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Sophie Cooper

@sophcocooper.bsky.social
2.4K followers 1.4K following 506 posts

Social historian of gender, migration & public space | Nuns | Ireland & its diaspora | Senior Lecturer @QUBLiberalArts | Forging Identities in the Irish World @EdinburghUP 2022 | She/her.

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Sophie Cooper @sophcocooper.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
It was such a treat to work with @fearfuljoycuit.bsky.social (and Nick and Judy) on this - and thank you to all our authors. More to come later but for now, have a look muse.jhu.edu/issue/57682
muse.jhu.edu
Project MUSE -- Verification required!
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Chris Cusack @fearfuljoycuit.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Out now: the special issue of Éire-Ireland on death and the Irish diaspora I guest-edited with the excellent @sophcocooper.bsky.social. Featuring eleven fascinating essays on all sorts of deathy stuff. Absolutely delighted with how the project turned out. 💀https://muse.jhu.edu/issue/57682
The cover of Éire-Ireland 61.1-2, featuring an engraving by Irish painter John Lavery which shows a man and a woman in a sort of punt. The woman is propelling the boat with a pole.
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Joel Herman @joelherman.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
If you are in or around Belfast in the coming months there are some brilliant speakers and talks coming up in the series including Andrew Holmes, Leanne McCormick and Elaine Farrell, @sophcocooper.bsky.social and @leannecalvert.bsky.social. Full programme 👇: www.eventbrite.com/cc/voices-ac...
eventbrite.com
Voices Across the Atlantic - Talk Series by DfC Engaged Communities Group | Eventbrite
Join us at PRONI as we celebrate 'Our Place in the World' with a series of talks highlighting the relationship between Ulster and America - These talks tell the stories of those who emigrated from Ire...
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Mark Harris @markharris.bsky.social · 27/08/2026
Parton spoke in support of gay people for close to forty years. I am old enough to vividly remember the limb she was out on in doing so. So let me put it another way: We may not know what her politics were, but we certainly know what they weren't.
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UCD Library @ucdlibrary.bsky.social · 25/08/2026
1/2 OPEN CALL: UCD Library seeks photographers and lens-based artists for a commission capturing the National Folklore Collection's move to its new home. Full details at www.ucd.ie/irishfolklor... 📆Info session is on tomorrow, 26 Aug. @visualartistsirl.bsky.social @bealoideasucd.bsky.social
Ediphone audio recording tool with box of wax cylinders. Photo by Dragana Jurišić.
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David Higham @oldtrotter.bsky.social · 01/08/2026
This should be self evident but clearly isn’t. From @lewisgoodall.com
The problem is not that higher education has failed as an engine of social mobility. It is that, for too long, it has been treated as the only engine. The curriculum is not the problem which is driving our NEET malaise; the weakness of local economies is. Any Labour administration should therefore tread very carefully before dismantling any part of the comprehensive educational settlement created by the Labour governments of the 1960s. Burnham's proposals also misunderstand the multi-layered nature of the modern university, which in many cases is as likely to offer vocational courses as strictly academic ones.
In any case, let's stop the obsession with STEM subjects and
"practical" training. There is already too much snobbery in the assumption that working-class students are somehow less interested in the arts and humanities. And we've never needed those graduates more. In an age in which we are already outsourcing so much of our critical thinking to machines, and in which none of us can be entirely sure of the truth of what we see, where the world's complexity is ever deepening, subjects like philosophy, history, political science, linguistics, classics and literature have rarely been more important.
I'm sure our English graduate prime minister might agree.
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Chris Bertram @crookedfootball.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
Ian Wright saying we shouldn’t forget the way the Iranian team and the Somali referee were treated. Correct.
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Ian Dunt @iandunt.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
Never has a team more richly deserved to lose than Argentina.
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Sophie Cooper @sophcocooper.bsky.social · 19/07/2026
Thank goodness for that! A beautiful result 👏
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Sophie Cooper @sophcocooper.bsky.social · 12/07/2026
Extra time means I'm up for the sky to turn orange
Photo of house roofs at night. In the background you can see the flames and smoke of two bonfires
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Sophie Cooper @sophcocooper.bsky.social · 11/07/2026
So basically all the adverts during this match are for AI, (creepy) Meta glasses, and the military... I suppose it makes a change from gambling sites, but geez 🤦🏻‍♀️
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Sarah Roddy @seroddy.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
The Catholic Historical Society's annual conference 2026 is on 19 Sep at DCU-St. Pat's. Theme 'Irish Catholic Spaces: Pasts and Futures. Details and registration here: www.eventbrite.ie/e/chsi-annua...
eventbrite.ie
CHSI Annual Conference, 2026. Irish Catholic spaces: pasts and futures
Join us for the annual conference of the Catholic Historical Society of Ireland.
