Ruth Ahnert @ruthahnert.bsky.social · 16/09/2026Ooh I’m so excited to see this. Paget gets mentioned in my Tudor Networks book as someone who the stats make clear should have more scholarly attention! Glad he’s getting some. Looking forward to reading. 091
Reposted by Ruth AhnertMargot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 11/09/2026'Numerous universities have begun employing staff through subsidiaries in a bid to cut pension costs. Institutions are not required to submit to the Higher Education Statistics Agency (Hesa) pay data relating to such staff, whereas they are for directly employed staff.' Adding insult to injury.timeshighereducation.comSubsidiary companies leading to ‘skewed’ gender pay gap reportingUniversities are not obliged to report to Hesa salary details of staff employed by wholly owned companies, leading to fears of misleading figures 33424
Reposted by Ruth AhnertCEMS KCL @cemskcl.bsky.social · 11/09/2026We are delighted to be hosting another series of the 'Race and the #earlymodern' seminar with @folger.edu. This term we will be hosting three WIP sessions with Dr. Mira Zoubeida 'Assaf, Aman Williams, and Rebecca Adusei, respectively. Full details below! kingsearlymodern.co.uk/upcoming-sem...kingsearlymodern.co.ukUpcoming Seminars — CEMS KCL Blog 13529
Reposted by Ruth AhnertAnnalisa Nicholson @apuddleofmuddle.bsky.social · 11/09/2026It's just weird isn't it when the British Museum is running a sold-out exhibition, when The Odyssey reports $1billion at the box office, when the V&A has just opened the most innovative and accessible museum model in Europe....and this is what our minister for research comes out with. 361219455
Reposted by Ruth AhnertSarah May @sarahmay1.bsky.social · 11/09/2026When did the UK decide it didn't need Higher Education? How did we move from deindustrialization, to a knowledge economy and then decide that we could do it all on vibes and 'entrepreneurial spirit' 56227
Reposted by Ruth AhnertHetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 10/09/2026I know I’m a bore on this but here’s why the Science Minister should absolutely care about the humanities and social sciences rather than thinking it is for DCMS ukri.substack.com/p/why-ai-wil...ukri.substack.comWhy AI will fail without the humanities and social sciencesAI can transform society. But only if society has a say in shaping it, writes Hetan Shah, Chief Executive of The British Academy. 27423
Reposted by Ruth AhnertHetan Shah @hetanshah.bsky.social · 10/09/2026When asked in the Q&A about arts and humanities he says he personally values them (seems very genuine) but that he is the Science Minister, and it’s for the DCMS Minister to make the case for those. He’s perhaps not yet clocked he is responsible for all R&D. Would Wissenschaft Minister work better? 89240
Ruth Ahnert @ruthahnert.bsky.social · 09/09/2026My job must be real because there’s a blog post! www.cdh.cam.ac.uk/about/news/c...cdh.cam.ac.ukCDH welcomes new staff - CDHWe are delighted to announce that four new staff members have joined Cambridge Digital Humanities. L-R: Dr Katherine Parsons; Professor Ruth Ahnert; Dr Stefanie Felsberger; Dr Thomas Watson. Professor... 080
Reposted by Ruth AhnertJill Walker Rettberg @jilltxt.bsky.social · 09/09/2026My new article about LLMs is finally out in AI & Society! It argues that LLMs produce text metaphorically, through juxtaposing tokens that are related in some dimensions yet unrelated in others. This is why we see misaligned citations in scientific articles. link.springer.com/article/10.1...link.springer.comLLMs are metaphor machines: orbital argumentation, misaligned citations, and scientific fabrication in AI-generated writing - AI & SOCIETYLarge language models are metaphor machines: they generate text based on similarities and proximity in their training data. I argue that this metaphor-based text generation leads to what John Gallaghe... 128929
Reposted by Ruth AhnertMargot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 16/07/2026'Research from the British Academy shows that graduates in the arts, humanities and social sciences are just as likely to be employed as their STEM counterparts. They are equally resilient during economic downturns and more likely to move between sectors without wage penalties.' 1/3ibtimes.co.ukWhy Thousands of UK Students Are Ditching English and History Degrees for Business and AIBritish universities are witnessing a decline in humanities enrolments as students opt for career-focused degrees. Rising tuition fees and employment prospects drive this shift, challenging the value ... 14017
