Joanne Begiato
@jbhist.bsky.social
Prof of History & Material Culture Studies. Associate Dean for Research @lcflondon.bsky.social. The Victorian Hand Project funded by AHRC. Happily married to @medhistoryman.bsky.social
Reposted by Joanne Begiato
What do UK graduates do? Lots of information in this annual report.
A reminder that Humanities graduates are quite employable. Compare unemployment rates for Biology (8.4%), Chemistry (5.9%) and Physics (8.0%) with English literature (6.4%), History (7.6%) and Languages (7.6%) for example.
A reminder that Humanities graduates are quite employable. Compare unemployment rates for Biology (8.4%), Chemistry (5.9%) and Physics (8.0%) with English literature (6.4%), History (7.6%) and Languages (7.6%) for example.
graduatemarkettrends.cdn.prismic.io
November 28, 2025 at 2:18 PM
What do UK graduates do? Lots of information in this annual report.
A reminder that Humanities graduates are quite employable. Compare unemployment rates for Biology (8.4%), Chemistry (5.9%) and Physics (8.0%) with English literature (6.4%), History (7.6%) and Languages (7.6%) for example.
A reminder that Humanities graduates are quite employable. Compare unemployment rates for Biology (8.4%), Chemistry (5.9%) and Physics (8.0%) with English literature (6.4%), History (7.6%) and Languages (7.6%) for example.
Reposted by Joanne Begiato
I wrote a bit about touch and travel writing over on @victorianhand.bsky.social - read more at the link below!
🌎 What happens when a travel writer navigates the world through touch?
This month’s blog explores the journeys of James Holman, the self-described ‘Blind Traveller’, and how his haptic encounters challenged the visual conventions of travel writing.
www.thevictorianhand.uk/gallery/the-...
This month’s blog explores the journeys of James Holman, the self-described ‘Blind Traveller’, and how his haptic encounters challenged the visual conventions of travel writing.
www.thevictorianhand.uk/gallery/the-...
November 28, 2025 at 2:18 PM
I wrote a bit about touch and travel writing over on @victorianhand.bsky.social - read more at the link below!
Read @rosscmrn.bsky.social's fabulous blog post! And please repost 😊
🌎 What happens when a travel writer navigates the world through touch?
This month’s blog explores the journeys of James Holman, the self-described ‘Blind Traveller’, and how his haptic encounters challenged the visual conventions of travel writing.
www.thevictorianhand.uk/gallery/the-...
This month’s blog explores the journeys of James Holman, the self-described ‘Blind Traveller’, and how his haptic encounters challenged the visual conventions of travel writing.
www.thevictorianhand.uk/gallery/the-...
November 28, 2025 at 8:40 PM
Read @rosscmrn.bsky.social's fabulous blog post! And please repost 😊
⬇️⬇️
@jbhist.bsky.social & I are pleased to see that our article on the sensory, emotional, & material history of the Royal Military Exhibition of 1890 is now formally out in November's issue of Historical Research. It's completely Open Access, so please check it out ...
academic.oup.com/histres/arti...
academic.oup.com/histres/arti...
Exhibiting Tommy Atkins: senses, spectacle and military modernity in late Victorian Britain
Abstract. This article considers the conjunction of senses, emotions and objects in the Royal Military Exhibition of 1890 to deepen our understanding of po
academic.oup.com
November 28, 2025 at 5:48 PM
⬇️⬇️
Reposted by Joanne Begiato
This is spot on and so important: we have to change the language we use to talk about what universities are and their purpose.
Partly an effect of the business speak (and approach) applied to universities. “Providers” “exit markets” all the time. It’s how The market works! Collective institutions of public good…now those are different things.
7 x 3000+ students + 17 smaller institutions must mean 30,000+ affected students. That’s about the same size as Sheffield uni, which employs 8000ish staff. Why is the government tolerating the impending collapse of up to 24 related employers and 8000+ more lost jobs? Where is the sense of crisis?
November 26, 2025 at 9:32 AM
This is spot on and so important: we have to change the language we use to talk about what universities are and their purpose.
