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Kate Smith

@kateesthersmith.bsky.social
1.5K followers 147 following 23 posts

Historian of eighteenth-century Britain at University of Birmingham. Walker, swimmer, dog-lover, reader. www.birmingham.ac.uk/staff/profiles…

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Reposted by Kate Smith
Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
'The report also spotlights the increasing dependence on fee-paying international students to cross-subsidise the tuition of Scottish undergraduates.' 'Universities Scotland said the analysis made clear that the current position was not sustainable.' 1/3
bbc.co.uk
Scotland's universities face 'bleak' future as £200m funding gap revealed
A new report paints a 'bleak' picture of falling income from Scottish students and an over-reliance on international tuition fees.
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Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
'Home Office statistics published on 27 August show there were around 383,500 sponsored study visas granted in the year to June 2026, 11 per cent down on the previous year and a 41 per cent fall compared with the peak in the 12 months to June 2023.'
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The British Academy @britishacademy.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
Following A level results day last week, here are some key subject uptake trends that you may have missed, with long-term analysis from our SHAPE Observatory. We will be analysing the data again this week on GCSE results day.
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History Lab Plus @historylabplus.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
Finding a Role: Using History PhD Skills Beyond HE Online Workshop August 24, 17:30-19:00 Imogen Albiston, George Higgins, Andy Holroyde and Joe Ryan-Hume will discuss careers outside the academy for ECRs… Registration open: www.history.ac.uk/news-events/...
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Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
'Danish teenagers will have to make an oral defence of their written essays to combat AI cheating, the government has announced.' Piloting this for 2nd year undergraduate research essays this year, though NB it's not just policing: also develops key oral skills. 1/2
theguardian.com
Danish pupils will have to orally defend essays in attempt to combat AI cheating
Government introduces several measures, including monitoring of computers, for pupils aged 16 to 19
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Sadiah Qureshi 🦈 @sadiahqureshi.bsky.social · 06/08/2026
Here briefly to provide the registration link to this super exciting inaugural from Professor Sumita Mukherjee. 28 October in Bristol, with an online option available. www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/inaugural-...
eventbrite.co.uk
Inaugural Lecture of Professor Sumita Mukherjee (in person and online)
Please join the School of Humanities, University of Bristol, in celebrating Professor Sumita Mukherjee's inaugural lecture.
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The Material Culture of Wills Project @materialwills.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
📢PROJECT UPDATE📢 You may have seen the news that the University of Exeter, home of the wills project, has placed 500 academics at risk of redundancy. The project leader Prof. Jane Whittle & project co-investigator Dr Laura Sangha are both at risk, alongside almost all of the History department. 1/
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Ruth Pearce @notrightruth.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
A new essay for all my trans siblings and our allies. "As the UK enters a new era of state-mandated segregation, I find myself asking: was it all worth it?"
ruthpearce.net
What we have won
It was the largest trans protest in British history. We travelled from across the country to central London. We were joined by allies, especially cis gay, lesbian, bisexual, and queer people who re…
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Hannah Murphy @hsmurphy.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
Please share! A rare PhD studentship @kingshistory.bsky.social *fully* funded by @slaveryinwar.bsky.social to work with myself and Maeve Ryan, supported by a broader community of experts in Caribbean history, transatlantic slavery, and the history of war. www.kcl.ac.uk/study/fundin... 🗃️
kcl.ac.uk
AHRC Studentship: Slavery and the Seven Years’ War within and across the Caribbean Archipelago | King's College London
The Leverhulme Centre for Research on Slavery in War (CRSW) is pleased to announce the availability of a fully funded AHRC doctoral studentship, to be jointly supervised across History and War Studies
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Nathan Cardon @ncardon.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
My new article in @modamhist.bsky.social is out now in first view and open access and is a preview of chapter 6 of the 'The World Awheel' (@columbiaup.bsky.social). It's a story of American mobility, femininity, and power in the spaces of European empires. doi.org/10.1017/mah....
A historic photograph of Fanny Bullock Workman wearing bloomers and standing in front of a drop frame bicycle on a dirt road. Image from the National Library of Scotland, Edinburgh, UK, courtesy of the MacRobert Trust.
