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Pete Orford @peteorford.bsky.social · 23h

Honestly? If Badenoch is condemning something, that's pretty much the highest endorsement for doing it.

Martin Paul Eve @eve.gd · 1d

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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El Espectro 👻 🎃 @telescoper.bsky.social · 9d

A meme for the modern university...

Meme showing a worker labelled "academic staff" digging a hole in the ground while 10 others look labelled with management titles such as "Director of Human Resources" look on. The caption underneath reads "The only way we can cut costs is to reduce the number of academic staff..."

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Dr Jen Baker @jendeavour.bsky.social · 12d

*cough* Higher Education *cough*

divine beastmode @gunstreet.bsky.social · 13d

the post office is a public service. it doesn’t need to make money. public transit doesn’t need to make money. the library doesn’t need to make money. some things exist for the public good and we desperately need lawmakers to stop thinking about them in terms of capitalism. these are not businesses.

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Pete Orford @peteorford.bsky.social · 18d

See also: AI, 3D cinema, films starring Dakota Johnson...

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Pete Orford @peteorford.bsky.social · 20d

Academia can be demoralising at times. But today I read the first draft of my book (and liked it a lot more than I thought I would), examined a very good phd viva (which passed) and am now reading with a pint while I wait for the train back. So yeah, academia-wise, it's a good day.

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Pete Orford @peteorford.bsky.social · 21d

Victorianists - a little bit of silly joy in all the gloom: take a moment today to vote for this gorgeous Lego set idea of the Great Exhibition so we can all get it for Christmas! beta.ideas.lego.com/product-idea...

Front view of the Crystal Palace exterior rendered in Lego complete with megalosaurus and horsedrawn omnibus

Interior view of Lego Crystal Palace showing various details of the exhibition

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Pete Orford @peteorford.bsky.social · 23d

Oof, this one hurts. And also means I have to update my Paradise Lost slide where I compare the devils at the Stygian Council to Gollum, Loki, Hulk and Iago the parrot from Aladdin (I long since abandoned the comparison of Adam and Eve to Peter Perfect and Penelope Pitstop)

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Dave Andress @davidandress.bsky.social · 26d

One of the things that really grinds at the “elite” is that RAE/REF has shown for 30 years that research excellence really IS spread far beyond their narrow vision. They absolutely HATE it.

Leonie V. Hicks @lvhicks.bsky.social · 26d

You what now? Who gets to define 'hobbyist'? The REF 'funds' research.

Anti-intellectual, utilitarian, ignorant approach from the UUK president.

Research Professional News @resprofnews.bsky.social · 26d

Ministers ‘want to shift funds away from low-quality research’ .

Universities UK president says institutions cannot afford “unfunded hobbyist research”.

www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...

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Will Tattersdill @tattersdill.bsky.social · 26d

The last REF found that 98% of UK research was either "internationally recognised", "internationally excellent", or "world-leading". If you think low-quality research is the noteworthy challenge in UK higher ed right now, you are wilfully looking in the wrong direction

Research Professional News @resprofnews.bsky.social · 26d

Ministers ‘want to shift funds away from low-quality research’ .

Universities UK president says institutions cannot afford “unfunded hobbyist research”.

www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...

Ministers ‘want to shift funds away from low-quality research’ - Research Professional News

Universities UK president says institutions cannot afford “unfunded hobbyist research”

www.researchprofessionalnews.com

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Julia Laite @julialaite.bsky.social · 26d

We want robust, enormous research that is SUCH good research, you already know how important and right and insightful it is before you even start it. We want research so predeterminedly world-changing that there is hardly any point actually doing the research at all.

Research Professional News @resprofnews.bsky.social · 26d

Ministers ‘want to shift funds away from low-quality research’ .

Universities UK president says institutions cannot afford “unfunded hobbyist research”.

www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...

Ministers ‘want to shift funds away from low-quality research’ - Research Professional News

Universities UK president says institutions cannot afford “unfunded hobbyist research”

www.researchprofessionalnews.com

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Pete Orford @peteorford.bsky.social · 27d

If anything, there's an interchangeability that Dickens plays with. They're never specified as twins to be sure, but they're described collectively as elder or elderly, and Frederick speaks of them being together since the onset of their lives. I doubt anyone is supposed to know who is older!

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Pete Orford @peteorford.bsky.social · 27d

Um...I don't think it's actually specified. Implied, yes. Frederick is described as feeble many times by William. Moreover when William dies Frederick says "You to go before me" which implies it's not the expected order. But nothing concrete

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Pete Orford @peteorford.bsky.social · 27d

Editing hack that's always helped me:
1. Go through your draft and number each paragraph on the document
2. Write the numbers and a short descriptive title of each paragraph on separate pieces of paper.
3. Move the papers round and test out better narrative flows for your argument
4. Now edit!

Numbered pieces of paper relating to paragraphs in my chapter, reorganised into a new order that will (hopefully) make better narrative sense!

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Dave Andress @davidandress.bsky.social · 27d

I’m reasonably confident that Starkey doesn’t even know what he means when he says “technical education”, except that he thinks it’s something good enough for oiks.

Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 27d

David Starkey is back, apparently spoke at the Reform UK conference.

'Starkey would also like to see Reform reverse former prime minister John Major’s decision in 1992 to allow polytechnics to become universities and oblige the restored polytechnics to focus on technical education.'