Reposted by Joanne Begiato
7 x 3000+ students + 17 smaller institutions must mean 30,000+ affected students. That’s about the same size as Sheffield uni, which employs 8000ish staff. Why is the government tolerating the impending collapse of up to 24 related employers and 8000+ more lost jobs? Where is the sense of crisis?
Chief exec of OfS 'said the OfS believes there are 24 institutions at risk of exiting the market in the next 12 months, seven of which are large providers with more than 3,000 students. There are another 25 or so institutions of various sizes at risk over a two- to three-year period, she added.'
Seven ‘large providers’ at risk of going under in the next year
Skills minister says no higher education institutions are at imminent risk of collapse this year but OfS confirms more than 20 providers are being closely monitored
www.timeshighereducation.com
November 26, 2025 at 8:57 AM
7 x 3000+ students + 17 smaller institutions must mean 30,000+ affected students. That’s about the same size as Sheffield uni, which employs 8000ish staff. Why is the government tolerating the impending collapse of up to 24 related employers and 8000+ more lost jobs? Where is the sense of crisis?
You can still register for this amazing conference in an amazing venue. Please check it out and share widely!
General registration is now open for our upcoming conference The Hand: Emotions, Embodiment and Identity at London College of Fashion, 8-9 January!
Visit our website to register: www.thevictorianhand.uk/conference
Visit our website to register: www.thevictorianhand.uk/conference
November 24, 2025 at 4:41 PM
You can still register for this amazing conference in an amazing venue. Please check it out and share widely!
Reposted by Joanne Begiato
'It is notable that in the last Research Excellence Framework exercise the Department of American Studies at Nottingham was ranked third in the Area Studies unit of assessment and was one of the top-performing units across the whole of the University of Nottingham.' 1/2
RED ALERT: the University of Nottingham is threatening to close its Department of American Studies, putting all staff at risk of redundancy, and ending any American specialist knowledge in the Faculty of Arts.
Sign the petition here to save jobs:
www.change.org/p/save-ameri...
Sign the petition here to save jobs:
www.change.org/p/save-ameri...
Sign the Petition
SAVE AMERICAN STUDIES TEACHING AT THE UNIVERSITY OF NOTTINGHAM
www.change.org
November 23, 2025 at 1:38 PM
'It is notable that in the last Research Excellence Framework exercise the Department of American Studies at Nottingham was ranked third in the Area Studies unit of assessment and was one of the top-performing units across the whole of the University of Nottingham.' 1/2
Reposted by Joanne Begiato
Our #Handoftheweek
In 1895 Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen discovered mysterious ‘X-rays’. His image of his wife’s hand - bones and wedding ring visible - captivated Europe.
X-rays transformed medicine, revealing the body’s interior without surgery. Early radiologists paid a price, as missing hands became a mark of the work.
X-rays transformed medicine, revealing the body’s interior without surgery. Early radiologists paid a price, as missing hands became a mark of the work.
![A faint image of the bones inside a hand with a wedding ring. The picture is framed with green card with the title 'Hand mit Ringen [Hand with Ring]' and stamped by Wurzburg University.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:esngkbyspvv7ct3wyrog3ipx/bafkreifllb323g3xpedi7w4yzycio36ogbwwv6ohajjce4dn2l3svdxfii@jpeg)
November 21, 2025 at 5:14 PM
Our #Handoftheweek
Our #Handoftheweek
In 1895 Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen discovered mysterious ‘X-rays’. His image of his wife’s hand - bones and wedding ring visible - captivated Europe.
X-rays transformed medicine, revealing the body’s interior without surgery. Early radiologists paid a price, as missing hands became a mark of the work.
X-rays transformed medicine, revealing the body’s interior without surgery. Early radiologists paid a price, as missing hands became a mark of the work.
November 21, 2025 at 5:14 PM
Our #Handoftheweek
Reposted by Joanne Begiato
In 1895 Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen discovered mysterious ‘X-rays’. His image of his wife’s hand - bones and wedding ring visible - captivated Europe.
X-rays transformed medicine, revealing the body’s interior without surgery. Early radiologists paid a price, as missing hands became a mark of the work.
X-rays transformed medicine, revealing the body’s interior without surgery. Early radiologists paid a price, as missing hands became a mark of the work.
