding new light on the gender division of labour, and the ways in which time, space, age and marital status shaped sixteenth and seventeenth-century working life. Combining qualitative and quantitative analysis, the book deepens our understanding of the preindustrial economy, and calls for us to rethink not only who did what, but also the implications of these findings for major debates about structural change, the nature and extent of paid work, and what has been lost as well as gained over the past three centuries of economic development. This title is also available as open access on Cambridge Core.

Cover of Whittle, Jane, Mark Hailwood, Hannah Robb, and Taylor Aucoin. The Experience of Work in Early Modern England. of Cambridge Studies in Economic History - Second Series. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2025.

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Reposted by Joanne Begiato

Hannah Elias @hannahelias.bsky.social · 8d

Are you an emerging scholar researching Black British history and looking for opportunities to share your research? Please get in touch with @oliviawyatt1999.bsky.social or Meleisa Ono George via contact info below to take part in this ⚡️ talks session @ihr.bsky.social (and please share widely!)

IHR Black British History Seminar @ihrblackbritish.bsky.social · 8d

Kicking off our fantastic line up with a showcase of new research! Get in touch if you are a postgraduate or early career researcher who would like to introduce their work to the field.

📍 Hybrid: N304, IHR, Senate House, WC1E 7HU and Online
📅 Thursday 16th October, 2025
⏰ 17:30
🔗 bit.ly/3INwCfO

Email Olivia.Wyatt@ed.ac.uk or Meleisa.Ono-George@history.ox.ac.uk to present online or in-person

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Reposted by Joanne Begiato

Buckinghamshire Archives @bucksarchives.bsky.social · 7d

Next month is Buckinghamshire History Festival! Buckinghamshire Archives and our wonderful partners will be hosting a series of events around the county, celebrating Buckinghamshire’s brilliant heritage.

For more details, head to histfestbucks.co.uk

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Joanne Begiato @jbhist.bsky.social · 7d

We are thrilled that @rosscmrn.bsky.socia has joined out team. We're now able to share our exciting research more fully. Follow @victorianhand.bsky.social to keep up to date!

The Victorian Hand @victorianhand.bsky.social · 7d

We are pleased to annouce that Dr Ross Cameron @rosscmrn.bsky.social has joined The Victorian Hand team as a Public Engagement Fellow at @lcflondon.bsky.social!

Watch this space for upcoming annoucements about public engagement activities and ways to get involved with The Victorian Hand.

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Reposted by Joanne Begiato

Women's History Network @womenshistnet.bsky.social · 9d

Two days to go! Don't forget to register for our next seminar on 'Teeth and Women's Quest for Beauty' with Dr Margarette Lincoln from the National Maritime Museum. Link to sign up in the enclosed post:

Women's History Network @womenshistnet.bsky.social · 13d

Registration is now open for our next seminar. Dr Margarette Lincoln @margarettel.bsky.social will be joining us on Wednesday, 1 October 2025 at 4pm UK time to discuss 'Teeth and Women's Quest for Beauty'. You can find the link to register here: womenshistorynetwork.org/sign-up-now-...

Sign up now for our next seminar featuring Dr Margarette Lincoln

Wednesday, 1 October 2025, at 4pm BST/GMT+1 Sign-up now for our online-only zoom webinar here. Teeth and Women’s Quest for Beauty Toothcare was once a source of dreadful anxiety for women, ri…

womenshistorynetwork.org

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Joanne Begiato @jbhist.bsky.social · 9d

"Over four months, LLM users consistently underperformed at neural, linguistic, and behavioral levels. These results raise concerns about the long-term educational implications of LLM reliance and underscore the need for deeper inquiry into AI's role in learning"
www.media.mit.edu/publications...

Your Brain on ChatGPT: Accumulation of Cognitive Debt when Using an AI Assistant for Essay Writing Task – MIT Media Lab

This study explores the neural and behavioral consequences of LLM-assisted essay writing. Participants were divided into three groups: LLM, Search Engine, and …

www.media.mit.edu

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Reposted by Joanne Begiato

Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 13d

Would find this more convincing if the elephant in the room were addressed head on: research cultures develop/are enacted in research (& teaching) structures. The REF2029 cycle has seen extraordinary structural change. Will/how will PCE assess cultures in this context? 1/2

Is research culture really too hard to assess?

Yolana Pringle and Ben Tatler make the case that the REF pause should be the moment to build on the most substantial sector-wide collaboration ever undertaken on research environments

wonkhe.com

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Joanne Begiato @jbhist.bsky.social · 14d

Please read and share if you are interested in art, emotions, material culture and more!

