Dr Julia Ribeiro Thomaz
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juliarsct.bsky.social
Dr Julia Ribeiro Thomaz
@juliarsct.bsky.social
740 followers 580 following 95 posts
Researcher in Anthropology, French Studies, History & Digital Humanities, working on the poetry of the Great War 📚 Rugby player/coach 🏉 Cat person 😻
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Reposted by Dr Julia Ribeiro Thomaz
afrayn.bsky.social
Andrew Frayn @afrayn.bsky.social · 4d
Quick reminder that this is 3 weeks today! Please sign up if you haven't already - in-person and online.
fwwsoc.bsky.social International Society for First World War Studies @fwwsoc.bsky.social · Sep 5
We are delighted to share the details for this year's Dennis Showalter Memorial Lecture 'Poetry under fire: what poems did during the First World War' to be delivered by @juliarsct.bsky.social on 11th Nov 2025

You can book to attend in person or online:

www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/remembranc... 🗃️
Poetry under fire: what poems did during the First World War 5.30pm, Tuesday 11 November 2025 Craiglockhart Campus, Edinburgh Napier University What did the First World War do to poetry? What did poetry do during the First World War? In this lecture, Dr Julia Ribeiro Thomaz will explore a brand new corpus of war poets to interrogate not what is a good or bad war poem nor what war poems say about the war, but rather the social and cultural functions accomplished by poetry in 1914-1918: inventing itself, creating social links, anchoring the war in relation to a poetic past and multiple imagined futures, mediating the experience of war, and producing knowledge about the conflict. She will explore how the expansion of our definition of war poetry allows us to ask new questions about the First World War, as well as future possibilities to continue broadening our understanding of what war poetry was and, above all, what it did and continues doing for those writing and reading it. Dr Julia Ribeiro Thomaz is a postdoctoral researcher at Université de Lille. She completed her doctorate, on French poetry of the First World War, at Université Paris Nanterre. Julia has already published widely in academic journals, and is a Fellow of the International Society for First World War Studies. This lecture continues the annual series of Remembrance lectures at Edinburgh Napier University, marking the historical significance of Craiglockhart as a War Hospital during the First World War, famously the meeting place of Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon. We also remember our late colleague Catherine Walker, who was for many years curator of the War Poets Collection. Funding comes from the Centre for Arts, Media and Culture and the Centre for Military Research, Education & Public Engagement. This year the event is also the Dennis Showalter Memorial Lecture, selected by the International Society for First World War Studies. Named after Dennis Showalter, the leading historian of Germany during the war and a longtime friend and supporter of the Society it is delivered each year by a leading early career researcher in First World War Studies. The event is held in the Rivers Suite at Edinburgh Napier University’s Craiglockhart Campus (Google map | travel info). There will be a wine reception from 5.30pm; the lecture will start around 6pm. The event will also be streamed online via Zoom. If you have any queries about the event, please contact Dr Andrew Frayn (a.frayn@napier.ac.uk). This event is both in person and online. If you wish to attend online, please buy an 'online Ticket'. Zoom information will be found in the email confirmations.
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juliarsct.bsky.social
Dr Julia Ribeiro Thomaz @juliarsct.bsky.social · 4d
Briefly emerging from my maternity leave bubble to invite you to my lecture in 11th November about what (French) poetry did during the First World War. You can register to attend in-person or online via the link below
fwwsoc.bsky.social International Society for First World War Studies @fwwsoc.bsky.social · Sep 5
We are delighted to share the details for this year's Dennis Showalter Memorial Lecture 'Poetry under fire: what poems did during the First World War' to be delivered by @juliarsct.bsky.social on 11th Nov 2025

You can book to attend in person or online:

