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John Sabapathy

@jwwsabapathy.bsky.social
533 followers 636 following 489 posts

Professor of history @uclhistory.bsky.social + co-convenor @anthropoceneucl.bsky.social. Editor at @enghistrev.bsky.social. Institutions, rationalities, environments, mostly medieval. tinyurl.com/2p8r9yeh + www.ucl.ac.uk/anthropocene.

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John Sabapathy @jwwsabapathy.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
Lucian's 'True history' is also arguably the earliest classical source for the Cockagne tradition, another early exercise in fantastic 'utopian' fiction.
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John Sabapathy @jwwsabapathy.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Being only 150+ pages into Miéville's monster & wishing to let it spring itself on me unannounced, I've read @theprofrog.bsky.social's sharp review trying to avoid being snagged too much by it. This is bang on: 'it is weird fiction because it is about what obtrudes from another world into our own'.
lareviewofbooks.org
Decolonizing the Dead | Los Angeles Review of Books
China Miéville’s first solo novel in over a decade is part Lovecraft, part le Carré—and quintessentially weird.
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Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
'“It was really about trying to move beyond the diagnosis of the problem of higher education and research in France and start thinking about an alternative". (Kristel Chanard)
timeshighereducation.com
French academics aim to ‘produce ideas politicians no longer do’
With France’s universities under mounting pressure, academics are organising from the ground up to rethink the system
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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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Charles West @pseudo-isidore.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
For those not on Instagram, details of a memorial service in memory of Rosamond McKitterick: 5 p.m. on Friday 23 October 2026, at Great St Mary’s, the University Church.
screen shot from Sidney Sussex College's Instagram account.
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John Sabapathy @jwwsabapathy.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Is there just too much news right now, or is there some other reason why there seems scarcely any UK coverage of the FBI hack which led R4 news yesterday lunchtime?
bbc.co.uk
FBI investigating claim hackers have stolen details of all its agents
The hackers claim they have every agent's name, role, badge number and personal details including home address, phone numbers and spouse information.
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Royal Historical Society @royalhistsoc.org · 22/09/2026
Join us online at 1pm on Thursday (24th Sept) for 'Historical Context: The Climate Crisis' bit.ly/3V4lgKf With panellists @dagomardegroot.bsky.social, @sadiahqureshi.bsky.social and @ellydezateux.bsky.social. How does historical expertise help us understand the world today? All welcome #Skystorians
bit.ly
Historical Context: The Climate Crisis
A panel discussion, hosted by the Royal Historical Society, in which expert historical researchers provide context for current events.
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John Sabapathy @jwwsabapathy.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Adding 'Magnifica humanitas' to EndNote and it is disappointing that there is no 'papal encyclical' category. www.vatican.va/content/leo-...
youtu.be
Il Papa firma la sua prima Enciclica
YouTube video by Vatican News
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North Ages @northages.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Coming soon to British Library, London - Conquest: The Making of Norman England events.bl.uk/exhibitions/...
events.bl.uk
Conquest: The Making of Norman England | British Library
Beyond the battlefield lies a story of ambition, upheaval and reinvention. Spanning the generations before and after 1066, this exhibition traces the impac
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John Sabapathy @jwwsabapathy.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Orbit puts several beautiful unreleased pieces on this which I'll be sad to see disappear off BBC Sounds in two days.
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John Sabapathy @jwwsabapathy.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Super choices. Rather excited that my small person #2 gets has his first music lesson with an former Banshee this morning.
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Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 27/11/2025
Your universe is a photocopy of a photocopy of a… on.ft.com/4ahkNKa
Al-generated content has surpassed human-written articles
Graph
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John Sabapathy @jwwsabapathy.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Joy Porter in this History Today issue.
'The future may teem with robots and artificial intelligence, but we remain products of the past. New knowledge generated by academic history contains warnings and untapped lessons from the past. It shines one of the brightest lights available into the past’s vastness and alone equips us with the single skill that is transcendent: the ability to ask the right questions'. Joy Porter in History Today.