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Elsa Devienne @elsadevienne.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
Do you like conferences? You might not enjoy them so much when half of attendees can't write their papers or even attent because they've been made redundant. Want to publish? Well it's going to get harder without reviewers. www.timeshighereducation.com/news/job-cut... 5/5
timeshighereducation.com
Job cuts fuel staff discontent at Lincoln and Northumbria
UCU declares ‘no confidence’ in Lincoln management while redundancy plans prompt fresh dispute in north east
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Elsa Devienne @elsadevienne.bsky.social · 24/06/2026
Northumbria's announcement (30 people to go by end of July, 10 of whom from Humanities) is maybe less egregious than Exeter's, but the pattern is the same: Humanities are disproportionately targeted for reasons that do not align with a rational look at the situation (student staff ratios) 3/?
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Sarah Creighton @saraita101.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
what the actual fuck
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Katherine McDonald @katherinemcdon.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
Ok, look, what's been particularly infuriating about the redundancies at Exeter (and Nottingham and Newcastle and and and) is this weird idea that it only affects those individuals and institutions. It harms us all because we are so closely interconnected.
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Katherine McDonald @katherinemcdon.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
My students at Durham, my collaborators worldwide, anyone who reads my work... ALL of them have benefited from my time at Exeter, and the expertise of my colleagues at Exeter, because those colleagues improved my work so immeasurably. Job losses are losses for us all.
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mellonmigration.bsky.social @mellonmigration.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
Dr @sophcocooper.bsky.social on the tension and acceptance of the sisters of the sacred heart in St Louis. Local information galore in this rich study.
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Jen Bendery @jbendery.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
I mean, this was paid for by taxpayers -- $14.2 million to paint and waterproof this pool to make it "American flag blue" -- so I guess people are getting their money back in a way
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Sophie Cooper @sophcocooper.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
Only 10 (or so) years after I first started drafting it, I’m very excited that I have a new article out in @irishhiststudies.bsky.social! ‘He became Irish in death: the Rafferty-O’Meara murder trials and press representations of Irishness in 1870s Chicago’ is out! www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
cambridge.org
He became Irish in death: the Rafferty-O’Meara murder trials and press representations of Irishness in 1870s Chicago | Irish Historical Studies | Cambridge Core
He became Irish in death: the Rafferty-O’Meara murder trials and press representations of Irishness in 1870s Chicago
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Will Clement @historywill.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
My first book, "Inspecting the home: Urban poverty and public health in nineteenth-century France", will be published by @manchesterup.bsky.social in February 2027 To find out more (or to add it to your wish lists...) see the link below: manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526183149/
A book cover showing a shaded pencil illustration of a well-dressed man with a cane who has stopped in the street, bent down and raised his hat to another man, whose head is visible at street-level in the window to a cellar of the nearby building.

Text on the cover reads 'Inspecting the home. Urban poverty and public health in nineteenth-century France' Will Clement
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Síobhra Aiken @siobhraaiken.bsky.social · 01/06/2026
Hot off the press! Patrick Mahoney's @patrickjmahone1.bsky.social new book Fenian Empire, available now: lnkd.in/eW3FFERw "Teeming with individual Fenians, splits, spies, and swagger, it is a captivating read contending with ideas which are at once both historical and contemporary." Ú Ní Bhroiméil
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Jay Roszman @jayroszman.bsky.social · 31/05/2026
I had the privilege to serve as the @acirishstudies.bsky.social History Rep, which meant I also chaired the Donald Murphy Prize for Distinguished First Book. We had an amazing slate of books – truly inspiring stuff – and it was such a pleasure to read. Irish Studies future is bright!
Molly-Claire Gillett's "Irish Lacemaking: Art, Industry and Culture Practice" book cover, with white lace and a red background. Gillett won the Donald Murphy Prize for Distinguished First Book.
