Greg Walker
@gregmw4.bsky.social
Literature Prof at the University of Edinburgh, fan of Prog rock and Nottingham Forest.
Reposted by Greg Walker
Kinnock voice - "I’ll tell you what happens with impossible promises. You start with far-fetched resolutions....and you end up in the grotesque chaos of a Labour government, a *Labour* government, rejecting visas for homeless 8 yr olds trying to joing their parents"
November 28, 2025 at 10:43 AM
Kinnock voice - "I’ll tell you what happens with impossible promises. You start with far-fetched resolutions....and you end up in the grotesque chaos of a Labour government, a *Labour* government, rejecting visas for homeless 8 yr olds trying to joing their parents"
Reposted by Greg Walker
"Today’s Budget was an opportunity for the government to offer further detail and clarity on the state and finances of the higher education sector, building on the recent White Paper."
Read our response to the Autumn Budget in full: https://bit.ly/4rs7bCc
Read our response to the Autumn Budget in full: https://bit.ly/4rs7bCc
The British Academy's response to the Autumn Budget
The British Academy has responded to the Autumn Budget (26 November 2025)
www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk
November 26, 2025 at 4:35 PM
"Today’s Budget was an opportunity for the government to offer further detail and clarity on the state and finances of the higher education sector, building on the recent White Paper."
Read our response to the Autumn Budget in full: https://bit.ly/4rs7bCc
Read our response to the Autumn Budget in full: https://bit.ly/4rs7bCc
Reposted by Greg Walker
Is Haldane dead? The short answer is “yes”. Richard Burdon Haldane died in 1928.
For researchers, however, the question relates to the nuance of the Haldane principle.
My feature for @resprofnews.bsky.social:
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-p...
For researchers, however, the question relates to the nuance of the Haldane principle.
My feature for @resprofnews.bsky.social:
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-p...
Is the Haldane principle under threat? - Research Professional News
Increasing political direction in the allocation of research funding is alarming some policy experts
www.researchprofessionalnews.com
November 27, 2025 at 10:55 AM
Is Haldane dead? The short answer is “yes”. Richard Burdon Haldane died in 1928.
For researchers, however, the question relates to the nuance of the Haldane principle.
My feature for @resprofnews.bsky.social:
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-p...
For researchers, however, the question relates to the nuance of the Haldane principle.
My feature for @resprofnews.bsky.social:
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-p...
Reposted by Greg Walker
'Universities are communities of people and those within Scotland’s universities play a critical role in shaping our regions, our nation and our international reach and impact.'
Devolution dividend: staff matter too. A huge contrast to DfE/Jacqui Smith approach in Tuesday's testimony. 3/3
Devolution dividend: staff matter too. A huge contrast to DfE/Jacqui Smith approach in Tuesday's testimony. 3/3
November 27, 2025 at 8:00 AM
'Universities are communities of people and those within Scotland’s universities play a critical role in shaping our regions, our nation and our international reach and impact.'
Devolution dividend: staff matter too. A huge contrast to DfE/Jacqui Smith approach in Tuesday's testimony. 3/3
Devolution dividend: staff matter too. A huge contrast to DfE/Jacqui Smith approach in Tuesday's testimony. 3/3
Reposted by Greg Walker
'The Scottish Greens have lodged an amendment to the Scottish Government's Tertiary Education and Training Bill – set to be debated this week – which they believe will help to "boost the wages of ordinary workers".' 1/2
Plans lodged for crack down on 'obscene' pay of university principals
Propsals have been lodged to crack down on the 'obscene' pay inequality across Scotland's universities and colleges
www.thenational.scot
November 24, 2025 at 8:59 AM
'The Scottish Greens have lodged an amendment to the Scottish Government's Tertiary Education and Training Bill – set to be debated this week – which they believe will help to "boost the wages of ordinary workers".' 1/2
Reposted by Greg Walker
Not reposting in agreement with the 10 principles (I disagree strongly on several), but because it's the 1st open, comprehensive agenda responding to post-16 White Paper (and the obvious direction of travel in DSIT/UKRI) I've seen from a sitting VC.
Principle 2, subject provision, merits more. 1/6
Principle 2, subject provision, merits more. 1/6
'What We Need To Do Now' ... an agenda for universities in the new post-16 system ... set out by @profserious.bsky.social profserious.substack.com/p/what-we-ne...