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John Munro @johnmunro.bsky.social · 09/07/2026
Why are car-centric transport systems so difficult to undo? Because automobiles represent the dominance of private property over public space. In this @urbancyclinginstitute.org essay, I look to history to uncover how we got here. #StealingCars
urbancyclinginstitute.substack.com
Stealing Cars: Property, Automobility, and the Colonial Crisis of Car Culture
Long Ride | Historian John Munro delves into the past in order to understand how the primacy of private property shapes mobility hierarchies in the present
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Stephanie M. Lee @stephaniemlee.bsky.social · 13/07/2026
New Q&A: Is anthropology hopelessly politicized, more than any other humanistic field? That's the charge that's been flying around this summer, so I wanted to hear from Carolyn Rouse, the president of the American Anthropological Association. She had a lot to say. www.chronicle.com/article/is-a...
chronicle.com
Is Anthropology Hopelessly Politicized?
We asked Carolyn M. Rouse, head of the American Anthropological Association. She had a lot to say.
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Mark Williams @mrfw17thc.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
How do you cope with a collapsing UKHE scene and an antagonistic employer? In my case, you write. And find solace in and inspiration from colleagues who really are here for the ideas. Book manuscript sent off. #skystorians #earlymodern
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Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
'About 150 academic roles are set to go at the south-west institution, which said it was targeting areas that are “no longer sustainable” or have seen changes in student demand.' History and English are name-checked. 1/3
timeshighereducation.com
University of Exeter cuts an ‘existential threat to humanities’
Russell Group institution cites changing student demand as it puts 500 staff at risk of redundancy, with 150 jobs set to go
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Anne Goldgar @annegoldgar.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
CFP: Mid-career workshop for early modern British historians at USC-Huntington Early Modern Studies Instutute Jan 2027. Applications due 31 July 2026.
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Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 06/06/2026
'(Ironically, the history degree has proven hugely valuable in a business that is all about first-hand reporting, detecting narrative bias and the second source.)' Weird use of 'ironically'. Surely this value is also part of why so many lawyers have studied history at university.
ft.com
Why bother with university?
As costs soar and graduate prospects dim, the value of higher education can no longer be taken for granted
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dr. cat @cinefeline.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
Bleak
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Migration Museum @migrationmuseum.org · 04/06/2026
Know a young Londoner (14-19 y/o) with big ideas? 🏛️✨ @migrationmuseum.org is looking for 10 passionate young people to join our paid Young People’s Panel. You'll help shape events programming and the way we work with young people in our new museum!👇
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Manchester University Press @manchesterup.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
We’re halfway through the #MBS2026 (3-5 June, University of Birmingham) and celebrating with 30% off a curated reading list of key titles in the field. manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/blog/2026/05...
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deborahhamer.bsky.social @deborahhamer.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
If you know a Masters student who would like to go on to the PhD and knows Dutch, there's a Phd position open in Alisa van de Haar's exciting "Leveraging Language, Proclaiming Power: Linguistic Politics in Early Colonial North America" project at Leiden: careers.universiteitleiden.nl/job/Leiden-P...
careers.universiteitleiden.nl
PhD Position on early colonial North America
PhD Position on early colonial North America
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The Institute of Classical Studies @ics.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
Join the ICS & IHR for the Creighton Lecture where Joy Connolly, Melissa Lane, David Cannadine and Philip Murphy will discuss Political Life and Political Crises, bringing historical depth to contemporary challenges. Tues 9 Jun, 6pm Chancellors Hall, Senate House ics.sas.ac.uk/news-events/...
ics.sas.ac.uk
Creighton Lecture 2026 | Political Life and Political Crises: A Conversation with Joy Connolly, Melissa Lane, and David Cannadine
Please enable JavaScript in your web browser to get the best experience.
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Modern British Studies Association @modbritstud.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
A reminder that you can join the hybrid keynote #MBS2026 tomorrow June 4, 5.30pm: Catherine Hall, 'Laying an axe to the roots': history writing for the present. Sign up link below, free to all www.birmingham.ac.uk/events/moder...
birmingham.ac.uk
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Modern British Studies Association @modbritstud.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
Ahead of tomorrow's opening day of #MBS26, Caitlin Harvey @uniofhull.bsky.social reflects on placing indigenous people at the foreground of modern British history, our latest #HistoriesFromHere post modbritstud.org.uk/indigenous-h...
modbritstud.org.uk
Indigenous Histories from ‘Here’ - The Modern British Studies Association
King Charles III’s coronation in 2023 brought hundreds of Indigenous leaders from the Commonwealth to Britain, showcasing some of the Crown’s oldest diplomatic ties outside of Europe. It wasn’t the fi...