www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/remembranc... 🗃️
Poetry under fire: what poems did during the First World War 5.30pm, Tuesday 11 November 2025 Craiglockhart Campus, Edinburgh Napier University What did the First World War do to poetry? What did poetry do during the First World War? In this lecture, Dr Julia Ribeiro Thomaz will explore a brand new corpus of war poets to interrogate not what is a good or bad war poem nor what war poems say about the war, but rather the social and cultural functions accomplished by poetry in 1914-1918: inventing itself, creating social links, anchoring the war in relation to a poetic past and multiple imagined futures, mediating the experience of war, and producing knowledge about the conflict. She will explore how the expansion of our definition of war poetry allows us to ask new questions about the First World War, as well as future possibilities to continue broadening our understanding of what war poetry was and, above all, what it did and continues doing for those writing and reading it. Dr Julia Ribeiro Thomaz is a postdoctoral researcher at Université de Lille. She completed her doctorate, on French poetry of the First World War, at Université Paris Nanterre. Julia has already published widely in academic journals, and is a Fellow of the International Society for First World War Studies. This lecture continues the annual series of Remembrance lectures at Edinburgh Napier University, marking the historical significance of Craiglockhart as a War Hospital during the First World War, famously the meeting place of Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon. We also remember our late colleague Catherine Walker, who was for many years curator of the War Poets Collection. Funding comes from the Centre for Arts, Media and Culture and the Centre for Military Research, Education & Public Engagement. This year the event is also the Dennis Showalter Memorial Lecture, selected by the International Society for First World War Studies. Named after Dennis Showalter, the leading historian of Germany during the war and a longtime friend and supporter of the Society it is delivered each year by a leading early career researcher in First World War Studies. The event is held in the Rivers Suite at Edinburgh Napier University’s Craiglockhart Campus (Google map | travel info). There will be a wine reception from 5.30pm; the lecture will start around 6pm. The event will also be streamed online via Zoom. If you have any queries about the event, please contact Dr Andrew Frayn (a.frayn@napier.ac.uk). This event is both in person and online. If you wish to attend online, please buy an 'online Ticket'. Zoom information will be found in the email confirmations.
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juliarsct.bsky.social
Dr Julia Ribeiro Thomaz @juliarsct.bsky.social · Jul 6
Almost exactly 20 years later, that friend is my partner, we are embarking on the hugest project ever together, and I get to do cool stuff like that for a living. Black Sabbath has definitely shaped my life, and it was a privilege to see them one last time!
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juliarsct.bsky.social
Dr Julia Ribeiro Thomaz @juliarsct.bsky.social · Jul 6
It was obviously Baudelaire. I can't remember which poem I presented, but the song was Sabbath Bloody Sabbath. It was also the first project my then best friend and I did together.
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juliarsct.bsky.social
Dr Julia Ribeiro Thomaz @juliarsct.bsky.social · Jul 6
I would therefore have to present the main characteristics of symbolism to the whole class. I looked it up - it screamed Black Sabbath. I figured it would be a great opportunity to force some good music upon my classmates, who hated metal. I just had to find a symbolist poet to compare with Sabbath
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juliarsct.bsky.social
Dr Julia Ribeiro Thomaz @juliarsct.bsky.social · Jul 6
Not a story I tell very often, but my first contact with French poetry, which I now study for a living, happened through Black Sabbath. I had just turned 15, it was the year before the last at school. I skipped a few days and when I came back the literature teacher said I had missed an assignment...
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juliarsct.bsky.social
Dr Julia Ribeiro Thomaz @juliarsct.bsky.social · Jul 5
And if gender and representations of women warriors is more your thing, check this one out: youtu.be/dtMcAjCMQzg?...
Julia Thomaz - “Unlikely heroes” in bomber planes: representations of female warrior in Heavy Metal
YouTube video by history hub
youtu.be
juliarsct.bsky.social
Dr Julia Ribeiro Thomaz @juliarsct.bsky.social · Jul 5
Having a blast at Back to the Beginning, Black Sabbath's final gig! And since today is all about celebrating the birth of Heavy Metal, you can catch me talking about the genre and the First World War here ohwhatalovelypodcast.co.uk/podcast/heav...
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juliarsct.bsky.social
Dr Julia Ribeiro Thomaz @juliarsct.bsky.social · Jul 2
Thanks! I haven't really "announced" it, but felt like SFS needed a shout out :) baby should be here next month, so not long to go now!
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juliarsct.bsky.social
Dr Julia Ribeiro Thomaz @juliarsct.bsky.social · Jul 1
Pregnancy mostly impacts early and mid-career female scholars, precisely the demographics for whom conferences like SFS can be career-defining, and I am glad their inclusive ethos allowed me to present a project I'm passionate about while also prioritising my family!
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juliarsct.bsky.social
Dr Julia Ribeiro Thomaz @juliarsct.bsky.social · Jul 1
We've reached a point where baby can come at any time so I thought about withdrawing but wonderful Conference Officer Kate Foster allowed my partner to come with me for support and 'just in case', found a room for him to have meetings and was just generally awesome!
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juliarsct.bsky.social
Dr Julia Ribeiro Thomaz @juliarsct.bsky.social · Jul 1
@frenchstudies.bsky.social conference looked a bit different for me this year, but left with so many ideas of where to go with my project on the tirailleurs sénégalais! Also, I have to say SFS were a 10/10 for being inclusive and accommodating my heavy pregnancy!
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juliarsct.bsky.social
Dr Julia Ribeiro Thomaz @juliarsct.bsky.social · Jun 27
couldn't have done it without you!
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juliarsct.bsky.social
Dr Julia Ribeiro Thomaz @juliarsct.bsky.social · Jun 27
Book proofs and indexing finally done and this baby is now back with the editor for printing! Hoping for a publicatin in early 2026 🤞
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juliarsct.bsky.social
Dr Julia Ribeiro Thomaz @juliarsct.bsky.social · Jun 24
Very excited for the @frenchstudies.bsky.social conference next week, where I'll be presenting my new project about poetry by tirailleurs sénégalais! Here is a teaser in case you're there and want to come to the Coloniality and Commemoration panel (4.6) on Tuesday!
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juliarsct.bsky.social
Dr Julia Ribeiro Thomaz @juliarsct.bsky.social · Jun 19
Out of everything that is wrong with the academic publishing industry, surely the fact that T&F's paper can't even handle highlighters is one to be complained about...
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juliarsct.bsky.social
Dr Julia Ribeiro Thomaz @juliarsct.bsky.social · Jun 17
Been dying to write about Nakamura's gig at the Paris Opening Ceremony and about rap galsen about the tirailleurs, and now it's finally happening! Not that my brain is in any capacity to do it, but having fun anyway!
juliarsct.bsky.social
Dr Julia Ribeiro Thomaz @juliarsct.bsky.social · May 23
In spite of myself, I seem to be engaging quite a lot with the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning - currently writing my third piece in this area 😱 two of them were edited by Ann-Marie Einhaus and Catriona Pennel, and I can't thank them enough for their support!
juliarsct.bsky.social
Dr Julia Ribeiro Thomaz @juliarsct.bsky.social · Mar 1
Finally went to see I'm Still Here. It is a beautiful portrayal of how the military dictatorship in Brasil invaded households and impacted families. This is a film to bring ppl together: if you are pro-family/conservative, you are on our side: to protect families is to fight against dictatorships!
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juliarsct.bsky.social
Dr Julia Ribeiro Thomaz @juliarsct.bsky.social · Mar 1
It is indeed, I love the pattern on it, must have been hard work!!!
And always happy to supply friends with their very own WMDs 😉
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Reposted by Dr Julia Ribeiro Thomaz
chriskempshall.bsky.social
Chris Kempshall @chriskempshall.bsky.social · Feb 27
This was just such a wonderful event in the end. Hopefully the audience got as much out of it as myself, @juliarsct.bsky.social & @amfoster.bsky.social did!
chriskempshall.bsky.social Chris Kempshall @chriskempshall.bsky.social · Oct 25
Following the publication of ‘Star Wars: The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire’ Dr Ann-Marie Foster, @juliarsct.bsky.social, and myself will be discussing its approach to ‘Writing Fictional History’ at the @ihr.bsky.social on 26 February 2025.

