Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Megan Cassidy-Welch @megancw.bsky.social · Aug 18

This is awful. I’m sorry Matt, for you and your colleagues. What a shortsighted decision.

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Megan Cassidy-Welch @megancw.bsky.social · Aug 18

Terrible news. I’m very sorry.

Megan Cassidy-Welch @megancw.bsky.social · Aug 16

It was lovely to be back at Monash and see everyone! Sorry you couldn’t be there.

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Megan Cassidy-Welch @megancw.bsky.social · Aug 16

Sending you positive healing vibes. Hope you feel better very soon.

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Reposted by Megan Cassidy-Welch

Bronagh Ann McShane @bamcshane.bsky.social · Aug 11

#cfp for the 2026 Conference of the History of Women Religious of Britain and Ireland, ‘Women Religious: Patronage & Networks from Medieval to Modern’ taking place at Queen Mary University of London on 11/12 June. Please share widely #nuntastic

historyofwomenreligious.org/call-for-pap...

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Reposted by Megan Cassidy-Welch

Megan Cassidy-Welch @megancw.bsky.social · Jul 19

Presenting on a religious history topic at an academic conference? Need some funding support? Apply for a conference bursary from the RHA! Membership is great value: AUD30 (waged)/AUD15 (student or unwaged). Visit therha.com.au for details.

Megan Cassidy-Welch @megancw.bsky.social · Jul 18

Funding opportunity! Please share!
The Religious History Association is offering bursaries for conference papers on religious history. Up to AUD $1,000. Apps due August 30, 2025. Info and application form on the 'Awards and Grants' menu at: therha.com.au
#AcademicSky

Religious History Association

therha.com.au

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Reposted by Megan Cassidy-Welch

Australasian Classical Reception Studies Network (ACRSN) @acrsn.bsky.social · Aug 12

#job📢 #classics #Australia - University of Queensland (Brisbane) - Lecturer in #Greek Literature (Level B) - full-time, permanent, teaching & research - closing date Sept 11 uq.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com/uqcareers/jo...

Lecturer in Greek Literature

School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry, Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences Full-time, permanent position based at our St Lucia campus Base salary will be in the range $106,079 - $...

uq.wd3.myworkdayjobs.com

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Megan Cassidy-Welch @megancw.bsky.social · Aug 5

Applications still open! For religious history papers at any academic conference, anywhere! Great opportunity for a bit of funding support to present your research. Tell your networks! Details in post below.

Megan Cassidy-Welch @megancw.bsky.social · Jul 18

Funding opportunity! Please share!
The Religious History Association is offering bursaries for conference papers on religious history. Up to AUD $1,000. Apps due August 30, 2025. Info and application form on the 'Awards and Grants' menu at: therha.com.au
#AcademicSky

Religious History Association

therha.com.au

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Reposted by Megan Cassidy-Welch

Megan Cassidy-Welch @megancw.bsky.social · Jul 18

Funding opportunity! Please share!
The Religious History Association is offering bursaries for conference papers on religious history. Up to AUD $1,000. Apps due August 30, 2025. Info and application form on the 'Awards and Grants' menu at: therha.com.au
#AcademicSky

Religious History Association

therha.com.au

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Reposted by Megan Cassidy-Welch

Pearls and Irritations @johnmenadue.com · Jul 23

A future in which [ANU] brings up the rear of the Group of Eight and then, unable to compete, evolves in short time into a middle-ranking Australian regional university. That is what is at stake here, writes Frank Bongiorno #auspol #ANU

Change proposals risk relegating ANU to middle-ranking regional uni

Well known historian and long-time ANU staff member, Frank Bongiorno, says he has never seen, such a lack of vision, such a vacuum of ideas, such general disorganisation, nor such cavalier decision-making about institutions and programs built up through hard work over decades in all his years at ANU. He outlined his concerns in this submission to ANU management.

johnmenadue.com

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Reposted by Megan Cassidy-Welch

Lauren Gawne @superlinguo.bsky.social · Jul 17

The latest round of cuts at ANU include an outrageous plan to close the Australian National Dictionary Centre (ANDC). ANU has forgotten its vital function as the national university.

Please sign this petition urging ANU to reconsider and protect the ANDC:
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

Why the ANDC Matters?

- The ANDC is Australia’s leading centre for lexicographical research, jointly funded by ANU and Oxford University Press.
- It is the definitive authority on Australian English—documenting regionalisms, Aboriginal English, and producing landmark publications like the Australian National Dictionary.
- Its widely celebrated “Word of the Year” initiative connects Australians with their evolving language and identity.
- For ANU, it provides immense national and international visibility—while operating as a low-cost, high-impact asset.

The Cost of Closure:
- Damage to Australian English: Halting systematic documentation of our unique national language.
- Setback for Indigenous Languages: Undermining efforts to research and preserve Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages.
- Erosion of National Identity: Undermining the role of language in shaping how Australians see themselves, their history, and their culture.
- Damage to ANU’s Reputation: Compromising its mission as a national university and leader in cultural heritage research.

