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Mary Laven @marylaven.bsky.social · 21d

An important piece taking stock of EDI @camhistory.bsky.social

Cambridge University History Faculty @camhistory.bsky.social · 21d

Rewriting the narrative: the case for diversity and inclusion

The Faculty of History is steadily building a more inclusive and representative academic environment. But, as staff acknowledge, the journey is a marathon, not a sprint.

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Image: Denzil Forrester, Jah Shaka, 1983, oil on canvas, 214 x 274 cm. Collection Shane Akeroyd, London © Denzil Forrester. Courtesy the artist and Stephen Friedman Gallery, London and New York. Photo by Mike Newman.

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Marcus Böick @marcboc83.bsky.social · Sep 15

Last week, I published a piece in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) critically assessing current attempts by political and scientific actors to counter the rise of right-wing parties in East Germany through new ‘lighthouse’ projects. Will this really help after years of neglect?

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Marcus Böick @marcboc83.bsky.social · Sep 16

Happy to share my review of this timely book, just published in the AHR.

Esther Elizabeth Adaire. Neo-Nazi Postmodern: Right-Wing Terror Tactics, the Intellectual New Right, and the Destabilization of Memory in Germany since 1989 url: academic.oup.com/ahr/article-...

Esther Elizabeth Adaire. Neo-Nazi Postmodern: Right-Wing Terror Tactics, the Intellectual New Right, and the Destabilization of Memory in Germany since 1989

Imagine a young neo-Nazi in the early 1990s—likely with shaved hair and wearing a bomber jacket, maybe sitting on an overturned beer crate in a depressing

academic.oup.com

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Cambridge University History Faculty @camhistory.bsky.social · Sep 15

Congratulations to Professor Lucy Delap, appointed new Chair of Cambridge's History Faculty, to succeed Professor Mary Laven on 1 October 2025.

Lucy is Professor of Modern British & Gender History at @cam.ac.uk and a Fellow of Murray Edwards College.

@lucydelap.bsky.social @marylaven.bsky.social

Lucy Delap appointed new Chair of the Faculty | Faculty of History University of Cambridge

www.hist.cam.ac.uk

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Royal Historical Society @royalhistsoc.org · May 29

The shortlist for the Society's 2025 First Book Prize for early career historians is now available bit.ly/4kkm4lW

Eight titles have been selected, following an open call for submissions of books published in 2024. Two winners of the 2025 prize will be announced in July.

#Skystorians

Image of the eight titles shortlisted for the Royal Historical Society's First Book Prize for early career historians, 2025.

Royal Justice and the Making of the Tudor Commonwealth, 1485-1547, by Laura Flannigan (Cambridge University Press)

Intimate Subjects: Touch and Tangibility in Britain’s Cerebral Age, by Simeon Koole (University of Chicago Press)

Female Servants in Early Modern England, by Charmian Mansell (British Academy / Oxford University Press)

The Capital Market of Manila and the Pacific Trade, 1668-1838: Institutions and Trade during the First Globalization, by Juan Jose Rivas Moreno (Palgrave MacMillan)

Segregated Species: Pests, Knowledge, and Boundaries in South Africa, 1910–1948, by Jules Skotnes-Brown (Johns Hopkins University Press)

The Quislings. The Trials of Norwegian Wartime Collaborators, 1941–1964, by Anika Seemann (Cambridge University Press)

Pistols in St Paul’s: Science, Music, and Architecture in the Twentieth Century, by Fiona Smyth (Manchester University Press)

Desire and Disunity: Christian Communities and Sexual Norms in the Late Antique West, by Ulriika Vihervalli (Liverpool University Press)

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Abigail Dombey @abigaildombey.bsky.social · Aug 27

Summer likely to be hottest ever in UK

Bart Simpson: This is the hottest summer of my life
Homer Simpson: This is the coldest summer of the rest of your life

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John Gallagher @earlymodernjohn.bsky.social · Aug 27

British "debate" on migration is in the gutter, but we should still be shocked that Labour's response yesterday was to criticise Farage for being insufficiently detailed in his plan for mass detention camps.

Daniel Trilling @trillingual.bsky.social · Aug 27

Regardless of whether Reform's deportation plan "works", if they get a chance to try it - like the Tories' Rwanda policy, or Trump's deportations - it will ostentatiously torment thousands of people and further engrain racism in British politics. It must be opposed on that basis.

