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Cathy Elliott

@profcathyelliott.bsky.social

2K followers 3K following 170 posts

Vice Dean Education in UCL Social and Historical Sciences Faculty. SFHEA. Regular contributor to ALPS blog. Co-Director UCL Centre for the Pedagogy of Politics. Politics of pedagogy and nature.

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Cathy Elliott @profcathyelliott.bsky.social · Apr 17

Really excited that our @politicsjournal.bsky.social article on the Joy of the Teaching Track ✨ is out! Co-authored with the brilliant @ellenfelicity.bsky.social, Keith Smith, Kalina Zhekova, @rosegann.bsky.social @mlebourdon.bsky.social – we advocate for enjoying our jobs!
Polisky SoTLsky

The joy of the teaching track: Learning and Teaching in Politics and International Studies - Cathy Elliott, Ellen Watts, Kalina Zhekova, Keith Smith, Rose Gann, Madeleine Le Bourdon, 2025

In recent years, the number of academic jobs in research-intensive universities that are described as ‘academic education route’, ‘teaching and scholarship’, or...

journals.sagepub.com

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Reposted by Cathy Elliott

Victor Asal @victorasal.bsky.social · 20d

The role of pedagogical research in education-focused careers: Getting started in learning and teaching scholarship and why you should do it
@alpsblog.bsky.social
@profcathyelliott.bsky.social
t.co/ue8GMSPdhs

https://activelearningps.com/2025/09/18/the-role-of-pedagogical-research-in-education-focused-careers-getting-started-in-learning-and-teaching-scholarship-and-why-you-should-do-it/

t.co

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Reposted by Cathy Elliott

Anna Kornbluh @annakornbluh.bsky.social · 29d

pedagogical first: diligent student asks permission to skip concluding lecture because (with a bunch going on this week including possible city occupation) they're worried they won't finish novel in time and really really don't want spoiler of Moll Flanders

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Cathy Elliott @profcathyelliott.bsky.social · Sep 3

Happy to be at @polstudiesassoc.bsky.social Teaching and Learning Network conference at RHUL! And by appropriate and lucky chance I can also share @rosegann.bsky.social's @alpsblog.bsky.social blog on pedagogical research in education-focused careers!
activelearningps.com/2025/09/03/t...

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Reposted by Cathy Elliott

Claire Timperley @clairetimperley.bsky.social · Sep 1

Kate and I are delighted to see our article on spacious learning published in @politicsjournal.bsky.social. In it, we advocate for slower spaces that centre ‘being’ rather than rushing to do or produce. We share three practices from our own teaching as examples: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

Screenshot of article abstract, accessible at this link: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/02633957251370594
The title of the article is 'Spacious learning: A critical reflection on active learning in political science'. The abstract reads: "Active learning is often understood as students ‘doing and producing’ academic work. This approach has a tendency to promote learning as a project of dynamic knowledge acquisition rather than one of being and becoming. In this article, we propose a more capacious understanding of active learning that makes room for spacious learning. Spacious learning invites students into slower spaces that centre ‘being’ rather than rushing to do or produce. This approach treats learning as a process rather than a means to an end, allowing students time to sit with ideas and to relate them to their own lives and experiences. We then offer practical examples of invitations to spacious learning in political science, highlighting transformative everyday practices that sustain spaciousness in the classroom: micro-communities of learning, relational scaffolding for research and creative projects, and reflective writing."

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Cathy Elliott @profcathyelliott.bsky.social · Sep 3

This week on @alpsblog.bsky.social, we are publishing a short series on the role of pedagogical research in education-focused careers. My intro to the series is here: activelearningps.com/2025/09/02/t...
@aspirenetwork.bsky.social

The role of pedagogical research in education-focused careers: a short series

Following on from the new innovation of the ‘SoTL roundup’ at the start of the month, which Jeremy got the ball rolling with yesterday, we’re also going to start the new academic …

activelearningps.com

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Reposted by Cathy Elliott

Polly Atkin @pollyrowena.bsky.social · Aug 26

I keep getting asked for my salty thoughts about the Salt Path as my position on nature cure narratives is v clear! A mere fraction of those thoughts published here @literaryhub.bsky.social, with thanks to @bookwormvaught.bsky.social and @nicwilson.bsky.social for their earlier pieces linked below.

