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Clare Stainthorp

@claregs.bsky.social
7.5K followers 1.2K following 320 posts

University-Policy Engagement & ARIs at UPEN/UCL ∣ Impact at the RCA ∣ Researches Victorian literature, social history, freethought periodicals ∣ Book: Constance Naden: Scientist, Philosopher, Poet ∣ she/her clarestainthorp.wordpress.com

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Reposted by Clare Stainthorp
Conway Hall @conwayhall.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
Join us this Halloween as we screen Robert Wiene's The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari followed by a post-screening discussion asking the questions of complexity of moral responsibility and what the horror genre unveils about human nature. 🔪 🩸 📅 Friday 30 October 🕒 6.30pm 🎫 loom.ly/65NKYMM
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Catherine Fletcher @catherinefletcher.info · 08/10/2026
Well this is miserable news. Free Thinking was one of the few spaces in broadcasting for serious (not PR-led) discussion about arts and humanities.
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Glasgow Review of Books @glasgowrevbooks.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
‘After a dormant year, the Glasgow Review of Books revives again as a platform for writing from Glasgow and beyond, in English, Gaelic, and Scots.’ A note from the editorial team, ahead of publicising our Autumn / 2026 release, which can now be found on our website.
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Clare Stainthorp @claregs.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
This new guide ‘Emotionally Engaged: A Toolkit for your Archive Journey’ is a great introduction for students (or anyone else) that demystifies working with archives as well as navigating the ethics and emotions of historical research ahc.leeds.ac.uk/history-rese...
ahc.leeds.ac.uk
Developing Healthy Engagement
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Ramón Soneira-Martínez @rsoneira.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
See you next Wednesday!!! ⏬⏬⏬
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ISHASH @ishash.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Join us next Wednesday (7 October) for what’s sure to be a fascinating talk by @rsoneira.bsky.social on ‘Relational Atheism: Studying Unbelief in Ancient Greece’. All welcome, please share widely! Full details here: atheismsecularismhumanism.wordpress.com/seminars/
Blue event poster for ISHASH Webinar: Dr Ramón Soneira-Martínez, 7 October 2026, 10.00 PT, 13.00 ET, 18.00 BST, 19.00 CET. Relational Atheism: Studying Unbelief in Ancient Greece. Email ishashmail@gmail.com to register
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Felicity Callard @felicitycallard.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
The brutal reality of universities' suppression of wages (in KPMG's report for DfE on cost of undergraduate provision in England) assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6aabfa...
Table 1 – Cost increases since the last study by cost type
Actual % increase
between 2016-17 and
2019 study cost groupings
2023-24 weighted
average unit cost
Staff costs 14%
Non-pay costs 46%
Indirect departmental costs -24%
Centrally allocated indirect costs 29%
Estates costs 40%
Sustainability adjustment -2%

Source: Analysis of Data Returns
Table 1 shows that costs have not increased equally in the time between the two costing studies. Non-pay costs have increased slightly ahead of inflation and estates costs have increased in line with inflation. Universities have managed staff costs significantly below inflation, increasing only by 14% compared to the 41.2% increase in RPIX. By contrast, indirect departmental costs have reduced by 24%, but this may be due to differences in the universities participating in the 2019 and this study. The movement in MSI is reflective of changes in financial performance rather than any inflationary impact.
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Clare Stainthorp @claregs.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Faculty Research Impact Officer, Arts & Humanities, @ucl.ac.uk (deadline 4 Oct). It’s a version of the role I had back in 2019, and could be a brilliant opportunity for those whose have recently finished a PhD, have some experience of engagement/impact, and aren't sure what their next step might be.
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Clare Stainthorp @claregs.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Worth clarifying that a humanities PhD (or any postgrad degree) is absolutely not a requirement for this role! But looking around the sector, the overlap between people with that background and those working in impact is strong 😄
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Clare Stainthorp @claregs.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Full details here: www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/...
ucl.ac.uk
UCL – University College London
UCL is consistently ranked as one of the top ten universities in the world (QS World University Rankings 2010-2022) and is No.2 in the UK for research power (Research Excellence Framework 2021).
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Clare Stainthorp @claregs.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Faculty Research Impact Officer, Arts & Humanities, @ucl.ac.uk (deadline 4 Oct). It’s a version of the role I had back in 2019, and could be a brilliant opportunity for those whose have recently finished a PhD, have some experience of engagement/impact, and aren't sure what their next step might be.
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Clare Stainthorp @claregs.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Looking forward to chairing this sure to be fascinating conversation next week! All welcome, in person and online - please share widely.
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Clare Stainthorp @claregs.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Looking forward to chairing this sure to be fascinating conversation next week! All welcome, in person and online - please share widely.
