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Alexander Samson

@samsonaws.bsky.social
730 followers 327 following 19 posts

Professor of Early Modern Studies at UCL, historian of Marian England, early modern Spain, Anglo-Spanish intercultural exchanges…

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Reposted by Alexander Samson
UCL Early Modern Exchanges @uclearlymodxcha.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Invisible Others? Race, Slavery & the Museum Display of Early Modern Art in Iberia 2 Dec 17:30 @uclhistory.bsky.social Prof Borja Franco Llopis explores a reconsideration of the concepts, nomenclature & narratives through which history of race & slavery have been read in contemporary scholarship.
ucl.ac.uk
Invisible Others? Race, Slavery, and the Museum Display of Early Modern Art in Iberia
Join us for a talk by Professor Borja Franco Llopis (UNED, Spain)
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Reposted by Alexander Samson
Society for Renaissance Studies @srsrensoc.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
One of yours, to celebrate extravagantly, @uclearlymodxcha.bsky.social @uclhistory.bsky.social @ihreurope1500.bsky.social and @universitypress.cambridge.org #earlymodern #skystorians
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Reposted by Alexander Samson
Josh Pizzuto-Pomaco @joshpizpom.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
EXC: 90 programmes in Edinburgh University's College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences are to be closed. The casualties, which include 48 language and literature programmes, will be 'taught out', w/ no admissions after 2027. @heraldscotland.bsky.social www.heraldscotland.com/news/2655839...
heraldscotland.com
Ninety programmes to close at leading university as savings plan takes shape
According to the document, a total of 90 programmes will be “taught out” over the next several years, including 48 in the School of Language.
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Reposted by Alexander Samson
The English Historical Review @enghistrev.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Alexander Samson @samsonaws.bsky.social reviews 'Being the Heart of the World: The Pacific and the Fashioning of the Self in New Spain, 1513–1641', by Nuno Vallen academic.oup.com/ehr/advance-... @universitypress.cambridge.org
academic.oup.com
Being the Heart of the World: The Pacific and the Fashioning of the Self in New Spain, 1513–1641, by Nuno Vallen
Covering the period from the sighting of the Pacific in 1513 until the resumption of transoceanic trade in 1641, Being the Heart of the World analyses how
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Alexander Samson @samsonaws.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
It is a great pleasure to announce the return of the Spanish-English Translations Database 1500 - 1640, do bookmark and enjoy: spanish-english-translation.ucl.ac.uk. It may need some tweaking to bring up to date, but it's great to have you back...
spanish-english-translation.ucl.ac.uk
EMS Translations
Early Modern Spain: Spanish-English translations database
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Alexander Samson @samsonaws.bsky.social · 05/05/2026
Can't wait to chat about Radical Empire! 13 May 6-8pm. Do pop along if you can... www.ucl.ac.uk/institute-of... www.ucl.ac.uk/institute-of...
ucl.ac.uk
IAS Book Launch: The Radical Spanish Empire
We are pleased to welcome back to the IAS Adrian Masters to present his new book (co-written with Jorge Cañizares-Esguerra) The Radical Spanish Empire. How Paperwork Politics Remade the New World.
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Reposted by Alexander Samson
UCL Early Modern Exchanges @uclearlymodxcha.bsky.social · 05/05/2026
Book Launch: The Radical Spanish Empire 13 May 6pm Unrelenting lawfare by non-elite Spaniards, Indigenous people, women & the enslaved, led to weakened theocracy, curtailed native lordship, reshaped law and forged an order in 1570s under viceroys, bishops & inquisitors www.ucl.ac.uk/institute-of...
ucl.ac.uk
IAS Book Launch: The Radical Spanish Empire
We are pleased to welcome back to the IAS Adrian Masters to present his new book (co-written with Jorge Cañizares-Esguerra) The Radical Spanish Empire. How Paperwork Politics Remade the New World.