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Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
Just a week to go until 'Learning in Emergency States: Flourishing, Universities and the Future', with Wendy Brown, Paul Gilroy, Margot Finn, Eva von Redecker and Sasha Roseneil, convened by John Sabapathy. It's on 5 June starting at 17:30 in UCL's Gustave Tuck Lecture Theatre. 1/3
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TheNACBS @thenacbs.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
Applications are due June 5!!!! This program provides funding up to $1000 for precariously employed early career scholars to attend our in-person annual meeting!
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Dr Eva Johanna Holmberg @evajohannaholmberg.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
#earlymodern fabulousness next week at SCB.
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Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
Call for Papers (deadline 15 June 2026). #Skystorians
rmg.co.uk
Call for Papers | Maritime Histories from the Margins: People, Places, and Practices, 1500–Present
An interdisciplinary conference co-convened by Royal Museums Greenwich and the Centre for Port Cities and Maritime Cultures, University of Portsmouth
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Tim Hitchcock @timhitchcock.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
Very much enjoying Anna Harrington's talk on Empire's Imagined Spaces @long18thsem.bsky.social
a seminar room with a speaker at a podium to the front.
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Jacobin @jacobinmag.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
The American Revolution was linked to a surge of working-class political activity on both sides of the Atlantic. The struggle against British rule unfolded in tandem with another struggle over who would dominate the post-independence US.
jacobin.com
Class Struggle Was a Crucial Part of the American Revolution
The American Revolution was linked to a surge of working-class political activity on both sides of the Atlantic. The struggle against British rule unfolded in tandem with another struggle over who would dominate the post-independence US.
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Mark Berry @boulezian.eurosky.social · 26/05/2026
Very good, if extremely depressing, piece by Stefan Collini to explain what has been and is being done to this country’s universities. If interested to find out, I recommend reading it.
lrb.co.uk
Stefan Collini · Squadrons of Pigs: Bonfire of the Universities
The problems with Britain’s universities are systemic and deep-rooted, not just local or contingent. Yet political and...
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Daniel Grey @djrgrey.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
Extended CFP deadline to 15 June 2026: Please do share widely!! "Belonging to the Victorians? Community, Collections, and Care" - 1 day conference 4 September 2026, keynote @janehamlett.bsky.social to be held at Wilton's Music Hall [1/9]
Sir Frederic Leighton's 1895 painting "Flaming June" with the words "Belonging to the Victorians?  Community, Collections, and Care" - *Extended CFP Deadline to 15 June 2026* - A One-Day Conference, 4 September 2026 - Registration and lunch free for delegates, courtesy University of Hertfordshire.
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Dr Sara Barker @sarakbarker.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
"Manchester’s vice-chancellor, Duncan Ivison, said no student should graduate having done three years of just academic study." Mate, have you spoken to an undergraduate student recently? The chances of them having got through 3 years having only done academic work are slim to none
theguardian.com
Manchester University to offer work placements to all undergraduates
Russell Group university promises students, from chemical engineering to classics, ‘meaningful real-world experience’
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Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
'Funders are being pushed into taking measures to cope with a widespread increase in grant application numbers, with factors including artificial intelligence and university financial pressure blamed for the rise.' Not to mention some HEIs' policy of mandating x number of applications p.a. 1/3
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Dr Hannah Fluck @hannahfluck.bsky.social · 25/05/2026
This a very exciting job for someone... a cultural heritage landscape curator covering NT places in the North including the Lake District... careers.nationaltrust.org.uk/OA_HTML/a/#/...
careers.nationaltrust.org.uk
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Mark Williams @mrfw17thc.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
Oh, an update on this to reassure staff and students that 'we will not be getting rid of "all books" ... " Well well that's reassuring. Which books will be 'gotten rid of', then? Who gets to choose?
Screenshot of Cardiff University comms about the status of our Arts and Social Sciences Library, 'reassuring' staff and students that plans are 'under consultation'.
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Lisa Haushofer @haushoferl.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
🚨Job! 🚨 Lecturer in Global History of Science at UCL! In London! Permanent, full-time! #histstm #histsci 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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The London Journal @thelondonjournal.bsky.social · 18/05/2026
New post for our new blog! 'Smithfield is Dead, Long Live Smithfield' by @jackhanlon.bsky.social, in which he reflects both on his historical research on Smithfield Market, and the market's uncertain future. All reads and reposts much appreciated.
thelondonjournal.org
Blog | The London Journal
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Institute of Historical Research @ihr.bsky.social · 16/05/2026
Are you studying, researching or teaching the histories of biography? Try using the Bibliography of British and Irish History (BBIH). It contains 670,000+ resources from 55 BCE to today! Find out how to use BBIH buff.ly/yD11954 @brepols.net
history.ac.uk
Using BBIH online: a help pack for students and lecturers
For the academic year, we've a help pack offering guides to BBIH in undergraduate and graduate teaching and research. With embeddable content for VLEs.