Reposted by Ruth Ahnertana valdivia @anavaldi.bsky.social · 16/07/2026🚨 Excellent opportunity for grassroot organisations: The €2 million Building Narrative Power funding and learning programme offers grants of up to €150,000 to develop and test narrative strategies around three areas: data centres, jobs and young people’s lives europeanaifund.org/newspublicat...europeanaifund.orgCall for proposals: New €2m Building Narrative Power funding and learning programme - European AI & Society FundFor too long the tech industry has dominated our understanding of Artificial Intelligence. To counter this, the European AI & Society Fund is launching the Building Narrative Power programme to help p... 163
Reposted by Ruth AhnertRev. Dr. Liz Gloyn @lizgloyn.bsky.social · 15/07/2026I often say the rise in students coming to our dept with diagnoses of various kinds of neurodivergence has been matched with a corresponding fall of students coming with generalised depression. Because, you know. They're getting a diagnosis of the actual problem rather than feeling they don't fit. 8525162
Reposted by Ruth AhnertSamuel Moore @samuelmoore.org · 15/07/2026I wrote a report last year for @openfuture.bsky.social on the issue of the lack of community governance over the roll-out of AI tools in academic publishing. Editorial boards have a great deal of power here, especially if the journal is society-owned. openfuture.eu/publication/...openfuture.euGoverning the scholarly AI Commons – Open FutureNew report explores how academic communities can shape AI governance in research and publishing, from regulation to community-led approaches. 1214
Reposted by Ruth AhnertMargot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 15/07/2026'Early career opportunities have rapidly declined in the fields of arts and humanities amid UK job cuts, with teaching-only roles increasingly the only positions available for those just starting out, an analysis by the British Academy has found.' 1/3timeshighereducation.comHumanities hardest hit as early career opportunities disappearAnalysis of staff data finds skew to teaching-only roles in entry-level positions, with scale of cuts not reflected at more senior levels 27448
Reposted by Ruth AhnertRoyal Historical Society @royalhistsoc.org · 15/07/2026A new resource from @britishacademy.bsky.social, out today, maps changes in UK academic staff numbers and contract types between 2012/13 & 2024/25 for the arts, humanities & social sciences bit.ly/4w47SmP You can search by subject (incl history), provider, region & forms of employment #Skystorians 04030
Reposted by Ruth AhnertRoyal Historical Society @royalhistsoc.org · 15/07/2026The Society will write up a summary for History for next week. Key points at this stage include: > 11% decline (-440 FPE) across all History staff between 2018/19 and 2024/25, compared with a 7% decline across all humanities > loss of 140 FPE History roles 2022/23 to 2024/25 #Skystorians 1/3 24445
Reposted by Ruth AhnertMargot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 15/07/2026“Without intervention, we risk narrowing the UK’s research and development knowledge base, reducing opportunity and access to key subjects, particularly in regions already underserved, and weakening the long-term sustainability of the Shape disciplines". (Margot Finn) 1/3researchprofessionalnews.comBritish Academy urges ‘intervention’ over slowing academic pipeline - Research Professional NewsAnalysis shows decline in early career researchers across Shape disciplines and rise in teaching-only contracts 12115
Ruth Ahnert @ruthahnert.bsky.social · 14/07/2026Feel this so hard. Although of course respondent is right: all we humans just use a minus sign! 000
Reposted by Ruth AhnertDr Ian McCormick @wokestudies.bsky.social · 08/07/2026Society for Renaissance Studies: Two scholarships of £4,000 each, to contribute to the costs of postgraduate study. rensoc.org.uk/apply/schola... 12630
Reposted by Ruth AhnertTed McCormick @tedmccormick.bsky.social · 08/07/2026still waiting for the “difficult decision” not to fund the latest tech scam 0439
Ruth Ahnert @ruthahnert.bsky.social · 06/07/2026Trying to clear the decks a bit before starting the new job, and finally submitted something I’ve been fiddling with for 10 years - and I’m not rounding up for effect! That makes me feel old… 170
Ruth Ahnert @ruthahnert.bsky.social · 30/06/2026New chapter out in this OA book, which I co-authored with the inimitable Delfi Neto-Isabel. It’s called ‘Data Feminism, Network Analysis and the Pre-modern Archive’. www.peterlang.com/document/141...peterlang.comPeter Lang Verlag - Digitalizing the Middle AgesThis volume provides a comprehensive overview of the fast-growing panorama that lies at the crossroads between Digital Humanities and Medieval Studies. ... 163
Reposted by Ruth AhnertMargot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 30/06/2026'When Labour took power in 2024, it was braced for a host of problems. One of those it did not anticipate, or perhaps want to deal with, was the financial crisis inherited in the university sector.' Except for universities being specifically named in Sue Gray's Top Ten Problems list, that is.politicshome.comJacqui Smith: 'A Million Young People Not Earning Or Learning Is A Moral Outrage'Skills minister and Labour veteran Baroness Smith talks to Matilda Martin about her party’s leadership troubles then and now, plus what can be lear... 13712
