Laurence Totelin
@ltotelin.bsky.social
Historian of Ancient Mediterranean science and medicine. Mother of two. Feminist. Plant lover. Trade unionist. Super Belgie. Welsh by adoption. Many typos.
Reposted by Laurence Totelin
Anyone!?!? @ckunzelman.bsky.social mentions an article on GSSB arguing from surveying that students learn more from active learning but consistently survey that they believe they have learned less. That would be a wonderful thing to read for my teaching. Anyone know of work like that?
December 14, 2025 at 5:00 PM
Anyone!?!? @ckunzelman.bsky.social mentions an article on GSSB arguing from surveying that students learn more from active learning but consistently survey that they believe they have learned less. That would be a wonderful thing to read for my teaching. Anyone know of work like that?
Reposted by Laurence Totelin
For #SpoliaSunday, not a piece of #spolia but a frightening terracotta Medusa from 1485-1495. It once decorated a house in the area of the #Calcararia in #Rome, and its blackened patina derives from the smoke from the constant burning of ancient marble in the #lime kilns nearby. #AncientBluesky 🏺
December 14, 2025 at 4:10 PM
For #SpoliaSunday, not a piece of #spolia but a frightening terracotta Medusa from 1485-1495. It once decorated a house in the area of the #Calcararia in #Rome, and its blackened patina derives from the smoke from the constant burning of ancient marble in the #lime kilns nearby. #AncientBluesky 🏺
Reposted by Laurence Totelin
Powerful testimony to the utter failure of politics in the US to provide young people the freedom to learn without violence.
Zoe Weissman, a sophomore at Brown University, joins us to discuss the shooting on Brown's campus in Providence, Rhode Island. She was in middle school in Parkland, Florida during the Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School massacre. She is now an advocate for gun control and gun violence prevention.
December 14, 2025 at 2:35 AM
Powerful testimony to the utter failure of politics in the US to provide young people the freedom to learn without violence.
A really interesting article that does not give into panic. I feel that a historical and global perspective would help too. The narrative of decline in reading makes little sense taken over the longue durée. Literacy rates and ability to read complex texts are in fact increasing.
Kids Rarely Read Whole Books Anymore. Even in English Class.
www.nytimes.com
December 13, 2025 at 1:11 PM
A really interesting article that does not give into panic. I feel that a historical and global perspective would help too. The narrative of decline in reading makes little sense taken over the longue durée. Literacy rates and ability to read complex texts are in fact increasing.
Reposted by Laurence Totelin
Thinking of all the people existing in places where they are surrounded by people who are not only fine with rather a lot of competent cruelty, but rewarded for it. I’m confident many of us will have seen this happen or experienced it. Best of luck making it to safer places. Strength.
… and plenty of us said as much *before* he became Prime Minister. The Labour Party’s promise was more competent cruelty and quite a lot of people were fine with that.
December 12, 2025 at 5:14 PM
Thinking of all the people existing in places where they are surrounded by people who are not only fine with rather a lot of competent cruelty, but rewarded for it. I’m confident many of us will have seen this happen or experienced it. Best of luck making it to safer places. Strength.
Reposted by Laurence Totelin
Lichenomphalia umbellifera, a basidiolichen lichen. NWT, Canada. Mushrooms are about 2cm high.
#mushroom #lichen #fungi #fungifriends #fungifriday
#mushroom #lichen #fungi #fungifriends #fungifriday
December 12, 2025 at 11:55 PM
Lichenomphalia umbellifera, a basidiolichen lichen. NWT, Canada. Mushrooms are about 2cm high.
#mushroom #lichen #fungi #fungifriends #fungifriday
#mushroom #lichen #fungi #fungifriends #fungifriday
Reposted by Laurence Totelin
Situated by the pretty Bay of Locquirec in northern Brittany, the Roman baths of Hogolo were discovered by chance under sand dunes in 1892 and excavated in the 1930s and 40s. They were probably associated with a villa, which has yet to be found. #RomanSiteSaturday
December 13, 2025 at 8:34 AM
Situated by the pretty Bay of Locquirec in northern Brittany, the Roman baths of Hogolo were discovered by chance under sand dunes in 1892 and excavated in the 1930s and 40s. They were probably associated with a villa, which has yet to be found. #RomanSiteSaturday
Reposted by Laurence Totelin
13th December 2002: Belgium's Senate approves same-sex marriage, making it the second country in the world, after the Netherlands, to do so. Belgian activists had been lobbying for same-sex marriage since the 1990s. #OnThisDay #Queerstory
December 13, 2025 at 9:00 AM
13th December 2002: Belgium's Senate approves same-sex marriage, making it the second country in the world, after the Netherlands, to do so. Belgian activists had been lobbying for same-sex marriage since the 1990s. #OnThisDay #Queerstory
Reposted by Laurence Totelin
Who invented non-reflective glass?
American physicist & chemist Katharine Burr Blodgett in 1938.
