lucynoakes1.bsky.social

And if you fancy lurking historically in London into the evening, you can sign up for the (also free) Historical Research Lecture 2026: "Why Family Matters Mattered to the British in India, c. 1757-1857".

Are you a recent PhD graduate looking to publish your first monograph? Join us on 28 Oct to hear from @bloomsburyacademic.bsky.social Editorial Director in British, European & Medieval History for top tips on strengthening your book proposals. www.history.ac.uk/news-events/... @royalhistsoc.org

There's still time to sign up for our fantastic 2-hour Masterclass in Public Speaking and Presentation Skills for Historians on 27 Nov. Expertly led by @lisapine.bsky.social. All welcome! www.history.ac.uk/news-events/... @royalhistsoc.org @sas-news.bsky.social

This is a perfect (sic) example of why the lack of joined-up thinking and policy about the integral links between teaching and research is so destructive for the university sector. Read more about it in this week's "Fit for the Future: Dual Support & the Sustainability of UK Research".

And second, a call for 2 PhD Fellowships for 2027-28 to support completion of a doctorate and based @ihr.bsky.social. Applications now invited bit.ly/4ymCy37 and open to all, prior to the closing date of 31 Jan 2027 #Skystorians

Applications now invited to join the editorial boards of two @royalhistsoc.org publications: our journal 'Transactions' and the 'New Historical Perspectives' book series for early career historians bit.ly/47rl76A Closing date: Monday 4 December 2026 #Skystorians

Mark your calendars NACBS is heading to London! The Call for Papers for #nacbs2027 is out now. We will be meeting at Senate House on July 13-16, hosted by @ihr.bsky.social The submission website will open on December 1 and close on January 8. Join us in London! www.nacbs.org/call-for-pap...

“The real question facing higher education lies beneath funding. It is purpose.” We launch Higher Ground today: a new programme bringing experts together to ask difficult questions and develop bold, evidence-led ideas for the future of universities. Learn more here: https://bit.ly/4zErEqt

To everyone who spoke, chaired, asked a question, set up a display, carried posters down the hill, printed a badge or simply came and listened: the day was yours, and it was a good one.

Thank you. On Wednesday the Council of the @royalhistsoc.org, led by its President, Professor @lucynoakes1.bsky.social, spent the day with us at @strathhumanities.bsky.social and you filled every session. @strathclydehass.bsky.social @unistrathclyde.bsky.social

At 6pm on Tuesday 3 November we welcome Sathnam Sanghera to give the 2026 RHS Public History Lecture @greshamcollege.bsky.social. Sathnam's lecture is entitled 'What History is NOT'. In-person booking at Gresham opens tomorrow (3 October) bit.ly/4xURpl1 Online booking is also available #Skystorians

I will not only be relieved but truly *ecstatic* to be wrong, if more and better studies soon start showing that AI actually improves learning and cognitive motivation. But so far they all show the opposite, and that is consistent with the evidence that I and other educators are seeing on the ground

Dear tv and radio producers. Thankyou for the invitation. But, no, I do not want to appear on your show to defend the idea that I am English, after 50 years of living and working here, because the increasingly feral right want to turn this into a "debate" and you cannot see how you're being played

The day concludes with a Society guest lecture by Dr Meleisa Ono-George (Oxford) on 'Visualizing Difference: Amelia Newsham and the Art of Race-Making' bit.ly/4hGLz0z. Booking for in-person attendance remains open and all are welcome in Glasgow for the lecture and reception to follow #Skystorians

You're going to be needing specialists in: languages, narrative, history, psychology, information, mythology, conspiracies, etc, etc. then? #humanities #socialscience

The new programme provides online content to historians without existing access to @socialhistarchive.bsky.social. We're keen to support researchers without institutional affiliation whose work will benefit from access. The Society is keen to extend this provision to other online resources 2/2

THIS FRIDAY: You can come to my @royalhistsoc.org public lecture on rights of way and the struggle for land access in England and Wales... It's at London's Senate House at 6pm. Still a few tickets left! And an online version. www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/rhs-lectur...

'AI and History Teaching in UK Higher Education': today we launch a new autumn series on the Society's blog, with perspectives from historians as teachers bit.ly/4htgtcT We start with the first three posts, offering personal commentaries on current challenges and practice #Skystorians 1/2

The Society is pleased to launch a new programme to support research bit.ly/4iFNuF0 The RHS / Social History Archive Partnership offers free access to resources in @socialhistarchive.bsky.social, published by DC Thomson. Applications for 6-month access to Archive content invited #Skystorians 1/2

Historian looking for freelance work. I’m a very experienced RA, I’m looking for anything really that might help me pay my bills, because in general my profession does not, and no one will let me try doing anything else…

"Details, in their singularity and idiosyncrasy, point to the capaciousness of human experience." New today in the Society's journal 'Transactions': Joe Moran 'On Detail in Historical Writing': bit.ly/44UMi8C Now available OA @joemoransblog.bsky.social @massobsarchive.bsky.social #Skystorians 1/2

Thinking through the unedifying, un-evidence-based rush to an undefined, apparently unmodelled paradigm of 'specialisation, what's being lost/threatened? Herts History was an excellent example of performing to a top standard in REF, but also much more than that. Questions to think with include: 1/4

CALLING ALL INDEPENDENT HISTORIANS!! Come and join IHN for socials, networking, support, advice, newsletters, and promotion of your work! The number of members is going up all the time which is very, very exciting. Join the fun for a bargain £10 per year. membermojo.co.uk/independenth...