Reposted by Ruth AhnertTom Scriven @pigsmeat.bsky.social · 30/06/2026Also working-class autodidacts didn't just read alone - they read in groups, set up libraries and reading rooms, and battled for Mechanics' Institutes (many long ago merged into unis) to teach music, history, and politics. They built the public adult education infrastructure that's being destroyed 6312137
Reposted by Ruth AhnertDave Andress @davidandress.bsky.social · 30/06/2026Academics all over the country could put their hand up and say they're in the same boat. But when did you last see a big feature on redundancies at a post-92 university?sslh.org.ukRHS finds cuts to history courses fall disproportionately on post-92 universitiesThe Royal Historical Society has warned of ‘an alarming increase’ in the number of university history departments facing cuts to staffing and degree options – even as numbers studying the subject a… 14720
Reposted by Ruth AhnertNeville Morley @nevillemorley.eurosky.social · 30/06/2026The sub-head is seriously questionable: “how changing student preferences are fundamentally reshaping universities” buys into the university’s narrative that this is driven by falling recruitment leading to deficits. How can that be, when Exeter has been eating other people’s lunch for years? 26119
Reposted by Ruth AhnertRia Kapoor @riakapoor.bsky.social · 30/06/2026Consider applying! This is an incredibly rewarding role both because of the great and friendly team you work with, the ideas people share with you, and the editorial experience. Also fun! 1126
Reposted by Ruth AhnertDr Jo Edge 🏴 @hagenilda.bsky.social · 30/06/2026I mean this in the kindest possible way but 'I thought we were safe' is exactly the wrong way to think at the moment. We are all on a sliding scale of precarity now. No job is permanent. The UK does not have tenure. #UCU #UKHE 1359
Reposted by Ruth AhnertMargot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 29/06/2026I genuinely do not understand why vocational pathways are for working-class youths rather than for youths as a whole. Just as universities are meant to be available for higher education learners, not for middle-class learners or the posherati. 127017
Reposted by Ruth AhnertExeter UCU @exeterucu.bsky.social · 29/06/2026Hey Bluesky crowd! You also should be signing our petition opposing the announced redundancies at the University of Exeter. 📢 We're 17k and growing! Redundancies ARE NOT necessary and we must #DefendExeterUni 🩷 c.org/RFqMvrKb6zc.orgSign the PetitionStop Redundancies at the University of Exeter 13743
Reposted by Ruth AhnertRoopika Risam @roopikarisam.bsky.social · 29/06/2026Don't miss the June issue of Reviews in Digital Humanities, brought to you by World Cup superfans @jenguiliano.bsky.social & me ! ⚽️ #ReviewsInDH reviewsindh.pubpub.org/v7-n6reviewsindh.pubpub.orgVol. 7, No. 6: June 2026 · Reviews in Digital HumanitiesVol. 7, No. 6 of Reviews in Digital Humanities, a peer-reviewed journal that facilitates scholarly evaluation of digital humanities work and its outputs, edited by Jennifer Guiliano (Indiana Universit... 1126
Reposted by Ruth AhnertMargot 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.comBurnham: ‘UK can be world’s leading innovation nation’ - Research Professional NewsPM-in-waiting wants universities “at heart of local economies” but pledges education shift beyond “university route” 0292
Reposted by Ruth AhnertSonja Drimmer @sonjadrimmer.bsky.social · 26/06/2026Nothing tells historians that someone is not a historian more than their belief that manuscripts should be handled with gloved hands. 715628
Reposted by Ruth AhnertHallie Rubenhold @hallierubenhold.bsky.social · 24/06/2026If young people are being taught by society/government messaging/their parents/schools that they won't be able to make a living if they study a humanities subject we are creating a vicious cycle. We must ask who does this messaging serve and why is our society buying into it? 210231
Reposted by Ruth AhnertDr Lucy J.S. Clarke 🇵🇸🏳️⚧️🌈 no human is illegal @lucyjsclarke.bsky.social · 24/06/2026the cuts to higher education in the UK are ideological. they are based in a false valuation of the humanities that is entirely founded in erroneous concepts of employability and demand. these cuts are not financially necessary; they are a stripping of the humanities for political reasons. 0198
Reposted by Ruth AhnertLizzy Williamson @lizzywilliamson.bsky.social · 24/06/2026Humanities, arts and social sciences prop up stem - we cost less to run but are modelled as costing the same. Exeter does not have a financial deficit. This is ideological. 1133
