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Jonathan Potter

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Jonathan Potter is a British psychologist and Dean of the School of Communication and Information at Rutgers University. He is… more

Jonathan Potter
H-index: 63
Psychology 41%
Communication & Media Studies 26%
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by Jonathan Potter

profjonathanpotter.bsky.social
Reposting as still relevant. And pondering May Mailman’s extraordinary attack on universities on behalf of Trump captured in the NYT.

www.nytimes.com/2025/09/25/o...
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by Jonathan Potter

profjonathanpotter.bsky.social
#9
If we want universities to defend society against pseudoscience & conspiracy (ever more needed), they need sustained support rather than caricatured takedowns.
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by Jonathan Potter

profjonathanpotter.bsky.social
#8
Lazy claims about squeamishness or bias obscure the real bind: govt frameworks + financial erosion + political hostility particularly from the right. That is what’s crippling UK universities.
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by Jonathan Potter

profjonathanpotter.bsky.social
#7
It’s glib to sneer at “VR caves” or gender theory syllabi. The real crisis is a system trying to do more with less while navigating hostile policy & public misunderstanding.
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by Jonathan Potter — Reposted by: John Drury

profjonathanpotter.bsky.social
#6
Staff precarity, casualisation, and burnout don’t come from “fashionable taboos.” They come from impossible workloads, insecure contracts, and too much compliance paperwork.
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by Jonathan Potter

profjonathanpotter.bsky.social
#5
The gap has been filled by international students. Now govt policy in the form of visa restrictions, and hostile rhetoric is driving them away. This is financial self-sabotage.
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by Jonathan Potter

profjonathanpotter.bsky.social
#4
Meanwhile central funding has been hollowed out. Domestic fees frozen since 2017 while costs rise steeply. Govt support shrinks year by year.
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by Jonathan Potter

profjonathanpotter.bsky.social
#3
REF, TEF, KEF aren’t abstract acronyms. They tie every university to govt metrics: research outputs, teaching “excellence,” knowledge exchange. All policed, all audited. They are good and bad, but any serious criticism of universities in the UK needs to address their role.
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by Jonathan Potter — Reposted by: John Drury

profjonathanpotter.bsky.social
#2
Marriott paints universities as indulgent, decadent, and squeamish. But the reality is very different: an over-regulated, underfunded system caught between REF, TEF, KEF, and shrinking resources.
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by Jonathan Potter — Reposted by: John Drury, Lupicínio Íñiguez-Rueda, Éric Laurier , and 2 more

profjonathanpotter.bsky.social
#1
Following on from my earlier thread about claims of “bias” in universities (link below 👇), I was struck by James Marriott’s column in today’s Times. It’s full of anecdote & caricature. The real story of UK universities is structural, financial, and political. 🧵
👉 bsky.app/profile/prof...
profjonathanpotter.bsky.social
Jonathan Potter @profjonathanpotter.bsky.social · Apr 28
Listening to Rest is Politics, Rest is Politics US, and reading respected commentators, it's striking how 'left-wing bias' in universities is now taken for granted. That matters, especially in the US, where academia faces political attack. Thoughts from having worked in US/UK universities. 🧵
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Reposted by: Jonathan Potter

iai.tv
“With deep roots in Western history, and blossoming in the 20th century, we find a widely shared belief in the ideal of what can be termed a unified self,” writes Kenneth Gergen. | https://bit.ly/4n5Rfm2

Gergen argues that the desire for self-unity is ultimately mistaken.

#socsky #philsky
There is no unified self | Kenneth Gergen
Throughout history the West has promoted the unified self. Whether it is the Christian emphasis on inner purity or the rationalist focus on eliminating contradictions in thought and reason, we have lo...
iai.tv
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by Jonathan Potter

profjonathanpotter.bsky.social
Wonderful!
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by Jonathan Potter

profjonathanpotter.bsky.social
Excellent thesis! Now the publications! 😊
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by John Drury — Reposted by: Jonathan Potter, Tim Bale, Maria Abreu , and 1 more

profjohndrury.bsky.social
'Why do people riot?'

New from me in @theconversation.com, summarizing our recent work funded by @ukri.org & @behaviourresuk.bsky.social

theconversation.com/why-do-peopl...
Why do people riot?
An expert in crowd psychology explains why some peaceful protests turn violent, and why riots can spread.
theconversation.com
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Reposted by: Jonathan Potter

profjohndrury.bsky.social
@profjonathanpotter.bsky.social
1

Reposted by: Jonathan Potter

richardogden.bsky.social
New book out! A great resource. I have a chapter in here called Listening to talk in interaction: ways of observing speech. It’s written for people who are familiar with conversation analysis and want to know more about phonetic approaches to conversational data.
galinabolden.bsky.social
Galina Bolden @galinabolden.bsky.social · Dec 6
It's wonderful to see this amazing resource now available online #EMCA
doi.org/10.1017/9781...
The Cambridge Handbook of Methods in Conversation Analysis
Cambridge Core - Discourse Analysis - The Cambridge Handbook of Methods in Conversation Analysis
www.cambridge.org
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by Jonathan Potter — Reposted by: Alexa Hepburn