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Peter Mandler @petermandler.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
An important point that successive governments have failed to grapple with: 'research' is much more capacious than 'science' and if we use the latter to mean the former we will be missing out on important parts. (1/n)
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Liesbeth Corens @onslies.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
<opens wikipedia to check on this 'Global University Systems' thingy that's so keen to absorb UK universities in distress> Excellent work by the UK government. Very wise to get tuition fees neatly flow out of the country instead of reforming the system that puts unis in distress in the first place.
Etingen established Global University Systems in 2013.[7] Its UK business model relied on access to state-funded loans for student tuition fees, which since 2010 was a model for privatizing English higher education.[8] GUS was incorporated in the Netherlands as a Besloten vennootschap (or BV) and in turn became the owner of the LSBF Group institutions and St Patrick's College through Dutch holding companies. While BVs are required to produce financial statements and file them with the Dutch KvK, the Netherlands has a favourable tax regime compared to the UK.
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ISHASH @ishash.bsky.social · 30/07/2026
For our next webinar we’ll be hosting @rsoneira.bsky.social who will share insights from new book ‘Relational Atheism: Studying Unbelief in Ancient Greece’ on Wed 7 October. Save the date! atheismsecularismhumanism.wordpress.com/seminars/
Blue event poster for ISHASH Webinar: Dr Ramón Soneira-Martínez, 7 October 2026, 10.00 PT, 13.00 ET, 18.00 BST, 19.00 CET. Relational Atheism: Studying Unbelief in Ancient Greece. Email ishashmail@gmail.com to register
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Clare Stainthorp @claregs.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
It‘s been such a delight to co-chair with you Anton!
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ISHASH @ishash.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
We’re delighted to announce Dr Niels De Nutte as the new co-director of ISHASH, working alongside @claregs.bsky.social. Huge thanks to @antnlj.bsky.social for his brilliant work as co-director over the past 8 years! atheismsecularismhumanism.wordpress.com/team/
Blue and white logo: ISHASH The International Society for Historians of Atheism, Secularism, and Humanism
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Clare Stainthorp @claregs.bsky.social · 29/07/2026
A new UPEN blog by me, highlighting the latest conversations, publications and activities in the Areas of Research Interest space. ARIs are a great way for researchers to start engaging with policy - check it out! upen.ac.uk/resources/bu...
Graphic that reads ‘What's happening in the world of Areas of Research Interest?’, with photo of me (white women with glasses) smiling in conversation. Orange background branded Universities Policy Engagement Network.
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Clare Stainthorp @claregs.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
Excited that Alison Stone’s new book ‘The Philosophy of Julia Wedgwood: Imperfect Antithesis‘ is #openaccess! Wedgwood is such an important Victorian thinker - essential reading for history of philosophy & women’s intellectual history! #ethics #metaphysics www.openbookpublishers.com/books/10.116...
Book cover of Alison Stone’s ‘The Philosophy of Julia Wedgwood: Imperfect Antithesis‘ - painterly umber background
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Clare Stainthorp @claregs.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
Excited that Alison Stone’s new book ‘The Philosophy of Julia Wedgwood: Imperfect Antithesis‘ is #openaccess! Wedgwood is such an important Victorian thinker - essential reading for history of philosophy & women’s intellectual history! #ethics #metaphysics www.openbookpublishers.com/books/10.116...
Book cover of Alison Stone’s ‘The Philosophy of Julia Wedgwood: Imperfect Antithesis‘ - painterly umber background
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Clare Stainthorp @claregs.bsky.social · 17/06/2026
Thanks! I really appreciated such a nice audience!
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Clare Stainthorp @claregs.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
I had the best time at @humanists.uk‘s Festival of Humanism sharing the poetry of historical humanists, hearing about the power of poetry for humanists today & showing this unique scrapbook from @conwayhall.bsky.social‘s archive! Support Conway Hall: www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/conway-hall
A photo of an open book crammed with overlapping cuttings of poetry taken from nineteenth century radical newspapers. Caption reads J. M. Wheeler, Freethought 
Readings and Secular Songs 
(1892), 828 WHE. Conway Hall Library. Plus a QR code to support Conway Hall via a crowdfunder
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Clare Stainthorp @claregs.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
Thanks so much!
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Andrew Copson @andrewcopson.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
Such an energising, thought-provoking, fortifying, and enjoyable weekend with 650 humanists from across the UK. The annual @humanists.uk festival really is a highlight and Bournemouth was a sparkling diamond of a town. See you all next year! humanists.uk/2026/06/15/o...
humanists.uk
Over 650 humanists gather in Bournemouth for the Festival of Humanism
Over 650 humanists from across the UK – and beyond – travelled to Bournemouth June 12-14 for the Festival of Humanism, Humanists UK’s flagship annual event. Held at Bournemouth’s International Centre ...