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Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
'Medicine, dentistry and veterinary sciences is the subject group with the highest cost – a cool £19,986 for a year of tuition. It is followed by physical sciences (£16,466)'.
wonkhe.com
Counting the cost of teaching higher education in England
Last seen around the time of the Augar review, KPMG has updated work on the costs of teaching. DK finds evidence of cost cutting everywhere
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Mary Lewis @profmarylewis.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Excellent oped in @theharvardcrimson.bsky.social by my @harvard.edu colleague Jill Lepore. www.thecrimson.com/article/2026...
But of course, the machine conversation is not free. It comes at the cost of our common life together as teachers, learners, and researchers, colleagues, mentors, and friends. Not to mention, supervising student researchers is our job.
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Daniel C. Blight @danielcblight.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
***URGENT PLEASE SHARE*** University of Brighton management have announced today that they ‘give notice of termination of all collective agreements’. This is a fundamental erasure of workers' rights. Management have announced the termination of all contractual documents, which includes:
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John Sabapathy @jwwsabapathy.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Looking forward to the not-yet-revealed Roger Corman season coming up at the BFI.
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alice @alicebennett.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Moodle Champions explaining how to drag and drop files into a VLE. I’ve watched Learning Technology Advocates demo mentimeter in the dark of a sparsely populated lecture theatre. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain. Time to die.
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The English Historical Review @enghistrev.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
New article! Markus Daechsel on 'Print Magic and Secularisation in Late Colonial India' academic.oup.com/ehr/advance-...
academic.oup.com
Print Magic and Secularisation in Late Colonial India*
Abstract. A new genre of magic publications became prominent in the vernacular print culture of India in the aftermath of the First World War. It consisted
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The English Historical Review @enghistrev.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
www.newsday.com/long-island/...
newsday.com
Joel Rosenthal, longtime Stony Brook University history professor, dies at 91
Joel Rosenthal was a founder of the school's women's studies program and three-time chair of its history department.
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The English Historical Review @enghistrev.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
New article: Ebru Turan on 'İbrahim Pasha (c.1495–1536) as Ser‘asker and Ser‘asker-Sultan: The Ottoman–Habsburg Rivalry for the Roman Imperial Dignity in Ideology and Diplomacy' academic.oup.com/ehr/advance-...
academic.oup.com
İbrahim Pasha (c.1495–1536) as Ser‘asker and Ser‘asker-Sultan: The Ottoman–Habsburg Rivalry for the Roman Imperial Dignity in Ideology and Diplomacy*
Abstract. The early sixteenth century saw the simultaneous rise of two empires in the Mediterranean: one Christian, ruled by the Habsburgs, based in Spain
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The English Historical Review @enghistrev.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
New article: Liesbeth Geevers on 'Ferdinandus Rex Belgarum Primus: The Imaginary Succession of the Infante Don Fernando de Austria (1529–1530)' academic.oup.com/ehr/advance-...
academic.oup.com
Ferdinandus Rex Belgarum Primus: The Imaginary Succession of the Infante Don Fernando de Austria (1529–1530)*
Abstract. This article analyses the genealogical process that turned Charles V’s second-born son Fernando (1529–30), who died in infancy, into the bearer o
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Alice Marples @alicemarples.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
@britishlibrary.bsky.social were grateful to receive a large allocation of studentships as part of the AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Landscape Award scheme. We have 4 exciting new studentships starting in Oct 2027 - 3 are now open for prospective HEI supervisor proposals! www.bl.uk/services/res...
bl.uk
Collaborative Doctoral Landscape Awards
Fully-funded and jointly supervised studentships across four developing research areas.
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John Sabapathy @jwwsabapathy.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Of various things thinking circulating currently about Jaëger's hyperpolitics essay & Fukuyama's work this by @quinnae.com is the most stimulating—on the importance of hope and on final girls still standing (& fighting) at the end of the horror.