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Reposted by Alexander Samson
Ana Struillou @anastruillou.bsky.social · 20/04/2026
📣 Mercedes García Arenal will be at @kingscollegelondon.bsky.social on April 29, 3.30-5.30 ! Thanks to Julian Weiss, will have the privilege to hear an extended version of her Lyell Lecture. Responses from Rachel Scott, @samsonaws.bsky.social and myself ! Book your ticket here: lnkd.in/etsE997i
lnkd.in
LinkedIn
This link will take you to a page that’s not on LinkedIn
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Reposted by Alexander Samson
UCL Early Modern Exchanges @uclearlymodxcha.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
Our MA Early Modern Studies trains you in palaeography, book history & archival research skills, plus options in information & literary studies, history & language. Join us for a taster lecture, learn more about the course & ask questions 📅1 May 2-3:30pm BST online app.geckoform.com/events-embed...
Someone in the archive, examining an old document, wearing gloves.
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Reposted by Alexander Samson
UCL Institute of Advanced Studies @ucl-ias.bsky.social · 06/03/2026
Join us at this IAS Book Launch
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Reposted by Alexander Samson
Brodie Waddell @brodiewaddell.bsky.social · 26/02/2026
'Written Worlds: Non-Elite Writers in Early Modern England' Sue Wiseman, Michael Powell-Davies and I will be introducing our five-year collaborative project at the @ihr.bsky.social on Thursday, March 5th. Hope to see you there! Register here: www.history.ac.uk/news-events/...
Written Worlds: Non-Elite Writers in Early Modern England

Who wrote in early modern England? What did they write and why did they write it? How did their writing fit into the wider worlds that they inhabited? In this talk, Sue Wiseman, Brodie Waddell and Michael Powell Davies – all from Birkbeck University of London – will address these questions by introducing their ongoing Leverhulme-funded collaborative project on non-elite writers in England from c.1570 to 1730. Our research explores the writing practices of people below the level of the gentry and clergy, considering their biographical contexts, their motivations and their contributions to written culture. In addition to giving a bird’s eye view of the sorts of writers and texts we are studying, each of the three speakers will discuss a couple of specific examples of particular writers, including the notebooks of a midland villager, the spiritual diary a London wigmaker, and the confessions of a condemned widow.
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Catherine Fletcher @catherinefletcher.info · 26/02/2026
Hello Bluesky! My new book, THE FIREARM REVOLUTION, is out on 14 April. It’s about how a new technology changed society, and how hard it was to control. Here’s a little thread of what’s inside:
Cover of book with text in yellow reading: The Firearm Revolution: From Renaissance Italy to the European Empires, overlaid on an image of an angel in seventeenth-century dress with wings and a long gun.
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Reposted by Alexander Samson
UCL Institute of Advanced Studies @ucl-ias.bsky.social · 23/02/2026
It is with great sadness that we are sharing the news that the UCL Faculties of Social & Historical Sciences and Arts & Humanities have decided to close the IAS. We will close our doors forever on 31 July 2026. Follow the link to leave thoughts, comments, memories 💗 www.ucl.ac.uk/institute-of...
ucl.ac.uk
All good things come to an end
It is with great sadness that we are sharing the news that the UCL Faculties of Social & Historical Sciences and Arts & Humanities have decided to close the IAS on 31 July 2026.
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Reposted by Alexander Samson
The Association of Hispanists of Great Britain and Ireland @hispanists-ahgbi.bsky.social · 25/11/2025
⛔ Second statement in one week #saveleicesterml #saveleicesterlanguages Following last week’s formal letter to the University of Nottingham, AHGBI has now issued a second statement—this time to the University of Leicester—regarding the proposed closure of its Department of Modern Languages.
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UCL Early Modern Exchanges @uclearlymodxcha.bsky.social · 31/10/2025
Evident Tongues, Evident Bodies: Language, Sense & Proof 12 Nov 2:30-4pm This new @ucl-ias.bsky.social reading group explores how early-modern writers connected linguistic encounters with sensory encounters in the production of evidence. www.ucl.ac.uk/institute-of...
ucl.ac.uk
New IAS Reading Group: Evident Tongues, Evident Bodies
Join the IAS Postdoctoral Fellows, Rana Banna & Mary Newman, for the first session of the reading group, exploring how early-modern writers connected linguistic encounters with sensory encounters of s...
