Justin Colson

"Inevitabilism is a form of vulgar Thatcherism, the assertion that "there is no alternative."

Speaking of voting, if you're a member and you'd like to keep the National Trust's Council free from interference from Britain (and the US's) richest financiers, don't forget to vote before the end of the month. Quick-vote takes moments and avoids the Restore Trust slate of candidates.

Commonplacing, lameness, disability, printing, massacres, the Tower, the church, landscape and more! #EarlyModern lightning talks for @ihrscb.bsky.social on Nov 12th at the @ihr.bsky.social, with @joesaunders1.bsky.social, @maybeitwasutah.bsky.social and more. Registration link to follow soon.

Applications are open for the 2027 SAS Creative Practitioner in Residence Scheme, hosted with institutes including the Institute of Historical Research. The 6-month residency offers a stipend to support artists, writers, filmmakers, curators, and creative practitioners. Apply here: buff.ly/mnO3dCN

And we’re off! Today the YHT is hosting a conference at the @warburginstitute.bsky.social showcasing the work and research we’ve supported over the past few years. We begin with an introduction from our chairman, Dr Christian Steer 📚 #MedievalSky #Skystorians

Last night, I had the pleasure of launching my commissioned Photography and Video project at the @ihr.bsky.social ‘People of the IHR’ inspired by the people I photographed and the beautiful art deco architecture of Senate House by Charles Holden. www.history.ac.uk/about-us/peo...

Today's the 960th anniversary of the Battle of Hastings, so obviously I'm reposting my scenes from the Bayeux Tapestry in Playmobil.

A resource I hadn't come across (but based on the excellent Defence of Britain data - which recorded civil defence and anti-invasion structures from both World Wars), an interactive map of the data maintained by Steve Thompson. (to whom many thanks!):

Palaeography materials ☑️ Dinosaur ☑️ I’m all set for the @sas-news.bsky.social festival on Thursday! If you’re in Bloomsbury stop by and say hello. #Research #BookHistory #PaleographySky

📢📅 Thurs 8th Oct! Open to UOL & federation staff, students & the public, the SAS Festival of Research & Engagement will be a chance to meet the people behind SAS’s research, explore books & collections, try interactive activities & hear researchers share their work. www.sas.ac.uk/news-events/...

A cash-strapped rural police force struggles to deal with Red Diesel gangs. Until its chief inspector realises can get the Met Police to deal with the problem... ...if he pretends they're Iranian. A new six part comedy starring Toby Jones.

9. @justincolson.bsky.social, 'Layering London’s History: Digital Mapping and Spatial Technologies in Historical Research'.

One of my favorite rhetorical and analytical moves is joining things (showing that different, seemingly unrelated ideas are part of the same phenomenon) and taking them apart (resolving paradoxes by demonstrating that what appears like a contradictory thing is different things, lumped together). 1/

@livingmaps.bsky.social James Cheshire shares fascinating insights into the droughts of 1976 and 2026 in the Drought Atlas of 1976 from the Library of Lost Maps: A series of maps that reveal the story of the drought, prevailing weather conditions, vegetation fires, media coverage and recovery.

Not reassured by the drift in scholarship on History / "AI" towards, in effect, 'hey this is your little buddy historian who will do little tasky-waskies for you'. Case in point see the TOC of this latest elements entry. 'Problems' are then discussed inside this framework, which minimises them.

Looking back on yesterday (Day 2) at the @ihr.bsky.social #London #SummerSchool. In the afternoon, @justincolson.bsky.social led participants in exploring and interpreting the Charterhouse Water #Maps, relating them to the geography of the modern city & thinking about how they were used.

"Ben owns a farm. He employs 100 workers. His total payroll is $10 million/year. One day, he buys a mule, which provides the worker who uses it with a modest 10% productivity gain. Ben fires 99 of his workers and purchases 99 mules, expecting a 1,000% productivity gain..."

TODAY! The online Late Medieval Urban History Seminar is meeting at 15:00(UK)/16:00(CET) to hear Dr Francesco Bozzi, of the University of Milan on: Society, Migration Flows, and Name Changes: Verona, 15th Century If you're not already on the list run by Miri Rubin send me a DM for the Teams link!