Is it time for universities to engage seriously with Reform UK?

A sector described by a leading party figure as a ‘conveyor belt for communism’ is understandably wary of Nigel Farage’s latest right-wing populist project. But Reform UK persistently tops opinion pol...

www.timeshighereducation.com

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Ruth-Anne @ruthannereads.bsky.social · 28d

✨Call for reviewers ✨

There are lots of new Victorianist books this autumn, and we're looking for reviewers at the @bavs-uk.bsky.social newsletter.

It’s the perfect opportunity for Victorian scholars to read the latest releases and publish a review.

Full details here 👇

bavs.ac.uk/newsletters/

» NewslettersBAVSNewsletters | BAVS

bavs.ac.uk

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Pete Orford @peteorford.bsky.social · 28d

What day is it sir? Why it's DICKENS DAY sir! Join us in London on 11 October for a day of readings and papers on the theme of Dickens and Art. More details and booking form here:

ies.sas.ac.uk/news-events/...

Dickens Day 2025 - ‘Dickens and Art’

ies.sas.ac.uk

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Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 28d

Major university merger announced. The start of a wave?

Shock university ‘merger’ announced

The Universities of Kent and Greenwich are set to ‘merge’ in a shock move affecting thousands of staff and students.

www.kentonline.co.uk

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Prem Sikka @premnsikka.bsky.social · 29d

Crisis at England universities created by successive govts.

Freeze on student fees
Real cuts in govt grants
Harder to enrol foreign students
Home student numbers falling
£267bn student debt
Real wage cuts
40% of universities in trouble.

Local economies decline with university decline

The Guardian view on university finances: stop chipping away at a crumbling system | Editorial

Editorial: Economic and academic activity are bound up together. Charging international students more for less will not fix deep-seated problems

www.theguardian.com

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Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 29d

"leaving what is taught in our universities solely up to market forces undermines resilient subject provision and economic strategy, with lasting consequences for students and for universities’ ability to serve a public good.” 2/2

Cold spots: Mapping inequality in SHAPE provision in UK higher education

This British Academy report reveals that many parts of the UK are becoming subject cold spots – areas with no provision in a subject within a commutable distance. These are often in rural, coastal or ...

www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk

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Patrick Leary @patrickleary.bsky.social · Sep 8

A really fine summary of this important aspect of the 19th-c newspaper press. Thanks, too, to the always terrific Victorian Commons for the link to this splendid clip about Dickens's experience as a Parliamentary reporter: www.youtube.com/watch?v=AROf... #19thc #C19th @rs4vp.org

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Cathy Waters @catherinefaver.bsky.social · Sep 4

The ‘Showtime’ exhibition now on at the dickensmuseum.com/blogs/all-ev... has playbills, annotated copies of the scripts of Dickens’s reading texts and interviews with adaptors and performers of Dickens and his works and more.

Sketch of Dickens, Mark Lemon and Wilkie Collins rehearsing Mr Nightingale’s Profession

Michael Eaton talking about adapting Dickens

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Pete Orford @peteorford.bsky.social · Sep 1

Two exciting ego-boosts in the post this morning: the special issue of the Dickensian I contributed to, and my author copy of "Dickens and Decadence". Happy to be in illustrious company in both cases!

Two new publications - on the left, the special edition of The Dickensian to mark the 100th anniversary of the Dickens Museum; on the right, Edinburgh University Press's new publication "Dickens and Decadence" edited by Giles Whitelet and Jonathan Foster

Contents page of "Dickens and Decadence"

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Lucinda Hawksley @lucindahawksley.bsky.social · Aug 28

I’ve just written a brand new walking tour, from Dickens’s former home on Doughty St (now The Charles Dickens Museum) to 1 Devonshire Terrace - where he wrote “A Christmas Carol”. I’ll be leading it for the first time next month, on 24 September. www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/dickens-wa...

Dickens walking tour - from Bloomsbury to Marylebone

Join Charles Dickens's great great great granddaughter on a walk around literary London

www.eventbrite.co.uk

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Pete Orford @peteorford.bsky.social · Aug 26

Rare sketches made of Dickens's plays in rehearsal are now on display at the Dickens Museum. I've been lucky enough to see these up close and really enjoyed studying these - a must see!

www.msn.com/en-us/entert...

Sketch of act 2 of "The Frozen Deep" bu Wilkie Collins and Charles Dickens in rehearsal. The scene shows four men inside their hut in the polar regions. The figure at the back of the stage exiting through a door is Bateson (played by Edward Hogarth) going into the cold, the two figures sat down are Crayford (on the right, played by Mark Lemon) and Darker (on the left, in the blue coat, played by Frederick Evans). The figure in front of the fire is John Want, played by Augustus Egg (the script says he is discovered in a hammock before going over to the fire, but this might be an early staging depicted in the picture).

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Anna Gibson @annagk.bsky.social · Aug 26

Teaching with Dickens’s working notes or about his compositional process? Consider submitting materials to the Dickens Notes Project!

NAVSA @navsa.bsky.social · Aug 25

CFP: Teaching Dickens’s Compositional Process & Serial Form (Submission Deadline: 1/31/26) bit.ly/3HLOtmX

CFP: Teaching Dickens’s Compositional Process & Serial Form (Submission Deadline: 1/31/26) | NAVSA

bit.ly

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