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Clare Stainthorp @claregs.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
To find out more about this incredible patchwork volume of freethought poetry and songs, as well as some of the poems I shared during my talk, my article ‘Secular Community and Identity in the Poetry of British Freethought Periodicals’ is open access here: dx.doi.org/10.1353/pan....
dx.doi.org
Project MUSE -- Verification required!
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Clare Stainthorp @claregs.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
I had the best time at @humanists.uk‘s Festival of Humanism sharing the poetry of historical humanists, hearing about the power of poetry for humanists today & showing this unique scrapbook from @conwayhall.bsky.social‘s archive! Support Conway Hall: www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/conway-hall
A photo of an open book crammed with overlapping cuttings of poetry taken from nineteenth century radical newspapers. Caption reads J. M. Wheeler, Freethought 
Readings and Secular Songs 
(1892), 828 WHE. Conway Hall Library. Plus a QR code to support Conway Hall via a crowdfunder
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Humanists UK @humanists.uk · 13/06/2026
After a fascinating session in Purbeck Hall about the experiences of apostates and the work of @faith2faithless.bsky.social, we’re now joined by historian @claregs.bsky.social and @madeleineog.bsky.social for a discussion of ‘the power of poetry’ for humanists across history.
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Clare Stainthorp @claregs.bsky.social · 06/06/2026
It’s my birthday tomorrow - seeing Conway Hall reach its Crowdfunder target would be an amazing gift! Please share widely, and donate if you can ❤️
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Clare Stainthorp @claregs.bsky.social · 06/06/2026
It’s my birthday tomorrow - seeing Conway Hall reach its Crowdfunder target would be an amazing gift! Please share widely, and donate if you can ❤️
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Alix Dunn @alixdunn.com · 31/05/2026
Oh hell yeah @amnesty.org comes out swinging: "Amnesty International finds that standalone generative AI systems... are fundamentally incompatible with IHRL. As such, Amnesty International is calling for a prohibition of such systems." www.amnesty.org/en/documents...
amnesty.org
Unlawful by design: Exposing the human rights costs of generative AI - Amnesty International
This briefing examines how standalone generative AI systems, based on unlawful web scraping, are in conflict with international human rights law (IHRL) and standards through their design, development ...
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Clare Stainthorp @claregs.bsky.social · 25/05/2026
Conway Hall is integral to the history of ethical thinking in the UK - but we need your support to ensure it remains a place where people can come and think together well into the future. Please donate to our Crowdfunder if you’re able! www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/qr/BWdqeewn @conwayhall.bsky.social
A photo of a diverse crowd of people talking outside the brick frontage of the historic Conway Hall Ethical Society  in London
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Conway Hall @conwayhall.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
And just like that, our Crowdfunder is LIVE! 🥳 We need to raise £5,000 to continue broadening the reach of ethics through talks, concerts and events, welcoming over 100,000 people each year. It starts with ethics. It starts with you. Donate to our Crowdfunder today: bit.ly/4uUvUzM
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Victorian Turkish Baths @victurk.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
You started your site—with its wonderful quotations & Victorian sexual factoids pages—a year before I started mine. Perhaps there ought to be an Order of Authors of Ancient Website (Oh awe) to commemorate those who have, like us, single-handedly maintained websites for 25 years or more. Suggestions?
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nottspolitics.bsky.social @nottspolitics.bsky.social · 18/05/2026
Following on from the publication of the new edition of 'On Liberty', @hrmccabe.bsky.social will be joining @humanists.uk on 20 May to discuss Harriet Taylor Mill, her recognition as co-author & her profound philosophical legacy ℹ️ Event info ➡️ humanists.uk/events/in-conversation-with/helen-mccabe/
humanists.uk
In conversation with Helen McCabe
Join us and Professor Helen McCabe as we dive into Harriet Taylor Mill's profound philosophical legacy, highlighting the groundbreaking new research that finally recognizes her as a co-author of the i...