Does your research involve unedited medieval records? Would it be richer if it did? The 49th Latin and Palaeography Summer School has an intensive course for you! 👇 this year the summer school will be in Birmingham. #Skystorians #Medieval #Archives #Palaeography 📚📜📖☀️ palaeography.uk/study/short-...

We’re currently recruiting for a Project Cataloguer on a 1 year fixed-term contract to catalogue parts of our archives relating to our transfer from Hamburg to London in 1933. 35 hours per week £30,842 per annum Apply by 12 May 2026 Apply now ➡️ warburg.sas.ac.uk/news-events/... #jobopportunity #UoL

VCH Oxon XIX on the Wychwood Forest area (published 2019) is now available in digital form at www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/oxon/vol19 (thanks to @bho.bsky.social) - covering the forest itself and surrounding settlements. (Print version still available from boydellandbrewer.com + public libraries!)

Great to see tis volume available @bho.bsky.social. It includes my favourite editorial intervention (to date), which was to ask the editor to gloss what the 'Chipping Norton Set' is/was. Remember that? The point is that the volume covers this area from the earliest times to the 21st century. 🗃️

It’s not too late to book for this summer school course, in London 8-12 June. For anyone who is interested in working with documents from medieval England. #Skystorians #MedievalSky @komldsp.bsky.social palaeography.uk/study/short-...

It’s summer (allegedly), and all around the country, small vans are driving around residential estates playing music out loud — and people are smiling when they hear it. www.ianvisits.co.uk/articles/fro...

We’re welcoming applicants for a fully funded history PhD project researching the first 100 years of the UK's Public Record Office, ahead of its bicentenary in 2038. Find out more and apply here by Friday 8 May: phd.leeds.ac.uk/project/2475... (1/2)

Amazing creative project using @layersoflondon.bsky.social !

The bursary application deadline for this is 7 April 👇 #MedievalSky palaeography.uk/study/short-...

Fully-funded #PhD opportunity on the early history of the Public Records Office starting this October phd.leeds.ac.uk/project/2475... with @nationalarchives.gov.uk.web.brid.gy @universityofleeds.bsky.social Available full or part-time. #archives #skystorians

New version of the WP by @patrickwallis.bsky.social @aucointaylor.bsky.social @markhailwood.bsky.social @justincolson.bsky.social @jwhittle.bsky.social and David Chilosi! doi.org/10.17863/CAM...

Many medievalists and early modernists have fond memories of the Keele Palaeography Summer School - it lives on! Now in the convenient location of central Birmingham, organised with help from @ies-sas.bsky.social and @ihr.bsky.social Booking open now! palaeography.uk/study/short-...

One more time: this is not a bug; this is not something that will be fixed in the next version - this is inherently how an LLM works. A technology built as a word guessing machine can get better at guessing words, but never deals in 'facts'

Do you want to improve your knowledge of medieval manuscripts from England? Book now for this summer school course, in person, in London, 8-12 June. 👇☀️📚 #medievalsky please repost! palaeography.uk/study/short-...

Here are some photos from last year’s course: the only summer school group ever known to work through the lunch breaks #MedievalSky #Manuscripts @ies-sas.bsky.social @senatehouselib.bsky.social

🚂 Joy on the Southbank, misery in the Square Mile. Here’s what the City of London’s much vaunted ‘retrofit-first’ policy looks like in reality, as planning permission was granted this week for the £1.2 billion demolition of Liverpool Street Station. 🧵 Scroll down for 8 damning before / after views

Over the next few weeks, the NACBS blog will feature a series of pieces on artificial intelligence. Check out the opening essay by @amywb.bsky.social and stay tuned for more! www.nacbs.org/post/the-ai-...

We have more Skills Training in Archival Research (STAR) workshops coming up! Join staff at The London Archives for a hands-on workshop designed to help postgrad students and researchers make the most of archival collections. 📍 The London Archives 📅 1 April + 3 June 🕛️ 1-4:30pm

W towers of parish churches of Boston (1420s-1510s), St Michael Coventry (1370s-1440s) and Cirencester (1400s-20s). Latter was built with squinches to take an octagonal stage/spire but was aborted after they had to put massive flyers through the aisles to stop the W side falling apart from thrust.