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Irish Studies at QUB @irishstudiesqub.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
QUB’s Helen Hayes Sweeney speaking about the migration journey of Mick McGee, from Donegal to Leadville Colorado, at @acirishstudies.bsky.social . @sophcocooper.bsky.social
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Claire Willett @clairewillett.bsky.social · 30/05/2026
"women can be perfectly capable of using this technology and simply choose not to" we did in fact need data backing up this incredibly obvious claim bc a LOT of companies will insist Susan from Accounting is refusing to use AI to do the books because IT needs to come explain how it works to her
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The Guardian @theguardian.com · 29/05/2026
If CMAT is an affront to the male gaze and Olivia Rodrigo is indulging it, how exactly should women dress? | Laura Snapes
theguardian.com
If CMAT is an affront to the male gaze and Olivia Rodrigo is indulging it, how exactly should women dress? | Laura Snapes
The loud online hate aimed at two pop stars with polar-opposite styles suggests a shrinking realm of acceptability in which women can exist. That is, you suspect, the point
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Ben Phillips @benphillips76.bsky.social · 22/05/2026
"You were correctly outraged by how Ben-Gvir treated your nationals. Please think of how he treats ours.”
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Tom Hulme @tomhulme.bsky.social · 18/05/2026
Note: relatively stable institution; HAPP's a supportive (even harmonious) School; there's another Ancient History colleague; and pay at Queen's is now relatively high (starting salary is junior; post confirmation-in-post, lecturer starts c. £52k, SL starts c. £66k). www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DRP030/l...
jobs.ac.uk
Lecturer in Ancient History at Queen's University Belfast
Looking for a new job opportunity in academia? Check out this job opening for a Lecturer in Ancient History on jobs.ac.uk!
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Alex Andreou @sturdyalex.bsky.social · 18/05/2026
Finally, Burnham's speech spoke about unity, but was actually quite divisive - honest North vs wealthy South, honest apprenticeships vs posh degrees, honest local gov't vs wicked Whitehall. How does that "bring the country together"? It's just another crowbar in a different set of cracks. 6/
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Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 14/05/2026
'The key findings were said to be “surprisingly simple”: “a good student academic experience ultimately comes down to quality teaching, access to in person interaction with teachers and a strong sense of belonging”.' 2/3
hepi.ac.uk
What Matters Most? 20 years of the student experience - HEPI
Half of students miss one-third of their lectures. 20 years of data show undergraduates are struggling to access the high-quality teaching, in-person interactions and satisfying student experience the...
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Franziska Heimburger @franziska.fr · 11/05/2026
Ohhh, I really want to have the students in my digital skills class work on this text! They are French studying the English language plus the literature and history of English-speaking regions and this should be interesting for them on both counts.
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Women's History Scotland @womenshistscot.bsky.social · 11/05/2026
⏰️ Still time to apply for our £500 research bursary! It is open to masters students, doctoral researchers, ECRs, and independent historians who research women’s and gender history, particularly for those working on Scottish themes. 🗓 Deadline 31st May 🔗 womenshistoryscotland.org/projects-and...
womenshistoryscotland.org
WHS Research Bursary – Women's History Scotland
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Cabel Sasser @cabel.panic.com · 11/05/2026
this graduation speech moment is notable, and her amazed shock at having failed to read the room feels instructive. when you're inside the bubble, you think everybody else is. but everybody isn't.
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History at Queen's University Belfast @qubhistory.bsky.social · 06/05/2026
Tom Hulme’s ‘Belfastmen’ launched tonight by @sophcocooper.bsky.social at No Alibis
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Irish Committee of Historical Sciences - ICHS @irishhistorians.bsky.social · 21/04/2026
Should be an excellent lecture by Prof. Roisín Higgins, Department of History @maynoothuniversity.ie
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Jane Tynan @janeym.bsky.social · 23/04/2026
A reminder that this Call for Contributions to a Sourcebook for Histories of Weather & Weathering is still open teleskopos.wordpress.com/2026/02/05/c... edited by @rhiggitt.bsky.social @lottaleiwo.bsky.social and Tamara Culkins. #histSTM #envhist 🗃️📜
teleskopos.wordpress.com
Call for Contributions: Histories of Weather & Weathering
Call for Contributions: A Sourcebook for Histories of Weather and Weathering (working title) Editors: Rebekah Higgitt, Tamara Caulkins and Lotta Leiwo We invite contributions to this planned open a…
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ShezzaT @shezzat.eurosky.social · 23/04/2026
*stares in Northern Irish*
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Morgan Jones @morganj0nes.bsky.social · 21/04/2026
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Dr Helen Glew @helenglew.bsky.social · 21/04/2026
Those familiar with my work might spot this is (somewhat) a departure for me chronology-wise. Thanks to all who offered feedback or read drafts etc, esp. @clairelanghamer.bsky.social, @nataliethomlinson.bsky.social and @katebradleyhistory.bsky.social. Any remaining inadequacies of course mine!
