Rachel Feldberg shares how the discovery of a young women's diary revealing an interest in science, culture, and sociability in York sparked collaborative research, a conference, and a book that brings Jane Ewbank’s world to light. #18thC #BookSky #skystorians

Read the blog > buff.ly/ATgu3WP

BBC News - Iris Murdoch's lost poems to be read at Oxford Brookes festival - BBC News
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

British Academy/Leverhulme Small Research Grants The British Academy/Leverhulme Small Research Grants are available to support primary research in the humanities and social sciences. These awards, up to £10,000 in value and tenable for up to 24 mont...

May I interest you in £10k for humanities or social science research? Our small grants scheme is open. Apply by 3rd June.

We allocate through partial randomisation - awarding randomly between all applications that meet our quality threshold
www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/funding/sche...

HEC Small Grants Scheme The small grant round is now open from 2nd February 2026 to 13th April 2026

ONE WEEK REMAINING: Small Grant Scheme📣

Offering #grants up to £10,000 GBP for organisations that want to increase public access and engagement with maritime history and/or their collections.

Apply🔗👉 hec.lrfoundation.org.uk/get-involved...

CfP Global Histories of Hair

Working on the history of hair? Or just found a hairy case study you would like to explore? We are looking forward to it! Please answer our CfP on „Global Histories of Hair, c. 1500-2026“ and join us in Lucerne this October! #skystorians #earlymodern

Some sad news to report, I'm afraid... Jeff Grant, the director of legendary public information film Lonely Water, died on 13 March. He fought to include the film's horror elements, and they proved so successful that it opened the door to the shocking PIFs that we know and love. (1/2)

Every part of the lily plant is deadly to cats - even drinking water that lilies were sitting in can kill them. Other popular spring flowers like tulips and daffodils can also make them very sick, but there are plenty of beautiful and safe alternatives.

Sharing on behalf of @newcastleuni the Call for Papers for their upcoming conference “Caring Communities: Rethinking Care, Class, and Kinship, 1800-Present”, taking place at Newcastle University on Thursday 3 and Friday 4 of September 2026.

🧡🧡

A mural featuring a man in overalls and a cap, gesturing with his hands. Surrounding him are a train, eagle, highland cows, stag, wind turbines, and castles, set against a blue sky.

🤝 AI is back in the headlines and still can’t get hands right.

In this month’s blog, our Research Associate Helen Victoria Murray looks at Glasgow’s arts community response to a proposed AI-generated mural.

Read the full blog to explore the debate: www.thevictorianhand.uk/gallery/ai-s...

5 seriously strange ways wildlife is changing inside Chernobyl | BBC Science Focus Magazine Forty years after the reactor explosion, the wildlife around Chernobyl has recovered in strange and unexpected ways.

This is very interesting and supports the notion that the planet will be ok without us: "What it shows is how ecosystems respond when the familiar rules break down – and how profoundly human absence, even when born of catastrophe, can reshape the living world."

www.sciencefocus.com/nature/5-ser...

University of Leicester to cut film and modern languages courses A union claims up to 300 students will see offers withdrawn as a result of the decision.

'The University of Leicester is to close its film studies and modern languages degree courses to new students.'

'The university has confirmed the courses would cease, but declined to comment on the number of prospective students affected, saying the figure was "commercially sensitive".' 1/2

Red kite with sausage roll snapped by Banbury photographer Mark Hopkins managed to get some pictures of the bird from his back garden.

STICK IT ON A FIVE POUND NOTE

"Theoretical capability and observed usage by occupational category" a chart by Anthropic, showing that (in theory I guess) management, biz and finance, computers and math, architecture and engineering life & social sciences, the law, arts and media, sales and office & admin could all be using AI a lot but somehow aren't

I find this chart by Anthropic about theoretical vs. actual AI usage, from @pbump.com's latest newsletter, very funny, and I think it's worth explaining why, and also please push back on any of this if you disagree, as I may write about it in the future.

🧵

The choices universities and colleges make about AI are political Ahead of this week's Digifest, Michael Webb and Rebecca Flook confront the complex values systems behind general purpose AI technology

This week on Wonkhe: Ahead of this week's Digifest, Michael Webb and Rebecca Flook confront the complex values systems behind general purpose AI technology

DOGE Deposition Videos Taken Down After Judge Order and Widespread Mockery The government asked a judge to stop the spread of the videos on YouTube. The judge agreed, and ordered their immediate removal.

The government asked a judge to stop the spread of the videos on YouTube. The judge agreed, and ordered their immediate removal.

Those videos of the gents who slashed through the NEH, wielding only a vaporous understanding of a questionable Executive Order?

Thanks to @historians.org, @modernlanguage.bsky.social, and @acls1919.bsky.social for bringing the lawsuit that produced this material in discovery.

Read (much) more ⬇️

Creative arts graduates aren't the problem – they're the subsidy Johnny Rich argues that low graduate salaries in the arts aren't a sign of poor courses – they're a sign of an industry that profits from exploiting its workforce

This week on Wonkhe: Johnny Rich argues that low graduate salaries in the arts aren't a sign of poor courses – they're a sign of an industry that profits from exploiting its workforce

Chi Onwurah is not pulling any punches on UKRI science funding.

NEW on Wonkhe: Johnny Rich argues that low graduate salaries in the arts aren't a sign of poor courses – they're a sign of an industry that profits from exploiting its workforce buff.ly/FFKK9nM

nigel farage tweet: The Bank of England is replacing Winston Churchill with a picture of a beaver on our bank notes. This is the definition of woke.

i, for one, am delighted that we finally have a definition of “woke”

Another fantastic post from @helenvmurray.bsky.social on the @victorianhand.bsky.social blog. Exploring AI in the context of some 19c attitudes towards emerging technologies! Please share 🙏

UKRI opportunities update from Professor Sir Ian Chapman YouTube video by UK Research and Innovation

UKRI CEO announces his plans for communicating research opportunities quarterly and notes upcoming AHRC, ESRC, BBSCR, MRC, NERC, EPSRC and other grant opportunities coming soon. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1Oc...

And they're not even polite when they ask you to write the reference asap....

As far as I know, farm archives have never really been used to track queer histories before. Given they mostly record the financial ongoings on a given farm, you can understand why. However, my year of research at The MERL has proved their potential.

Find out more in this blog:

Check out the latest #handoftheweek

More news on our upcoming events 👐

We are very excited about our upcoming workshops 🙌

Radical measures needed to close arts class gap in Greater Manchester, inquiry finds Working class creatives are struggling to break into and are leaving the arts, a new inquiry has warned. Class Ceiling, led by Chancellor of The University of Manchester Nazir Afzal OBE and Avis Gilmo...

Barriers preventing working class talent from succeeding include class-based discrimination, low pay, a lack of connections and exploitative practices. Over 150 hours of interviews with artists ranging from teenage musicians to globally recognised playwrights were conducted.

A huge thank you to all our delegates for joining The Hand: Emotion, Embodiment, Identity!

Your ideas, questions and conversations made the conference such a rewarding and inspiring event. We are grateful to everyone who contributed and helped make it a success 🤝