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Katherine Furman

@furmank.bsky.social
874 followers 1.1K following 99 posts

Senior Lecturer, Philosophy, University of Liverpool

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Katherine Furman @furmank.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Watching the navy suits descend on Liverpool for the Labour Party conference is one of my favourite times of the year. Watching the politicos, eavesdropping on the gossip, seeing the various police escorts! I am here for the drama! [1/2]
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Katherine Furman @furmank.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
Cockell in the Kyiv Post today: "The scientific character of a nation is a manifestation of the underlying national personality, because that is the place from which it springs. Ukraine’s scientific persona is brilliant, innovative, ingenious, joyous, and original." www.kyivpost.com/opinion/82997
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Katherine Furman @furmank.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
Everyone is sending me this today, which I appreciate www.nytimes.com/2026/07/20/w... If you want to read my hot takes on emotions and Ebola, it comes up in these papers: www.frontiersin.org/journals/com... and: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.... and: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
nytimes.com
Epidemics and Rage
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Katherine Furman @furmank.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
I saw 'Disclosure Day'. Spielberg is not doing okay. But what happened to Colin Firth? What is he doing in this? Does he have some gambling debt that we don't know about?
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Katherine Furman @furmank.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
Do we think Nussbaum is doing okay? www.telegraph.co.uk/books/author...
telegraph.co.uk
The world’s leading philosopher on how opera can save us
In her new book, Martha Nussbaum argues that the art form offers an antidote to division, grievance and modern self-obsession
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HUGERA @hugeraproject.bsky.social · 25/03/2026
Dr. Phila M. Msimang continues our spring speaker series with the talk “Is diversity higher? Against the superficial inclusion of racial and ethnic groups in biomedical and clinical research” on April 5th. You can register to attend via zoom here: hugera.org/lecture-seri...
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Inkeri Koskinen @inkerikoskinen.bsky.social · 14/03/2026
If you work on values in science, and have noticed that the literature is a bit too focused on values in science in Anglophone democracies – and that it therefore stays silent on issues that we should be talking about – please consider submitting an abstract to our workshop! (24–25 August, Helsinki)
blogs.helsinki.fi
CFP – Pre-conference workshop: Values in science in the rest of the world
24–25 August 2026, Helsinki – just before ENPOSS 2026 Keynote speakers: David Ludwig (Wageningen University) Karoliina Pulkkinen (University of Helsinki) The idea that social, political and ethical ...
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Katherine Furman @furmank.bsky.social · 09/03/2026
Because it isn't like the universities need foreign student fees. www.timeshighereducation.com/news/shorter...
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Katherine Furman @furmank.bsky.social · 01/02/2026
This book is amazing! And it is on sale at News From Nowhere. Grab yourself a bargain, Liverpool friends. @benjamblack.bsky.social
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Ivan Moscati @ivan-moscati.bsky.social · 28/01/2026
Deadline approaching!
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Katherine Furman @furmank.bsky.social · 20/01/2026
Saying the quiet part out loud UK drops target for international student recruitment - giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/... via @FT
giftarticle.ft.com
UK drops target for international student recruitment
Government to encourage education providers to open campuses overseas as it focuses on reducing migration
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Katherine Furman @furmank.bsky.social · 28/12/2025
"From the 1970s to the 1990s, the African university system was characterised by great instability. There were many lost years, strikes by students and teachers, & confrontations which pitted students, faculties, administrators and ministries against one another..." (Cardoso, 2020) [1/3]
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Katherine Furman @furmank.bsky.social · 18/12/2025
Southern African colleagues. Do you have any great undergraduate students who would benefit from a Masters degree? The Ruth First scholarship is open to Southern African students to study at Durham University. Applications close end of February: ruthfirsttrust.webspace.durham.ac.uk/how-to-apply...
ruthfirsttrust.webspace.durham.ac.uk
RFET: Applications
How to apply for the Ruth First Scholarship The Ruth First Educational Trust in partnership with Durham University and St Chad’s College Durham offers a scholarship to support a student from southern ...
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Katherine Furman @furmank.bsky.social · 21/11/2025
This whole pro-Russian bribes thing is a bit extra.
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Katherine Furman @furmank.bsky.social · 15/11/2025
I am meant to be at an Overcoming MS conference today. But there was a big storm and the trains were cancelled. So, I am watching the hybrid version from my sofa with cat as co-pilot.
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Katherine Furman @furmank.bsky.social · 18/09/2025
Getting spicy at INEM... Keynote by Wendy Carlin
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Katherine Furman @furmank.bsky.social · 09/09/2025
I am in an online workshop on trust in science and I have just realised that I have been using the central text of AIDS denialism to prop up my laptop.