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Cambridge University History Faculty @camhistory.bsky.social · Aug 27

🔎 New research identifies 19th-century welfare cuts as a major cause of rise in early-childhood mortality.

The findings - from researchers incl. @camhistory.bsky.social's Prof Simon Szreter - reveal a politically-induced cause of the irregular drop in survival rates during this period.

Read more⬇️

Economic History Society @echistsoc.bsky.social · Aug 20

Now on the Long Run: 'The new poor law and the health of the population of England and Wales'.
By David Green, Gabriel Mesevage, Graham Mooney & Simon Szreter.
‪@kings-sga.bsky.social‬ ‪@kingshistory.bsky.social‬ ‪@jhu.edu‬
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

<em>The Economic History Review</em> | EHS Journal | Wiley Online Library

We estimate the impact of reductions in poor law expenditure on rural life expectancy and mortality rates in England and Wales following the 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act. Given the scale of cuts impos...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

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Mary Laven @marylaven.bsky.social · Jul 16

In hope and trepidation ...

Jason Scott-Warren @jes1003.bsky.social · Jul 16

In the booth to vote Booth.

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Mary Laven @marylaven.bsky.social · Jul 16

I just signed this petition calling for better cooperation with the EU on the environment. Will you add your name, too? www.europeanmovement.co.uk/uk-eu-enviro...

Tell The Government: Strengthen UK-EU Environmental Cooperation

Climate change and environmental problems don't respect borders. The UK and EU must work together to protect our shared environment, tackle the climate crisis, and preserve biodiversity for future gen...

www.europeanmovement.co.uk

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Mary Laven @marylaven.bsky.social · Jul 11

🌳 Will you sign the petition to help restore the Ghost Woods and protect our green spaces for future generations? you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/pr...

Bring back the ancient woodlands smothered beneath your timber plantations

Ancient woodlands are vanishing – and with them, some of our most loved and endangered wildlife. Forestry England manages over 100,000 acres of land that used to be ancient woodland - that’s bigger th...

you.38degrees.org.uk

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George Monbiot @georgemonbiot.bsky.social · Jul 5

Just received news that 27 people have been arrested in Parliament Square under the Terrorism Act 2000 for holding signs saying "I oppose genocide. I support Palestine Action".
This is real police state behaviour.

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Jason Scott-Warren @jes1003.bsky.social · Jul 6

Open letter re Lord Browne's candidacy for Chancellor of the University of Cambridge now at 300 signatures. 🥳

chancellorletter.wordpress.com/2025/07/01/o...

Open Letter re the Chancellorship of the University of Cambridge

The next Chancellor will, we are told, ‘play a vital part in Cambridge’s public-facing activities, fundraising, and in providing advice to senior members of the University’. To do this successfully…

chancellorletter.wordpress.com

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Eric Holthaus @ericholthaus.com · Jul 6

The rainstorm that caused the Texas flooding disaster was of a severity that would occur just once in 1,000 years in a stable climate.

This was a complex, compound tragedy of a type that climate warming is making more frequent.

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Texas floods reveal limitations of disaster forecasting under climate crisis

Texas’s ‘flash flood alley’ could bring even more floods in near future as Trump cuts compound with warming climate

www.theguardian.com

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Jason Scott-Warren @jes1003.bsky.social · Jul 8

350 signatures! including many plucky fighters from the tuition fee wars of 2010-11.

docs.google.com/document/d/1...

Open Letter re Chancellorship

Open Letter re the Chancellorship of the University of Cambridge The next Chancellor will, we are told, ‘play a vital part in Cambridge’s public-facing activities, fundraising, and in providing advi...

docs.google.com

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Jason Scott-Warren @jes1003.bsky.social · Jul 2

Some welcome publicity (in yesterday's Times) for our open letter opposing Lord Browne of Madingley's bid for the Chancellorship of the University of Cambridge -- the letter is at chancellorletter.wordpress.com

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Jason Scott-Warren @jes1003.bsky.social · Jun 28

My letter in today’s Guardian.

