Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Michelle Bastian @mhbastian.bsky.social · 16h

I do want to thank however at university of edinburgh wrote the guidance for promotion boards on how to assess an interdisciplinary people. Very sensible advice about some of these issues

James Harland @jmharland.bsky.social · 17h

Interdisciplinarity is fun because it’s something job ads in humanities HE say they want but it often feels like it actively disqualifies you (in the sense of having degrees in, and published in leading journals of, multiple distinct disciplines). Everyone believes you’re not in their discipline.

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Reposted by Michelle Bastian

QM_UCU @qmucu.bsky.social · 1d

So many Australian colleagues put through a year of worries and uncertainty. All because Nous Consultancy only thrives on a scarcity narrative?

Bit if a reminder that those cuts can never be justified in pedagogical or academic term, whatever the spin.

Mark Rubin @markrubin.bsky.social · 3d

New analysis by The Australia Institute finds the Australian National University has a $90 million surplus, not a $142 million deficit!

The ANU’s hidden $90m budget surplus

New analysis by The Australia Institute reveals there is no financial crisis at the Australian National University.

australiainstitute.org.au

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Reposted by Michelle Bastian

SpokesLothian @spokes.org.uk · 2d

#Tram #Granton-#Bioquarter

🙋 Spokes draft response [as of 6 Oct]
--> www.spokes.org.uk/2025/10/tram...

@edi.bike @thecockburn.bsky.social @edfoc.bsky.social @edinreporter.bsky.social @edinburghminute.bsky.social @stephenjenkinson.bsky.social @cobaltmale.bsky.social @transform.scot @sw20.info

Tram Granton to Bioquarter – Spokes early draft response, as of 6 Oct

With the consultation now well underway, the Spokes draft response is developing well. You can find it here [1.9MB pdf]. We strongly stress that this is a work in progress and there are likely to be considerable further edits, particularly to the second part of the response, dealing with individual sections of the route.

Major updates and ideas in the draft, since our initial thoughts, include..

An introductory section on bikes and tramlines, which includes lessons from our tramline-crash reporting tool and from earlier phases of Edinburgh tram
Detailed commentary on all sections of the route [several sections still require considerable fleshing out]. Some major issues/opportunities arising include..
Great concern over cycling safety in the Bridges corridor. We urge single-line working for this section, or possibly the tramlines on one side of the road with bidirectional segregated cycling on the other side
We suggest dropping North Bridge tram stop and replacing it by two stops – at Waverley Steps to serve east Princes Street and the rail station, and at the North Bridge arcade, to serve the Old Town and again the rail station. There are multiple reasons for this suggestion, in addition to a major cycling safety aspect
There may be an opportunity to incorporate an active travel bridge over the mainline railway, linking the North Edinburgh Network to the new Fountainbridge link, without the long ramps down to road level and up again.

What you can do

Above are just some of the highlights of our draft response – there is a wealth of other detail, and we welcome any feedback
Forward our draft to anyone who may be interested
Repost our bluesky post
Like our facebook article
Most important of all – submit your own response to the consultation. Use the online QA and/or the email address given.

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Wonkhe @wonkhe.bsky.social · 3d

Last week on Wonkhe: Jim Dickinson explores how UCL’s oversubscription crisis has left hundreds of international students in limbo - raising fresh questions about whether UK universities are operating within consumer law

Visa oversubscription at UCL may be more than just a PR problem

Jim Dickinson explores how UCL’s oversubscription crisis has left hundreds of international students in limbo - raising fresh questions about whether UK universities are operating within consumer law

buff.ly

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Chris Nagano @charliesaito22.bsky.social · 3d

Will the parasitic wasps eat native flat-headed wood boring beetles? If they do go after native buprestids, how will the wasps be “turned off?”

“Nozzle heads” (economic entomologists) know a 1000 ways to kill a bug but not much about how to identify them, their ecology & biology, natural history

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Michelle Bastian @mhbastian.bsky.social · 5d

Note that this is Doctorows review of Bill McKibbens new book, which makes this case.

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Melanie Mitchell @melaniemitchell.bsky.social · 7d

In 2016 Hinton predicted that AI would replace all radiologists in five years. Ten years later, why hasn't it happened? This post is a great explainer.

www.understandingai.org/p/ai-isnt-re...

AI isn't replacing radiologists

Radiology combines digital images, clear benchmarks, and repeatable tasks. But demand for human radiologists is at an all-time high.

www.understandingai.org

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Reposted by Michelle Bastian

Joseph M. Pierce @pepepierce.bsky.social · 7d

Friends and colleagues,

I will be speaking at MoMA next Tuesday, Oct. 7 at 6:30pm, alongside Leanne Betasamosake Simpson and Candice Hopkins, on a panel called Imagining Indigenous Futures.The event description and registration can be found below

Hope you see you soon! www.moma.org/calendar/eve...

Imagining Indigenous Futures | MoMA

How do we relate to the world around us? How do we dream new worlds to life? How do we resist in times of upheaval? In his new book Speculative Relations: Indigenous Worlding and Repair, Joseph M. Pie...

www.moma.org

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Reposted by Michelle Bastian

Thom van Dooren @thomvandooren.bsky.social · 7d

I’m honoured to be the recipient of the BBVA Foundation’s 7th Biophilia Award in Environmental Humanities and Social Sciences www.biophilia-fbbva.es/en/noticias/... @seisydney.bsky.social @mitpress.bsky.social @usyd-humanities.bsky.social @columbiaup.bsky.social @mesh-research-hub.bsky.social

Thom van Dooren | Biophilia Award in Environmental Humanities

Philosopher Thom van Dooren receives the BBVA Foundation’s 7th Biophilia Award for what the committee describes as his “central role” in “understanding and addressing species extinction.”

www.biophilia-fbbva.es

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Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 7d

'Graeme Atherton, head of the Ruskin Institute for Social Equity (Rise) at the University of West London, said the policy “is giving with one hand and taking with another” and will “exacerbate” the problems being faced by humanities and arts departments and disadvantaged students.'