November 21, 2025 at 2:48 PM
In 1895 Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen discovered mysterious ‘X-rays’. His image of his wife’s hand - bones and wedding ring visible - captivated Europe.
X-rays transformed medicine, revealing the body’s interior without surgery. Early radiologists paid a price, as missing hands became a mark of the work.
X-rays transformed medicine, revealing the body’s interior without surgery. Early radiologists paid a price, as missing hands became a mark of the work.
Reposted by Joanne Begiato
Just a reminder that if you're attending our seminar in person rather than online this evening, we're in the Institute of Education rather than at the IHR (which is closed for Founders' Day). All welcome! #Skystorians
‘Such a silly fellow I fear his making some mistake’: The convergence of medical and maternal approaches to domestic childcare in Georgian England
www.history.ac.uk
November 19, 2025 at 8:12 AM
Just a reminder that if you're attending our seminar in person rather than online this evening, we're in the Institute of Education rather than at the IHR (which is closed for Founders' Day). All welcome! #Skystorians
Reposted by Joanne Begiato
I’ve written a piece on the curious lack of media and political interest in the issues faced by our national @britishlibrary.bsky.social. This is strange given we live in a world where ideas, knowledge and research are a long-term source of innovation and insight
www.cityam.com/the-british-...
www.cityam.com/the-british-...
The British library is in crisis: why does nobody care?
The widespread indifference to the British Library's crippling cyberattack demonstrates a perilous failure to value the knowledge infrastructure vital for national prosperity
www.cityam.com
November 18, 2025 at 6:27 AM
I’ve written a piece on the curious lack of media and political interest in the issues faced by our national @britishlibrary.bsky.social. This is strange given we live in a world where ideas, knowledge and research are a long-term source of innovation and insight
www.cityam.com/the-british-...
www.cityam.com/the-british-...
Reposted by Joanne Begiato
I was just thinking the other day that it is mad that if this continues then the book I'm writing, about London 1560-1630, will contain basically no British Library manuscript material. Would have been unthinkable to me but there hasn't been a manuscript catalogue for two years now!
I’ve written a piece on the curious lack of media and political interest in the issues faced by our national @britishlibrary.bsky.social. This is strange given we live in a world where ideas, knowledge and research are a long-term source of innovation and insight
www.cityam.com/the-british-...
www.cityam.com/the-british-...
The British library is in crisis: why does nobody care?
The widespread indifference to the British Library's crippling cyberattack demonstrates a perilous failure to value the knowledge infrastructure vital for national prosperity
www.cityam.com
November 18, 2025 at 1:51 PM
I was just thinking the other day that it is mad that if this continues then the book I'm writing, about London 1560-1630, will contain basically no British Library manuscript material. Would have been unthinkable to me but there hasn't been a manuscript catalogue for two years now!
Reposted by Joanne Begiato
Join @hetanshah.bsky.social at De Montfort University’s Vice-Chancellor’s Lecture Series on Thursday, 27 November, as he explores how the humanities and social sciences can support policymaking.
Register for your free ticket below ⬇️
www.dmu.ac.uk/about-dmu/ev...
Register for your free ticket below ⬇️
www.dmu.ac.uk/about-dmu/ev...
🎓 DMU’s Vice-Chancellor’s Lecture Series kicks off with Hetan Shah, Chief Exec of The British Academy!
He’ll explore how the humanities & social sciences can guide smarter policymaking for the future.
🗓️ 27 Nov | 18:00 | Vijay Patel Building
#DMU #LectureSeries
He’ll explore how the humanities & social sciences can guide smarter policymaking for the future.
🗓️ 27 Nov | 18:00 | Vijay Patel Building
#DMU #LectureSeries
November 18, 2025 at 3:59 PM
Join @hetanshah.bsky.social at De Montfort University’s Vice-Chancellor’s Lecture Series on Thursday, 27 November, as he explores how the humanities and social sciences can support policymaking.
Register for your free ticket below ⬇️
www.dmu.ac.uk/about-dmu/ev...
Register for your free ticket below ⬇️
www.dmu.ac.uk/about-dmu/ev...
