will pooley
@willpooley.bsky.social
historian of witchcrafts, folklore, France 18-20th c
ass. ed. French History
ed. Cambridge Elements in Magic
also #CreativeHistories
that’s an actual photo of me
ass. ed. French History
ed. Cambridge Elements in Magic
also #CreativeHistories
that’s an actual photo of me
Pinned
will pooley
@willpooley.bsky.social
· Nov 10
Sheet Happens
When I started working on witchcraft cases in France from 1790-1940, I knew I wanted to count them. This, of course, was my first mistake. The oldest version I have of the Excel spreadsheet I built…
williamgpooley.wordpress.com
My reintroduction: historian of french magic, folklore, witchcraft, tarot. I blog about all that, as well as writing, creative historical methods, quantification and research process.
A surprising number of you sickos can’t get enough spreadsheet chat🗃️
williamgpooley.wordpress.com/2024/05/22/s...
A surprising number of you sickos can’t get enough spreadsheet chat🗃️
williamgpooley.wordpress.com/2024/05/22/s...
important to only buy recreational drugs Monday-Thursday
November 21, 2025 at 10:45 AM
important to only buy recreational drugs Monday-Thursday
Reposted by will pooley
Reposted by will pooley
In a world in which people with too much power and influence desperately need to be told and to understand when they are wrong, we are suddenly all inescapably drowning in sycophancy machines.
November 21, 2025 at 3:53 AM
In a world in which people with too much power and influence desperately need to be told and to understand when they are wrong, we are suddenly all inescapably drowning in sycophancy machines.
Reposted by will pooley
Calling all contingent historians and their editors--if you haven't submitted for this year's lists, why not? Seriously, these are our most highly read pieces of the year. They are a great way to get your scholarship in front of people and SELL YOUR BOOKS.
Thank you to @erinbartram.bsky.social for the idea as a public scholarly companion to Contingent's end of year list of publications from non-tenure track historians.
Submissions for @contingent-mag.bsky.social are due by November 29th if you haven't submitted yet!
Submissions for @contingent-mag.bsky.social are due by November 29th if you haven't submitted yet!
Publications by Non-Tenure-Track Historians
Since we began publishing in 2019, Contingent has published end-of-year lists of books and articles by non-tenure-track historians released in the past calendar year. To submit something for inclusion...
contingentmagazine.org
November 21, 2025 at 2:33 AM
Calling all contingent historians and their editors--if you haven't submitted for this year's lists, why not? Seriously, these are our most highly read pieces of the year. They are a great way to get your scholarship in front of people and SELL YOUR BOOKS.
Reposted by will pooley
🗃️#FRHistory
We are delighted to share details of the 16th Douglas Johnson Memorial Lecture, organised by @frenchhistory.bsky.social & @asmcf.bsky.social to be held on Monday 12th January 2026, at the Institut Français, London.
November 20, 2025 at 1:42 PM
🗃️#FRHistory
Reposted by will pooley
📣 Really proud to announce the publication of Reframing Failure in Digital Scholarship, an #OpenAccess collection of essays co-edited with @amsichani.bsky.social and published by @uolpress.bsky.social that examines the role of failure in #DH and research more broadly
@sas-news.bsky.social
@sas-news.bsky.social
Reframing Failure in Digital Scholarship - University of London Press
Failure is ordinary. From technological failures and computational obsolescence to rejected applications and challenging collaborations, failure is an unavoidable part of any scholarly endeavour. This...
uolpress.co.uk
November 20, 2025 at 9:26 AM
📣 Really proud to announce the publication of Reframing Failure in Digital Scholarship, an #OpenAccess collection of essays co-edited with @amsichani.bsky.social and published by @uolpress.bsky.social that examines the role of failure in #DH and research more broadly
@sas-news.bsky.social
@sas-news.bsky.social
Reposted by will pooley
📢Here's a 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 professional opportunities for women in the early modern language sector bit.ly/47Y3hYI
Apply by 15 Feb. 2026; starting date 1 Aug. 2026
Apply by 15 Feb. 2026; starting date 1 Aug. 2026
PhD position, project: LangPro Women in the Early Modern Language Sector
PhD position, project: LangPro Women in the Early Modern Language Sector
careers.universiteitleiden.nl
November 18, 2025 at 4:22 PM
📢Here's a 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 professional opportunities for women in the early modern language sector bit.ly/47Y3hYI
Apply by 15 Feb. 2026; starting date 1 Aug. 2026
Apply by 15 Feb. 2026; starting date 1 Aug. 2026
Help! @frenchhistory.bsky.social really wanted this for journal cover next year (we’ve got exciting things coming on quantitative and computational methods) but it’s a challenge finding higher res versions/rights holder.
Do YOU have suggestions to track these down OR alternative, similar images? 🙏🏻 🗃️
Do YOU have suggestions to track these down OR alternative, similar images? 🙏🏻 🗃️
November 20, 2025 at 9:53 AM
Help! @frenchhistory.bsky.social really wanted this for journal cover next year (we’ve got exciting things coming on quantitative and computational methods) but it’s a challenge finding higher res versions/rights holder.
