Call for papers: "Humour in Children’s Literature & Media."

For a session at the conference of the European Society for the Study of English.

The conference will take place in Spain from 31 August to 4 September, 2026.

Abstracts are due by 31 January, 2026.

www.esse2026.com/media/upload...

The 36th Conference of the International Society for Humor Studies will be held in Brazil between July 6th and 10th. The conference website is live (ishs2026.org) and the call for papers and panel proposals are open: ishs2026.org

#humour #humor #event #conference

Do we need humanities graduates to deliver the industrial strategy? Policymakers should take a broad view of the value of degree courses when building our future workforce, says Charlotte Hallahan

'Study in SHAPE disciplines – social sciences, humanities and the arts – develops the skills that underpin a modern workforce: critical thinking, communication and creativity. These are not peripheral to the industrial strategy but essential to it.' 1/3

Blood spilled in Sudan can be seen from space. Nobody can feign ignorance about what’s going on | Nesrine Malik The massacres carried out by the RSF in El Fasher, Darfur, with the support of its UAE sponsors, will only stop when the international community acts, says Guardian columnist Nesrine Malik

Blood spilled in Sudan can be seen from space. Nobody can feign ignorance about what’s going on | Nesrine Malik

Bodleian Visiting Fellowships in Special Collections

Applications are now open for the Ann Ball Bodley Visiting Fellowship in Women’s History at @bodleian.ox.ac.uk offering scholars the opportunity to advance research in women’s history.

Find full details: www.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/csb/fellowsh...

#WomensHistory #ResearchFellowship #BodleianLibraries

This Thursday #TeamRE

Photo showing an article from the latest Private Eye on the Unite dispute which exposes UCU management's hypocrisy, in particular highlighting a quote from an SMT member that strongly suggests our action short of a strike (ie, continue doing your job but office attendance remains voluntary as it has done over the last five years) is somehow irresponsible.

ASOS which is "work in the same way you’ve done for years" is not irresponsible. It's protecting our members until a fair & equitable hybrid policy is agreed.

UCU SMT then deducting 100% of daily pay from staff taking ASOS & undermining its own policy?

Now that’s irresponsible.

Peter J. Hemming, Anna Strhan, Joanna Malone and Sarah Neal Schooling citizenship and character in a therapeutic society https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00380261251388719 The Sociological Review #OnlineFirst

How does the therapeutic ethos manifest itself in Britain’s primary schools?

@drpeterjhemming.bsky.social and co-authors take a closer look at the post-COVID mental health crisis, religion and unrecognised complexities.

#OpenAccess @journals.sagepub.com @leverhulme.ac.uk buff.ly/gIv2osH

⚠ NEW: Because of a broken down train at #Chartham trains are currently being delayed, altered or cancelled.
🎫 Tickets can be used on Stagecoach buses between Canterbury West and Ashford.
ℹ More info to follow

Speaking of voices under attack…can we be just as loud about Black journalists and comedians who are silenced, even by our so-called liberal outlets.

• Joy Reid
• Don Lemon
• Melissa Harris-Perry
• Tiffany Cross
• Jemele Hill
• Marc Lamont Hill
• Karen Attiah
• Amber Ruffin

Whether it’s paracetamol or something else, Trump and co are perpetuating the idea autism is wrong and disability is an individual’s responsibility to avoid. It’s anti-science but it’s deeply ableist at its core. The goal is for non-disabled to be afraid and disabled people to be ashamed.

There's just 5 days left to snag the early bird registration rates for those who will be attending our fifth biennial conference on "Emotions at the Borders/Limits" in person. Don't miss out! Register now to confirm your attendance! societyhistoryemotions.com/she-conferen...

First post of the new academic year and it's a good one: JOBS! There are THREE fixed-term research jobs in @kingshistory.bsky.social attached to my colleague Francisco Bethencourt's new ERC project on the Visual and Material Culture of New Christians. Please circulate!