It revolutionized optics--& led to the coatings used today in everything from eyeglasses to phone screens. She was the first woman to earn a PhD in #physics from Cambridge, 1926. #WomenInSTEM #inventor
American physicist & chemist Katharine Burr Blodgett in 1938.
It revolutionized optics--& led to the coatings used today in everything from eyeglasses to phone screens. She was the first woman to earn a PhD in #physics from Cambridge, 1926. #WomenInSTEM #inventor
December 12, 2025 at 11:46 PM
Who invented non-reflective glass?
American physicist & chemist Katharine Burr Blodgett in 1938.
It revolutionized optics--& led to the coatings used today in everything from eyeglasses to phone screens. She was the first woman to earn a PhD in #physics from Cambridge, 1926. #WomenInSTEM #inventor
American physicist & chemist Katharine Burr Blodgett in 1938.
It revolutionized optics--& led to the coatings used today in everything from eyeglasses to phone screens. She was the first woman to earn a PhD in #physics from Cambridge, 1926. #WomenInSTEM #inventor
Reposted by Laurence Totelin
Liste de mes fils sur l'histoire des Mongols et du monde des steppes centreurasiatiques :
October 26, 2024 at 6:40 PM
Liste de mes fils sur l'histoire des Mongols et du monde des steppes centreurasiatiques :
Note the constant mentions of 'sustainability' in the current discourse about selling uni estate. As if some people hadn't raised the issue of sustainability when universities went on 'shiny building' sprees over the last two decades.
UK universities resorting to selling off whole campuses during financial struggles
A Russell Group uni is pawning its new £80m campus
thetab.com
December 12, 2025 at 9:24 AM
Note the constant mentions of 'sustainability' in the current discourse about selling uni estate. As if some people hadn't raised the issue of sustainability when universities went on 'shiny building' sprees over the last two decades.
Exactly. Then, there is always the 'talk to your line manager'. Except that the line manager in question may also be at risk.
Mental health & the looming shadow of redundancies never gets a mention in any of the discourse about ‘right sizing’. Sign posting scared anxious people to a phone line barely counts. These emails have and will push people to the edge
December 12, 2025 at 9:15 AM
Exactly. Then, there is always the 'talk to your line manager'. Except that the line manager in question may also be at risk.
Reposted by Laurence Totelin
Mental health & the looming shadow of redundancies never gets a mention in any of the discourse about ‘right sizing’. Sign posting scared anxious people to a phone line barely counts. These emails have and will push people to the edge
December 12, 2025 at 9:05 AM
Mental health & the looming shadow of redundancies never gets a mention in any of the discourse about ‘right sizing’. Sign posting scared anxious people to a phone line barely counts. These emails have and will push people to the edge
Reposted by Laurence Totelin
Le Musée d'art moderne de Paris reçoit une donation exceptionnelle de 61 œuvres d'Henri Matisse.
www.franceinfo.fr/culture/arts...
www.franceinfo.fr/culture/arts...
Le Musée d'art moderne de Paris reçoit une donation exceptionnelle de 61 œuvres d'Henri Matisse
L'ensemble comprend notamment sept tableaux, une sculpture et vingt-huit dessins. Les œuvres représentent pour la plupart Marguerite Matisse, fille aînée et modèle favori du célèbre peintre.
www.franceinfo.fr
December 11, 2025 at 5:25 PM
Le Musée d'art moderne de Paris reçoit une donation exceptionnelle de 61 œuvres d'Henri Matisse.
www.franceinfo.fr/culture/arts...
www.franceinfo.fr/culture/arts...
Reposted by Laurence Totelin
I'm quite dispirited about heritage colleagues refusal to use alt text. Baffled, since accessibility and inclusion ought to be at the heart of heritage communication. Frustrated because it's getting worse.
What to do?
(Please don't explain about folks who struggle with it, I know & that's not it)
What to do?
(Please don't explain about folks who struggle with it, I know & that's not it)
December 11, 2025 at 5:01 PM
I'm quite dispirited about heritage colleagues refusal to use alt text. Baffled, since accessibility and inclusion ought to be at the heart of heritage communication. Frustrated because it's getting worse.
What to do?
(Please don't explain about folks who struggle with it, I know & that's not it)
What to do?
(Please don't explain about folks who struggle with it, I know & that's not it)
Solidarity to all.Essex colleagues facing such awful news so close to Christmas (a common tactic unfortunately)
Ongoing decimation of British universities part 252:
Apx. 1000 academic staff at University of Essex just received formal ‘risk of redundancy’ letters via email.
Please share @ucuessex.bsky.social @ucu.org.uk
Apx. 1000 academic staff at University of Essex just received formal ‘risk of redundancy’ letters via email.
Please share @ucuessex.bsky.social @ucu.org.uk
December 11, 2025 at 5:26 PM
Solidarity to all.Essex colleagues facing such awful news so close to Christmas (a common tactic unfortunately)
An interesting interview. While Prof Larner was getting sympathy from her neighbour's child who wanted to share their toys with her, I was explaining to mine the potential impact of the University's decision. I know that other colleagues were doing the same.