Do YOU have suggestions to track these down OR alternative, similar images? 🙏🏻 🗃️
Do YOU have suggestions to track these down OR alternative, similar images? 🙏🏻 🗃️
Reposted by will pooley
🎉 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-...
little mental arithmetic:
ERC open calls (starter, consolidator, advanced) success rate c. 14%
for projects up to five years long
say that each app takes av. 6 months work (surely an underestimate) to prepare
this essentially means that the system costs researchers 3.5 years per five year project
ERC open calls (starter, consolidator, advanced) success rate c. 14%
for projects up to five years long
say that each app takes av. 6 months work (surely an underestimate) to prepare
this essentially means that the system costs researchers 3.5 years per five year project
November 19, 2025 at 2:30 PM
little mental arithmetic:
ERC open calls (starter, consolidator, advanced) success rate c. 14%
for projects up to five years long
say that each app takes av. 6 months work (surely an underestimate) to prepare
this essentially means that the system costs researchers 3.5 years per five year project
ERC open calls (starter, consolidator, advanced) success rate c. 14%
for projects up to five years long
say that each app takes av. 6 months work (surely an underestimate) to prepare
this essentially means that the system costs researchers 3.5 years per five year project
Reposted by will pooley
How can European history be integrated into global history? This is the question at the heart of „Globalizing Europe“ edited by @davidmotadel.bsky.social. Here is my review.
Rez: D. Motadel (Hrsg.): Globalizing Europe
https://www.hsozkult.de/publicationreview/id/reb-152277
D. Motadel (Hrsg.): Globalizing Europe
https://www.hsozkult.de/publicationreview/id/reb-152277
D. Motadel (Hrsg.): Globalizing Europe
www.hsozkult.de
November 19, 2025 at 7:14 AM
How can European history be integrated into global history? This is the question at the heart of „Globalizing Europe“ edited by @davidmotadel.bsky.social. Here is my review.
“I borrowed an oversized road bike and began to ride it every day with the same dedication I’d put into running. Except I was even worse at cycling. Also, I hated it.”
relatable 😆
www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...
relatable 😆
www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...
A moment that changed me: I broke my foot – and took up a sport that led to stratospheric success
I had run every day for ten years and cried when the doctor said I needed two months off. Then I borrowed an oversized road bike. At first, I couldn’t wait to ditch it, but something kept me going ...
www.theguardian.com
November 19, 2025 at 10:56 AM
“I borrowed an oversized road bike and began to ride it every day with the same dedication I’d put into running. Except I was even worse at cycling. Also, I hated it.”
relatable 😆
www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...
relatable 😆
www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...
With my students yesterday we made some erasure poems and cut ups from newspaper stories about magic
(Theirs were obviously much better but) here’s mine,
“Testament to a Supposed Century of Enlightenment”
(Drawn from a translated version of this story gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/b...)
🗃️
(Theirs were obviously much better but) here’s mine,
“Testament to a Supposed Century of Enlightenment”
(Drawn from a translated version of this story gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/b...)
🗃️
![A visual cut up poem, where the words roughly correspond to a house with a sloping roof and door
[on the roof]
two unfortunate cats prowling the rooftops
One of them was caught turning to a physician,
an old woman in the commune
Set them a trap.
but no-one appeared
Two women,
proceeded to yowl furiously.
he went to a man who was
strangest aspect of the story
entered the house.
The witch's instructions were followed.
And the good folk immediately rushed to
reflection,
An inhabitant of Bedous (Pyrenees)
limped back
TESTAMENT TO A SUPPOSED CENTURY OF ENLIGHTENMENT](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:vxkp3oausam3x7r2f5vx6whw/bafkreibpabtw67ghxx6btjpaqwissuv5edje5rliq6vnqm2ypulgqpjriq@jpeg)
November 19, 2025 at 8:19 AM
With my students yesterday we made some erasure poems and cut ups from newspaper stories about magic
(Theirs were obviously much better but) here’s mine,
“Testament to a Supposed Century of Enlightenment”
(Drawn from a translated version of this story gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/b...)
🗃️
(Theirs were obviously much better but) here’s mine,
“Testament to a Supposed Century of Enlightenment”
(Drawn from a translated version of this story gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/b...)
🗃️
Reposted by will pooley
'I don't believe but' is one of the most appearing ghost-related phrases in past and present
do you believe in ghosts or are you like me, a person who finds themself saying all the time “I absolutely don’t believe in ghosts, but this place has ghosts.”
November 19, 2025 at 5:36 AM
'I don't believe but' is one of the most appearing ghost-related phrases in past and present
Reposted by will pooley
Very grateful to see this roundtable of responses to my book *Wild Experiment: Feeling Science and Secularism after Darwin* ( @dukepress.bsky.social ) out now in Method & Theory in the Study of Religion!
This grew out of a book session at last year's American Academy of Religion annual meeting. ->
This grew out of a book session at last year's American Academy of Religion annual meeting. ->
November 18, 2025 at 10:32 PM
Very grateful to see this roundtable of responses to my book *Wild Experiment: Feeling Science and Secularism after Darwin* ( @dukepress.bsky.social ) out now in Method & Theory in the Study of Religion!
