Andrew WM Smith

It's an early Christmas miracle, an online meeting scheduled for an hour only took 15 mins!

When will this crisis get any attention whatsoever!? A THOUSAND ACADEMIC STAFF AT ONE INSTITUTION SERVED REDUNDANCY RISK NOTICES! And that's not counting what's surely being visited on professional services staff too. This is an economic catastrophe, to say nothing of the intellectual catastrophe!

Pitch my Project: an opportunity for early career historians to present their work at the Chalke History Festival 2026 - RHS Have you ever wanted to share your research with a wide audience? Would you like to gain experience in public speaking, and be supported to develop imaginative ways to communicate your research to the...

We are pleased to launch today a new programme for early career researchers with @ihr.bsky.social & @chalkefestival.bsky.social

'Pitch my Project' is an opportunity for early career historians to present their research at the Chalke History Festival in 2026 bit.ly/44kfUMM Applications now invited.

This morning Research England announced the end of its pause to REF2029 bit.ly/4oHh9wJ. The announcement includes changes to earlier plans and resumption of criteria setting by subject panels.

There's much to digest and we'll review and update with reference to the discipline of history 1/3

Steeplechasing: horses and jockeys jumping a large hedge-fnce, with runner number 5 at the centre of the image, its jockey in orange and white check.

And we're off! UUK's Research & Innovation conference with panels on REF2029 are now underway, as pause transitions into the forward march toward November 2028, and beyond. 1/n

Connected Histories of Empire: France, Britain, and the Pacific This special issue explores the connected histories of France, Britain, and the Pacific in the 19th and early 20th centuries at the level of states, colonial administrations, people, practices, and...

Thrilled to see this introduction by me and Charlotte Ann Legg to our special issue on "Connected Histories of Empire: France, Britain & the Pacific" is now out and in open access. The rest of our special issue – with a fantastic array of articles – will be out soon! @journalpacifichist.bsky.social

REF2029 pause ends today, with UUK conference talks starting at 10:00 and embargo lifted at 11:00. Register to listen online. (There is also a Q&A session).

I genuinely thought this was Barry Chuckle (RIP) at first glance

Front cover of the History UK 'Disability and History Project Report' 2025. Full text: "Disability and History Project Report. Lead author: Dr Sarah Holland. Project Research Fellows: Dr Alexandra F. Morris, Dr Sarah E. Hayward, and Tilly Guthrie. Supported by an Advisory Board. Co-funded by the Royal Historical Society." With History UK and Royal Historical Society logos

History UK has today released its 'History UK Disability and History Report' (2025): bit.ly/44PH51Z

The report aims to raise the profile of issues relating to disability and history in UK Higher Education. Its research and writing were co-funded by the Royal Historical Society. #Skystorians

Manchester University Press - Make cheese not war Make cheese not war - Browse and buy the Hardcover edition of Make cheese not war by Andrew W. M. Smith

Good news from the production folk - final files for my book have been handed over to @manchesterup.bsky.social to go to print!

Look out for 'Make cheese not war: Transnational resistance and the Larzac in modern France' in Feb 2026

🗃️ #skystorians

manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526175878/

History UK Disability and History Project The History UK Disability and History Project was launched in November 2023 in response to the History UK EDI report which identified disability as an important aspect of EDI work worthy of further…

As a disabled historian I am so pleased that History UK (co-funded with @royalhistsoc.org) have published their report on disabled student & staff experiences of #highereducation & history. It makes for a difficult reading at times, but none of it is surprising. www.history-uk.ac.uk/projects/his...

