iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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Christina de Bellaigue @cadebellaigue.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

Today, Filippo de Vivo, Martin Conway, @faridahzaman.bsky.social and I, along with 30 other members of the Faculty of History at the University of Oxford have written to the leadership of the University of Exeter to express our deep concern about the proposed cuts to Humanities and Social Sciences

We write to express our profound concern at the proposed redundancies at the University of Exeter...History at Exeter has built a global reputation in recent years through its outstanding scholarship, major international research projects, and research-led teaching./We in Oxford have benefitted enormously from collaborations and exchanges with colleagues at Exeter, including on the Socialism Goes Global project, and on a developing programme of research focusing on Downward Social Mobility, and we frequently draw on the excellent work that your department members publish. The Exeter Centre for Global History in particular, has been world-leading in the field and stimulated our work in Oxford, as has the department’s long-established excellence in European, Imperial and Military history, Economic and Social History and the History of Science. We note too, the recent election to Fellowship of the British Academy of Professor Jane Whittle and Professor Mark Jackson, whose work has also inspired and guided ours. We have seen our undergraduates go on to prosper as graduate students in Exeter’s School of Archaeology and History, and recruit Exeter students to our own graduate programmes with enthusiasm, knowing they will have had excellent preparation for their studies. These strengths have taken decades to establish but could be undermined in a matter of months. Such losses would diminish the University’s academic standing, weaken its ability to attract outstanding staff and students, and jeopardise the reputation on which the University’s long-term institutional success depends./The case for cuts of this scale is difficult to reconcile with the University’s own recent financial position or with the continued strength of the disciplines most heavily affected. Rather than protecting Exeter’s future, these proposals, and the consequent restructuring and generalising of the curriculum, risk causing lasting reputational and financial harm while reducing the quality and bread…

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Liesbeth Corens @onslies.bsky.social · 30/06/2026

This petition needs as many signatories as the Exeter one. Please sign and share — don’t let Hertfordshire managers get away with this just because a Russell Group one took the spotlight. #UKHE

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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

Something deeply troubling & shocking is happening at Exeter University*, where a mass cull of staff is planned, even though it's in surplus. No good justifications given. @jamesgdyke.info provides the details: www.technosphere.earth/the-bonfire-... *Disclosure: I have a Visiting Fellowship here. +🧵

technosphere.earth

The bonfire of the humanities

150 academic posts at the University of Exeter are to be cut, most in the humanities but also in social sciences, engineering and environmental sciences

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Dr. Niall Allsopp @niallallsopp.bsky.social · 29/06/2026

Please sign & share @exeterucu.bsky.social petition on wholly unjustified, hugely damaging cuts to humanities staff at uni of Exeter (including, potentially, mine). Help us defend the humanities! And stick up for higher ed in the South West! c.org/RFqMvrKb6z

'EXETER UCU: OUR SIX KEY MESSAGES

1. EXETER UNI'S FINANCES ARE STRONG. WE'VE LARGE CASH RESERVES (£200M IN 24/25). NEVER HAD A BUDGET DEFICIT. THIS 'CRISIS' IS MANUFACTURED.
2. EXECUTIVE PAY AT EXETER IS OUT OF CONTROL. IF JUST THE 16 HIGHEST-PAID EXECS CAPPED THEIR SALARY AT £120K, WE'D SAVE MORE MONEY THAN ALL THE CUTS TO ARCHAEOLOGY & HISTORY!
3. NO MEANINGFUL CONSULTATION, BUT A CONFUSED MESS: FAULTY AND INSUFFICIENT DATA, NO REAL DISCUSSION, AND AN IMPOSSIBLE, INSULTING AND UNREASONABLE TIMETABLE TO PUSH THIS THROUGH OVER THE SUMMER.
4. AN ALL-STAFF MEETING OF 600 STAFF RESOUNDINGLY VOTED NO CONFIDENCE IN VICE CHANCELLOR LISA ROBERTS (WHOSE PAY IS PUSHING £400K). WE BELIEVE THIS IS THE BIGGEST SINGLE VOTE BY ANY UNI STAFF IN THE HISTORY OF UK HE.
5. REDUNDANCIES ARE A MANAGEMENT CHOICE, NOT A FINANCIAL NECESSITY. THEY EVEN HAVE ALTERNATIVE COSTED PLANS WITH NO CUTS, BUT THINK IT'S EASIER TO GO FOR JOB LOSSES.
6. EXETER IS A FANTASTIC UNI, WITH WORLD CLASS RESEARCH, CREATIVE AND INSPIRING TEACHING, THOUGHTFUL AND IMAGINATIVE COMMUNITY OF STAFF AND STUDENTS. LET'S KEEP IT THAT WAY.'