'It sounds like Kazakhstan is just the start for Cardiff’s offshore ambitions, with future transnational education projects in China, India, Malaysia, Singapore and the US in the pipeline. This was a clear direction of travel, Larner said'. 1/2
Wendy Larner: ‘It isn’t easy to have your personal integrity impugned’
Cardiff’s January announcement of plans to cut 400 academic jobs and close several departments prompted a media firestorm that heaped opprobrium on its vice-chancellor. But she also received lots of q...
www.timeshighereducation.com
December 11, 2025 at 9:21 AM
An interesting interview. While Prof Larner was getting sympathy from her neighbour's child who wanted to share their toys with her, I was explaining to mine the potential impact of the University's decision. I know that other colleagues were doing the same.
Very sad. I enjoy Kinsella's books a lot.
Confessions of a Shopaholic novelist Sophie Kinsella dies aged 55
The ‘queen of romantic comedy’ has died 18 months after announcing her brain cancer diagnosis
www.theguardian.com
December 10, 2025 at 6:18 PM
Very sad. I enjoy Kinsella's books a lot.
I very much enjoyed participating in this podcast: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/w...
Women's Health in the New Testament World
Podcast Episode · Biblical Time Machine · 11/24/2025 · 41m
podcasts.apple.com
December 10, 2025 at 11:01 AM
I very much enjoyed participating in this podcast: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/w...
Reposted by Laurence Totelin
#ChallengePhotoADay
#fmspad
#UnJourUnePhoto
#PhotoCember
9/12 : cone
9/12 : Sparkle
Le canal de Willebroek, à Bruxelles, entre les ponts Van Praet et De Trooz.
#fmspad
#UnJourUnePhoto
#PhotoCember
9/12 : cone
9/12 : Sparkle
Le canal de Willebroek, à Bruxelles, entre les ponts Van Praet et De Trooz.
December 9, 2025 at 5:28 AM
#ChallengePhotoADay
#fmspad
#UnJourUnePhoto
#PhotoCember
9/12 : cone
9/12 : Sparkle
Le canal de Willebroek, à Bruxelles, entre les ponts Van Praet et De Trooz.
#fmspad
#UnJourUnePhoto
#PhotoCember
9/12 : cone
9/12 : Sparkle
Le canal de Willebroek, à Bruxelles, entre les ponts Van Praet et De Trooz.
Reposted by Laurence Totelin
Being a British parent is so weird bc you're actually worried about paying the sky high rent/mortgage & getting GP appointments but the entire press keeps telling you you're worried there's a trans person or immigrant nearby & the vat on Eton means there'll only be two skiing holidays this year
December 7, 2025 at 7:44 PM
Being a British parent is so weird bc you're actually worried about paying the sky high rent/mortgage & getting GP appointments but the entire press keeps telling you you're worried there's a trans person or immigrant nearby & the vat on Eton means there'll only be two skiing holidays this year
Final week of the semester. It has been a tough one, but I have done several things that pushed me out of my comfort zone and challenged me in good ways. I was able to have a swim in the Med yesterday on a work trip, so there is that too.
December 8, 2025 at 12:45 PM
Final week of the semester. It has been a tough one, but I have done several things that pushed me out of my comfort zone and challenged me in good ways. I was able to have a swim in the Med yesterday on a work trip, so there is that too.
Reposted by Laurence Totelin
In yet more devastating news, the VC has confirmed her plans to cut 80% of academic staff from Essex Pathways, our foundation year department. This would effectively close down all our existing foundation year programmes through the back door.
But it's not a done deal yet. Please share urgently.
But it's not a done deal yet. Please share urgently.
December 6, 2025 at 10:55 AM
In yet more devastating news, the VC has confirmed her plans to cut 80% of academic staff from Essex Pathways, our foundation year department. This would effectively close down all our existing foundation year programmes through the back door.
But it's not a done deal yet. Please share urgently.
But it's not a done deal yet. Please share urgently.
Reposted by Laurence Totelin
We’ve reached day 8 of #ArchiveAdventCalendar and it’s all about #FestiveFood.
Thinking of making your own preserves as Christmas gifts this year? Here are a couple of recipes for "Marmlit" and "Jille" from our 18th century herbal notebook
Thinking of making your own preserves as Christmas gifts this year? Here are a couple of recipes for "Marmlit" and "Jille" from our 18th century herbal notebook
December 8, 2025 at 7:40 AM
We’ve reached day 8 of #ArchiveAdventCalendar and it’s all about #FestiveFood.
Thinking of making your own preserves as Christmas gifts this year? Here are a couple of recipes for "Marmlit" and "Jille" from our 18th century herbal notebook
Thinking of making your own preserves as Christmas gifts this year? Here are a couple of recipes for "Marmlit" and "Jille" from our 18th century herbal notebook