Margot Finn
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eicathomefinn.bsky.social
Margot Finn
@eicathomefinn.bsky.social

Historian of Britain and colonialism, material culture, the EIC. Also works on equalities, museums, open access & research policy. Download the EIC @ Home open access volume here: https://www.uclpress.co.uk/products/88277 (or individual chapters via JSTOR) .. more

Margot C. Finn is a British historian and academic who specialises in Britain and the British colonial world during the long nineteenth century. She has been Professor of Modern British History at the University College, London (UCL) since 2012. Finn was previously the President of the Royal Historical Society and a trustee of the Victoria & Albert Museum. .. more

Political science 31%
Economics 26%

'Meanwhile Tuesday’s Stage 3 debate on the Bus Services (Wales) Bill showed what joined-up thinking looks like. After...“the first draft of the Bill failed to make any explicit provision for learner travel”, the Welsh Government tabled amendments 7 and 8' to rectify this.

See too Cold Spots. 3/3
Cold spots: Mapping inequality in SHAPE provision in UK higher education
This British Academy report reveals that many parts of the UK are becoming subject cold spots – areas with no provision in a subject within a commutable distance. These are often in rural, coastal or ...
www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk

Reposted by Aidan O’Sullivan

'f this all sounds a bit peripheral, do have a look at this research from Dublin. It found a relationship between commute time and wellbeing, particularly for female students. For those with one-way commutes of 45 minutes or more, wellbeing was lower by 1.37 points on the WHO-5 scale.' 2/3
Commuting and college student wellbeing
Commuting to college is a prominent feature of student life in many countries. We study the relationship between living arrangements, commute time, and wellbeing for full-time undergraduate college...
www.tandfonline.com

The English Bus Services Act 2025: 'What it doesn’t cover, anywhere, is ensuring buses actually serve the places where people study.' 1/3
Westminster forgets that buses go to universities
The Bus Services Act 2025 received Royal Assent in October, giving English local transport authorities new powers to franchise bus services and escape the failed deregulated market.
wonkhe.com

'There are long-running concerns over the increasing volume of articles published in academic journals and threats to research integrity.

'Increasing publication volume also puts pressure on institutional budgets...The pilots are aimed at...breaking the link between pricing models and volume.' 3/3

'The pilots would see some publishers convert several journal titles to a fully open access model, as long as “thresholds on the reading and publishing side are met”, [Anna] Vernon [of Jisc] said.' 2/2

'Jisc told RPN it is working with publishers to pilot mechanisms within the new deals which could speed up the transition and remove APCs for specific journals. Anna Vernon, the organisation’s head of research licensing, said these pilots represent a “fundamental shift in business model”.' 1/3

Reposted by Margot C. Finn

"Quand le Reuters Institute leur a demandé quelles étaient les potentielles conséquences éthiques de l'utilisation de l'IA, ce qui arrive en premier est l'impact négatif sur la confiance du public dans le journalisme"

next.ink/212666/lia-g...
L’IA (générative) n’a pas supprimé les tâches subalternes dans les rédactions - Next
next.ink

'Four university-led efficiency projects have been backed by the Scottish Funding Council under a new funding stream designed to address the sector’s financial sustainability.

The news comes a week after Jacqui Smith...ruled out a similar national fund' for England.

Reposted by Margot C. Finn

Exclusive: Publishers to trial removing fees from some journals in UK deals.

Agreements under negotiation will include open access pilots hailed as “fundamental shift in business model”.

www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-o...
Publishers to trial removing fees from some journals in UK deals - Research Professional News
Agreements under negotiation will include open access pilots hailed as “fundamental shift in business model”
www.researchprofessionalnews.com

'the thing that’s been really nagging at me since October is the cheek of proposing to fundamentally restructure quality assessment without looking at whether the National Student Survey (NSS) – which sits at its heart – is fit for the purpose OfS wants it to serve.'
You can’t fix OfS’ quality proposals without fixing the NSS
There's a lot wrong with OfS' proposals on quality regulation – like the punishment of students in providers that get Bronze, the abandonment of educational gain despite students repeatedly requesting...
wonkhe.com

'Clues preserved in tree rings suggest the eruption triggered a climate shock and led to a string of events that brought the disease to medieval Europe.

Under this scenario, the ash and gases from a volcanic eruption caused extreme drops in temperature and led to poor harvests.'
Volcanic eruption may have triggered Europe's Black Death plague
A volcanic eruption may have set off a chain reaction that led to Europe's deadliest pandemic.
www.bbc.co.uk
You may have heard that Trump’s extortion of University of California was defeated in court. But do you know who won this historic case? Spoiler: not a single UC administrator participated. It was all faculty members of the UC Faculty Associations and @aaup.org! Cc: @veenadubal.bsky.social
Behind the Scenes: How UC Faculty Beat Back Trump's Attacks
YouTube video by UC Faculty
youtu.be

'Jacqueline McKenzie, the head of immigration and asylum and human rights team partner at Leigh Day who represented the students, said: “Both parties confirm that they have reached agreed settlement terms in relation to the dispute which is subject to a confidential settlement agreement.”'
Chichester settles with students over axed African history course
Institution agrees to pay undisclosed sum after cutting unique master’s programme amid review of provision
www.timeshighereducation.com

'Between April and September, 6,321 nurses and midwives from abroad joined the register of those licensed to practice in the UK, compared with 12,534 who did so in the same period in 2024.

At the same time, more international staff are leaving Britain'.