At the bottom of the poster:
#DefendExeterUni
Instagram handle @uniexeterucu
QR link to sign the petition

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Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 29/06/2026

Struggling to parse this. Exeter is celebrating its overall global ranking to 136th, comprised (it reports) of 151st (Natural Sciences), 131st (Life Sciences & Medicine) and 76th (Arts & Humanities) while announcing plans to make 25% of Arts & Humanities staff redundant. Does this compute?

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London Review of Books @lrb.co.uk · 29/06/2026

‘No other Latin writer in antiquity surpasses Augustine in the breadth of his interests and the originality of his thought.’ Christopher Kelly on a new account of St Augustine. www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

lrb.co.uk

Christopher Kelly · Unpleasant Medicine: Augustine in Africa

In Milan, Augustine, like colonial Australians or New Zealanders returning ‘home’ to London, experienced a social...

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Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 29/06/2026

'Andy Burnham has set out ambitions to put universities “at the heart of local economies” and to make the UK the world’s leading “innovation nation”, in a speech making those goals central to his “Manchesterism” vision for the UK if he becomes prime minister.' What's left of universities, that is.

researchprofessionalnews.com

Burnham: ‘UK can be world’s leading innovation nation’ - Research Professional News

PM-in-waiting wants universities “at heart of local economies” but pledges education shift beyond “university route”

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Ben Phillips @benphillips1989.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

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

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The Museum of English Rural Life (MERL) @themerl.bsky.social · 08/06/2026

This is the ideal male body. You may not like it, but this is what peak performance looks like

A mug of a teapot, in the shape of a man lifting both his legs into the air.

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Miguel Ibáñez Aristondo @mibarizt.bsky.social · 30/01/2026

Huge congratulations, Noel. A beautiful cover, and an exciting invitation to begin the art of knowing everything.

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John Lidwell-Durnin @johnlidwelldurnin.bsky.social · 13/01/2026

Science fiction (good and bad) plays a lot of roles in public culture: one of those roles is to provide a repository for guesses + prognostications on what the future might hold. Sometimes science fiction becomes self-fulfilling (see Zuckerberg's choice of the term 'metaverse')... 🧵

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Jonathan Birch @birchlse.bsky.social · 08/01/2026

Martin Peterson's creative response to being banned from teaching Plato (shared with his permission).

An email from Martin Peterson to university administrators.

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Karen K. Ho @karenho.bsky.social · 22/07/2025

We should have listened when the modems screamed at us.

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Dr Jo Edge 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 @hagenilda.bsky.social · 07/02/2025

Archbishop McArchbishopface

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Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 05/02/2025

At a time when so many UK universities are closing Humanities courses and limiting so-called 'unfunded' Humanities research, this investment in 14 three-year postdoctoral fellowships by @official-uom.bsky.social 's Faculty of Humanities is especially impressive. Deadline 7 March.

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John Lidwell-Durnin @johnlidwelldurnin.bsky.social · 04/02/2025

I’ve lived in Oxford for fifteen years, and a lot of stylistic changes have happened in how undergraduates dress over that time. But for the last few years, they’re increasingly all wearing these plain black puffy jackets that feature a college crest. During term, they’re everywhere.

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Bruno Leipold @brunoleipold.com · 31/01/2025

Found the review of Capital that led Marx to write that he was not interested in "writing recipes...for the cook-shops of the future"

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Maddy Jalbert @maddyjalbert.bsky.social · 31/01/2025

I am one of these NSF postdocs. NSF has frozen everyone’s access to their salaries and research stipends (that were already awarded) with no information about when they might be expected to be unfrozen. It still appears like we are expected to continue doing our work though.

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David Lay Williams @laywilliams.bsky.social · 29/01/2025

It's all about promoting "meritocracy," we've been repeatedly told . . .

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The Museum of English Rural Life (MERL) @themerl.bsky.social · 29/01/2025

can you believe that it's the 459th day of January 2025 and yet there are still two more days in which you can make a January visit to The Museum of English Rural Life?

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London Review of Books @lrb.co.uk · 28/01/2025

‘Perhaps the most critical judgment that might be made of this noted critic of market fundamentalism is that he badly underestimated the resilience of capitalism.’ Stefan Collini on Karl Polanyi’s 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘛𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯: www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

lrb.co.uk

Stefan Collini · The future was social: Karl Polanyi’s Predictions

The Great Transformation was an exceptionally bold effort to make sense of contemporary developments on an international...