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Jenni Hyde @wallyberry.bsky.social · 31/07/2025
Goodbye to the history department at Lancaster University, where the @socialhistsoc.bsky.social was founded 49 years ago. From tomorrow we are part of a School of Global Affairs. Next year, who knows what will be - please sign our petition against mass redundancies chng.it/PZfTFDjNcr
chng.it
Sign the Petition
Stop Mass Redundancies at Lancaster University – Hold Senior Management Accountable
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Reposted by Alexander Samson
UCL Centre for Humanities Education @ucl-che.bsky.social · 22/07/2025
🎭 From lost comedias to lucid dreams, each year students from around the world reimagine Spanish Golden Age Theatre for the Our New Gold Festival. Watch '24-'25's prize winners and read @samsonaws.bsky.social's (@uclselcs.bsky.social) reflections on the Festival in our latest blog: bit.ly/4kQwid4
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Alexander Samson @samsonaws.bsky.social · 08/07/2025
For anyone interested who couldn’t make it to my inaugural ‘Time Frames: Marking the Early Modern’ here’s a recording: mediacentral.ucl.ac.uk/Play/124439
mediacentral.ucl.ac.uk
Time Frames: Marking the Early Modern
Time Frames: Marking the Early Modern Professor Alexander Samson Before the shattering of organic and providential temporalities by universal clock time, a period dubbed the ‘early modern’ foreshado...
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Reposted by Alexander Samson
Dr Steve Taylor @drstevetaylor.bsky.social · 02/06/2025
The UK is a relatively low tax economy This means the revenue raised by Government as a proportion of GDP has been low historically Less funding raised for infrastructure/healthcare/education etc A thread 🧵
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Liesbeth Corens @onslies.bsky.social · 28/05/2025
Barnstormingly brilliant inaugural! Amazing reflections on the importance of recognising different conceptions of time, and capping it off with a call, in the midst of universities & humanities in crisis, to imagine other futures, inspired not just by present or immediate past.
Quote from Derrida’s the future of the profession, p 55-6
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Liesbeth Corens @onslies.bsky.social · 28/05/2025
Verrrrrrrry excited about @samsonaws.bsky.social’s inaugural on marking the #EarlyModern
Picture of a speaker in front of slides with beautiful pocket watches on it
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Reposted by Alexander Samson
Liesbeth Corens @onslies.bsky.social · 27/05/2025
LOL. Yes, UCL Events Team, I too am excited about @samsonaws.bsky.social's inaugural tomorrow! UCLUCL!
screenshot of an email which opens with Liesbeth Liesbeth!
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Alexander Samson @samsonaws.bsky.social · 16/05/2025
Really looking forward to delivering my inaugural lecture, do sign up, be lovely to see you there fellow early modernists! www.ucl.ac.uk/early-modern...
ucl.ac.uk
Time Frames: Marking the Early Modern
Before the shattering of organic and providential temporalities by universal clock time, a period dubbed the ‘early modern’ foreshadowed and heralded our ‘modernity’. But how are our times different f...
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Alexander Samson @samsonaws.bsky.social · 14/05/2025
Female street performers in early modern Europe still a few slots left, do come along... www.ucl.ac.uk/institute-of...
ucl.ac.uk
Rope-Dancing and Female Performance
An Early Modern Exchanges event with Prof Clare McManus (Northumbria) and Prof Thibaut Maus de Rolley (UCL)
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Alexander Samson @samsonaws.bsky.social · 28/04/2025
Do pop along tomorrow for our event at 5 on Muslim ambassadors: www.ucl.ac.uk/institute-of...
ucl.ac.uk
The Play of Negotiation: Muslim Ambassadors in Spanish Classical Theatre
Early Modern Exchanges welcomes Ruben Gonzalez Cuerva to discuss unearthing cultural heritage and analysing the interplay between actual Islamic representatives in Habsburg Madrid and the different ar...
