Catherine Owen

Incredible! A Great Blue (I think?) heron calmly surveys its kingdom - a small pond next to a busy London high street. Is it lost, or has to chosen to live here?

Researchers applying for the UK's Global Talent visa face high upfront costs Upfront cost of visa to applicant and employer in 2025 UK Denmark £692 India £602 Australia £405 Israel £362 US £305 Italy £235 Netherlands 1 £207 Germany | £170 Spain 1£144 Sweden | £117 South Korea | £98 France £84 Japan £21 £5,941 £O £2,000 £4 Source: Fragomen for the Royal Society • Excludes ongoing costs such as mandatory healthcare premiums or fees such as language tests

The costs of the UK’s Global Talent Visa looks a trifle high in comparison to competitor countries - largely through the Immigration Health Surcharge (which critics say is a form of double taxation as they contribute to the NHS through normal tax on their earnings)

It’s fantastic to be back in Shanghai for the 23rd Conference on International Exchange of Professionals, at the invitation of Shanghai International Studies University. Our section, organised by Prof Yang Cheng, explores global trends in the study of Eurasia.

Why Area Studies Matters (opinion) If we are to save area studies programs, it will fall to universities to recognize their value, Amanda Lanzillo writes.

"Ultimately, area studies allows us to embrace, even revel in, cultural, social and linguistic particularity and specificity and, through understanding these differences, recognize our shared humanity."
An important article.
www.insidehighered.com/opinion/view...

Interested in authoritarian, post-conflict, or surveilled settings?

📍 Join “Doing Fieldwork in Challenging Contexts” #KOMEX2026 online course by @catherineowen.bsky.social & @xiananj.bsky.social.

Learn creative, experimental, and decolonial ethnogr. methods: afww.uni-konstanz.de/en/microcred...

China ‘spies’ case was dropped after government failed to provide evidence of Beijing threat Ministers and officials did not provide statements that China was threat despite ‘many months’ of effort to obtain them Charges against two men accused of spying for China were suddenly dropped last month because prosecutors could not obtain critical evidence from the government that Beijing represented a “threat to the national security of the UK”. Stephen Parkinson, the director of public prosecutions, wrote to two select committee chairs to explain that despite trying over “many months”, the sought-after statements were not forthcoming from ministers and officials. Continue reading...

China ‘spies’ case was dropped after government failed to provide evidence of Beijing threat

If you can't see how this will end, then you're not paying attention (not least to what's going on on the other side of the Atlantic).

The success of the far right is not only measured in votes and seats but in its impact on rhetoric, policy and ideology. The fact that a (nominally) social democratic head of government with a huge majority choses to say and do this is maybe the biggest success of the far right in Europe yet.

Proud to share that #KOMEX2026 Qual & Case-Oriented Techniques track is taught entirely by women researchers from across Europe and beyond! 🌍

✔️ Rigorous training in fieldwork, process tracing, NVivo & more
📅 February 2026, @uni-konstanz.de & online

Join: afww.uni-konstanz.de/en/view/kome...

This programme has been a brilliant educational resourse to supplement course readings. I’m so glad it will continue, but Melvyn Bragg will be a very tough act to follow.

The original title: “China Studies in the UK Is in Crisis — But Not Because of China”

Another day, yet ANOTHER stupid, pointless announcement on immigration from this stupid pointless government.

Today: you are a student - we're going to write you a stern letter about how you better not be thinking of staying!

Insanity. Racist, cowardly, insanity. #r4today

Victims feel rural racism too often 'normalised', report finds Researchers say participants in a two-year study feel racism in rural England

First article on our Rural Racism reports, released this morning @jayrayner1.bsky.social
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Breath-taking landscapes on Exmoor this weekend 🤩

We're lucky to have @catherineowen.bsky.social & @xiananj.bsky.social on board at #KOMEX2026.

Check out their online course "Doing Fieldwork in Challenging Contexts" and register here: afww.uni-konstanz.de/en/microcred...

@hass-cornwall.bsky.social @uniofexeterhass.bsky.social @cais-exeter.bsky.social

Excited to be offering our bespoke fieldwork methods course "Doing Fieldwork in Challenging Contexts" with @xiananj.bsky.social for @komex.bsky.social next February, alongside a truly fantastic line-up of courses - with something for every methodological persuasion!

Reform UK, which has a grand total of four MPs, was just given an uninterrupted platform for an hour and a half on the BBC and Sky News channels, in order to talk about its plans for mass deportations

When was the last time the Greens (with four MPs) or the Lib Dems (with 72) were given the same?