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Katherine Furman @furmank.bsky.social · 31/07/2025
In a fantastic talk this morning on the history of race by @msimang.bsky.social
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Katherine Furman @furmank.bsky.social · 16/07/2025
Universities in England at risk of long-term decline, says British Academy - on.ft.com/3U2yymV via @FT
on.ft.com
Universities in England at risk of long-term decline, says British Academy
Outgoing president Dame Julia Black calls on ministers to overhaul their ‘confused’ approach to higher education
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Sabina Leonelli @sabinaleonelli.bsky.social · 15/07/2025
Job Opening at the Chair of Philosophy and History of Science and Technology at TUM! Research Fellow for 3 years (renewable). Preferably philosopher w interest in plant, crop & agricultural research (& their history and social studies) All details: www.sts.sot.tum.de/en/sts/arbei... #philsci #sts
sts.sot.tum.de
Jobs
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Katherine Furman @furmank.bsky.social · 04/07/2025
Ya know it is troubling times in academia when a student writes to say that they loved a module you taught and they "hope it will still happen again next year". Oof.
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Katherine Furman @furmank.bsky.social · 27/06/2025
This week I was part of an excellent health communication event @britishacademy.bsky.social. In a previous life, I interviewed doctors in South Africa & developed strong medic envy. The feeling was "nobody needs a philosopher, everyone needs a doctor". The BA event has reignited the medic envy
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Katherine Furman @furmank.bsky.social · 25/06/2025
"Life expectancy is dropping in poorer communities. This is virtually unheard of". 😯 At a health communication event at the British Academy.
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Katherine Furman @furmank.bsky.social · 23/06/2025
Internet friends. I need recommendations for novels set in Dakar. Thanks!
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Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 19/06/2025
The QS rankings are out, and it's not good news for UK universities (60% of which have dropped in the rankings). Part of this is of course simply due to Asia's investment in its universities. Then there's the bit that reflects the UK's HEI divestment. Link: www.topuniversities.com/world-univer...
ft.com
Majority of British universities slip down global rankings
Chinese, Indian and south-east Asian institutions climb the annual list
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Katherine Furman @furmank.bsky.social · 03/06/2025
I am so glad to see that this has finally come out! "Towards a Theory of Objectivity for Activist Research" Nancy Cartwright, Samuel Foglesong, Katherine Furman, Byron Hyde, Gabriel Nyberg, Karina Ortiz Villa, Helena Slanickova upmonographs.up.ac.za/index.php/ES...
upmonographs.up.ac.za
PDF view of the file 7_Chapter 4 RUTH_FIRST_E-BOOK_ESI_PRESS_2025-2.pdf
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Katherine Furman @furmank.bsky.social · 29/05/2025
May he rest in power. His work has been such an enormous influence on me. www.theguardian.com/books/2025/m...
theguardian.com
Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, giant of African literature, dies aged 87
Kenyan writer’s death announced by his daughter, who wrote: ‘He lived a full life, fought a good fight’
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Katherine Furman @furmank.bsky.social · 14/05/2025
I guess I have to give up my Labour Party membership. I am one of the "strangers" they would prefer not to have around.
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Claire Pierson @clairepierson.bsky.social · 01/05/2025
She lives! My book published by @manchesterup.bsky.social ‘Women’s Troubles: Gender and Feminist Politics in Northern Ireland.’ Cover image kindly provided by @frecklescorp.bsky.social of her work ‘The Slapper’ www.emmacampbell.co.uk/emma-campbell @livunipol.bsky.social @livunihss.bsky.social
Book cover with sculpture made out of yellow lego
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Katherine Furman @furmank.bsky.social · 06/05/2025
I have said it before. I will say it again. When is government going to step in? Where are the vice chancellors in this? www.ft.com/content/7514...
ft.com
The English higher education market is broken
New regulator powers should include the ability to claw back pay from vice-chancellors in the event of financial catastrophe
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Inkeri Koskinen @inkerikoskinen.bsky.social · 31/03/2025
We are organising a multidisciplinary workshop on pseudoscience in working life. If the topic interests you, please consider submitting an abstract! blogs.helsinki.fi/pseudoscienc...
blogs.helsinki.fi
Call for papers: Pseudoscience in Working Life – Pseudoscience in Working Life
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Katherine Furman @furmank.bsky.social · 24/03/2025
Me, this morning: "what do you think of my teaching outfit for today? I am going for Dolly Parton in the late 80s, early 90s." Partner: "Sure... That's a choice"
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Katherine Furman @furmank.bsky.social · 14/02/2025
Proof that I am not the only one who can't get over Thabo Mbeki. Especially now. Thanks @stheobald.bsky.social for sharing this with me. www.nytimes.com/2025/02/13/o...
nytimes.com
Opinion | I Shudder to Imagine Kennedy Running Our Health Agencies. (Gift Article)
We have to go toe-to-toe with this administration and resist its attacks on public health.
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Katherine Furman @furmank.bsky.social · 14/02/2025
Just curious. If I wrote a little blog post about the history of Structural Adjustment Programs in Africa, the defunding of education, & its long-term consequences, would anyone read that? Obviously it would be just a little history piece 😉. Not at all relevant to any other time or place 😉
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Katherine Furman @furmank.bsky.social · 10/02/2025
Southern African colleagues. Do you have a student who might be interested in doing a Master's degree in Durham, England? If so, applications have opened for the Ruth First Scholarship. Deadline for applications is 31 March ruthfirsttrust.webspace.durham.ac.uk/how-to-apply/
ruthfirsttrust.webspace.durham.ac.uk
RFET: Applications
How to apply for the Ruth First Scholarship The Ruth First Educational Trust in partnership with Durham University and St Chad’s College Durham offers a scholarship to support a student from southern ...