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Humanists UK @humanists.uk · 14/05/2026
You can learn more about the humanist icon Dora Russell on the latest episode of #UnholyHistories or by visiting the #HumanistHeritage website today. heritage.humanists.uk/dora-russell/
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Victorian Periodicals Review @vpreditors.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
Are you a grad student working on Victorian periodicals and newspapers? Submit your essay for @rs4vp.org's VanArsdel Prize, deadline June 15, 2026. The winner receives $500 and publication in VPR. rs4vp.org/awards/vanar... #VictorianStudies
The VanArsdel Prize is awarded annually to the best graduate student essay investigating Victorian periodicals and newspapers. The winner will receive $500 and publication in Victorian Periodicals Review. Deadline: June 15, 2026. For more information, visit rs4vp.org/awards/vanarsdel-prize
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ISHASH @ishash.bsky.social · 08/04/2026
We’re looking forward to tomorrow’s webinar on the history of American Freethought. Get in touch if you’re not an ISHASH member and would like to join us 📕
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BAVS @bavs-uk.bsky.social · 25/02/2026
The BAVS/Rosemary Mitchell Prize for a Second Monograph 2026 is now open! If you published your second scholarly monograph in Victorian studies between 17 February 2025 and 17 February 2026, please do consider submitting! You can find more information here: bavs.ac.uk/book-prize-2/
bavs.ac.uk
Book Prize – BAVS
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Clare Stainthorp @claregs.bsky.social · 02/04/2026
It looks fab! Congratulations - I know how long in the making this has been 😄
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Ruth-Anne @ruthannereads.bsky.social · 20/03/2026
The new @bavs-uk.bsky.social newsletter is here and it is ✨stunning ✨ This refresh has been a long time in the making, with lots of work behind the scenes from me and @ireadoldbooks.bsky.social - we hope you love it as much as we do! Read the spring issue here: bavs.ac.uk/wp-content/u...
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ISHASH @ishash.bsky.social · 30/03/2026
Join us next Thursday (9 April) to hear from David C. Hoffman about his new book ‘American Freethought: The History of a Social Movement, 1794-1948.’ Full details here: atheismsecularismhumanism.wordpress.com/seminars/
Grey and red poster with book cover of David C. Hoffman’s book American Freethought: The History of a Social Movement, 1794-1948. Poster gives details of ISHASH webinar - see link in post
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QM_UCU @qmucu.bsky.social · 22/03/2026
These cuts and how they have been implemented undo what it means to do university. The academic community should own the courses, not some external consultant. Students & Staff need to have a meaningful participation for a university to be a university. #SaveHE #UKHE
Defend degrees, defend jobs
These cuts wipe out courses, programmes, shared knowledge, teaching and research excellence and a whole learning community, which has been decades in the making
Talk to your tutors, lecturers, and professors
Demand the Schools, Faculties, and University end these cuts 
Join upcoming meetings, letters, and petitions
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QM_UCU @qmucu.bsky.social · 22/03/2026
Management paid nearly a quarter million to the external consultancy NOUS, whose generic 'framework' is now used to turn QMUL into a Cookie Cutter University. These modules make QMUL. They bring students in contact with the cutting-edge research & widen the scope of academia. #UKHE
295 modules cut in the School of the Arts
Race and Racism in Performance 
Performing Illness and Disability 
Performance and Visual Culture in South Asia
Queer Borderlands
Iraqi Literature in English / English Translation 
Transgender Perspectives and Interventions 
Refugee Writing 
Indian Cinema 
Slavery, Colonialism and Postcolonialism 
Language and Ethnicity
Multilingualism and Bilingualism 
Cinema and Disability 
Intersectional Feminist Writing 
Reading South Asia: India, Pakistan, Bangladesh 
Plus cuts to Arabic, Bengali, Catalan, French, German, Japanese Mandarin Chinese and Russian!
Management is cutting The research-led modules that make QMUL QMUL
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ISHASH @ishash.bsky.social · 12/03/2026
Our Associate Director Barathy M.G. will be giving what’s sure to be a fascinating talk about global networks of freethought. Full details of the free webinar linked below.
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Clare Stainthorp @claregs.bsky.social · 01/03/2026
Thanks to generosity of our members, @ishash.bsky.social now hosts a page of teaching resources that bring histories of freethought into cultural and intellectual history, literature and religious studies courses. Check it out! atheismsecularismhumanism.wordpress.com/teaching-res...
atheismsecularismhumanism.wordpress.com
Teaching Resources
This webpage collects syllabi, module outlines, seminar plans, assignment ideas, and classroom activities related to histories of atheism, secularism, and humanism. Materials are from a variety of …
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Clare Stainthorp @claregs.bsky.social · 01/03/2026
Thanks to generosity of our members, @ishash.bsky.social now hosts a page of teaching resources that bring histories of freethought into cultural and intellectual history, literature and religious studies courses. Check it out! atheismsecularismhumanism.wordpress.com/teaching-res...
atheismsecularismhumanism.wordpress.com
Teaching Resources
This webpage collects syllabi, module outlines, seminar plans, assignment ideas, and classroom activities related to histories of atheism, secularism, and humanism. Materials are from a variety of …
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Clare Stainthorp @claregs.bsky.social · 27/02/2026
Thanks to @rs4vp.org for the inspiration to put this together!
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Anton Jansson @antnlj.bsky.social · 27/02/2026
Most international academic networks and cooperations are about research, not teaching. Therefore I am very happy that our network now has published a page with teaching resources. Examples from many different contexts.
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Clare Stainthorp @claregs.bsky.social · 27/02/2026
Thanks Anton - it really was a pleasure to get the insights into how our members’ research and teaching intersect (once I’d found the time to work on it!)
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