This grew out of a book session at last year's American Academy of Religion annual meeting. ->
This grew out of a book session at last year's American Academy of Religion annual meeting. ->
Reposted by will pooley
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 will pooley
This mural has gone up in Kingston, ostensibly for Christmas but AI has ensured it's actually to celebrate the return of our dark lord Cthulhu
November 18, 2025 at 9:44 AM
This mural has gone up in Kingston, ostensibly for Christmas but AI has ensured it's actually to celebrate the return of our dark lord Cthulhu
Reposted by will pooley
“When a school’s own administrators intend to throw away every one of the uni’s depts in so much of the sum total of human knowledge…maybe the onus should be on them to explain their mad plan to leave intellectually immiserated & stifled the students’ lives they ought to be committed to enriching.”
www.wsj.com/opinion/mont...
Another one of my colleagues weighs in on the “restructuring” of our home college. This time in the Wall Street Journal. It’s paywalled, so screenshots to follow.
Another one of my colleagues weighs in on the “restructuring” of our home college. This time in the Wall Street Journal. It’s paywalled, so screenshots to follow.
Opinion | Montclair State’s Inhumanity to the Humanities
Goodbye, English department. Hello, Institute for Complex Systems and Algorithmic Infused Societies.
www.wsj.com
November 17, 2025 at 10:19 PM
“When a school’s own administrators intend to throw away every one of the uni’s depts in so much of the sum total of human knowledge…maybe the onus should be on them to explain their mad plan to leave intellectually immiserated & stifled the students’ lives they ought to be committed to enriching.”
Reposted by will pooley
If you're looking for illustrations for "AI", don't use robots, glowing disembodied brains, or computer code in empty space. Here are a some alternative suggestions:
November 17, 2025 at 10:45 AM
If you're looking for illustrations for "AI", don't use robots, glowing disembodied brains, or computer code in empty space. Here are a some alternative suggestions:
Reposted by will pooley
The hardback edition of our new edited book, ‘In Solidarity, Under Suspicion: The British Far Left from 1956’, is published through @manchesterup.bsky.social today!
You can get 30% discount by using the code ‘EVENT30’ right now, or tell your library!
manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526179593/
You can get 30% discount by using the code ‘EVENT30’ right now, or tell your library!
manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526179593/
Manchester University Press - In solidarity, under suspicion
In solidarity, under suspicion - Browse and buy the Hardcover edition of In solidarity, under suspicion by Daniel Frost
manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk
November 18, 2025 at 5:49 AM
The hardback edition of our new edited book, ‘In Solidarity, Under Suspicion: The British Far Left from 1956’, is published through @manchesterup.bsky.social today!
You can get 30% discount by using the code ‘EVENT30’ right now, or tell your library!
manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526179593/
You can get 30% discount by using the code ‘EVENT30’ right now, or tell your library!
manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526179593/
Reposted by will pooley
This week Wednesday at Birkbeck, right in the heart of Bloomsbury: join us for thought-provoking talk by the brilliant Julia Laite on the history of Newfoundland, home of one of the British Empire’s most remote settlements where one of its most complete genocides took place. Free but pls register
Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences Annual Graduate Lecture 2025 - Stories at the Edge of Empire: Newfoundland, 1763-1829
Join us for an exploration of ways of mapping and knowing Newfoundland in the 18th & 19th centuries delivered by Julia Laite
www.bbk.ac.uk
November 17, 2025 at 8:00 PM
This week Wednesday at Birkbeck, right in the heart of Bloomsbury: join us for thought-provoking talk by the brilliant Julia Laite on the history of Newfoundland, home of one of the British Empire’s most remote settlements where one of its most complete genocides took place. Free but pls register
in a moment straight out of EVERY film and TV depiction of tarot reading,
as the final card to represent my future in a three card reading, a student in class today turned over DEATH
been nice knowing you etc
as the final card to represent my future in a three card reading, a student in class today turned over DEATH
been nice knowing you etc
November 17, 2025 at 3:16 PM
in a moment straight out of EVERY film and TV depiction of tarot reading,
as the final card to represent my future in a three card reading, a student in class today turned over DEATH
been nice knowing you etc
as the final card to represent my future in a three card reading, a student in class today turned over DEATH
been nice knowing you etc
looking at a french university website and just completely unable to find a list of eg departments or even research clusters. any move in that direction is certainly a choice. the faceless, undifferentiated “university”
November 17, 2025 at 12:03 PM
looking at a french university website and just completely unable to find a list of eg departments or even research clusters. any move in that direction is certainly a choice. the faceless, undifferentiated “university”
Reposted by will pooley
I'm on strike for the next three days in protest at my employer's refusal to rule out compulsory redundancies as part of their cost-cutting vision for a radically diminished university. My school makes a healthy profit, most of which goes back into central coffers, yet still we're told to save more.
November 17, 2025 at 10:58 AM
I'm on strike for the next three days in protest at my employer's refusal to rule out compulsory redundancies as part of their cost-cutting vision for a radically diminished university. My school makes a healthy profit, most of which goes back into central coffers, yet still we're told to save more.