Kathryn Telling

Pros and cons of Bristol's university boom as students set to return Tens of thousands of students will be arriving in Bristol in the coming weeks

The government's lack of any plan for Higher Education means that 1 in 7 Bristolians is now a student. The city's housing crisis is out of control and it's 20,000 beds short even in terms of student dwellings. Nothing will be done.
www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol...

Delighted to see this paper out, co-written with Julia Loginovic where we think about what the #SDGs mean. Rather than concern for their apparent failure we argue they do exactly what they're supposed to: commodify and socialise ever more parts of the world under so-called "neoliberal" hegemony ...

Linking sex attacks to migration is 'dangerous racist diversion' warning In a letter to Keir Starmer and Yvette Cooper, organisations including Rape Crisis England and Wales, the End Violence Against Women Coalition and Refuge called on ministers to stand up to the 'dangerous narrative'

We stand w/ 200+ orgs rejecting weaponising violence against women & girls for anti-migrant agendas. Govt & media fuel racist narratives pitting survivors & migrants against each other. Falsehoods like these don’t keep women safe, they distract from tackling gender-based violence.
t.co/50I5sp1kCI

New materials highlighting #HiddenRedundancies As part of our campaign against casualisation and cuts in further and higher education, UCU's Anti-Casualisation Committee, in collaboration with UCU member Thoko Kamwendo, has developed a series of l...

There are cool campaigning materials from #UCU/@ucu.org.uk
www.ucu.org.uk/article/1412...

Also worth looking at for some depth is the independent report by @beccaeharrison.bsky.social and @davidharvie.bsky.social "Hidden redundancies"
zenodo.org/records/1563...

🎓 40 brilliant Palestinian students have pushed through war, loss & destruction - just for the chance to study.

Now UK bureaucracy is standing in their way.

✍️ Students & alumni: sign & share the open letter.
We’re at 3,000 - let’s hit 10,000 by Sunday.

🔗 linktr.ee/thegaza40

#Gaza40

Call for Full Papers Sociology is looking for papers that engage with the question of normativity in sociology. Deadline for full paper submission is 22 January 2026. Read the full CFP now. https://www.britsoc.co.uk/media/26815/socsi_normative_turn_dl220126.pdf

Call for Full Papers

Sociology is looking for papers that engage with the question of normativity in sociology.

Deadline for full paper submission is 22 January 2026. Read the full CFP now.
www.britsoc.co.uk/media/26815/...

Great to see the inaugural issue of the Journal of Global Higher Education out, ed. by @jlmittelmeier.bsky.social @selomer42.bsky.social @cmathies.bsky.social & @melwhat.bsky.social. A new model for rigorous, open-access publishing. @educationuom.bsky.social journal.libraries.wm.edu/global_highe...

Just a reminder that the Edinburgh redundancies are, to all evidence, ones purely of choice. They are not cash strapped or likely to be. They just aren’t making as much surplus as they’d like.

The Government promised a 4% pay rise but is only funding under 3%. That leaves schools with a £600 million shortfall, which will mean more cuts to vital services.

Schools can’t afford more cuts.✂️

Vote here.👉 NEUActivate.com

#FundFairPay #SaveOurSchools

Stop calling it “AI literacy” if it doesn’t teach history — Civics of Technology Underneath a futuristic veneer, large language models (and their makers) tell stories that perpetuate familiar stereotypes and repackage dangerous imperialist ideologies. Yet, ironically, most AI lite...

"Many AI literacy programs are billed as preparing all students for a future where AI is ubiquitous. But to truly empower all students, any form of literacy must be grounded in history – particularly history told from the viewpoints of non-dominant groups" - Evan Shieh at @civicsoftech.bsky.social.

I've just stood down as external examiner for Newcastle University's BA Education. This excellent degree, its hard-working students and talented staff deserve so much more than the behaviour of the University management to date. Solidarity with all striking @newcastleucu.bsky.social colleagues.

Exactly this. What’s striking across the HE-bonfire-board is the meanness, the triviality, the TINY amounts saved in these cuts. Lives ruined through job loss at worst, fear/burnout/disengagement at best. And for truly trivial savings compared to the cost of one yachted-in management consultant

Mass redundancies will trash the reputation of UK universities It may be difficult to enter on to a balance sheet but some weaker institutions may struggle to recover from reputational damage, says Nick Megoran

Opinion: It may be difficult to enter on to a balance sheet but some weaker institutions may struggle to recover from reputational damage caused by mass redundancies, says Nick Megoran
#AcademicSky

Edinburgh Principal Sir Peter Mathieson flummoxed when asked what he earns.

He’s had a 7.5% pay rise, makes more than the First Minister and UK PM combined and still “isn’t quite sure” what he’s paid.