www.history.ac.uk/events/writi...
The front cover of the book ‘Star Wars: The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire’ In his recent DK and Lucasfilm licensed book Star Wars: The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire, Dr Chris Kempshall wrote a historical investigation and analysis of the Galactic Empire based around fictitious events, designed for an 'in-universe' audience. Join Dr Ann-Marie Foster and Dr Julia Ribeiro Thomaz to quiz Chris about how he approached writing a fictional history as an academic historian. We will probe what skills, ideas, and approaches he used to transfer his real-world background to a fictional universe, and ask how through his sci-fi writing he has helped develop public understandings of what historians do. • Dr Ann-Marie Foster is a historian of modern Britain with interests in public history, war studies, and cultural heritage. Ann-Marie is currently a Chancellor's Fellow at Robert Gordon University and Pl on the project AHRC ECR Fellow in Cultural and Heritage Institutions project 'Accessible Pasts, Equitable Futures', based at Imperial War Museums. • Dr Julia Ribeiro Thomaz is a Historian of France and Literary Scholar whose work incorporates Anthropology and the Digital Humanities to interrogate poetry as a shared cultural practice that is part of the experience of war. She is a Visiting Fellow in Digital Humanities at the School of Advanced Study and a member of the Digital Humanities project Poésie Grande Guerre. • Dr Chris Kempshall is a public historian and author who specialises both in transnational experiences of warfare and modern media representations of history; predominantly computer games and the Star Wars franchise. Alongside The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire he also co-authored the licensed book Star Wars: Battles that Changed the Galaxy in 2021. He is currently the President for the International Society for First World War Studies and a Senior Research Fellow for the Centre for Army Leadership, Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.
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juliarsct.bsky.social
Dr Julia Ribeiro Thomaz @juliarsct.bsky.social · Feb 27
Heading home from this and it was amazing!
It is a privilege to be able to discuss Chris's work but we also covered some serious historiographic questions.