The Victorian Hand @victorianhand.bsky.social · 14d

Time feels tangible in these casts...
Over on the Victorian Hand project blog, our Research Associate @helenvmurray.bsky.social reflects on her trip to Watts Gallery to research their extensive collection of plaster cast hands..
www.thevictorianhand.uk/blog-touchin...

A plaster cast of the hands of GF Watts, one folded over the other.

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Reposted by Joanne Begiato

History Workshop @historyworkshop.org.uk · 15d

The summer has seen anti-trans campaigns across the UK and US, alongside a crisis in healthcare. But what use could trans history have in these time, beyond proving 'we have always been here'?

Sam Rutherford @echomikeromeo reflects on Imagining Trans Futures:
www.historyworkshop....

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Reposted by Joanne Begiato

The Daily Tism @thedailytism.com · 15d

Randhawa said: “I’m on top of the world right now. I feel great. Like I could run a marathon, or defeat God in single combat – hang on a minute! I forgot to add those things to my to-do list. I’ll put them both under ‘Priority’.”

Autistic woman celebrates rare burst of energy by running herself into the ground again

An autistic woman experiencing a rare burst of energy has decided to mark the occasion by doing all the things that exhausted her in the first place. Navya Randhawa, 36, was recently forced to take a…

thedailytism.com

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Joanne Begiato @jbhist.bsky.social · 14d

Love this post @helenvmurray.bsky.social!

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Joanne Begiato @jbhist.bsky.social · 14d

Wonderful blog post!

The Victorian Hand @victorianhand.bsky.social · 14d

Time feels tangible in these casts...
Over on the Victorian Hand project blog, our Research Associate @helenvmurray.bsky.social reflects on her trip to Watts Gallery to research their extensive collection of plaster cast hands..
www.thevictorianhand.uk/blog-touchin...

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Reposted by Joanne Begiato

Conor Heffernan @physcstudy.bsky.social · 15d

🚨Published in the American Historical Review!🚨

My article argues that historians can treat the body as an archive. Using my own training alongside J.C. Hise’s 1930s squat experiments, I explore how fitness culture reshapes bodies, identities & anxieties.

👉 bit.ly/46xlcVw

Mistakes I Carried: Building Strength in a Time of Crisis

Abstract. My critical mistake as a historian was ignoring the physical body as a site of knowledge production. For years, I analyzed fitness history in arc

bit.ly

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Reposted by Joanne Begiato

The Victorian Hand @victorianhand.bsky.social · 16d

🙋Don't forget! The call for abstracts for our conference on The Hand closes at midnight tonight!

All abstracts should be sent to [email protected]

We can't wait to go through all the incredible submissions we've received, so we can hand-craft a fantastic programme.
Watch this space!

A 2 page spread from a Victorian drawing manual, showing hands, pointing in opposite directions. Text reads: "Last day to submit! The Hand: Emotions, Embodiment, Identity, an Interdisciplinary Conference. London College of Fashion, 8-9 January 2026"

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Joanne Begiato @jbhist.bsky.social · 16d

A reminder!!

The Victorian Hand @victorianhand.bsky.social · 16d

🙋Don't forget! The call for abstracts for our conference on The Hand closes at midnight tonight!

All abstracts should be sent to [email protected]

We can't wait to go through all the incredible submissions we've received, so we can hand-craft a fantastic programme.
Watch this space!

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Reposted by Joanne Begiato

Prof Katherine Schofield 🇬🇧🇦🇺🇪🇺 @katherineschof8.bsky.social · 17d

This is not OK

www.thelondoneconomic.com/politics/how...

Reform, with 0.7% of all MPs, featured in 25% of BBC's recent 10pm news bulletins

Astonishingly, a party with 18 times as many MPs as Reform has received one-third less coverage on BBC News at 10.

www.thelondoneconomic.com

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Reposted by Joanne Begiato

Kat Bristow @kathrynbristow.uk · 18d

The Green Party has taken great strides in being a liberatory space for trans people.

It must not allow organisations to bully us into having stalls at conference that are against our aims and makes people feel unsafe.

So a group of us have created a petition ✍️
you.38degrees.org.uk/p/Greens-Tra...

Greens for Trans Liberation

Trans rights are human rights.  The Green Party has long affirmed that:  • Trans women are women, trans men are men, and non-binary identities exist.  • Everyone deserves dignity, safet...

you.38degrees.org.uk

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Reposted by Joanne Begiato

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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Joanne Begiato @jbhist.bsky.social · 19d

That's appalling.

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Reposted by Joanne Begiato

Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 20d

'We should, like Humboldt, pay a bit more attention to the data.'

But also recognise that the data alone won't sway most minds. Stories too matter, and are richly available: eastangliabylines.co.uk/immigration/...

The UK’s problems aren’t caused by immigration

It’s not hard to see how so many came to worry about the issue. But the data isn’t there

www.ft.com

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