iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Huw Bennett

Society for Army Historical Research @societyarmy.bsky.social · 13h

In our next online talk, at 7.00pm on 29 October, @draefox.bsky.social will be speaking on the Life and Times of Major General Guy Dawnay. Open to members and non-members alike; sign up for free at: my.demio.com/ref/ix0f7YFz...

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Huw Bennett @bennetthuw.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

PhD funding opportunities are now open with the Welsh Graduate School for the Social Sciences, including in Politics/International Relations: wgsss.ac.uk/student-led-...

wgsss.ac.uk

Student-led General Competition – Welsh Graduate School for the Social Sciences

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Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

'The Westminster government’s contribution to funding domestic undergraduates studying in England fell in real terms from £8.9 billion in 2012-13 to just £3.3bn in 2024-25, a drop of more than 60 per cent, an analysis has found.'

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Helen Day @lbflyawayhome.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

The Ladybird diet, 1977 Artist: Roger Hall

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Huw Bennett @bennetthuw.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

No doubt Policy Exchange, the Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mail will now loudly condemn this vast obstruction of justice by the Ministry of Defence.

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Huw Bennett @bennetthuw.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

The Ministry of Defence continues to demand public understanding and whole of society support for defence, yet again fails to offer any fellowships to promote academic collaboration. It’s almost as if they don’t like being critically evaluated!

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Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Such a great opportunity. We are offering scholars the chance to spend a year at the Foreign Office through one of our Innovation Fellowships. The priority themes are outlined below. We offer up to £120k for the fellowship. Please help spread the word! www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/funding/sche...

The Academy and the FCDO invite applications for Fellowships in any of the following areas:
1. Applied History
2. Critical Infrastructure and European
Warfare
3. South Asia Geopolitics and Regional
Security
4. The UK-France Relationship in 2027 and
Beyond
5. UK National Security Strategy
Scheme opens date: 22 September 2026
Application Deadline: 18 November 2026,

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Huw Bennett @bennetthuw.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Latest news in the UK universities in free-fall saga. UKRI should be ashamed of themselves; a dereliction of duty and misuse of public funds.

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Dr Dave Hitchcock @davehitchcock.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

'History is a Human Craft'. In piece about ethics, our classrooms and AI, I suppose I've put up my barricades and drawn my lines. I suggest 8 'considerations' before we do any teaching with AI. This is part of a new @royalhistsoc.org short series on 'AI and History Teaching' in Transactions.

blog.royalhistsoc.org

History is a human craft | Historical Transactions

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Huw Bennett @bennetthuw.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

British military action against Yemen always turns out so well, after all.

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Andy Brockman @andybrockman.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Three courses in the School of History, Classics and Archaeology, are among the 90 programmes to be axed as Edinburgh University seeks to save £140m at the cost of as many as 1800 jobs. Edinburgh UCU has announced a five week programme of strike action in protest. #BonfireOfTheHumanities

scotsman.com

Edinburgh University to mothball 90 courses as five weeks of strikes to start

The university said mothballing 90 courses will not detract from the institutions standing on the world stage

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Jo Wolff @jowolff.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

The fallacy that University leaders pushing AI are falling into is thinking that the point of undergraduate research is to find things out. It isn't. What students find out is typically already generally known. The point of undergraduate research is to learn how to find things out.

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Royal Historical Society @royalhistsoc.org · 11/09/2026

In fact 'As the minister for science in the newly formed Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade (BIST), McDonald has responsibility for the country’s entire research and development system, *including social sciences and the arts and the humanities*.' #Skystorians

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Ben Ansell @benansell.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Honestly, might be better if government ministers kept their half-baked views on education to themselves

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Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

The recent European Research Council grant starting grant results shows the real strength of UK social science and humanities. The UK won 18% of the SSH starting grants, compared to 8% of physical sciences and engineering and 7% of the life sciences grants erc.europa.eu/news-events/...

erc.europa.eu

ERC Starting Grants: €705 million to back Europe's next generation of researchers

The European Research Council (ERC) has today announced the winners of its latest Starting Grant competition. The funding, worth €705 million in total, will go to 421 early-career researchers across E...

