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Dr Priya Atwal

@priyaatwal.bsky.social
3.2K followers 254 following 69 posts

Historian of empire, monarchy & cultural politics in UK/S Asia. Community History Fellow @ Oxford Uni. Views are my own. Book & contact info here: linktr.ee/drpriyaatwal

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Dr Priya Atwal @priyaatwal.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
I really hope all this gets turned into an exhibition about the working lives of Buckingham Palace staff! www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Buckingham Palace works uncover trove of everyday items dating back to 1800s
A collection of historic, forgotten items have been found during the restoration of the London royal residence.
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Taj Ali @tajali1.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
BOOK TOUR ANNOUNCEMENT Delighted to confirm 18 events where I’ll be discussing the rich and proud tradition of political activism in the British South Asian community. Come along to an event near you!
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Dr Priya Atwal @priyaatwal.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Here’s a simple solution. If these new AI products are so powerful and likely to be harmful, then just… don’t release them?! Why the rush to unleash chaos for no good reason, and without appropriate safeguards in place? www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
OpenAI chief scientist warns no one is prepared for consequences of AI
The post comes as the firm releases GPT-6 Astra, which it says is its most powerful product yet.
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Dr Priya Atwal @priyaatwal.bsky.social · 07/06/2026
Thanks so much for sharing, Saima, was such a joy to spend the day with you! And such an amazing experience to work on this exhibition over the past year - hope you enjoy it, everyone!
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Dr Priya Atwal @priyaatwal.bsky.social · 30/04/2026
This is really promising news! www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Endometriosis: New scan technique shows promise for earlier detection
A new scan technique could spot areas of endometriosis missed by conventional scans, scientists say.
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Dr Priya Atwal @priyaatwal.bsky.social · 27/04/2026
Come help out at the #Wytham village big dig this weekend, on 2 & 3 May! The community archaeology team are looking for volunteers. Equipment & training will be provided, so beginners are welcome! #Oxford www.communityhistory.ox.ac.uk/event/wytham...
communityhistory.ox.ac.uk
Wytham Village Big Dig!
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Dr Priya Atwal @priyaatwal.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
Been catching up on today’s news about Reform’s plans to introduce a ‘patriotic’ British history curriculum. Can I point you all to my BBC radio series, which explored just how problematic state-led national history textbooks can be? www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/serie...
bbc.co.uk
BBC Sounds - Lies My Teacher Told Me - Available Episodes
Listen to the latest episodes of Lies My Teacher Told Me on BBC Sounds.
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Taj Ali @tajali1.bsky.social · 09/03/2026
My book on the history of British South Asian political activism is out this September! Available to pre-order now from all good bookshops and online.
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Politics_Oxford @politicsoxford.bsky.social · 11/03/2026
📢 APPLY NOW!: DPIR seeks to appoint two full-time fixed-term Departmental Lecturers in International Relations - one with expertise in international political economy and one in historical and interpretive approaches and methods. 🗓️ CLOSES: Noon, 18 March 2026: www.politics.ox.ac.u...
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Glen O'Hara @gsoh31.bsky.social · 11/03/2026
Well here I am at a very bright but blustery UWE in Bristol to talk about my new book on the Blair years! Did I mention I've got a book out? manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526146328/
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Dr Priya Atwal @priyaatwal.bsky.social · 11/03/2026
Go @saimanasar.bsky.social! This new exhibition about Black & Asian women’s activism in Britain looks amazing! Excited to go check it out in #Bristol soon… www.bristol247.com/news-and-fea...
bristol247.com
New exhibition to explore histories of Black and South Asian feminist pioneers
"Women Strike Back!"
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Dr Priya Atwal @priyaatwal.bsky.social · 23/01/2026
Definitely ordering a copy of this revelatory new book! www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...
theguardian.com
British crown was world’s largest buyer of enslaved people by 1807, book reveals
Exclusive: Author of The Crown’s Silence tells how navy and monarchy protected slave trade for hundreds of years
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Greg Jenner (Historian) @gregjenner.bsky.social · 27/10/2025
This sounds like important research, and long, long overdue www.theguardian.com/society/ng-i...
theguardian.com
‘A medical miracle’: is period blood ‘the most overlooked opportunity’ in women’s health?