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Reposted by Alexander Samson
Alexander Samson @samsonaws.bsky.social · 07/03/2025
Delighted to announce my professorial inaugural at UCL on 28th May, do sign up be great to see you all there! www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/time-frame...
eventbrite.co.uk
Time Frames: Marking the Early Modern
Time Frames: Marking the Early Modern
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Manchester University Press @manchesterup.bsky.social · 21/03/2025
And here's @samsonaws.bsky.social with his book MARY AND PHILIP: The marriage of Tudor England and Habsburg Spain. Also available for 30% off on our Renaissance Literature and History Reading List: manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/blog/2025/02... 👈
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Melissa Terras @melissaterras.bsky.social · 20/03/2025
Fabulous night yesterday at @edincollegeofart.bsky.social who threw me an inaugural party, talking digital/arts/hums/creativity. Packed house and packed zoom! Thanks to all who were there. And don’t let the dystopian nightmare bullshit dim your sparkle.
Melissa Terras lecturing
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Anna-Lujz Gilbert @annalujz.bsky.social · 17/03/2025
For anyone interested in the early Bodleian Library or early modern book owners, the Shaping Scholarship project at CELL, UCL has made the project data available: ebdo.org.uk/data/ It details every officially recorded donation made c. 1600-1620, plus some extras, which is around 10,000 items.
Phtotograph of Bodleian Benefactors' Register, open and showing gifts of Robert Barker and William Ballow, in italic print and manuscript on parchment.
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Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 14/03/2025
At long last: committees.parliament.uk/committee/20...
committees.parliament.uk
Education Committee announces session on higher education funding - Committees - UK Parliament
Education Committee Chair Helen Hayes MP has today announced a deep dive evidence session examining funding issues in the higher education sector. 
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Peter Stefanovic @peterstefanovic.bsky.social · 10/03/2025
Five of the billionaires who attended Donald Trump's inauguration have lost a combined $210 billion in wealth since then, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index Oh dear www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
bloomberg.com
Billionaires at Trump’s Swearing-In Have Since Lost $210 Billion
As Donald Trump took the oath of office on Jan. 20, he was flanked by some of the world’s wealthiest people. The billionaires present that day — including Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg — h...
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Alexander Samson @samsonaws.bsky.social · 07/03/2025
Delighted to announce my professorial inaugural at UCL on 28th May, do sign up be great to see you all there! www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/time-frame...
eventbrite.co.uk
Time Frames: Marking the Early Modern
Time Frames: Marking the Early Modern
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Earl Russell LD @earlrussell.bsky.social · 28/02/2025
#IStandWithUkraine
I stand with Ukraine
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Alexander Samson @samsonaws.bsky.social · 18/02/2025
Date and Time: Tuesday 25 February 2025, 6-8pm Location: IAS Common Ground, G11 Ground Floor, South Wing Register: IAS Book Launch: Political Culture in the Early Modern Iberian Worlds | Institute of Advanced Studies (IAS) - UCL www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/ias-book-l... All welcome!
eventbrite.co.uk
IAS Book Launch: Political Culture in the Early Modern Iberian Worlds
Join authors Mario Graña Taborelli and Adrian Masters for the launch of their books, Jurisdictional Battlefields and We, the King.
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Alexander Samson @samsonaws.bsky.social · 12/02/2025
Abject failure by leaders in HE to take a stand is now bearing fruit… The Guardian view on campus cuts: academics pay a high price for Westminster’s mistakes www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
theguardian.com
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Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 11/02/2025
'In a series of consultancy studies about 20 years ago....A key conclusion was that QR was not just an important part of research funding but the critical element that incentivised staff, lubricated the research machine and geared up value.' 1/3
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Peter Stefanovic @peterstefanovic.bsky.social · 11/02/2025
Who would have known www.theguardian.com/world/2025/f...