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Cambridge University History Faculty @camhistory.bsky.social · Jun 24

'Global Histories of the Portuguese Revolution' - co-edited by @camhistory.bsky.social's @pramospinto.bsky.social - goes beyond the limits of national history to locate the revolution at the intersection of transnational historical phenomena.

A new global approach to this still understudied event ⬇️

Bloomsbury History @bloomsburyhist.bsky.social · Jun 19

Global Histories of the Portuguese Revolution edited by Luís Trindade, Rita Lucas Narra, Ricardo Noronha & Pedro Ramos Pinto locates the revolution at the intersection of transnational historical phenomena.

Out now! 📚 bit.ly/435Ym5m

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Tony Booth @tonybooth1.bsky.social · Jun 27

Campaigning for Cam Uni Chancellor to be an ethical force. Focusing on its core purposes, education, research, and caring for all its staff and students. Severing all connections with oil and arms. @mikescialom.bsky.social @robgmacfarlane.bsky.social @owenjones.bsky.social @georgemonbiot.bsky.social

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Matilda Sidel @matildasidel.bsky.social · Jun 8

The sea is now the only available conduit to bring essential aid to Palestinians. If Israel attacks these aid flotillas, as it has threatened, it will also set a dangerous long-term precedent of unlawful policing in international waters, which will further entrench its unlawful occupation on land.

Gaza Freedom Flotilla Coalition @freedomflotilla.bsky.social · Jun 3

Take one minute: go to bit.ly/IsraelOnNotice and send a letter to the Israeli government, UN officials, and diplomatic missions demanding that Israel abide by international law and refrain from attacking, sabotaging or otherwise interfering with the #Madleen and her mission.

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Mary Laven @marylaven.bsky.social · Jun 19

And a great chance to hear our brilliant colleagues @julieb534.bsky.social @arthurasseraf.bsky.social and Sujit Sivasundaram speaking about why History matters.

Cambridge University History Faculty @camhistory.bsky.social · Jun 19

Wondering what it is like to study history at Cambridge, and what we are looking for in potential students? Watch this!
www.youtube.com/channel/UC6T...

More detail about the course here: www.hist.cam.ac.uk/course/histo...

Cambridge History Faculty

Faculty of History, University of Cambridge The Faculty of History is one of the largest history departments in the world. Over one hundred people pursue teaching and research within the History Facu...

www.youtube.com

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Cambridge University History Faculty @camhistory.bsky.social · Jun 19

@thomaspiketty.bsky.social
@ehess.fr
@pse.bsky.social
@pramospinto.bsky.social
@historyecon.bsky.social

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Mary Laven @marylaven.bsky.social · Jun 19

Many thanks to Emily Betz for a great conversation.

Ecclesiastical History Society @eccleshistsoc.bsky.social · Jun 19

We are thrilled to speak with Prof Mary Laven @marylaven.bsky.social about her research on the Italian #Renaissance (can we call it Italian? 🤔) and what it means to work closely with #museums as an historian. Check out our latest podcast episode ⬇️

open.spotify.com/episode/0QWb... #Skystorians

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Mary Laven @marylaven.bsky.social · Jun 17

A lovely piece about our wonderful colleague Peter Mandler.

Cambridge University History Faculty @camhistory.bsky.social · Jun 16

Prof Peter Mandler’s (@petermandler.bsky.social) insatiable curiosity has fuelled an extraordinary career over more than two decades at Cambridge.

As he steps back from formal teaching, the acclaimed historian reflects on a life of intellectual breadth, public advocacy—and no plans to slow down ⬇️⬇️

Professor Peter Mandler, Deputy Chair of the History Faculty, Professor of Modern Cultural History, Bailey Lecturer in History, Gonville and Caius College, University of Cambridge.

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Andrew Seaton @andrewseaton.bsky.social · Apr 28

Did you know the UK has the worst record on homelessness in the OECD? Some reflections on both the numbers and the people who lay behind them

The New Statesman @newstatesman1913.bsky.social · Apr 26

I grew up without a stable home. The thousands of families living like that today deserve better from a Labour government.

🖊️ Andrew Seaton: The shame of Britain’s hidden homeless

The shame of Britain’s hidden homeless

I grew up without a stable home. The thousands of families living like that today deserve better from a Labour government.

www.newstatesman.com

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