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Megan Cassidy-Welch @megancw.bsky.social · Jul 19

Presenting on a religious history topic at an academic conference? Need some funding support? Apply for a conference bursary from the RHA! Membership is great value: AUD30 (waged)/AUD15 (student or unwaged). Visit therha.com.au for details.

Megan Cassidy-Welch @megancw.bsky.social · Jul 18

Funding opportunity! Please share!
The Religious History Association is offering bursaries for conference papers on religious history. Up to AUD $1,000. Apps due August 30, 2025. Info and application form on the 'Awards and Grants' menu at: therha.com.au
#AcademicSky

Religious History Association

therha.com.au

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Megan Cassidy-Welch @megancw.bsky.social · Jul 18

Funding opportunity! Please share!
The Religious History Association is offering bursaries for conference papers on religious history. Up to AUD $1,000. Apps due August 30, 2025. Info and application form on the 'Awards and Grants' menu at: therha.com.au
#AcademicSky

Religious History Association

therha.com.au

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Megan Cassidy-Welch @megancw.bsky.social · Jul 17

“Australian universities should not be rewarded financially for narrowing the scope of HASS in a manner that
undermines the national interest”.

Effie Karageorgos @eleaud.bsky.social · Jul 16

MEDIA RELEASE: A National Crisis in HASS

The Council for the Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences (CHASS) has issued a public call for urgent action in response to widespread cuts to staff, programs and entire disciplines across Australian universities.
chass.org.au/docs.ashx?id...

chass.org.au

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Reposted by Megan Cassidy-Welch

Dr. Verena Krebs @krebsverena.bsky.social · Jul 14

...and it's out!

"‘People and Things Have Always Been Mixed Up’: Notes on the So-Called Global Middle Ages", my very short essay for the Journal of Medieval History's 50th-anniversary special issue, is now published; limited free access at the link below!

www.tandfonline.com/eprint/RAEXD...

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Megan Cassidy-Welch @megancw.bsky.social · Jul 10

“When the international community finally acted with resolve, it brought tangible results: military pressure that changed facts on the ground, diplomatic agreements that ended war, & legal frameworks that pushed back against impunity”. A lesson for our time.
www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpre...

Srebrenica at 30: Why this turning point for international justice still matters

The 1995 massacre galvanised legal accountability mechanisms that remain vital as multilateral institutions face new challenges.

www.lowyinstitute.org

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Megan Cassidy-Welch @megancw.bsky.social · Jul 10

Sounds like Trump to me. Bad, bad idea.
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-07...

Antisemitism plan would strip funding from unis, arts events who fail to fight Jewish hate

Powers to strip funding from public institutions who fail on antisemitism, a review of Australia's hate speech laws, and visa screening for antisemitic views are among the recommendations of a wide-ra...

www.abc.net.au

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Megan Cassidy-Welch @megancw.bsky.social · Jul 9

Strong statement from the Australian Academy of Humanities on the troubling proposal to cut the excellent Humanities Research Centre at the ANU among other cuts. Decimating humanities research and teaching is a cultural and intellectual disaster.

humanities.org.au/power-of-the...

Australia can't withstand further humanities cuts

The Australian Academy of Humanities views with great concern the impact on staff, students and the wider community of the ANU’s plan for the humanities and social sciences. Now is not the time to red...

humanities.org.au

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Megan Cassidy-Welch @megancw.bsky.social · Jul 3

All those poor people 😢

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Reposted by Megan Cassidy-Welch

Borders, Boundaries, Barriers Conference @bordersboundaries.bsky.social · Jun 28

CFP for Borders, Boundaries, Barriers: Real and Imagined in the Middle Ages (20-21 April 2026). Deadline 15 September 2025.

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Reposted by Megan Cassidy-Welch

Olga Nesterova @onestpress.onestnetwork.com · Jun 13

The first U.S. bishop appointed by Pope Leo XIV—a refugee himself—is mobilizing priests to accompany migrants at immigration court on June 20.

(Via Christopher Hale)

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Megan Cassidy-Welch @megancw.bsky.social · Jun 12

Promises to be a fantastic few days! I’m looking forward to presenting on the spiritual health of crusaders, and to learning much more about preventative healthcare across the premodern world 😀

Premodern Healthscaping @prosanitate.bsky.social · Jun 12

The Inaugural Session of the International Conference on Preventative Care in the Preindustrial World, with Guy Geltner introducing the methodology of healthscaping, and the field of the #preindustrial public health at large, has now started. 👏

#histmed #publichealth @monashcmrs.bsky.social

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Reposted by Megan Cassidy-Welch

Ruth Karras @rmkarras.bsky.social · Jun 8

To mark the 50th anniversary of the Journal of Medieval History we’ve asked eight distinguished historians each to use an article from the journal’s first five years as a jumping off point to discuss historiographical trends. @tandfresearch.bsky.social

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Megan Cassidy-Welch @megancw.bsky.social · Jun 6

One has to wonder!

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Megan Cassidy-Welch @megancw.bsky.social · Jun 6

So much for academic freedom

Siva @sivav.bsky.social · Jun 4

If you ain’t doing propaganda, the NEH ain’t interested.

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