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Monumenta Germaniae Historica @monumenta.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
200 years ago: The publication of the first MGH volume! Annales et chronica aevi Carolini More about the initial volume publicated in August 1826: mgh.de/en/blog/post... mgh.de/de/blog/post... #medievalsky
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Andrew McGettigan @amcgettigan.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
www.lincolnbishop.ac.uk/news/lincoln...
lincolnbishop.ac.uk
Lincoln Bishop University looks to successful future as part
Lincoln Bishop University is set to become part of Global University Systems.
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Dr Vanessa @hpsvanessa.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Will we get memorials in the towns that lose their Unis? (major employer/significant contributor to local culture & economy). Probably not, in part b/c these sorts of cultural works often rely on uni staff/funding/space "part of...a research project by Exeter, Oxford & Liverpool John Moores unis"
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John Sabapathy @jwwsabapathy.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
An amazing musician.
bbc.co.uk
BBC Radio 6 Music - Ambient Focus, Soundtrack your study with William Orbit’s ethereal ambient mix
Record producer William Orbit curates your perfect study soundtrack with a two-hour mix.
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Field Lines Cartographer @flcartographer.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
Damn. RIP to a huge talent. Many hours listening to his incredible music & productions.
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Josh Michtom @rsgat.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
This is just to say I have eaten the sailors that were in the ship and which you were probably saving for Ithaca Forgive me they were delicious so sweet and so Greek
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Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 07/08/2026
We’re launching a major new programme on Humanity, Climate and Nature. We wish to commission discussion papers from researchers/policymakers/practitioners to provide fresh insight into these themes. We’ll pay £2,500 for around 4000 words. Apply by 16 Sept www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/internationa...
Call for Discussion Papers: Humanity, Climate & Nature
This call sets out the requirements for short discussion papers to be produced as part of a series that will generate fresh insights and innovative thinking to help develop the new Humanity, Climate & Nature Programme's initial work and activity.
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The English Historical Review @enghistrev.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
Our April issue is out now, here: academic.oup.com/ehr/issue Eight articles and a full slate of book reviews.
academic.oup.com
Issues | The English Historical Review | Oxford Academic
The oldest journal of historical scholarship in the English-speaking world. Publishes original and exciting research relating to all parts of the world and all forms of historical inquiry from the Cla...
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The English Historical Review @enghistrev.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
Your periodical reminder that, despite our name, EHR is not a journal of English history and we welcome submissions from all fields, geographies, post-Classical chronologies and subdisciplines! academic.oup.com/ehr/pages/Ab...
academic.oup.com
About
First published in January 1886, The English Historical Review (EHR) is the oldest journal of historical scholarship in the English-speaking world. It publishes
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Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 16/07/2026
'A government that says it wants innovation while pursuing a policy of often malign neglect when it comes to universities’ funding model and international students is not being tough-minded. It is simply incoherent.' @jdportes.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
Burnham must learn from Starmer’s mistakes: Labour was elected to transform the economy, not just stabilise it | Jonathan Portes
Devolution, tax, the EU and immigration: these are all opportunities for growth if Burnham abandons the excessive caution of the past few years, says economist Jonathan Portes
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The British Academy @britishacademy.bsky.social · 14/07/2026
"This is a crisis for social mobility, young people’s careers, the skills our economy depends on and the opportunities available in communities across the UK" Our newest data covered by The Guardian this evening and dropping tomorrow morning to our SHAPE Observatory. shorturl.at/Qpa9Q
theguardian.com
Humanities among degrees being ‘extinguished’ by hard-up universities
Exclusive: Experts fear rise in education ‘cold spots’ and social immobility as 4,000 academic posts lost in one year
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John Sabapathy @jwwsabapathy.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
#medievalsky job 🎺. Glasgow lecturer in medieval history (c.800 CE to 1500CE) wanted - with either/or-and comparative transnational perspective / interdisciplinary approach. Open-ended. 👇
jobs.ac.uk
Lecturer in Medieval History (Research & Teaching Track) at University of Glasgow
Discover an exciting academic career path as a Lecturer in Medieval History (Research & Teaching Track) at jobs.ac.uk. Don't miss out on this job opportunity - apply today!