Reposted by Joanne Begiato
🧵 We are delighted to be partnering with The Quilters’ Guild!
The Guild aims to give quilt-making the status it deserves as a craft and an art and its Quilt Collection preserves our patchwork and quilting heritage.
Stay tuned for more information about our collaboration and how to get involved!
The Guild aims to give quilt-making the status it deserves as a craft and an art and its Quilt Collection preserves our patchwork and quilting heritage.
Stay tuned for more information about our collaboration and how to get involved!
November 14, 2025 at 1:11 PM
🧵 We are delighted to be partnering with The Quilters’ Guild!
The Guild aims to give quilt-making the status it deserves as a craft and an art and its Quilt Collection preserves our patchwork and quilting heritage.
Stay tuned for more information about our collaboration and how to get involved!
The Guild aims to give quilt-making the status it deserves as a craft and an art and its Quilt Collection preserves our patchwork and quilting heritage.
Stay tuned for more information about our collaboration and how to get involved!
A terrible policy.
This is as bad as anything proposed by Reform.
Leaving refugees in permanent limbo and unable to build a new life in the UK would be a complete abdication of our humanitarian responsibilities
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Leaving refugees in permanent limbo and unable to build a new life in the UK would be a complete abdication of our humanitarian responsibilities
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
UK set to limit refugees to temporary stays
Shabana Mahmood is expected to say the era of permanent protection for refugees is over, in major changes to the UK's asylum and immigration system.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 15, 2025 at 1:31 PM
A terrible policy.
Such an exciting collaboration 😍
🧵 We are delighted to be partnering with The Quilters’ Guild!
The Guild aims to give quilt-making the status it deserves as a craft and an art and its Quilt Collection preserves our patchwork and quilting heritage.
Stay tuned for more information about our collaboration and how to get involved!
The Guild aims to give quilt-making the status it deserves as a craft and an art and its Quilt Collection preserves our patchwork and quilting heritage.
Stay tuned for more information about our collaboration and how to get involved!
November 14, 2025 at 2:14 PM
Such an exciting collaboration 😍
Can confirm the talk was wonderful! Can also recommend the book, which would make a fab Christmas present for anyone you know who loves history!
#Lancaster! Join Alison Bashford tonight, Nov 12 at 5pm, @globalaffairslu.bsky.social (with @victorianhand.bsky.social) as she discusses her new book, Decoding the Hand: A History of Science, Medicine, and Magic. #HistSTM #HSTM #HistSci #BookTour #Palmistry buff.ly/jsJZ7Kp
November 13, 2025 at 10:31 AM
Can confirm the talk was wonderful! Can also recommend the book, which would make a fab Christmas present for anyone you know who loves history!
Reposted by Joanne Begiato
Lovely to be at Alison Bashford’s talk @lancasteruni.bsky.social as a part of the @victorianhand.bsky.social project.
November 12, 2025 at 5:17 PM
Lovely to be at Alison Bashford’s talk @lancasteruni.bsky.social as a part of the @victorianhand.bsky.social project.
Reposted by Joanne Begiato
We were thrilled to welcome Professor Alison Bashford to @globalaffairslu.bsky.social yesterday to discuss her new @uchicagopress.bsky.social book, Decoding the Hand.
Thank you to everyone who came along to hear insights into the entangled histories of science, medicine and magic!
Thank you to everyone who came along to hear insights into the entangled histories of science, medicine and magic!
November 13, 2025 at 10:11 AM
We were thrilled to welcome Professor Alison Bashford to @globalaffairslu.bsky.social yesterday to discuss her new @uchicagopress.bsky.social book, Decoding the Hand.
Thank you to everyone who came along to hear insights into the entangled histories of science, medicine and magic!
Thank you to everyone who came along to hear insights into the entangled histories of science, medicine and magic!
Reposted by Joanne Begiato
🚗BEEP BEEP🚗
Reminder that next Tuesday (18 Nov) Dr Rachel Moss @menysnoweballes.bsky.social will be giving the annual Carantes Samain talk online, this time on the extreme right and medievalism! See the link below about how to RSVP. All are welcome! Fáilte roimh chách!
carantes.org/2025/10/15/o...