What We Need To Do Now
an agenda for universities in the new post-16 system
profserious.substack.com
November 23, 2025 at 12:05 PM
Not reposting in agreement with the 10 principles (I disagree strongly on several), but because it's the 1st open, comprehensive agenda responding to post-16 White Paper (and the obvious direction of travel in DSIT/UKRI) I've seen from a sitting VC.
Principle 2, subject provision, merits more. 1/6
Principle 2, subject provision, merits more. 1/6
Reposted by Greg Walker
'Michael Lynas, the UK country director for the Duolingo language app, who argues there is no good substitute for the hard graft of learning a language as a way of seeing another country’s culture from the inside.' 1/3
Universities blame ‘societal shift’ for axing foreign language degrees
Numbers taking languages at A-level and beyond has been falling for decades, although Duolingo says its app is most popular with young people
www.theguardian.com
November 22, 2025 at 12:14 PM
'Michael Lynas, the UK country director for the Duolingo language app, who argues there is no good substitute for the hard graft of learning a language as a way of seeing another country’s culture from the inside.' 1/3
Reposted by Greg Walker
The extreme polarization of arts and sciences is a huge mistake and explains some of the rigidity and extremism we see all around us: in education, in recruitment, in our politics. But one mindset alone cannot fix the mess we are in. We need creativity now more than ever
April 23, 2025 at 10:44 AM
The extreme polarization of arts and sciences is a huge mistake and explains some of the rigidity and extremism we see all around us: in education, in recruitment, in our politics. But one mindset alone cannot fix the mess we are in. We need creativity now more than ever
Reposted by Greg Walker
Is spoken English really examined at A-Level? (Asking for an immigration system…)
November 20, 2025 at 1:33 PM
Is spoken English really examined at A-Level? (Asking for an immigration system…)
Is spoken English really examined at A-Level? (Asking for an immigration system…)
November 20, 2025 at 1:33 PM
Is spoken English really examined at A-Level? (Asking for an immigration system…)
Reposted by Greg Walker
Applications are now invited for the Society's 2026-27 Centenary PhD Fellowships for early career historians completing a doctorate bit.ly/48pWB72
Fellowships provide support of £8500 per award for 6 months and are held jointly with @ihr.bsky.social. Closing date: 31 January 2026 #Skystorians
Fellowships provide support of £8500 per award for 6 months and are held jointly with @ihr.bsky.social. Closing date: 31 January 2026 #Skystorians
Applications invited for the Society's Centenary PhD Fellowships, 2026-27 - RHS
Applications are now invited for the Royal Historical Society’s Centenary PhD Fellowships to support postgraduate historians to complete a doctorate. Two Fellowships, of six months each, are offered f...
bit.ly
November 20, 2025 at 8:13 AM
Applications are now invited for the Society's 2026-27 Centenary PhD Fellowships for early career historians completing a doctorate bit.ly/48pWB72
Fellowships provide support of £8500 per award for 6 months and are held jointly with @ihr.bsky.social. Closing date: 31 January 2026 #Skystorians
Fellowships provide support of £8500 per award for 6 months and are held jointly with @ihr.bsky.social. Closing date: 31 January 2026 #Skystorians
Reposted by Greg Walker
🎉 All stipendiary IHR Fellowships, Bursaries, & Prizes are now LIVE! 🎉
universityoflondon.smapply.io/prog/lst/
(All of our open competitions start with "IHR" in the title.)
Got a question? Please check the application page & our website for more information.
www.history.ac.uk/fellowships-...
universityoflondon.smapply.io/prog/lst/
(All of our open competitions start with "IHR" in the title.)
Got a question? Please check the application page & our website for more information.
www.history.ac.uk/fellowships-...
Programs - School of Advanced Study
universityoflondon.smapply.io
November 19, 2025 at 3:30 PM
🎉 All stipendiary IHR Fellowships, Bursaries, & Prizes are now LIVE! 🎉
universityoflondon.smapply.io/prog/lst/
(All of our open competitions start with "IHR" in the title.)
Got a question? Please check the application page & our website for more information.
www.history.ac.uk/fellowships-...
universityoflondon.smapply.io/prog/lst/
(All of our open competitions start with "IHR" in the title.)
Got a question? Please check the application page & our website for more information.
www.history.ac.uk/fellowships-...