#EarlyModern 🗃️

Call for Papers: Special Issue of Feminist Legal Studies Feminist Responses to the Regression of Trans Rights: Strategies, Alliances, Hope Amidst continuing backlash against trans rights, recognition and inclusion, two recent decisions from the UK have substantially impacted not only trans people’s legal status but also legal and social narratives of sex, gender and identity. The narrative that trans inclusion has a chilling effect on the rights of others, particularly women, has been adopted uncritically by both the UK Supreme Court in For Women Scotland and the Office for Students in its finding that the University of Sussex’s trans-inclusion policy had a chilling effect on free speech. These cases highlight a backlash that has been ongoing for some time, and sparks debates and fear of what may lie in the near future for trans people and kin, as well as other gender-variant persons, not only in the UK, but across jurisdictions and in a global perspective. The discourse of the ‘gender critical’ movement is splintering both the feminist and LGBT+ movements globally, with some aligning politically with the Far- and Christian Right against trans rights, adopting their terminology of ‘gender ideology’ and potentially posing a wider threat to sexual and reproductive rights. While this a difficult situation for trans people, kin and allies, this special issue seeks to emphasise that legal battles – including battles (temporarily) lost – are also an opportunity to seek to reinforce old alliances and to form new ones, to find new legal frontiers and imaginaries, to reinforce the theoretical and methodological underpinnings of legal arguments as well as intergenerational memory of what feminist legal work is, has been and should be about. How, we ask, do these decisions (and those like them globally) reflect and reproduce structures of coloniality, heteronormativity and cisnormativity? What do these decisions add to critiques of legal feminism? What would be construct…

📣🏳️‍⚧️ Call for Papers

We are inviting papers for our special issue, “Feminist Responses to the Regression of Trans Rights: Strategies, Alliances, Hope.” The issue will be dedicated to trans-inclusive feminist legal analysis that addresses attacks on trans rights & lives.

Details below. Please share.

If you write professionally in the UK, make sure to sign up to ALCS for your fair share of royalties

can't really begin to explain the extent to which I do Not want to be filmed without my knowledge by someone wearing smart glasses while out and about

Protect Migrants’ Rights: Keep the Helpline Open JCWI is a charity for immigration welfare and rights. For more than half a century, We’ve helped tens of thousands of people secure their status, keep their families together and escape poverty.

As the far right mobilises, migrants across the UK face enormous challenges.

Our free legal helpline is a lifeline — but it’s running out of funding.

Help us keep it open.

Every donation counts.

www.crowdjustice.com/case/protect...

Silence is complicity. Free Palestine.

Queen

man rolling rock up hill how it started how its going

Banks tighten debt terms as squeezed UK universities refinance loans Almost half of the sector’s providers run a deficit, as some institutions secure funding against campus sites

Banks tighten debt terms as squeezed UK universities refinance loans on.ft.com/41Vxsxt

I can imagine, if there’s anything that can be done to help please do ask!

I am but really feel for everyone going through even more turmoil!

SSEMV Network - SSEMV Events We host regular online meetings. If you would like to find out about upcoming network meetings, you can join our JISCmail mailing list, or contact Owen Abbott abbotto1@cardiff.ac.uk or Anna Strhan ann...

Some great events coming up in our Social Studies of Ethics, Morality, and Values Network exploring affirmative action and the judging of cat shows, the possibility of political depolarization, and values at the end of life.

All are warmly welcome!

Details and link to register:

Sending strength and solidarity!

Charlie Kirk was killed for saying things "that used to be simple common sense," says Boris Johnson.

Here's a few of those things

Wales has 'cold spots' in higher education, with many students unable to study subjects like Modern Languages, Classics and Anthropology close to home. ITV Wales covers our report today. https://bit.ly/4nmZf21

To celebrate The Cambridge Companion to Stand-Up Comedy being published by Cambridge University Press I present episode one of a series of videos.

In each episode, I'll read out my favourite sentence from one of the chapters.

Grants for writers facing financial difficulty As our research into authors’ incomes demonstrates, a career in writing is often financially precarious. If you’re currently facing financial difficulties, whether that be due to an unexpected bill or...

The Royal Literary Fund are offering grants to writers facing financial difficulties. If you're currently experiencing difficulties, such as an illness or unexpected bill, you might be eligible to receive support.