On Friday, my two-year visiting professorship at the Institute of International & Area Studies, Tsinghua Uni, came to an end. It was an utter privilege to teach the introductory Area Studies course to new PhD students. Happy memories to cherish and so many new connections to take forward🌹

Reminds me of the book I recently finished: Red Friends by John Sexton. An utterly riveting account of the commited internationalists from around the world who helped China fight Japan and build socialism, including numerous Japanese people and groups. 💯Recommend!

China and Britain shared a mission to fight aggression and fascism. And we can work together today | Zheng Zeguang As we remember VJ Day, let us also recall a spirit that can help us combat regional instability and climate change, says Zheng Zeguang, Chinese ambassador to the UK

“The Chinese and British peoples stood shoulder to shoulder, united by sacrifice and a shared belief in freedom and justice.”
Lovely words and an important reminder from China’s ambassador to the UK, Zheng Zeguang.

Glorious morning for an 8am Gylly beach sea swim. Water is clear as glass, and the beach is still peaceful with morning swimmers and dog walkers. #Cornwall #Falmouth

YouTube video by University of Exeter Gender - Dr Xianan Jin, Lecturer in African and Gender Politics

Think gender is just theory or women's issues? Think again. 🌊 Study Gender Studies in Cornwall @hass-cornwall.bsky.social and explore how the personal is political and how the unspoken norms shape our lives. Watch our video: youtu.be/dZQJ-TFCNT0?...

Israel kills Al Jazeera journalist it says was Hamas leader By Reuters August 10, 2025 10:59 PM UTC • Updated ago Aug 11 (Reuters) - Israel's military said it targeted and killed a Hamas cell leader posing as an Al Jazeera journalist in an airstrike on Gaza City on Sunday, a claim condemned by the Qatari broadcaster. Anas Al Sharif was among a group of four Al Jazeera journalists and an assistant who died in a strike on a tent near Shifa Hospital in eastern Gaza City, Gaza officials and Al Jazeera said. An official at the hospital said there were seven people killed in the strike. Sign up here. "Anas Al Sharif served as the head of a terrorist cell in the Hamas terrorist organization and was responsible for advancing rocket attacks against Israeli civilians and IDF (Israeli) troops," the Israeli military said in a statement, citing intelligence and documents found in Gaza as evidence.

CAIRO/JERUSALEM, Aug 11 (Reuters) - A prominent Al Jazeera journalist who had previously been threatened by Israel was killed along with four colleagues in an Israeli airstrike on Sunday, in an attack condemned by journalist and rights groups. Israel's military said it targeted and killed Anas Al Sharif, alleging he had headed a Hamas cell and was involved in rocket attacks against Israel. The Reuters Daily Briefing newsletter provides all the news you need to start your day. Sign up here. Al Jazeera rejected the claim and before his death Al Sharif had also rejected earlier claims by Israel that he was connected to Hamas.

This was the initial story on the Reuters coverage of Anas' murder. Compare to the new version on the right.

The default was to cite the IDF. When they got proper writers in to rewrite the story, we get actual journalism.

Reuters' default source was the IDF.

Love this film

Oh yes! That would be brilliant, thank you!😍

Collaboration, Conflict, and Integration: Tracing Pakistani Migrant Networks in China This paper examines transnational networks of Pakistani migrants in two Chinese cities, Guangzhou and Shaoxing. It investigates how five key migrant networks (interpersonal, caste-based, religious,...

So proud of my dear friend Ahmad Ali Shah, who has just published his first scholarly work with @criticasianstds.bsky.social, exploring how Pakistani migrant networks sustain their lives and identities in China. An important contribution to the study of South-South migration.
doi.org/10.1080/1467...

What is a “regime”? Three definitions and their implications for the future of regime studies This article examines how scholars use the concept of “regime” in comparative politics to provide stronger conceptual foundations for the future development of regime studies. We analyse 196 articl...

Not sure if this is what you are after (and apologies for the self-promotion), but my co-authors Licia Cianetti and Gianni Del Panta and I recently published this piece that categorises different approaches to regimes:
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Hope it is useful!

Over the next two weeks, we're showcasing the work of our interdisciplinary experts in the University of Exeter’s Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Cornwall. Today our first video features Prof. Catriona Pennell's work on forgetting.
To find out more visit: hass-cornwall.exeter.ac.uk

My first proper stadium gig. What a spine-tingling, indescribable feeling to stand in a crowd of 90,000 people singing the same lyrics that we all know off by heart #Oasis25