Reposted by Greg Walker
Here’s another fully funded 4-year PhD position at Leiden within the ERC project LangPro led by Dr Alisa van de Haar, and co-supervised by yours truly, on guilds and associations supporting early modern language professionals bit.ly/49rsLA3
Apply by 15 Feb. 2026; starting date 1 Aug. 2026
Apply by 15 Feb. 2026; starting date 1 Aug. 2026
PhD position, project LangPro: 'Societies and Guilds in the Language Industry'
PhD position, project LangPro: 'Societies and Guilds in the Language Industry'
bit.ly
November 18, 2025 at 4:25 PM
Here’s another fully funded 4-year PhD position at Leiden within the ERC project LangPro led by Dr Alisa van de Haar, and co-supervised by yours truly, on guilds and associations supporting early modern language professionals bit.ly/49rsLA3
Apply by 15 Feb. 2026; starting date 1 Aug. 2026
Apply by 15 Feb. 2026; starting date 1 Aug. 2026
Reposted by Greg Walker
Not to mention the effects of 2 local universities making staff redundant, closing taught programmes and reducing their research and civic engagement capacities (in response to government policies).
‘I think the city is falling apart’: Leicester braces for a make-or-break budget
‘I think the city is falling apart’: Leicester braces for a make-or-break budget
In the local authority where people have the least spare cash there are hopes the chancellor will instil change
www.theguardian.com
November 16, 2025 at 1:20 PM
Not to mention the effects of 2 local universities making staff redundant, closing taught programmes and reducing their research and civic engagement capacities (in response to government policies).
Reposted by Greg Walker
'people who are multilingual are half as likely to show signs of accelerated biological ageing than are those who speak just one language.'
Good thing that schools, universities and governments are so actively promoting modern languages then, isn't it? 1/2
Good thing that schools, universities and governments are so actively promoting modern languages then, isn't it? 1/2
Want a younger brain? Learn another language
A vast study suggests that being multilingual can slow down cognitive ageing.
www.nature.com
November 11, 2025 at 7:58 AM
'people who are multilingual are half as likely to show signs of accelerated biological ageing than are those who speak just one language.'
Good thing that schools, universities and governments are so actively promoting modern languages then, isn't it? 1/2
Good thing that schools, universities and governments are so actively promoting modern languages then, isn't it? 1/2
Reposted by Greg Walker
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 Greg Walker
Excellent article here. Our students are our greatest advocates. Counter proposals will be put forward, and we are supporting colleagues in Music, Modern Languages, Philosophy, Theology and Religious Studies at Nottingham with their campaigns www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
University of Nottingham students fight 'insane' cull of courses
Traitors composer Sam Watts is among those against plans to cut University of Nottingham courses.
www.bbc.co.uk
November 8, 2025 at 8:56 AM
Excellent article here. Our students are our greatest advocates. Counter proposals will be put forward, and we are supporting colleagues in Music, Modern Languages, Philosophy, Theology and Religious Studies at Nottingham with their campaigns www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Reposted by Greg Walker
Webinar: IASH Fellowship applicants for 2026-27, on Monday 15 December at 13:00 GMT. Find out about our programmes, and ask any questions you may have.
Register free: events.teams.microsoft.com/event/0fdfeb...
Please sign up even if you can't attend, as a recording will be circulated afterwards.
Register free: events.teams.microsoft.com/event/0fdfeb...
Please sign up even if you can't attend, as a recording will be circulated afterwards.
Microsoft Virtual Events Powered by Teams
Microsoft Virtual Events Powered by Teams
events.teams.microsoft.com
November 6, 2025 at 4:01 PM
Webinar: IASH Fellowship applicants for 2026-27, on Monday 15 December at 13:00 GMT. Find out about our programmes, and ask any questions you may have.
Register free: events.teams.microsoft.com/event/0fdfeb...
Please sign up even if you can't attend, as a recording will be circulated afterwards.
Register free: events.teams.microsoft.com/event/0fdfeb...
Please sign up even if you can't attend, as a recording will be circulated afterwards.
Reposted by Greg Walker
A reminder that there are still a few days left to apply for this funded PhD, working on literary and cultural reception of the Vikings. University fees and a budget for conference attendance included in addition to the stipend: it's a great opportunity for someone! www.ucc.ie/en/hr/vacanc...
Research Vacancies | University College Cork
Learn, Study and Research in UCC, Ireland's first 5 star university. Our tradition of independent thinking will prepare you for the world and the workplace in a vibrant, modern, green campus.
www.ucc.ie
November 5, 2025 at 11:39 AM
A reminder that there are still a few days left to apply for this funded PhD, working on literary and cultural reception of the Vikings. University fees and a budget for conference attendance included in addition to the stipend: it's a great opportunity for someone! www.ucc.ie/en/hr/vacanc...