profjonathanpotter.bsky.social
Aija Logren kicks off the Finnish Social Psychology conference. An exciting group!
@alexahepburn.bsky.social
Aija kicks off the conference.
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by Jonathan Potter

profjonathanpotter.bsky.social
Will do!
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by Jonathan Potter

profjonathanpotter.bsky.social
In lovely Kuopio getting ready for the Finnish Social Psychology Conference. Exciting!
@alexahepburn.bsky.social
@darg-sessions.bsky.social
@rucalteam.bsky.social
#emotionography
Potter & Hepburn in Kuopio’s central square.
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by Jonathan Potter

profjonathanpotter.bsky.social
There is an increasingly common and very lazy notion that universities are left biased. That needs countering as universities are under attack in the US but also elsewhere.

I wrote a thread about it.
profjonathanpotter.bsky.social
Jonathan Potter @profjonathanpotter.bsky.social · Apr 28
Listening to Rest is Politics, Rest is Politics US, and reading respected commentators, it's striking how 'left-wing bias' in universities is now taken for granted. That matters, especially in the US, where academia faces political attack. Thoughts from having worked in US/UK universities. 🧵
3 6

Reposted by: Jonathan Potter, Charlotte Taylor

hetanshah.bsky.social
'Universities exist to foster and disseminate research, learning and critical analysis.' But this rarely comes across in recent media discussions of higher education says @eicathomefinn.bsky.social - a Vice President of @britishacademy.bsky.social
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-v...
To save UK higher education, start talking about knowledge - Research Professional News
Until debate on universities foregrounds their core purposes, their woes will deepen, says Margot Finn
www.researchprofessionalnews.com
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by Jonathan Potter

profjonathanpotter.bsky.social
Thank you. There is much more to be said, of course!
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by Jonathan Potter

profjonathanpotter.bsky.social
Universities aren’t “biased” because they care about inequality or social justice.
They’re biased toward evidence. Toward facts.
Especially in the US, careless talk of “left-wing bias” invites real damage.
Thoughts from US/UK experience here: 👇
profjonathanpotter.bsky.social
Jonathan Potter @profjonathanpotter.bsky.social · Apr 28
Listening to Rest is Politics, Rest is Politics US, and reading respected commentators, it's striking how 'left-wing bias' in universities is now taken for granted. That matters, especially in the US, where academia faces political attack. Thoughts from having worked in US/UK universities. 🧵
1 1 5

by Christina Pagel — Reposted by: Jonathan Potter

eupha.bsky.social
📣 Join us on 13 May for Stand Up for Global Public Health and Science—a #EUPHW event exploring the EU's role in global health.

🗓️ Tuesday 13 May
⏰ 15:00 - 17:00 CEST
📍 Online: us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
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by Elizabeth Stokoe — Reposted by: Jonathan Potter

rachelcoldicutt.bsky.social
New blog post from
me on what AI is and isn't, and why we all have a democratic duty to do some myth busting before the dreaded management sci-fi comes to get us www.careful.industries/blog/2025-4-...
What we talk about when we talk about AI — Careful Industries
Can AI really do all of the things people want it to do — and what exactly are people actually talking about when they talk about AI? Yutong Liu & The Bigger Picture   / https://betterim...
www.careful.industries
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by Jonathan Potter

profjonathanpotter.bsky.social
Yes - but why?!
As I said:
It’s not surprising that being through higher education correlates with support for parties addressing inequality and diversity. It reflects informed engagement with the world, not partisan bias.
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by Jonathan Potter

profjonathanpotter.bsky.social
Universities aren't biased toward left-wing politics — they're biased toward knowledge. Thoughts here 👇
profjonathanpotter.bsky.social
Jonathan Potter @profjonathanpotter.bsky.social · Apr 28
Listening to Rest is Politics, Rest is Politics US, and reading respected commentators, it's striking how 'left-wing bias' in universities is now taken for granted. That matters, especially in the US, where academia faces political attack. Thoughts from having worked in US/UK universities. 🧵
9

by Jonathan Potter

profjonathanpotter.bsky.social
Serious conservative arguments are always welcome — but like everything in universities, they must meet the same standards: evidence, coherence, and rigor.
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by Jonathan Potter

profjonathanpotter.bsky.social
Calls for 'balance' between evidence and populist denial don't protect free speech — they undermine intellectual rigor. Universities thrive on serious, evidence-based challenges, not superficial parit
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by Jonathan Potter

profjonathanpotter.bsky.social
DEI hiring has strengthened universities. In both the US and UK, there’s a highly qualified, historically excluded pool of scholars. Hiring them raises the quality of academic life – it doesn’t dilute it.
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