Nature is Not Going to Cure You: On Raynor Winn’s Fabricated Memoir

Like many writers, I have been following the unfolding revelations about Raynor Winn and The Salt Path with great interest, and a degree of self-interest. I am a memoirist and nature writer, and I …

lithub.com

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Reposted by Cathy Elliott

Michael J. Warren @drmjwarren.bsky.social · Aug 20

“Nature is under stress.” The signs are all around us. www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
#climatechangeseasons

Early ripening of berries in UK shows nature is under stress, say experts

Hot summer also causing trees to shed their leaves as concerns raised over ‘food gap’ for wildlife in autumn

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Cathy Elliott

Annie Leymarie @annieleymarie.bsky.social · Aug 20

"Ecologists are only just beginning to grasp the full threat that extreme heat poses to the world’s wildlife populations, and how quickly it can drive species towards extinction.
...It has become a driver of biodiversity loss on a par with – or worse than – deforestation and habitat loss."

The Guardian @theguardian.com · Aug 20

Monkeys falling from trees and baking barnacles: how heat is driving animals to extinction

With the number of very hot days rising as well as average temperatures, more and more animals are vulnerable. But while some species can adapt, others are seeing huge population declines

www.theguardian.com

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Reposted by Cathy Elliott

Chaucer Doth Tweet @levostregc.bsky.social · Aug 17

"Kathy, Ich am lost," Ich seyde, thogh methoughte she was sleepinge,
"Ich am hollowe and hurtinge and knowe not wherfor"
Countinge the cars on the Newe Jersey Turnpyke
Thei have all come to looke for America

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Reposted by Cathy Elliott

Environmental History Now @envhistnow.bsky.social · Jul 30

We're so excited to share our first book review, part of a new series here at EHN. Kate Prengel discusses #clifi and the new Climate Fiction Prize shortlist envhistnow.com/2025/07/22/h...

Hope and Dystopia: Learning from Climate Fiction

A new literary prize asks how storytelling can drive greater optimism – and action – in the face of climate change.

envhistnow.com

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Reposted by Cathy Elliott

Lisa Fazio @lkfazio.bsky.social · Aug 16

I teach this! It's a seminar for first-year undergrads called The Science of How to Study and they love it. (But it only reaches a very small number of students, would be great to have as a regular part of the curriculum)

Bo Thompson @gaudipern.bsky.social · Aug 16

Effective Learning Strategies.

A focused class on how people learn, study, and memorize. A kind of health class for the educational process that encouraged students to think critically about how they're managing their studies in other classes and why things do or don't work for them.

nai THEE corpse bride 🦋 @astoldbynai.blacksky.app · Aug 4

8. What is a school subject that doesn't exist, but you wish existed in schools?

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Reposted by Cathy Elliott

Dial M for Martha @mostlymartha.bsky.social · Aug 15

Everyone is secretly hoping someone else will be the one to yell DO YOU WANT TO BE FRIENDS at them.

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Reposted by Cathy Elliott

Anna Mills @annamillsoer.bsky.social · Aug 14

AIPedagogy.org from Harvard's metaLAB was already the best-designed introduction to AI for educators I knew of.

I return to it again and again for creative, critical assignment ideas.

Now it's even more user friendly and offers a space to compare chatbots and change their settings.

Home

Creative and critical engagement with AI in education AI Guide Looking for a step-by-step introduction to AI? Our guide is designed to help you understand what AI is, how it works, and what it can and...

AIPedagogy.org

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Reposted by Cathy Elliott

Polly Atkin @pollyrowena.bsky.social · Aug 13

Hear me read 'Frog Song' through the Aftershock Review substack

Along with my other new poems given a doorway to readers by @maxwallis.bsky.social, Frog Song is going to be in my 3rd collection Emergency Dream, publishing with @serenbooks.bsky.social in March 2026. #Swims #PondLife #BeMoreFrog

Frogsong by Polly Atkin

Today, I don’t want to write about abandonment / or anger, about the limits of love, / or the invisible border where our worlds meet that dissolves / all mutual care – how to shed it – to go on /

open.substack.com

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Cathy Elliott @profcathyelliott.bsky.social · Aug 13