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Tess Wingard @tesswingard.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
(re)introducing myself now that I've crawled back on here: I'm a historian of medieval gender and sexuality, I'm about to start my new role as assistant professor at the university of rochester after two years as a marie skłodowska-curie postdoctoral fellow at trinity college dublin
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John Sabapathy @jwwsabapathy.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
Fledgling 🐦‍⬛🐦‍⬛ struggling In the heat set the British Library.
A 🐦‍⬛ nest.
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James Elder @jameselder.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
Good news, but the fact that this is only happening now, nearly three years after the cyber attack shows 1) what a huge job BL staff have had rebuilding services, 2) that the BL is underfunded, and 3) the impact this has had on academic research, especially in the humanities.
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Katherine Arnold @arnoldke.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
🚨 JOB KLAXON #skystorians #envhist #envhums Cover for some of my teaching next year - 0.5 FTE at University of Liverpool. Feel free to get in touch if you have any questions! www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DSE899/l...
jobs.ac.uk
Lecturer in Environmental History (Teaching & Scholarship) (0.5 FTE)- Grade 7 at University of Liverpool
Apply now for the Lecturer in Environmental History (Teaching & Scholarship) (0.5 FTE)- Grade 7 role on jobs.ac.uk - the leading job board for higher education jobs. View details.
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Andrew WM Smith @smidbob.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
Been speaking to France24 then BBC News this morning about the expected verdict of the Le Pen appeal of her conviction for embezzlement. D Day for MLP and perhaps Jour J for Jordan Bardella, as the far right party's candidate for the Presidential elections should be known by the close of play today
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John Sabapathy @jwwsabapathy.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
'Today's announcement of further cuts to university funding runs counter to this government's stated priority of driving economic growth'.
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Hetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
The Select Committee report on student loans does not pull its punches & says loans were effectively missold by not saying T&Cs could be changed retrospectively. A core recommendation is that the cost of university should be split 50:50 between student/govt committees.parliament.uk/committee/15...
committees.parliament.uk
Government has ‘moral obligation’ to reverse freezing of student loans repayment threshold - Committees - UK Parliament
The government has a moral obligation to reverse the decision to freeze the threshold at which student loans are repaid, a new report published by the Treasury Committee says.
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John Sabapathy @jwwsabapathy.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
Agreed. And this is the case at all levels of education, from schools to universities.
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The Historical Journal @historicaljnl.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
👉From our latest issue! Mishael Knight @peterhousecam.bsky.social @camhistory.bsky.social on 'The Utopia within Utopia (1516)' #History #IntellectualHistory #Law #Thought #Social 16thc 🗃️ 👉Read open access here: www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
The debate between Hythlodaeus and an English lawyer before Cardinal Morton in Book One of Utopia (1516) contains many proposals for socio-economic reforms. These have typically been interpreted as innovative proposals to counteract the corruption of Christendom which surrounds them. However, when placed into their legislative context, it is apparent not only that these reforms echo closely many socio-economic reforms passed in England in the decades preceding Utopia, but that corollaries for almost all of them were passed when Morton, in whose presence the debate took place, was lord chancellor. Recognizing this forces a reassessment of this debate, showing Hythlodaeus’s flaws, and reframing the contribution of the English lawyer. This very reassessment, however, realigns the entire dialogue before Cardinal Morton, which it is possible to identify as a mirror to the wider text. It is a Utopia within Utopia, or, a mise en abyme. By closing examining the reflection, it appears that this provides a structural indication of how Utopia should be read.
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Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
'Academics fear they are being “set up to fail” after several institutions finished the academic year by announcing fresh job cuts, casting doubt over who will return after the summer break, and what courses they will be teaching.' 1/3
timeshighereducation.com
Summer of ‘chaos’ predicted as mass job cuts close academic year
‘Impossible to plan’ for research and teaching, say staff, as threat of redundancy looms large over summer breaks
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Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
“These reductions in funding will be more sharply felt by some institutions than others....All institutions will now need to plan for how best to adjust their budgets to ensure they continue to deliver high-quality courses and resources to students.” (OfS) They've not yet actually done their sums.
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