Ruth Ahnert @ruthahnert.bsky.social · 22/06/2026ANOTHER opportunity at Cambridge Digital Humanities: 2026/27 Methods Fellowship. Deadline 17 July. More details here: www.cdh.cam.ac.uk/methods/meth...cdh.cam.ac.ukMethods Fellowships 2026/27 - CDH 122
Ruth Ahnert @ruthahnert.bsky.social · 22/06/2026Cambridge Digital Humanities (my new home from Sept!) is inviting proposals for the next round of British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship. Esp in memory studies, semiotics, semantics and AI and emergent literary forms. Details here: www.cdh.cam.ac.uk/about/news/b...cdh.cam.ac.ukCDH invites proposals for British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowships - CDHCambridge Digital Humanities (CDH) at the University of Cambridge is inviting proposals for the next round of British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowships. The British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship offe... 166
Reposted by Ruth AhnertAdam Crymble @adamcrymble.bsky.social · 19/06/2026My review of 'Tudor Networks of Power' by @ruthahnert.bsky.social and @sebastianahnert.bsky.social is now out in the Journal of British Studies. A really interesting work for those interested in the 'how' of historical research. www.cambridge.org/core/journal...cambridge.orgRuth Ahnert and Sebastian E. Ahnert. Tudor Networks of Power Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2023. Pp 265. $45.00 (cloth). | Journal of British Studies | Cambridge CoreRuth Ahnert and Sebastian E. Ahnert. Tudor Networks of Power Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2023. Pp 265. $45.00 (cloth). - Volume 65 044
Ruth Ahnert @ruthahnert.bsky.social · 17/06/2026Just on the way home from an emotional day packing up my office, and saying farewells to my colleagues at the end of year bbq. 3230
Reposted by Ruth AhnertRyan Cordell @ryancordell.org · 11/06/2026This reminds me of widely reprinted C19 newspaper selections we study in the Viral Texts project that excerpt a passage from a work of fiction & credit its author, as if the text reflects the author’s perspective—when the excerpt actually reflects a character’s perspective, often not sympathetically 1244
Reposted by Ruth AhnertDaniel Wilson @danielwilson.bsky.social · 09/06/2026In unexpected good news: !!JOB!! Come and work on our new multidisciplinary programme at UCL as a 'Lecturer in Digital Culture and Society'. Permanent full-time position in London. Deadline 28 June. Specialism open. www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/... #dh #stsucl.ac.ukUCL – University College LondonUCL 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). 11523
Reposted by Ruth AhnertDaniel van Strien @danielvanstrien.bsky.social · 11/06/2026Can the new DiffusionGemma model help fix broken OCR? In theory, denoising tokens in parallel could work better for OCR correction since context is seen upfront? Pointed it at 19th-century newspaper OCR. It corrected better than the autoregressive baseline — at ~8x the speed. 47015
Reposted by Ruth AhnertDanielle Terrazas Williams @drdanielletw.bsky.social · 10/06/2026Job Opportunity! Assistant Professor in European and or Global History (pre-1800) University of Limerick - School of History and Geography www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DRU993/a...jobs.ac.ukAssistant Professor in European and or Global History (pre-1800) at University of LimerickDiscover Assistant Professor in European and or Global History (pre-1800) jobs and more in higher education on jobs.ac.uk. Apply for further details on the top job board. 03253
Reposted by Ruth AhnertMargot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 09/06/2026Should researchers still be posting their data openly online? It’s a question being debated by some researchers now that bots are routinely mining open-access databases and scientific publications to train artificial-intelligence tools'.nature.comBots are scraping open data — how should researchers respond?The snowballing ability of artificial intelligence to trawl open data sets has some scientists worried about losing control of their information. 23417
Reposted by Ruth AhnertEmilie K. M. Murphy @emiliekmmurphy.bsky.social · 03/06/2026Really can't cope with the fact that Nottingham's now departed VC (now VC at Leeds - god help them) wasted £80 MILLION on a building it is now selling at a crushing loss (£14m), and is attempting to recoup some of that by sacking 100s of academics and decimating the institution. Absolutely criminal. 79243
Reposted by Ruth AhnertNate Angell @xolotl.org · 01/06/2026See Living with Machines, edited by @ruthahnert.bsky.social, Emma Griffin, and @jonhistorian61.bsky.social "an innovative open access edition enhanced with interactive maps, datasets and visualisations, digital notebooks, and multimedia content" read.uolpress.co.uk/projects/liv...read.uolpress.co.uk 084