Meeting up with friends to talk about Star Wars, History and writing and still being able to call it work? Definitely a win!
chriskempshall.bsky.social Chris Kempshall @chriskempshall.bsky.social · Oct 25
Following the publication of ‘Star Wars: The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire’ Dr Ann-Marie Foster, @juliarsct.bsky.social, and myself will be discussing its approach to ‘Writing Fictional History’ at the @ihr.bsky.social on 26 February 2025.

www.history.ac.uk/events/writi...
The front cover of the book ‘Star Wars: The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire’ In his recent DK and Lucasfilm licensed book Star Wars: The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire, Dr Chris Kempshall wrote a historical investigation and analysis of the Galactic Empire based around fictitious events, designed for an 'in-universe' audience. Join Dr Ann-Marie Foster and Dr Julia Ribeiro Thomaz to quiz Chris about how he approached writing a fictional history as an academic historian. We will probe what skills, ideas, and approaches he used to transfer his real-world background to a fictional universe, and ask how through his sci-fi writing he has helped develop public understandings of what historians do. • Dr Ann-Marie Foster is a historian of modern Britain with interests in public history, war studies, and cultural heritage. Ann-Marie is currently a Chancellor's Fellow at Robert Gordon University and Pl on the project AHRC ECR Fellow in Cultural and Heritage Institutions project 'Accessible Pasts, Equitable Futures', based at Imperial War Museums. • Dr Julia Ribeiro Thomaz is a Historian of France and Literary Scholar whose work incorporates Anthropology and the Digital Humanities to interrogate poetry as a shared cultural practice that is part of the experience of war. She is a Visiting Fellow in Digital Humanities at the School of Advanced Study and a member of the Digital Humanities project Poésie Grande Guerre. • Dr Chris Kempshall is a public historian and author who specialises both in transnational experiences of warfare and modern media representations of history; predominantly computer games and the Star Wars franchise. Alongside The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire he also co-authored the licensed book Star Wars: Battles that Changed the Galaxy in 2021. He is currently the President for the International Society for First World War Studies and a Senior Research Fellow for the Centre for Army Leadership, Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.
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juliarsct.bsky.social
Dr Julia Ribeiro Thomaz @juliarsct.bsky.social · Feb 19
So far no plans for recording or livestreaming unfortunately :( but will keep you updated in case that changes!
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juliarsct.bsky.social
Dr Julia Ribeiro Thomaz @juliarsct.bsky.social · Feb 19
Very much looking forward to this next week! We'll be talking writing practices, archives, and positionality - with a reflexive freedom that only a galaxy far far away allows! Public historians and those interested in historiography, this one is for you! SW fans welcome, of course!
chriskempshall.bsky.social Chris Kempshall @chriskempshall.bsky.social · Oct 25
Following the publication of ‘Star Wars: The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire’ Dr Ann-Marie Foster, @juliarsct.bsky.social, and myself will be discussing its approach to ‘Writing Fictional History’ at the @ihr.bsky.social on 26 February 2025.

www.history.ac.uk/events/writi...
The front cover of the book ‘Star Wars: The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire’ In his recent DK and Lucasfilm licensed book Star Wars: The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire, Dr Chris Kempshall wrote a historical investigation and analysis of the Galactic Empire based around fictitious events, designed for an 'in-universe' audience. Join Dr Ann-Marie Foster and Dr Julia Ribeiro Thomaz to quiz Chris about how he approached writing a fictional history as an academic historian. We will probe what skills, ideas, and approaches he used to transfer his real-world background to a fictional universe, and ask how through his sci-fi writing he has helped develop public understandings of what historians do. • Dr Ann-Marie Foster is a historian of modern Britain with interests in public history, war studies, and cultural heritage. Ann-Marie is currently a Chancellor's Fellow at Robert Gordon University and Pl on the project AHRC ECR Fellow in Cultural and Heritage Institutions project 'Accessible Pasts, Equitable Futures', based at Imperial War Museums. • Dr Julia Ribeiro Thomaz is a Historian of France and Literary Scholar whose work incorporates Anthropology and the Digital Humanities to interrogate poetry as a shared cultural practice that is part of the experience of war. She is a Visiting Fellow in Digital Humanities at the School of Advanced Study and a member of the Digital Humanities project Poésie Grande Guerre. • Dr Chris Kempshall is a public historian and author who specialises both in transnational experiences of warfare and modern media representations of history; predominantly computer games and the Star Wars franchise. Alongside The Rise and Fall of the Galactic Empire he also co-authored the licensed book Star Wars: Battles that Changed the Galaxy in 2021. He is currently the President for the International Society for First World War Studies and a Senior Research Fellow for the Centre for Army Leadership, Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.
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juliarsct.bsky.social
Dr Julia Ribeiro Thomaz @juliarsct.bsky.social · Feb 3
My role combines my expertise in Digital Humanities and in the early 20th century: I'll be doing computational analysis of W.E.B. DuBois's articles in The Crisis, especially 1910-1934. As you can see from the picture, project management geek me is loving the first day in the new job!
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