Maintenance grants only for priority courses ‘deeply concerning’

Using financial incentives to influence student choice risk undermining Labour’s widening access goals, critics fear

www.timeshighereducation.com

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Michelle Bastian @mhbastian.bsky.social · 7d

#academicsky highedEd

Michelle Bastian @mhbastian.bsky.social · 7d

It's not clear from this article whether the student needed to retake a class which would push back his graduation, or could not graduate at all. It would be most usual for a resit to be required particularly given the circumstances. This is important because it shows the..

The Guardian @theguardian.com · 8d

Glasgow University accused of failing student who killed himself on graduation day

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Michelle Bastian @mhbastian.bsky.social · 7d

*Shae

Michelle Bastian @mhbastian.bsky.social · 7d

See Shar Brown's excellent and moving argument for teaching more complex understandings of time to students, in part to try and undo the pressures felt by students like this

journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10....

Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.

journals.sagepub.com

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Michelle Bastian @mhbastian.bsky.social · 7d

power of chrononormativity and its huge dangers. Not following the "correct" timeline for your life can have immense mental health costs. We need to normalise the wide variety of life paths possible.

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Michelle Bastian @mhbastian.bsky.social · 7d

It's not clear from this article whether the student needed to retake a class which would push back his graduation, or could not graduate at all. It would be most usual for a resit to be required particularly given the circumstances. This is important because it shows the..

The Guardian @theguardian.com · 8d

Glasgow University accused of failing student who killed himself on graduation day

Ethan Scott Brown was wrongly told he had not earned geography degree despite marks being enough for a 2:1 Glasgow University has been accused of “failing” a student who killed himself on graduation day after being wrongly told he had not done well enough to earn his degree. Ethan Scott Brown, a 23-year geography student at Glasgow, was told repeatedly he had failed to get an essential grade for one course and so could not be awarded his degree in September 2024. In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email [email protected] or [email protected]. In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counselor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org Continue reading...

www.theguardian.com

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Prof. Bethan Evans @drbevans.bsky.social · 8d

So excited to read this! @thelrm.bsky.social

A book: The Feminist Art of Walking by Morag Rose

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Angus Main @angusmain.bsky.social · 10d

“The Riyadh Comedy Festival” should be a Comic Strips Presents… episode about a group of edgy comedians staying at the same luxury hotel for the festival, all trying to out ‘edge’ each other and terrified of appearing woke, while also panicking as members of their group start disappearing.

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Andy Wightman @andywightman.scot · 9d

UPDATE Who Owns Scotland Sep 2025. I have now documented a total of 4800 landholdings covering 76.4% of rural Scotland. To find out who owns Scotland, please subscribe. Subscriptions start at £12 for personal use. The project is financed solely by subscription income. whoownsscotland.org.uk

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Reposted by Michelle Bastian

hugo (squeaky tank appreciator) @hugo.town · 9d

we made a "get involved" page for @uio-oceh.bsky.social, for anyone who wants to collaborate or just come and hang out.

www.hf.uio.no/ikos/english...

Get involved - Department of Culture, Religion, Asian and Middle Eastern Studies

As an open, interdisciplinary platform we are always thinking up new ways to collaborate and bring people into the work we do.

www.hf.uio.no

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Reposted by Michelle Bastian

John Scalzi @scalzi.com · 9d

Delighted the reviews are good. Congratulations @alexwinter.com, and to Mr. Reeves!

deadline.com/2025/09/wait...

‘Waiting For Godot’ Broadway Review: Keanu Reeves & Alex Winter’s Existential Adventure

Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter star in Samuel Beckett's Waiting For Godot, directed by Jamie Lloyd and opening tonight at Broadway's Hudson Theatre.

deadline.com

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Michelle Bastian @mhbastian.bsky.social · 10d

I think if you liked the Scrivener way of working but felt you couldn't afford the license, then the free version of Obsidian could allow some of the functions. Liking writing in smaller blocks and being able to rearrange these easily.

Michelle Bastian @mhbastian.bsky.social · 10d

They are free for 30 non consecutive days. So I often recommend scapple in particular for course work in a semester.

The paid versions are also extremely reasonably priced and are not subscription based. I am happy to encourage people to support them this way too.

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Yasmin G @anilsghost.bsky.social · 10d

This is the very best of qualitative methods textbooks, short 3k word chapters, all case study examples of critical & creative methods. Beautiful images in every chapter

www.gold.ac.uk/goldsmiths-p...

How To Do Social Research With...

www.gold.ac.uk

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flyingrodent @flyingrodent.bsky.social · 10d

I would suggest that if Morgan had spent that secret £750,000 on a camper van, it would’ve been massively less damaging to democracy itself and we might not now be on the precipice of fascism, because our political system is a sick and insulting joke and an idiotic conspiracy against the public

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flyingrodent @flyingrodent.bsky.social · 10d

I cannot adequately explain how incredibly bad it looks, that the police *literally raided the First Minister’s house live on national television and put a crime scene tent over her front door*, while everyone knew this idiotic bullshit was going on and actively worked to ensure its success.

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