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Katherine Furman @furmank.bsky.social · 09/02/2025
Fascinating case of scientific misconduct, indigenous communities, and scarce specimens. This brings together philosophical considerations of scientific responsibilities to communities, and issues related to the special status of scarce specimens. www.science.org/content/arti...
science.org
After damage by scientists, Inuit group closes off access to Earth’s oldest rocks
Move by tribe in northern Canada could complicate efforts to study earliest moments on planet
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Katherine Furman @furmank.bsky.social · 07/02/2025
Tell us you want foreign student money but not foreign students without telling us you want foreign student money but not foreign students www.theguardian.com/education/20...
theguardian.com
UK universities look to open campuses in India amid financial woes at home
Branches aim to tap into huge domestic market in face of changing visa regimes and international competition
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Thelonevirologist @thelonevirologist.bsky.social · 06/02/2025
Ebola Sudan outbreak in Uganda grows to 7 cases www.cidrap.umn.edu/ebola/ebola-...
cidrap.umn.edu
Ebola Sudan outbreak in Uganda grows to 7 cases
Uganda last reported an Ebola outbreak in 2022.
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Anna Alexandrova @annaalexandrova.bsky.social · 05/02/2025
A rare and wonderful sight of a great UK philosophy job. Please spread widely to colleagues worldwide. Area of Specialization: Ethics and/or Political Philosophy Would be an advantage to be able to teach Ethics of AI Tenure-track Application deadline: 10th March 2025 #philsky
cis7.bbk.ac.uk
Lecturer in Philosophy (2078) - Birkbeck, University of London
Birkbeck
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Katherine Furman @furmank.bsky.social · 30/01/2025
Thank you Cambridge. You really know how to show a girl a good time 😘
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Neil Turner @neilturner.me.uk · 28/01/2025
It says a lot about the current funding crisis affecting UK universities when Wales' biggest university proposes to close its Nursing course to save money, at a time when the NHS is desperate for more nurses.
bbc.com
Cardiff: University confirms plans to cut 400 jobs
Vice-chancellor Wendy Larner says "it is no longer an option for us to continue as we are".
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Katherine Furman @furmank.bsky.social · 29/01/2025
We are going to get a government statement about all of this soon? Right? www.bbc.com/news/article...
bbc.com
University of Kent seeks more job cuts to save £19.5m
The university opens a voluntary redundancy scheme and will not fill vacant roles to cut costs.
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Katherine Furman @furmank.bsky.social · 28/01/2025
How do we keep going while the sector is in free fall? www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-e...
chroniclelive.co.uk
Durham University plans to cut hundreds of jobs in bid to reduce costs by £20m
Durham University needs to lose around 200 non-academic positions and is hoping to achieve that through a voluntary severance scheme
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Katherine Furman @furmank.bsky.social · 27/01/2025
First day of new term. I was teaching my favourite class (Philosophy and Public Policy) and a student told me she is taking this course because a student from 2 yrs ago recommended it to her. I have died of joy. ❤️❤️❤️ Please send flowers to my cats who will be facing a difficult time in my absence.
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Katherine Furman @furmank.bsky.social · 27/01/2025
This shooting happened just around the corner from my gran's house (where I spent much of my childhood) & was almost certainly the apartheid govt attacking its own people to solidify racism in the transition to democracy. More than 30 years later the inquest is today. www.enca.com/news-top-sto...
enca.com
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Jo Wolff @jowolff.bsky.social · 22/01/2025
The supreme irony of Germany offering sanctuary and opportunities to scientists unable to work in fascist USA is knocking on the door.
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Niels G. Mede @nielsmede.bsky.social · 20/01/2025
Out now in Nature Human Behaviour: Our 68-country #survey on public attitudes to #science 📣 It shows: People still #trust scientists and support an active role of scientists in society and policy-making. #OpenAccess available here: www.nature.com/articles/s41... @natureportfolio.bsky.social (1/13)
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Naomi Oreskes @naomioreskes.bsky.social · 20/01/2025
I promised @davidho.bsky.social that I would join BlueSky in the new year. So here I am with two aaccopuncemnts. 1) so proud of @colognaviktoria.bsky.social for her huge work on trust in science, out today:
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Katherine Furman @furmank.bsky.social · 20/01/2025
I am a longterm fan of Sizwe Mabizela. Universities and funding in SA have been deep issues for at least as long as I have been aware of Universities. Access to education can mean the difference between grinding poverty and a liveable life. www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2025...
dailymaverick.co.za
Funding of public higher education institutions is in a crisis
Higher education should be recognised as a public good. Funding it should not be viewed as an expense, but as a strategic investment in the country's future.
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Katherine Furman @furmank.bsky.social · 19/01/2025
This is encouraging reading as we move into a new term. Severance spending at top UK universities surges - on.ft.com/3CcC4FS via @FT
on.ft.com
Severance spending at top UK universities surges
FT analysis shows drop-off in overseas enrolments pushed redundancy payouts up by more than a fifth in 2024
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