theguardian.com
Far-right populists much more likely than the left to spread fake news – study
Amplifying misinformation is now part of radical right strategy, says Dutch study of tweets by MPs in 26 countries
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UCL Early Modern Exchanges @uclearlymodxcha.bsky.social · 10/02/2025
IAS Book Launch: Political Culture in the Early Modern Iberian Worlds 25 February 2025, 6pm-8pm Join authors Mario Graña Taborelli and Adrian Masters for the launch of their books, Jurisdictional Battlefields and We, the King. www.ucl.ac.uk/institute-of...
ucl.ac.uk
IAS Book Launch: Political Culture in the Early Modern Iberian Worlds
Join authors Mario Graña Taborelli and Adrian Masters for the launch of their books, Jurisdictional Battlefields and We, the King.
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Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 10/02/2025
'In the letter, made public on 10 February, Julia Black...says the “range of cutbacks we are seeing across universities is leading to a severe loss in UK capability".' Nearly 100 HEIs are “contracting or closing” social sciences, humanities & the arts disciplines “in the face of a financial crisis”.
researchprofessionalnews.com
British Academy: ‘UK research threatened by university finances’ - Research Professional News
University cuts leading to a “severe loss in UK capability”, academy president warns chancellor
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Alexander Samson @samsonaws.bsky.social · 07/02/2025
chng.it/DPV9WmSPbt
chng.it
Sign the Petition
Save MLANG at Cardiff University!
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Alexander Samson @samsonaws.bsky.social · 06/02/2025
chng.it/YBCjHcMhqk
chng.it
Sign the Petition
Save MLANG at Cardiff University!
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Claire L Jones @claireljones.bsky.social · 29/01/2025
Woke up feeling a bit teary about all this tbh
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Peter Stefanovic @peterstefanovic.bsky.social · 29/01/2025
The number of Britons saying the UK was right to vote to leave the EU has hit its lowest level since the referendum, ahead of the fifth anniversary of Brexit on Friday Right to vote to leave: 30%
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Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 29/01/2025
'“When the Lancet commission on self-harm does an evidence review...when academic researchers do their meta scientific research, these things don’t come out in line with this tech panic,” he says. “That’s because this tech panic is not based on evidence. It’s based on vibes.”'
theguardian.com
All in the mind? The surprising truth about brain rot
Is screen use really sapping our ability to focus and lowering our IQs? The scientists who have actually analysed the data give their verdict
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Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 28/01/2025
£20 Million in savings proposed over 2 years: 200 FTE professional services staff this year (£10M) and £10M savings next year split equally between PS and academic staff (no estimate of staff numbers). Thus the headline below is an underestimate, if the content of the article itself is accurate.
timeshighereducation.com
Durham expects 200 jobs to go as it seeks to save £20 million
University becomes latest to announce staff cuts, saying it cannot rule out compulsory redundancies
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Alexander Samson @samsonaws.bsky.social · 17/01/2025
‘He’s one of the best’: the economist shaping Rachel Reeves’s growth plans Unequivocal, productivity malaise result of specific policy mistakes of Brexit and austerity…
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Alexander Samson @samsonaws.bsky.social · 16/01/2025
Economic growth could fall 50% over 20 years from climate shocks, say actuaries Terrifying, apocalyptic, and this is from the actuaries…
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Byline Times @bylinetimes.bsky.social · 10/01/2025
🔴'2024 Was the First Year Above 1.5C of Global Warming – Here’s How We Should Respond' Extinction Rebellion activist Marijn van de Geer reflects on the meaning of this historic moment bylinetimes.com/2025/01/10/g...
bylinetimes.com
'2024 Was the First Year Above 1.5C of Global Warming - Here’s How We Should Respond'
Extinction Rebellion UK reflects on the meaning of this historic moment
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Caroline Lucas @carolinelucas.bsky.social · 10/01/2025
As horrific fires rage in LA, news comes that world has breached 1.5 degree limit on global heating. When will political leaders join the dots & take urgent far-reaching action? Leave all new fossil fuels in the ground & prioritise building resilience - home retrofits, flood defences & much more
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