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Ulster Society for Irish Historical Studies @usihs.bsky.social · 21/04/2026
This promises to be a great talk. Please join us on Thursday - in person or online!
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Ulster Society for Irish Historical Studies @usihs.bsky.social · 21/04/2026
Our annual J.C. Beckett Lecture will be held on 14 May at 6pm. Please do join us at PRONI for Prof. Roisín Higgins' lecture on 'Embodied Conflict: Sensory Histories of the Troubles'! This will be an in person event and will no doubt be fascinating! www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/roisin-hig...
eventbrite.co.uk
Roisín Higgins, 'Embodied Conflict: Sensory Histories of the Troubles'
You're very welcome to join us for the annual USIHS J.C. Beckett Lecture by Professor Roisín Higgins. This will be held at PRONI.
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BeijingPalmer @beijingpalmer.bsky.social · 17/04/2026
walkable cities strongly encourage a feeling of imagined community that helps make you a good citizen. if you experience the city only in slices it's easier to see large swathes of it as fundamentally alien or hostile.
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Irish Studies at QUB @irishstudiesqub.bsky.social · 14/04/2026
A full recording of Saturday's Symposium on 'Peasant Movements and Land Agitation in Ireland' is now available at www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJaf... @marcmulholland.bsky.social @peelersandsheep.bsky.social @petergray47.bsky.social @sophcocooper.bsky.social
youtube.com
Peasant Movements and Land Agitation Symposium - full recording
YouTube video by QUB Irish Studies
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Sophie Cooper @sophcocooper.bsky.social · 14/04/2026
This would be a great thing for so many people! petition.parliament.uk/petitions/75...
petition.parliament.uk
Petition: Negotiate with Ireland reciprocal visa free tourism travel for all residents
Seek an agreement with the ROI government to allow non-UK/ROI/non-visa residents of UK and ROI travel within CTA for short stay and tourism purpose without the need for a visa from each other. The pop...
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Stephen Bush @stephenkb.bsky.social · 14/04/2026
An organisation’s culture is set by its leader, Starmer dislikes making an argument for anything (because he’s bad at it) and that attitude spreads all the way down the party.
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Victoria Derbyshire @vicderbyshire.bsky.social · 13/04/2026
‘Quite frankly absurd’ ‘I’ve met many doctors in my life & none of them have ever glowed like that’ Cardinal Timothy Radcliffe who was among the Conclave who elected Pope Leo tells #Newsnight what he thought of this image, and of Donald Trump’s claim he was portraying himself as a doctor 👇
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Steven Rich @datab.ae · 11/04/2026
BREAKING: the judges who dismissed high-profile cases in immigration court against two international students who have advocated for Palestinian causes, Rümeysa Öztürk and Mohsen Mahdawi, were fired yesterday, alongside four other judges. /w @haleaziz.bsky.social and @nicknehamas.bsky.social
nytimes.com
Judges Fired After Blocking Deportations of Pro-Palestinian Students
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Greg Jenner (Historian) @gregjenner.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
I feel like I’m losing my mind, we’re gambling with a generation of kids so the tech bros can be emperors
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Aparna Nair @disabilitystor1.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
"A whole civilization will die tonight" This man is the purest distillation of the American capitalist imperialist psyche, untrammeled, unconfined, and flourishing in all its evil. Pure hatred and greed. And not a single person seems able or willing to do fuck all about it.
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Sophie Cooper @sophcocooper.bsky.social · 06/04/2026
Delighted to see that Northern Ireland is leading the way in the UK on this! www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
NI becomes first part of the UK to offer paid miscarriage leave
Northern Ireland becomes first part of UK to bring in legal entitlement for parents affected by miscarriage at any stage of a pregnancy to have paid leave.
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