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Oxford Clarion @oxfordclarion.bsky.social · 24/01/2025

All the Oxford news you need in our weekly newsletter: 🚧 Botley Road to reopen in August 2026 🏙 Oxpens development gets go-ahead 🚌 New orbital bus for Oxford 🪧 Radcliffe Camera occupied 🐈 A lovely picture of a cat Read online or direct to your inbox: oxfordclarion.uk/clarion-week...

oxfordclarion.uk

Clarion Weekly, 24 January 2025

Botley Road to reopen in August 2026 The Botley Road rail bridge will remain closed for another 18 months. Network Rail announced an August 2026 completion date this morning (Friday) at a meeting wit...

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John Lidwell-Durnin @johnlidwelldurnin.bsky.social · 24/01/2025

Any feelings on what it means to assign an essay in the age of google notebook lm? Does assigning an essay no longer require time spent reading?

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Michael Albertus @mikealbertus.bsky.social · 14/01/2025

Very excited to announce the release of my new book today, Land Power! Based on 15 years of work, it tells the story of how land shapes societies, from racial hierarchy to inequality, development, gender & the environment. In hardcover/eBook/audiobook. More in 🧵

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Dr Sally Tuckett @sallytuckett.bsky.social · 14/01/2025

The only word that truly reflects the simultaneous feelings of joy, relief and utter terror at receiving proofs of your book is “Eeeeep!” ‘Transatlantic Threads: Scottish Linen and Society, c.1707-1780’ is one step closer to being unleashed. @edinburghup.bsky.social

Typescript of front part of book titled ‘Transatlantic Threads: Scottish Linen and Society, c1707-1780’ with a pen laid on top.

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Julie Hardwick @juliehardwick.bsky.social · 02/01/2025

More cheerfully, I start 2025 astonished that the wildest aspect of my 2024 was that I now not only know who Taylor Swift's boyfriend is but I have an opinion about him! Thanks to Amanda Herbert for this unexpected ride from French notarial records to Travis Kelce via Time. time.com/6971832/the-...

time.com

‘The Tortured Poets Department’ Stirs Up the Document Market

Swifties are buying old French documents for mood-boards and more. But this trivializes the importance of the documents.

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Jo Wolff @jowolff.bsky.social · 20/12/2024

Academic guilt season starts today, winter edition. Feel guilty if working, feel guilty if not.

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Brodie Waddell @brodiewaddell.bsky.social · 23/11/2024

For every noble or gentleman who did the 'Grand Tour', there was one or more servants who did it with them, but these men and women have been mostly invisible and unheard. @richardjansell.bsky.social's new edition finally gives us access to their perspectives and their #WrittenWorlds!

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Charlotte Lydia Riley @lottelydia.bsky.social · 21/11/2024

"Sector leaders expected more than 100 of the UK’s 140-odd universities to be making redundancies by the start of 2025, in what has been described as a “cataclysmic” situation where “everything is on the table”." www.timeshighereducation.com/news/univers...

timeshighereducation.com

University job cuts to ‘hit 10,000 by year end’ despite fee rise

English fee rise does little to relieve pressure on institutions, with increased staff costs likely to swallow additional funding

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The Museum of English Rural Life (MERL) @themerl.bsky.social · 21/11/2024

more users are joining and the hog grows longer

A painting of a long hog, made even longer. It is very long.

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Alison Malört @alisonmalort.bsky.social · 21/11/2024

It has snowed in Chicago and YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS! Time to remind everyone that we light our train tracks on fire to prevent the switches from freezing.

A set of railroad tracks with parts of them set on fire as a commuter train prepares to cross.

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John Lidwell-Durnin @johnlidwelldurnin.bsky.social · 21/11/2024

Interesting— I wonder who the biologists are in the story.

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John Lidwell-Durnin @johnlidwelldurnin.bsky.social · 17/11/2024

Spotted in the wild: Peter Frankopan’s new book included on the fairy tales section.

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Jo Wolff @jowolff.bsky.social · 15/11/2024

Remembered earlier today the story of Sociologist Max Weber visiting the US and remarking how extraordinary it was American academics could get any work done, given their lack of servants.

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John Lidwell-Durnin @johnlidwelldurnin.bsky.social · 15/11/2024

Listening to a running playlist while not running is like watching that beautiful pebble plucked from the bottom of the sea become dull and mundane. A pebble in poor taste. A pebble you shouldn’t be seen with. “This isn’t the kind of stone I’d normally collect, you know.”

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The English Historical Review @enghistrev.bsky.social · 14/11/2024

Recent article on Advance Access: Matthew Jones on ‘"A Matter of Joint Decision": The Origins of British Nuclear Retaliation Procedures and the Murphy–Dean Agreement of 1958' #nuclear academic.oup.com/ehr/advance-...

academic.oup.com

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