Period blood has long been thought of as ‘stinky and useless’, but startups are exploring using the fluid to test for a wide range of health conditions – including difficult-to-diagnose endometriosis
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Dr Priya Atwal @priyaatwal.bsky.social · 21/10/2025
After a sold-out 1st event, I’m excited for our next session this Fri on #Oxford histories of #health & #policy making. Speakers inc. historians Erica Charters & Sally Frampton, plus colleagues from @oxfordshirecc.bsky.social. Hope to see you there! www.communityhistory.ox.ac.uk/article/comm...
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Dr Priya Atwal @priyaatwal.bsky.social · 21/10/2025
Happy #Diwali & #BandiChhorDiwas to all celebrating this week. Sending lots of love and light to everyone - it feels as though the world could really do with more of both right now!
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History Today @historytoday.com · 17/10/2025
#CecilRhodes was once described as the single biggest threat to peace in southern #Africa. In 1898 a bitter election campaign did little to suggest otherwise. ⌛️ Last chance to read this archive article for free www.historytoday.com/archive/feat...
historytoday.com
Cecil Rhodes and the Election That Caused the Boer War
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Modern British Studies Association @modbritstud.bsky.social · 16/10/2025
We're excited to announce the call for papers for #MBS26, the next Modern British Studies conference, at Birmingham in June 2026. We'll be launching the #MBS Association at this event, to support further regular conferences in Modern British Studies. www.birmingham.ac.uk/events/moder...
birmingham.ac.uk
Modern British Studies Conference 2026 - University of Birmingham
Conference information
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Dr Priya Atwal @priyaatwal.bsky.social · 12/10/2025
The first event in my Community History Hub series is this Fri! Come along to hear and share stories of protest over land/nature/#environment, and shape a new community-engaged project for Oxon & Bucks! #climate Book a place or see our full programme: www.communityhistory.ox.ac.uk/article/comm...
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Sadiah Qureshi 🦈 @sadiahqureshi.bsky.social · 07/10/2025
Now would be a great time to check out this BBC radio 4 series on the far right and racism in Britain by the amazing Camilla Schofield. www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...
bbc.co.uk
BBC Radio 4 - Britain's Fascist Thread
Camilla Schofield explores the unbroken thread of fascism in Britain.
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Dr Priya Atwal @priyaatwal.bsky.social · 07/10/2025
Wow, what an exciting job! Can we have more like this in the UK, please?
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Dr Priya Atwal @priyaatwal.bsky.social · 29/09/2025
Excited to share the details of a new event series that I’ll be hosting in #Oxford this term for our Community History Hub! Exploring everything from oral history methods to the legacy of the local car plant. Book your tickets here, all are welcome! www.communityhistory.ox.ac.uk/article/comm...
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IHR Black British History Seminar @ihrblackbritish.bsky.social · 30/09/2025
Kicking off our fantastic line up with a showcase of new research! Get in touch if you are a postgraduate or early career researcher who would like to introduce their work to the field. 📍 Hybrid: N304, IHR, Senate House, WC1E 7HU and Online 📅 Thursday 16th October, 2025 ⏰ 17:30 🔗 bit.ly/3INwCfO
Email Olivia.Wyatt@ed.ac.uk or Meleisa.Ono-George@history.ox.ac.uk to present online or in-person
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Dr Priya Atwal @priyaatwal.bsky.social · 29/09/2025
Excited to share the details of a new event series that I’ll be hosting in #Oxford this term for our Community History Hub! Exploring everything from oral history methods to the legacy of the local car plant. Book your tickets here, all are welcome! www.communityhistory.ox.ac.uk/article/comm...
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Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 21/09/2025
£77,816 er annum. What an exciting post.
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Melanie Richter-Montpetit @mellimo.bsky.social · 20/09/2025
Academia.edu is changing its Terms and Conditions, and they're so outrageous (AI training; signing over ownership to them etc) I closed my account today. A thread with some practical tips if you want to delete your account (5 steps):
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Institute of Historical Research @ihr.bsky.social · 15/09/2025
📣Calling all new research students in history & historical subjects. Do you want to learn how the IHR can help you during your studies? Join us on the 8 October to find out more. @royalhistsoc.org @ihrhistorylab.bsky.social @historyandpolicy.bsky.social @chppc.bsky.social bit.ly/41UPOyG
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Alex von Tunzelmann @alexvont.bsky.social · 15/09/2025
Obviously we all know Bluesky is a retirement home for elder millennials but, if you happen to know any 18-30 people who might like to take a shot at this, do pass it on!