From a non-expert point of view, I think the first is the easiest (though has recently been misused by bad actors), whereas CIO is more explicitly charity focussed. We don't want to draw any money out of the org (for pay, etc), so CIO is better long term for us to raise money to achieve aims

Excellent! Glad to be of help

For books? Maybe uk.bookshop.org

I'm a director of the first, looking to move to the second. I'm told this would help with applications for funding support, etc. Must admit, I don't know details of the third

I relayed this suggestion to my wife and she thinks a costume with footnotes might be a little too on the nose

Ha, the live question is whether I drop her off in my Obelix costume (and risk her never speaking to me again)

My daughter has to dress up for "Anglo Saxon" day at school on Tuesday, so after some quick planning, I'm taking @emile-chabal.bsky.social's cue, interpreting it as a "mirror to Frenchness", and sending her in an Asterix costume

aeon.co/essays/the-a...

Hello and welcome to our Francophone Friday thread, where we come together to highlight research being conducted in or about the Francophone world! These threads are created with help of our members, so if you want to advertise events, publications, etc about Francophone research, do reach out! 1/9

Tonight!

A person sits at a desk in a dark room making high resolution photographic copies on a computer.

Send us your feedback on The National Archives’ digital capacity building strategy, Our Digital Century, that ends in 2026! Your responses to this survey will help us evaluate the programme and ensure future initiatives meet the sector’s needs: www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/OISX44/
⏰31 January 2026 (1/2)

📢CfP: DIFFICULT COLLECTIONS📢

What can practitioners & researchers do with difficult heritage preserved in galleries, libraries, archives and museums?

- Paper Trails (a Book as Online Open Content) Special Issue
- Proposal deadline: 31/01/2026
- Details: blogs.ucl.ac.uk/special-coll...

🗃️ #GLAM

No Second Chances Between 2016 and 2019, a unique coalition assembled within British politics. Combining Corbynite campaigners and Conservative Cabinet ministers, celebrities and grassroots activists, seasoned politica...

Excitingly, my book now has a cover. You can see it here, where you can also now pre-order!

www.bitebackpublishing.com/books/no-sec...

"award-worthy"

Please do have a look at our CFP on 'Difficult Collections' and consider submitting a proposal to Paper Trails. We have flexible formats, exciting content, and a commitment to open access publishing!

(details at the link - any Qs get in touch!)

#skystorians 🗃️

What do graduates do?

You can explore the data in this great report. My point is not to set one subject against another but that the stereotypes about humanities employability need a bit of probing, and shouldn’t be the thing that put someone off what they want to study
graduatemarkettrends.cdn.prismic.io/graduatemark...

The CFP for the 2026 Society for the Study of French History conference has just been launched. Come join us in Groningen! frenchhistorysociety.co.uk/conference2/

Make Cheese Not War: Transnational Resistance and the Larzac​ Join Dr Andrew WM Smith to discover how rural resistance on France’s Larzac plateau became a global movement of solidarity and success.

This coming Thursday 4 December, I'm giving a public lecture in Paris at ULIP (in English) about my new book on peasants and protest on the Larzac.

You're very welcome to come along in person or to follow along online. Details at the following link:

www.london.ac.uk/institute-pa...

🗃 #skystorians

A Tenth Revolution Around the Sun By Bryan A. Banks and Cindy Ermus  Ten years ago, we published our first essays on Age of Revolutions (AoR). Not yet knowing how the site would evolve, …

AoR is celebrating its 10th anniversary with some special news/updates! ageofrevolutions.com/2025/12/01/a...

Renaud Morieux (Professor of European History, University of Cambridge) will give the 2026 Douglas Johnson Memorial Lecture organised by the Society for the Study of French History and the Association for the Study of Modern and Contemporary France. It will be held at the Institut français, South Kensington, London. Registration is essential, though attendance is free. "Dislocated Families: Women, War & Migrations in French India during the Age of Revolutions" on 12 January 2026, 5:30-7pm

📢 Prof Renaud Morieux will give the 2026 Douglas Johnson Memorial Lecture organised by @frenchhistory.bsky.social & @asmcf.bsky.social

"Dislocated Families: Women, War & Migrations in French India during the Age of Revolutions"
📅 12 Jan 2026
⏲️ 5:30-7pm
🏢 Institut français, London

Register below ⬇️