Reminder that next Tuesday (18 Nov) Dr Rachel Moss @menysnoweballes.bsky.social will be giving the annual Carantes Samain talk online, this time on the extreme right and medievalism! See the link below about how to RSVP. All are welcome! Fáilte roimh chách!
carantes.org/2025/10/15/o...
October 2025 Newsletter
Dear friends, We hope this 25th newsletter finds you well as Fall settles over the northern hemisphere, and Spring greets the southern. We continue to watch with heartbreak and anger as viole…
carantes.org
November 12, 2025 at 4:45 PM
🚗BEEP BEEP🚗
Reminder that next Tuesday (18 Nov) Dr Rachel Moss @menysnoweballes.bsky.social will be giving the annual Carantes Samain talk online, this time on the extreme right and medievalism! See the link below about how to RSVP. All are welcome! Fáilte roimh chách!
carantes.org/2025/10/15/o...
Reminder that next Tuesday (18 Nov) Dr Rachel Moss @menysnoweballes.bsky.social will be giving the annual Carantes Samain talk online, this time on the extreme right and medievalism! See the link below about how to RSVP. All are welcome! Fáilte roimh chách!
carantes.org/2025/10/15/o...
Reposted by Joanne Begiato
I'm doing some walking tours of Seven Dials with @stanfordstravel.bsky.social on Saturday Nov 15.
Come for coffee, cheese, & overpriced street food, stay for overexcited historian, whistle stop tour of the Dials, & sideways look at 1920s and 1930s London.
www.stanfords.co.uk/event-songs-...
Come for coffee, cheese, & overpriced street food, stay for overexcited historian, whistle stop tour of the Dials, & sideways look at 1920s and 1930s London.
www.stanfords.co.uk/event-songs-...
November 12, 2025 at 8:37 PM
I'm doing some walking tours of Seven Dials with @stanfordstravel.bsky.social on Saturday Nov 15.
Come for coffee, cheese, & overpriced street food, stay for overexcited historian, whistle stop tour of the Dials, & sideways look at 1920s and 1930s London.
www.stanfords.co.uk/event-songs-...
Come for coffee, cheese, & overpriced street food, stay for overexcited historian, whistle stop tour of the Dials, & sideways look at 1920s and 1930s London.
www.stanfords.co.uk/event-songs-...
Reposted by Joanne Begiato
What's lost when we lose staff, departments, programmes and faculties in Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, and what's that got to do with organ donation?
Amid the looming losses faced by Cardiff, Edinburgh, Lancaster, Leicester and Nottingham (among many others), here's a worked example. 1/8
Amid the looming losses faced by Cardiff, Edinburgh, Lancaster, Leicester and Nottingham (among many others), here's a worked example. 1/8
The organ donation ‘opt-out’ has been a fatal failure | The Observer
observer.co.uk
November 10, 2025 at 10:10 AM
What's lost when we lose staff, departments, programmes and faculties in Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, and what's that got to do with organ donation?
Amid the looming losses faced by Cardiff, Edinburgh, Lancaster, Leicester and Nottingham (among many others), here's a worked example. 1/8
Amid the looming losses faced by Cardiff, Edinburgh, Lancaster, Leicester and Nottingham (among many others), here's a worked example. 1/8
Reposted by Joanne Begiato
✊ From the late 19th century, socialist movements adopted the raised fist as a symbol of unity and strength.
One of the first depictions was by Hungarian artist Mihály Biró in 1912. His image of a fist emerging from factories toward parliament in Budapest visualised the power of collective action.
One of the first depictions was by Hungarian artist Mihály Biró in 1912. His image of a fist emerging from factories toward parliament in Budapest visualised the power of collective action.
November 7, 2025 at 11:47 AM
✊ From the late 19th century, socialist movements adopted the raised fist as a symbol of unity and strength.
One of the first depictions was by Hungarian artist Mihály Biró in 1912. His image of a fist emerging from factories toward parliament in Budapest visualised the power of collective action.
One of the first depictions was by Hungarian artist Mihály Biró in 1912. His image of a fist emerging from factories toward parliament in Budapest visualised the power of collective action.