Slightly diminish a band: symptomatic relief

Gregory A. Hargreaves @bordergroves.bsky.social · Aug 13

Slightly diminish a band: The Indifferent Dead

NightMar on Hicks Street, Part 4: The Rabbit’s Revenge @histoftech.bsky.social · Aug 13

Slightly diminish a band: They Might Be Taller Than Average

Cathy Elliott @profcathyelliott.bsky.social · Aug 13

Slightly diminish a band: Cumbria Constabulary

(In honour of your current listening, @jeremymoulton.bsky.social)

Gregory A. Hargreaves @bordergroves.bsky.social · Aug 13

Slightly diminish a band: The Indifferent Dead

NightMar on Hicks Street, Part 4: The Rabbit’s Revenge @histoftech.bsky.social · Aug 13

Slightly diminish a band: They Might Be Taller Than Average

Cathy Elliott @profcathyelliott.bsky.social · Aug 13

Slightly diminish a band: PET NICE TO HAVES

Gregory A. Hargreaves @bordergroves.bsky.social · Aug 13

Slightly diminish a band: The Indifferent Dead

NightMar on Hicks Street, Part 4: The Rabbit’s Revenge @histoftech.bsky.social · Aug 13

Slightly diminish a band: They Might Be Taller Than Average

Cathy Elliott @profcathyelliott.bsky.social · Aug 13

Slight diminish a band: Public Service Podcast

Gregory A. Hargreaves @bordergroves.bsky.social · Aug 13

Slightly diminish a band: The Indifferent Dead

NightMar on Hicks Street, Part 4: The Rabbit’s Revenge @histoftech.bsky.social · Aug 13

Slightly diminish a band: They Might Be Taller Than Average

Cathy Elliott @profcathyelliott.bsky.social · Aug 13

Slightly diminish a band: Arcade Ashes

Gregory A. Hargreaves @bordergroves.bsky.social · Aug 13

Slightly diminish a band: The Indifferent Dead

NightMar on Hicks Street, Part 4: The Rabbit’s Revenge @histoftech.bsky.social · Aug 13

Slightly diminish a band: They Might Be Taller Than Average

Cathy Elliott @profcathyelliott.bsky.social · Aug 12

... process, effort, practice, engagement with 'real world' or 'authentic' skills.

Cathy Elliott @profcathyelliott.bsky.social · Aug 12

.... a set of source materials and so on. So, how are our students going to learn how 'to critique' in a world where AI is everywhere? (And don't get me wrong, I wish to God it wasn't, as it goes....) I don't have easy answers to this but I have a lot of sympathy with ideas about focusing on....

Cathy Elliott @profcathyelliott.bsky.social · Aug 12

.... articulate what we mean by 'an argument' or 'critique', for example. Then once we are clear on that, there is the question of how we get students to practice those skills and get better at them. It strikes me that 'critique' is an applied skill: you do it *with* or *to* a text, an idea....

Cathy Elliott @profcathyelliott.bsky.social · Aug 12

Yeah, I don't disagree – I do think we all need to do more thinking about what 'foundational skills' are (there will be disciplinary differences...) and how we articulate them to students. It's not obvious to me that when I meet third year students for the first time they are able to ....

Reposted by Cathy Elliott

abbi @abbis.bsky.social · Aug 12

This is a useful read - not on board with everything here (section 2 gives me pause) but "students need to be prepared and ready to unlearn and rebuild" is such an interesting point I've not seen noted: the ability to deconstruct and reorientate when necessary is key to academa, and rarely explicit.

Cathy Elliott @profcathyelliott.bsky.social · Aug 12

'What is the greater risk? Biases in oral assessment? Or generating cohorts of graduates with skills to complete unseen, closed-book exams that are likely to be of limited value?'
www.hepi.ac.uk/2025/07/14/t...

Transforming higher education learning, assessment and engagement in the AI revolution: the how - HEPI

AI demands a radical shift in education, fostering adaptability, creativity, ethics, and collaboration to thrive in a transformed world.

www.hepi.ac.uk

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Cathy Elliott @profcathyelliott.bsky.social · Aug 12

Transforming higher education learning, assessment and engagement in the AI revolution: the how - HEPI

AI demands a radical shift in education, fostering adaptability, creativity, ethics, and collaboration to thrive in a transformed world.

www.hepi.ac.uk

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