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Ian Dunt @iandunt.bsky.social · 15/09/2025
This really shouldn't even need saying, let alone agitating for. It is a truism more than a proposition.
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Dr Priya Atwal @priyaatwal.bsky.social · 15/09/2025
Our fab Community History Hub website has just had a refresh, thanks to the lovely Laura Spence @oxhistoryfaculty.bsky.social! There's lots of #localhistory talks, plays & celebrations happening in #Oxford this Sept & Oct - don't miss out on the knowledge or the fun! www.communityhistory.ox.ac.uk
communityhistory.ox.ac.uk
Home
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Robert Saunders @robertsaunders.bsky.social · 13/09/2025
Labour wants to speak for "ordinary working people". It wants to be the party of patriotism & "national renewal". It badly needs a purpose & a moral mission. Well here it is. It is way past time to "speak for Britain" against billionaire-backed movements that want to terrorise ordinary Britons.
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Dr Priya Atwal @priyaatwal.bsky.social · 10/09/2025
And so it begins… is this the start of a new era for British universities, with their increasingly broken financial models? In any case, good luck to the new ’London & South East’ university! www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Greenwich and Kent announce merger to form 'super-university'
Universities are facing ongoing financial worries, with the regulator saying other mergers could follow.
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Sean Canty @seancanty.bsky.social · 09/09/2025
Centre for Cities will present findings from its recent analysis of universities' local economic impacts and answering your questions online tomorrow 📆 www.centreforcities.org/event/briefi... With that, best of luck to teachers and university staff handling clearing and the start of term.
centreforcities.org
Briefing launch - Town and Gown: the role of universities in city economies - Centre for Cities
Join Centre for Cities for an introduction to new analysis on the role of universities in their city's economy.
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Glen O'Hara @gsoh31.bsky.social · 07/09/2025
The UK is a country with a rapidly ageing population that needs vast numbers of jobs filling. For it to crash all migration downwards because the public are enraged about small boats is the definition of national madness. www.bearlypolitics.co.uk/p/nans-not-b...
bearlypolitics.co.uk
Nan’s Not Bankrupting Britain (But Politicians Might Be)
Pensions, productivity, and the myth of the migrant “drain.”
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Glen O'Hara @gsoh31.bsky.social · 07/09/2025
This 'Reform are inevitable' narrative is rubbish. Fewer than a quarter of voters think they'd do a good job. Almost all their policies are hated. Their leader isn't liked. Even when the focus is on migration most reputable polls give them only a small overall majority. yougov.co.uk/politics/art...
yougov.co.uk
How do Britons see Reform UK, ahead of their 2025 conference? | YouGov
While Britons tend to feel Reform UK are dominating the political agenda, just 24% believe they’d do a good job of running the country
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Dr Priya Atwal @priyaatwal.bsky.social · 06/09/2025
Pleased to see this compelling research study coming out of Oxford on teenage period pain & its potential long-term impacts. As someone who has long suffered with painful periods, I welcome such research & hope to see medical interventions coming out of it too! www.ox.ac.uk/news/2025-09...
ox.ac.uk
Teenage period pain linked to higher risk of chronic pain in
Teenagers who experience moderate or severe period pain are significantly more likely to develop chronic pain in adulthood, including pain beyond the pelvis, according to a major new study from the
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Dr Miranda Kaufmann @drmirandakaufmann.bsky.social · 05/09/2025
Just a shout out to #skystorians #academicsky #historians #historyteacher #18c #c18 #georgians #history of #Caribbean #slavery people that my new book #Heiresses is out now. You can read more about it here: www.heiresses.co.uk/about-heires...
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Dr Priya Atwal @priyaatwal.bsky.social · 05/09/2025
Such important truth written in this article, but will Keir Starmer and the govt listen and take a more constructive course on the immigration debate? Or will we continue to see more division and hate-mongering in our communities? www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
A grim week of migrant-bashing, and for what? People will suffer – and Labour will gain absolutely nothing | Diane Taylor
British politicians’ rhetoric has become increasingly shouty and hateful. And now the home secretary has joined the chorus, says writer Diane Taylor
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Dr Priya Atwal @priyaatwal.bsky.social · 04/09/2025
A couple of weeks after posting this, I’ve just seen via the @royalhistsoc.org newsletter that the BL are running a training session for students on the East India Company & India Office archives! Really great idea for students planning their theses this term: royalhistsoc.org/calendar/int...
royalhistsoc.org
Introduction to the East India Company and India Office Archives at the British Library - TRAINING EVENT - RHS
A new, free, training session aimed at postgraduates and final year undergraduates to introduce them to the riches of the East India Company and India Office archives, in terms both of historical cont...