Meanwhile, staff face £140m cuts. @ucuscotland.bsky.social
#ucu #CutTheCuts

Legal challenge: EHRC guidance is either wrong in law or breaches human rights | Good Law Project Guidance that excludes trans people faces challenge in the High Court.

Am pleased to say we have now issued in the High Court our claim against the EHRC. Its position on toilets is, we believe quite clearly, unlawful. goodlaw.social/20ku

Inside Asylum Appeals: Access, Participation and Procedure in Europe Appeals are a crucial part of Europe’s asylum system but they remain poorly understood. Building on insights and perspectives from legal geography and socio-legal studies, this book shines a light on ...

Another recent open-access book some will find interesting: Inside Asylum Appeals by Nick Gill and others. It's a comparative study involving observations of appeal hearings + research interviews covering Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Italy and the UK. www.routledge.com/Inside-Asylu...

Children's agency in the national curriculum: The promise of structured freedom An international seminar and book launch including new research on how children's voices and choices shape their learning.

🤔 What exactly is agency, and why does it matter in schools?

At this hybrid seminar, Prof. @markrpriestley.bsky.social will unpack the slippery concept of agency in education, challenging common myths and calling for clarity in theory and practice.

🗓️ 24 June 2025

www.ucl.ac.uk/ioe/events/2...

Registration is now open for this BSA event on making and using sociological archives with contributions from a range of established and emerging researchers as well as archives. Includes a workshop led by Rachel Thomson on creative repurposing of qualitative data. Book your place by 13th June.

NEW on Wonkhe: Steven Jones makes the case for a new ethical code to empower university governors to stand up for students, staff and the public value of higher education buff.ly/hR1dEeI

Great to see this BERA Blog Special Issue on Tertiary Education out!

Join us for our free 1-day end-of-project conference on 19th June at Friends House, London! We'll share our key findings & recommendations and discuss all things #schoolmeals with some great people including @sharonhodgsonmp.bsky.social!
#histed
Register here:
www.eventbrite.com/e/the-school...

📣 The School of Education is working with the sector to shape priorities for the new Centre for Teaching Excellence. We’re keen to talk with teachers across Scotland in focus groups that will inform our national survey.

Find out more and sign up here:

www.gla.ac.uk/schools/educ...

Please share!

Join us for a virtual conversation exploring global resistance to democratic backsliding. We’ll discuss how social movements are pushing back against right-wing regimes around the world, with a focus on immigration, higher eduction, and gender and reproductive justice. Register: bit.ly/CBSMevent

The book cover of a "Pole For Grandma" by Ingeborg Haffert

How do histories of the German 'Third Reich' play out in care of older people today? In the piece below (with @probursula.bsky.social), I look at, among other things, how Nationalsocialist discourse still frames client-carer relationships in care (1-5): www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Deeply uncomfortable with the "world-leading universities" rhetoric as a justification for doubling down on reliance on overseas student fees.

British universities are world-leading research institutions, but that doesn't necessarily bleed over into providing world-leading teaching experiences.

YouTube video by Dundee UCU We Are The 632: University of Dundee staff speak out

632 job cuts have been proposed by the executive team at the University of Dundee.

Today we launch our first full-length video that highlights the devastating impact this news is having on staff, and how this will affect Dundee.

Please share to amplify our voice. #WeAreThe632

youtu.be/oXkCu-bruiI

🎧'I tend not to think of my work as giving voice...I like to think of it as making space' Claire Alexander on @sociologicalreview.bsky.social #UncommonSense 'Voice' ep w Dan McCulloch Belinda Scarlett @wcmlibrary.bsky.social & @michaelacbenson.bsky.social
thesociologicalreview.org/podcasts/unc...

My university is one of the largest employers *in the county*. Many of the non-academics who work here are people with caring responsibilities or school-aged children, working part-time, people with partners who are employed outside the university.

The impact of job losses will be excrutiating.

Job titles matter for inclusive and meaningful work What’s in a name? Russell Warhurst and Kate Black argue that not all academic role nomenclatures are equal What’s in a name? Russell Warhurst and Kate Black argue that not all academic role nomenclatu...

This is an interesting take on something I hadn't thought about much before. 'Reader' is definitely the best academic job title though. I like to imagine going back to tell my twelve-year-old self that when she grows up people will pay her to read, really. wonkhe.com/blogs/job-ti...

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📣 Event Klaxon! 📣

Campus Geographies of the Student Experience at SRHE - 29th of April - looking at how the physical elements of universities feature in students' lives in different ways.

🎓🏫 Registration and details below: it's in person, with online attendance possible.
srhe.ac.uk/civicrm/?civ...