Reposted by Greg Walker
“Four years ago, we suffered an earlier redundancy programme that we were told would secure the future of the university. That clearly was not true."
#UKHE
www.leicester.news/university-o...
#UKHE
www.leicester.news/university-o...
University of Leicester moves forward with plans to cut 150 jobs
A 'large number of staff' across several schools could be impacted
www.leicester.news
November 5, 2025 at 8:02 AM
“Four years ago, we suffered an earlier redundancy programme that we were told would secure the future of the university. That clearly was not true."
#UKHE
www.leicester.news/university-o...
#UKHE
www.leicester.news/university-o...
Reposted by Greg Walker
The Edinburgh University-based Scottish Universities' International Summer School is open for registration for 2026. Come study Theatre during the Festival; or immerse yourself in our literature programmes, or hone those writing skills on our Creative Writing course: www.suiss.ed.ac.uk/programme/
SUISS Summer School - Programme
We offer a summer programme in Literature, Creative Writing, and Theatre and Performance at the University of Edinburgh.
www.suiss.ed.ac.uk
November 4, 2025 at 10:21 AM
The Edinburgh University-based Scottish Universities' International Summer School is open for registration for 2026. Come study Theatre during the Festival; or immerse yourself in our literature programmes, or hone those writing skills on our Creative Writing course: www.suiss.ed.ac.uk/programme/
Exceptionally sad news for scholars of early English Drama. The great Jean-Paul Debax, a towering figure in Tudor theatre Studies in France, and a kind, generous scholar, has passed away at the age of 90: the last of the founders of the delightful Tours Tables-Rondes.
November 3, 2025 at 4:45 PM
Exceptionally sad news for scholars of early English Drama. The great Jean-Paul Debax, a towering figure in Tudor theatre Studies in France, and a kind, generous scholar, has passed away at the age of 90: the last of the founders of the delightful Tours Tables-Rondes.
Reposted by Greg Walker
'In February, Sheffield Hallam University, home to the Helena Kennedy Centre for International Justice (HKC), a leading research institution focused on human rights, ordered one of its best-known professors, Laura Murphy, to cease research on supply chains and forced labour in China.' 1/3
UK university halted human rights research after pressure from China
Exclusive: Leading professor at Sheffield Hallam was told to cease research on supply chains and forced labour in China after demands from authorities
www.theguardian.com
November 3, 2025 at 7:44 AM
'In February, Sheffield Hallam University, home to the Helena Kennedy Centre for International Justice (HKC), a leading research institution focused on human rights, ordered one of its best-known professors, Laura Murphy, to cease research on supply chains and forced labour in China.' 1/3
I was deeply sorry to learn, very belatedly, of the passing earlier this year of Prof Marie-Helene Besnault, a stalwart of the long-running Table-Ronde on Tudor drama at the University of Tours. The kindest of souls and most generous of hosts to we travelling Brits. God speed M-H.
November 1, 2025 at 11:17 AM
I was deeply sorry to learn, very belatedly, of the passing earlier this year of Prof Marie-Helene Besnault, a stalwart of the long-running Table-Ronde on Tudor drama at the University of Tours. The kindest of souls and most generous of hosts to we travelling Brits. God speed M-H.
‘Will he have cakes… and tea? Perhaps camomile? He’d surely like that best. No?
(OTD in 1957 John Betjeman auditioned for the role of Sauron in Leni Riefenstahl’s doomed Lord of The Rings project. His ‘lack of chemistry’ with co-star Conrad Veidt (Frodo) allegedly blighted the project from the start
(OTD in 1957 John Betjeman auditioned for the role of Sauron in Leni Riefenstahl’s doomed Lord of The Rings project. His ‘lack of chemistry’ with co-star Conrad Veidt (Frodo) allegedly blighted the project from the start
October 31, 2025 at 11:37 AM
‘Will he have cakes… and tea? Perhaps camomile? He’d surely like that best. No?
(OTD in 1957 John Betjeman auditioned for the role of Sauron in Leni Riefenstahl’s doomed Lord of The Rings project. His ‘lack of chemistry’ with co-star Conrad Veidt (Frodo) allegedly blighted the project from the start
(OTD in 1957 John Betjeman auditioned for the role of Sauron in Leni Riefenstahl’s doomed Lord of The Rings project. His ‘lack of chemistry’ with co-star Conrad Veidt (Frodo) allegedly blighted the project from the start