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Dr Priya Atwal @priyaatwal.bsky.social · 19/08/2025
3/3 It’s terrible that there has been so little discussion about the impact on students/research to date, & that recovery for the BL has been so slow. Govt needs to prioritise better cyber security for such key research repositiories & factor this into assessment for #REF2029.
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Dr Priya Atwal @priyaatwal.bsky.social · 19/08/2025
2/3 It was hard enough for me, as an unfunded PhD student, to juggle my studies & paid work to support myself, with the aim of completing my thesis within 3.5 yrs (to avoid extra fees!). I don’t know what I would have done faced with such delays/obstacles at the BL, which was a key site for my work
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Dr Priya Atwal @priyaatwal.bsky.social · 19/08/2025
I was at the British Library on Fri & missed their online Archives & Manuscript catalogue so much. It was so handy for searching collections & planning research trips - full of useful info & saving research time. I feel bad for PhD students navigating huge collections without such tools! 1/3
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flyingrodent @flyingrodent.bsky.social · 29/07/2025
As I said on day one, the first day that the Times broke the story about the gangs: the idea that the police were too petrified to investigate sexual offences by Asian men because they might be perceived as racist did not pass *the laugh test*, never mind the smell test.
theguardian.com
Five survivors of Rotherham grooming gangs say they were also raped by police officers
Three former South Yorkshire police officers arrested in investigation into claims by the women, as young as 12 at the time
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Dr Miranda Kaufmann @drmirandakaufmann.bsky.social · 29/07/2025
Hello, quite new here, so introducing myself 👋 I’m a historian of #BlackBritishHistory @icws-sas.bsky.social, living in North Wales. My first book was #BlackTudors and my new one #Heiresses, is about nine British women who inherited enslaved people and plantations in the Caribbean.
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Nesrine Malik @nesrinemalik.bsky.social · 30/06/2025
This week’s column is on people losing their minds, and insulting the public’s intelligence, over Mamdani. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
Zohran Mamdani won by being himself – and his victory has revealed the Islamophobic ugliness of others | Nesrine Malik
The vicious reaction to his New York mayoral success tells us this: the establishment will not countenance mainstream voters making common cause with Muslims, says Guardian columnist Nesrine Malik
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Dr Priya Atwal @priyaatwal.bsky.social · 30/06/2025
Absolutely! It's horrifying to think about.
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Dr Priya Atwal @priyaatwal.bsky.social · 29/06/2025
A must-read piece by Suresh Grover, one of the leaders of the Southall Youth Movement, on why it’s so dangerous to proscribe Palestine Action. He even points out that Keir Starmer once defended other activists for v similar tactics back in 2003! www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
Palestine Action is part of Britain's proud history of protest. Proscribing it is an assault on democracy | Suresh Grover
Through decades of anti-racist campaigning, I have seen that peaceful, direct action can be the only way to get results, says campaigner Suresh Grover
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Dr Priya Atwal @priyaatwal.bsky.social · 30/05/2025
So looking forward to chairing this discussion about Nicole Ranganath's wonderful new book! It's all about the music-making of Sikh/Punjabi migrant women in California. Hear some of their songs & join me in conversation with Nicole in Oxford, on 13 June! Register here: forms.office.com/e/wpDPzC37E8
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Dr Priya Atwal @priyaatwal.bsky.social · 26/04/2025
Ah thank you! Lovely to see this!
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Rachael Dunlop @rachaeldunlop.com · 03/04/2025
Up to 9k signatures now - nowhere near enough. If you’re a writer, translator or literary creative of any sort, you should be signing this.
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The Society of Authors @societyofauthors.bsky.social · 03/04/2025
👇 www.thebookseller.com/news/society...
thebookseller.com
Society of Authors to hold protest at Meta's London HQ after 'pirated books used to train AI'
Kate Mosse, Tracy Chevalier, Daljit Nagra and other Society of Authors (SoA) members will demonstrate outside Meta HQ after millions of pirated books were allegedly used to train Meta’s artificial int...
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