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Jonathan Boff @jfb1066.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

I will give the 2026 Richard Holmes Lecture ‘Redcoats to Dusty Warriors: Britain and its Soldiers from Waterloo to Helmand’. Royal Air Force Club Tuesday 27 October 6.30, lecture starting at 7. Wine. Canapés. Tickets £45 each. Non-members welcome. Tickets- www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/richard-ho...

eventbrite.co.uk

Richard Holmes Lecture 2026

The BCMH hosts a lecture on military history in memory of Professor Richard Holmes

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Huw Bennett @bennetthuw.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Made it to the end of one of those weeks where you just have to keep reminding yourself: “editing is easier than writing”.

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SMH Historians @smh-historians.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

The Board of Trustees of the Society for Military History has approved the following statement of protest regarding the recent closure of public access to the Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC).

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Huw Bennett @bennetthuw.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

North German rural creativity at its finest

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Boyd van Dijk @boydvandijk.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

Really happy - I’ve just signed a contract with OUP for a Very Short Introduction on the law of war. The law is under pressure right now, which makes an accessible book on what it actually is, what its origins are, and how it’s being used (and misused) today, feel more relevant than ever. More soon.

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Huw Bennett @bennetthuw.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

On international cat day, I must acknowledge my research would not be possible without such excellent supervision.

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Huw Bennett @bennetthuw.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

Having to read General de la Billiere's "Storm Command" again, can't believe my 2002 self was so foolish as to have discarded those notes. The lesson is: never throw away notes, ever!

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David Morgan-Owen @dmorganowen.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

Had some wonderful news yesterday - the WW1 Historical Association awarded Framing the First World War the Norman B. Tomlinson Prize for 2025! Very grateful to our wonderful contributors and their hard work, series editor Bill Allison and the team at @univpressofkansas.bsky.social -

Book cover for 'Framing the First World War', adapted from Christopher Nevinson painting 'Return to the Trenches'. Published by university press of Kansas

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Annette Yoshiko Reed @annetteyreed.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

August as an academic

Tabbycat in tie say he hopes he doesn’t have a lot of meetings… while in the background is a lots of meetings factory

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Ben Ansell @benansell.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

Glad someone senior from the sector is pushing back. Labour MPs need to understand the serious real anger from graduates and the people who produce them. And the dangerous financial situation they have allowed to fester, or indeed worsened, in one of Britain’s leading sectors.

ft.com

Labour has harmed universities as much as Trump, London School of Economics head says

LSE vice-chancellor Larry Kramer points to domestic student fees freeze, international student limits and rise in employers’ national insurance

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Peter Johnston @peterajohnston.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

Now open at IWM London, our brand new exhibition "Childhood in War." My colleagues have done an amazing job, and you may well start noticing some of this great marketing out and about. It's an important exhibition, it's powerful - and it's free. Do visit if and when you get the chance

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Huw Bennett @bennetthuw.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

Things are going wrong in academia…

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Ed Newton-Rex @ednewtonrex.bsky.social · 29/07/2026

I've confirmed that the UK's new Sovereign AI Fund does no due diligence on whether AI companies use copyrighted work without permission before investing in them. It took me 3 Freedom of Information requests to find this out: 🧵 1/10

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Dr Laura Sangha @lsangha.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

Last week, about a third of the History department were able to gather together on graduation day. Rather than lend our intellectual authority to the official procession and ceremony we invited our students to come and celebrate their achievements with us in a shady courtyard. They came. 1/

A group of world leading historians in their finery, some in gowns, stand together under a tree. Some carry signs saying 'Historian at risk', other raise a glass to the camera.

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Huw Bennett @bennetthuw.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

It is raining in Wales. Thank God normality has returned.