And HEIs are closing nursing programmes.
Rising racism blamed for collapse in number of foreign nurses coming to UK
Number of overseas nurses and midwives registered between April and September was half that of a year ago
www.theguardian.com
1. Some good news at last. This week’s column is about the amazing thing a couple of us stumbled into three years ago, which we’ve now developed into a global research programme. It doesn’t change everything, of course, but it could help change quite a lot. + 🧵 www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
Over a pint in Oxford, we may have stumbled upon the holy grail of agriculture | George Monbiot
I knew that a revolution in our understanding of soil could change the world. Then came a eureka moment – and the birth of the Earth Rover Program, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot
www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Margot C. Finn

Microsoft will increase prices for commercial Office subscriptions on July 1, 2026, including a 33% jump for front-line worker plans like Microsoft 365 F1 (Jordan Novet/CNBC)

Main Link | Techmeme Permalink
Brown University accepted nearly equal numbers of male and female students, but got almost twice as many female applicants. That math meant it was easier for men to get in.

Trump's DEI ban may end gender balancing efforts that often benefit men.
Trump’s attack on DEI may hurt college men, particularly White men
The Trump administration’s ban on diversity, equity and inclusion also targets gender. The ban may impact gender balancing practices that often benefit college men.
www.washingtonpost.com

Reposted by Margot C. Finn

Early career scholar @jamesepeate.bsky.social has examined the role of the press and key political personalities, like Sheridan, Cobbett, and Burdett, in the 1806 election.

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
‘Rough Work on the Hustings’: Sheridan, Cobbett, and Newspapers in the General Election of 1806
In the late early 18th and early 19th centuries the Westminster constituency became notorious for its contested elections amongst its free and radical electorate, as well as for its longstanding MPs ...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Reposted by Margot C. Finn

Four university efficiency projects backed by new Scottish fund.

Scottish Funding Council’s announcement follows Westminster government’s rejection of similar national fund.

www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...
Four university efficiency projects backed by new Scottish fund - Research Professional News
Scottish Funding Council’s announcement follows Westminster government’s rejection of similar national fund
www.researchprofessionalnews.com

Reposted by Margot C. Finn

Thinking of the student Mary Young who 106 years ago today 'said "shan't" under [her] breath when told to repeat poor work'.

'Other submissions raised concerns about the over-financialisation of governance, with educational, research and community considerations reported to be taking second place to cost savings.'
Reforms to university governance seen as ‘overdue and essential’.

www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...

'Iran Academia rejected the report as fabricated and as part of an intimidation effort targeting both its staff and learners.'. 2/2
Iran Academia Statement On Unfounded Report Aired By Iran’s State-run Media - Press Release - News
With the aim of enlightening its audience and the academic community, the Institute of Social Sciences and Humanities (ISSH), also known as Iran Academia, considers a recent report aired by the Irania...
iranacademia.com

'Recently Iran’s state broadcaster, IRIB, announced that the Revolutionary Guard had “identified 400 core members” of Iran Academia, a Netherlands-based online university teaching the humanities and social sciences in Persian. The platform was accused of “soft subversion”.' 1/2
Iran’s war on independent learning has gone digital – and international
The targeting of a Netherlands-based online Persian university represents a state grappling with limits on its control of knowledge circulation, says Roohola Ramezani
www.timeshighereducation.com

Reposted by Margot C. Finn

Reforms to university governance seen as ‘overdue and essential’.

www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...
We're excited to announce the finalists of the #RSPPhotoComp 2025! 🎉 Starting with #microimaging and overall winner, 'Mesmerizing spider threads' by Dr Martin Ramirez, capturing two exceptional silk threads of the Australian net-caster spider (sample obtained by Dr Jonas Wolff @evoimec.bsky.social).

Reposted by Margot C. Finn

We’ve grouped our primary source collections under historical themes! “Slavery and Abolition” contains 19 collections, totalling over 695,000 images. They document Britain’s involvement in transatlantic slavery and opposition to it.

Explore this theme at britishonlinearchives.com/themes/11/sl...

Reposted by Margot C. Finn

Now on the Long Run: 'Global shipping and the invisible limits of decolonisation in Eastern Africa'.
George Roberts (Sheffield) presents their research, which has recently been awarded a Carnevali Small Research grant by the Economic History Society.
ehs.org.uk/global-shipp...
Global shipping and the invisible limits of decolonisation in Eastern Africa - Economic History Society
This blog presents research by George Roberts of the University of Sheffield which has recently been awarded a Carnevali Small Research grant by the Economic History Society. — Considered an ‘invisibl...
ehs.org.uk

Misha Glenny takes over In Our Time on 15 January, with an interim conversation with Melvyn Bragg scheduled for 24 December's Today programme.
Misha Glenny to present BBC Radio 4’s In Our Time
The much loved series returns on 15 January 2026
www.bbc.com

Reposted by Mel Bartley

'The awards – three Leverhulme Trust Early Career Fellowships and one British Academy Postdoctoral Fellowship – are designed to support researchers at the beginning of their academic careers, enabling each scholar to undertake significant original research'.
Northumbria researchers secure four prestigious early career fellowships
Four Northumbria University researchers have been awarded highly competitive fellowships to pursue groundbreaking research projects spanning the humanities,...
www.mynewsdesk.com

On the Southend campus closure: '"We've got midwifery courses, dental courses, that are oversubscribed," he added.

"We've got people who've got young families that can't relocate to Colchester, and we've got drama students who can't 'remote learn' drama, it's got to be in person."'