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Rebecca Anne Barr @rabarr.bsky.social · 15/05/2026
Really looking forward to this celebration of Judith Hawley: wickedly erudite and witty scholar of the #18thcentury. @royalholloway.bsky.social www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/a-celebrat...
eventbrite.co.uk
A Celebration of the Career and Scholarship of Judith Hawley
Satirists, Bluestockings, and Gin: A Celebration of the Career and Scholarship of Judith Hawley
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Dr Hannah J. Elizabeth @sexhistorian.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
Do you know someone interested in the history of health and/or activism who might want to do a cool funded PhD in an even cooler city (Glasgow)? Tell them about this #studentship on the history of unorthodox health activism in Britain! #HistMed www.strath.ac.uk/studywithus/...
static.klipy.com
Camp Summer2023: We're Hiring
Alt: We're Hiring
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Onni Gust @onnigust.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
For further context: almost everyone in the Faculty of Arts is at risk of redundancy. Music, Modern Languages & American & Canadian Studies courses to close completely. History will not close but staff numbers will be significantly reduced. This is what 'right-sizing' looks like, apparently.
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Prof. Elaine Chalus @profelainechalus.bsky.social · 15/05/2026
Wonderful New public history resource animating and annotating Hogarth’s famous Humours of an Election series- a collaboration between the ECPPEC team and the Sir John Soane Museum. Do check it out! #skystoriams #c18th #elections hogarth.soane.org
hogarth.soane.org
Hogarth's Humours of an Election
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Emilie K. M. Murphy @emiliekmmurphy.bsky.social · 15/05/2026
🚨 Opportunity! 🚨 Want to come to York for up to a month this June, July or August? Apps are now open for our Summer Interdisciplinary Research Fellowships based in our glorious #earlymodern Heslington Hall (1/2) docs.google.com/document/d/1...
docs.google.com
SRIF details and terms.docx
Summer Interdisciplinary Research Fellowship scheme (SIRF) Humanities Research Centre, Heslington Hall, University of York Overview The Humanities Research Centre at the University of York invi...
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Royal Historical Society @royalhistsoc.org · 11/05/2026
We're very pleased to announce that the Society's 2026 Prothero Lecture will be given by Prof Rebecca Earle (Warwick) on Weds 1 July bit.ly/4eF0DMp. Rebecca's lecture, ‘The Last Voyage of the Santiago: A Ship and its World in the Age of Revolution’, is now open for booking. All welcome #Skystorians
bit.ly
Rebecca Earle to give the the Society's 2026 RHS Prothero Lecture - RHS
The Society’s 2026 Prothero Lecture will be given by Rebecca Earle FBA, Professor of Early Modern History at the University of Warwick. Rebecca's lecture, which takes place at 6.00pm on Wednesday 1 Ju...
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Kate Smith @kateesthersmith.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
Teachers feedback needed! 'Cultures of Care' is a pilot project using historic objects to create new conversations about sustainability. We would love further input from teachers to inform the next steps of the project. Please find our survey here: www.surveymonkey.com/r/CoCTeachRe...
surveymonkey.com
Cultures of CareTeacher feedback
Take this survey powered by surveymonkey.com. Create your own surveys for free.
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Royal Historical Society @royalhistsoc.org · 06/05/2026
The Society currently invites applications from historians for seven funding programmes across a range of career stages. Deadlines fall between 8 May and 10 July bit.ly/4drZwP2 #Skystorians
bit.ly
Calls for research funding from the Royal Historical Society: May to July 2026 - RHS
The Society currently invites applications for the following seven schemes — open to historians at a range of career stages — with closing dates between 8 May and 10 July 2026. For further information...
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Dr Laura Sangha @lsangha.bsky.social · 01/05/2026
I'm just putting the final touches on my IHR paper - join us in person or online next Thursday 7 May if you'd like to hear more about the project, and see some of our preliminary findings 👇 #EarlyModern #AntiPompery #MaterialCulture 🗃️
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Leire Olabarria @leireolabarria.bsky.social · 30/04/2026
What a privilege to have @profdanhicks.bsky.social and @corinnefowler.bsky.social with us at @unibirmingham.bsky.social today. It was a thought-provoking conversation about reshaping memory culture and staying with the fragments
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