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Huw Bennett @bennetthuw.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

For the fist time in 20 years of making Freedom of Information Act requests, I have been accused of making a vexatious request. The Ministry of Defence thinks asking for a 36-year old report on lessons from the Gulf War is vexatious. The culture of knee-jerk secrecy is beyond a joke.

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The Society for the History of War @sochistorywar.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

Planning for SHoW 2026 is well underway! We’re busy putting together what is promising to be an excellent programme & are looking forward to welcoming old and new faces to the University of Limerick in November!

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Daniel Fiott @danielfiott.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

📈EU defence spending reached €418 billion in 2025 – 20% more than the year before. The increase reflects EU countries’ efforts to strengthen Europe’s defence capabilities. See more below via the European Defence Agency. New data drop here: eda.europa.eu/publications...

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Huw Bennett @bennetthuw.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

We have to find new things to say about British defence. “There is a gap between resources and commitments!” So what? There almost always has been, and the evidence suggests politicians simply don’t care.

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Huw Bennett @bennetthuw.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

Even if the U.K. government funded defence at 3.5% of GDP - which it can’t and won’t - leadership in European security has already been lost to Germany, Ukraine and Poland. Time to accept the reality.

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Royal Historical Society @royalhistsoc.org · 13/07/2026

We have the following 3 calls for research funding for RHS Fellows & Members: bit.ly/4wwSMGu > 'Open Research Grants', for mid & later career historians > 'Early Career Fellowship Grants', for postdocs > Martin Lynn Scholarship', for PhD research in African history Closing 4 September #Skystorians

bit.ly

Calls for research funding from the Royal Historical Society: September 2026 deadlines - RHS

The Society invites applications for the following three schemes — open to historians at a range of career stages — with closing dates of 4 September 2026. Early Career Fellowship Grants, 2026-27* off...

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Postcard From The Past @pastpostcard.bsky.social · 12/07/2026

Dear All, Everything is going superly.

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Digital Scholarship @ British Library @bldigischol.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

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/ethos-record…

bl.uk

EThOS records restored

We are pleased to share that EThOS (E-Theses Online Service) is now available again following restoration work after the cyber-attack.

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Anton Gerashchenko @antongerashchenko.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

President Trump: Would you go to Moscow? President Zelenskyy: It's difficult. There are a lot of Ukrainian drones there. It's dangerous.

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Glen O'Hara @gsoh31.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

A handful of universities are determined to destroy all the others. It's that simple. That would end the Burnham regionalism agenda before it'd even got going. Unfortunately, no-one even seems to know this and our governance structures are so pitifully weak there's not even anyone to tell.

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Chatham House @chathamhouse.org · 07/07/2026

In terms of numbers, the UK’s once vaunted status as the top defence spender in Europe has gone. By 2030, Germany plans to spend €188 billion – 3.7 per cent of GDP – twice the UK's £79 billion defence budget.

chathamhouse.org

Will NATO be convinced by the UK Defence Investment Plan?

A tortuous process has produced a plan that does not set a clear path towards meeting the UK’s defence expenditure targets. But it includes many elements which will make the UK a more attractive colla...

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Huw Bennett @bennetthuw.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

U.K. government policy is to deliberately shrink the university sector. Let’s see how that plays out for them in the general election.

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Huw Bennett @bennetthuw.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

To solve the Defence Investment Plan shortfall, the U.K. should invest in HMRC. Or perhaps sell the two pointless aircraft carriers?

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Huw Bennett @bennetthuw.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

For today’s British defence policy the differences to the 1930s matter more than the similarities. The U.K. is a nuclear power; Germany and Poland are rearming on a large scale. Ukraine is turning the tide of the war. There is no threat justification for a massive U.K. expansion in land forces.

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Tim Dowse @timdowse.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

I know I'm a cracked record on this topic, but I still find it frustrating that the DIP (and the subsequent debate) is all about inputs. Having read it, I can't find anything that says what, once all the new kit etc is in place, we expect the armed forces will be able to deliver in terms of... 1/4

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