So it's farewell to the History subject area at the University of Hertfordshire, not the first nor the last to go. One of the best departments in the country, just extinguished like a snap of the fingers. Think of the waste. (1/2)

In late 2023, the Society spent a day with Hertfordshire’s historians. We saw the quality, creativity and distinctiveness of teaching, research and engagement. We were told by a (now departed) senior manager that History was ‘a portfolio the university will guard very carefully’. bit.ly/4hLediN

Great discussion at the 'crisis in UK history' meeting hosted by @ihr.bsky.social, @royalhistsoc.org, @histassoc.bsky.social and History UK. Horror stories of closures and redundancies, balanced by new resources. Check out for ex. the new Independent Historians Network independenthistorians.org

Very short notice (deadline 18 August) but we're advertising a 0.5fte lectureship in public history for next year. Covers my 3rd year undergraduate course on public history of Rome (ancient to modern) plus some MA public history teaching.

Another round of voluntary severance, this time with an explicit message that if this doesn’t cut the budgets enough, compulsory redundancies might be on the table. And to think at the weekend I was telling people that we seemed to have escaped this cycle…

British Academy Chief Executive Hetan Shah makes the case in the Times for language skills and how they will help the UK "make our way in an increasingly volatile world". Read the full piece here➡️ https://bit.ly/4vNilCn

It’s 25 years since we lost Douglas Adams. I am happy to have been able to get a reference to him into this piece in the FT about why the humanities are essential www.ft.com/content/fbde...

A new resource from @britishacademy.bsky.social, out today, maps changes in UK academic staff numbers and contract types between 2012/13 & 2024/25 for the arts, humanities & social sciences bit.ly/4w47SmP You can search by subject (incl history), provider, region & forms of employment #Skystorians

'There has been a 12 percentage point leap in the number of UK universities reporting cutbacks to research, according to a survey carried out this year by Universities UK.' Being a global research power when you're reducing research by 12% in a year may prove a wee bit of a challenge.

In addition to today's data on staffing in UK HE, @britishacademy.bsky.social has produced several briefings, including one on the very significant decline in early career academics, 2012-24: bit.ly/4wGBTcl History has seen a 32% decline in early career staff numbers since 2012/13 #Skystorians 1/2

The Society will write up a summary for History for next week. Key points at this stage include: > 11% decline (-440 FPE) across all History staff between 2018/19 and 2024/25, compared with a 7% decline across all humanities > loss of 140 FPE History roles 2022/23 to 2024/25 #Skystorians 1/3

'"This is pure mentality," he said.' Actually, as cultural historians will instantly have picked up, Thomas Tuchel was making a sophisticated reference here to the concept of mentalité. If England wants to beat Argentina, the coaching team needs to be augmented with a cultural historian pronto.

EThOS platform restored! 'Following restoration work, all metadata records previously available on EThOS have now been restored, along with an additional 14,000 records added since the service was taken offline' - more to come www.bl.uk/stories/news...

🚨 PLEASE SHARE WIDELY 🚨 If you are an Exeter alumnus, and wish to express your horror at the proposed cuts to the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, please sign the Google Doc petition below. Not an alumnus? You can still help by signing the Exeter UCU petition at c.org/msXfsb2g5b 🗃️

Or, as Minister Jacqui Smith calls it, stabilising the university sector. Stabilising, as in slamming the stable door shut as you exit the premises, after the horse has limped through the door toward the lorry-laden roadside.

First they came for the languages. In the hope that no one would have the words to say what was happening. 1/9🧵

‘We urge the Government to prioritise this issue. Should this situation continue unchecked, the damage to the health of higher education, research and innovation will be profound and have long-lasting consequences.’ www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/news/stateme...

Many congratulations to Charlotte Gauthier, @faraiunvers.bsky.social winner of the @ihr.bsky.social @royalhistsoc.org and @chalkefestival.bsky.social ‘Pitch My Project’ competition for an outstanding talk at Chalke last night! @lucynoakes1.bsky.social

Wonderful time at Chalke yesterday. Thanks to our fabulous panel and the Chalke team. @royalhistsoc.org @ihr.bsky.social showing the value- and popularity- of history.

A statement from Exeter UCU branch @ucu.org.uk - please share far and wide.

Some excellent stuff here for your Sunday reading including the always-excellent @nichecanada.bsky.social and some great #EarlyModern posts. (Plus lovely tributes to the father of @americanstudier.bsky.social-- when the history and the personal intersect.)

'The last decade has been an enormous success story for Manchester and it has been in no small part powered by the constellation of research assets, university led capital investment, a growing labour force, and inward investment, that the universities have brought.' 1/2

Over the next 10 days, we feature the 8 articles shortlisted for the Society's 2026 Early Career Article Prize. Today: 'Colonial world-making and global knowledges at the early modern Cape of Good Hope' by Gianamar Giovannetti-Singh bit.ly/4b5wx1V, published in 'Past & Present' #Skystorians 1/2

Over the next two weeks, we feature the 8 articles shortlisted for the Society's 2026 Early Career Article Prize. Today: 'The Absence of the Ackee Tree: Jamaican botanical resistance and Kew’s colonial archive', by Heather Craddock bit.ly/4vWNeor, published in 'Plant Perspectives' #Skystorians 1/2

If you are a policy interested researcher we have opened a fantastic call for our Innovation Fellowships. Spend a year working with a policy partner on themes of resilient communities or digital society. We offer up to £120k. More detail below in this 🧵 www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/funding/sche...

Poster for the Carnival Against Fascism event on Saturday 13 June, Queens Road, Brighton. #antiFascism #fuckReform #fuckFarage