Dr Laura Fernández-González

PSU Press | Art History & Architecture-Latin American A listing of the books published by Penn State University Press in the subject of Art History & Architecture-Latin American.

It's lovely to see my book, 'Philip II of Spain and the Architecture of Empire', among excellent books in the 'new and best-selling books' from one of the Penn State University Press' subject series, namely, Art and Architectural History -Latin America, here: www.psupress.org/books/subjec...

UK project launched to advance OA for long-form research - Research Information UKRI-funded, sector-led initiative will support institutions in developing policy, guidance, and practice around open access

Working on #OAbooks or in Humanities or Social Sciences academic book publication (through a learned society, press or OA initiative)? Don't be left out in the cold (project contact address in link below).

New job at UCL History of Art @uclhistoryofart.bsky.social 'Lecturer in History of Art, Materials, and Technology'. Deadline 1 March. Please circulate/apply!
www.ucl.ac.uk/work-at-ucl/...

More news about this year's conference season :)

Excited about this lecture about my research on early modern Goa at the University of Manchester (13 May). Looking forward to discussing with colleagues.

Register here: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/building-e...

Screenshot of the announcement of the SAH conference programme

Details about the panel in which I will speak about the Colonial Building Industry in the Americas

17:434 川 Program Session Chairs: Alexander Wood, Massachusetts College of Art and Design Room: Doña Socorro 10:30 AM Introduction 10:35 AM Building Colonial Lima: Indigenous, African and European Architects and Builders., Laura Fernández-González, University of Lincoln, United Kingdom 10:50 AM Mastering the System: Regulating Labor in colonial America c. 1720, Erik Carver, USC, USA 11:05 AM Constructing a Royal Mint: State Building and Labor in the Andes, Lucia Galaretto, Columbia University, USA 11:20 AM Two Hundred Years of Construction: Fortifying Old Point Comfort and the Emergence of the Building Industry, Michael Osman, UCLA, USA 11:35 AM From Knowledge to Capital: Early Timber-Architecture Education and the Rise of the Construction Industry in Colonial New England (1650-1750), Sky Ming Li, China; Jieyi Wu, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China; and Jie Liu, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China AM Q&A/Discussion

The programme for the Society of Architectural Historians’ conference in Mexico City has been announced.

The variety of themes is wonderful. I’m excited to speak about my research on architects and builders of colonial Lima!

See the programme in this link: sah.org/conferences/...

YouTube video by Royal Ballet and Opera Rosalía – Berghain (opera cover)

Jacquelyn Stucker covers Rosalía's single 'Berghain' with violinist Stefano Montanari and pianist Hannah Quinn

Rosalía – Berghain-Lux (opera cover). Royal Opera House

www.youtube.com/watch?v=pK0q...

YouTube video by Royal Ballet and Opera Rosalía – Berghain (opera cover)

Jacquelyn Stucker covers Rosalía's single 'Berghain' with violinist Stefano Montanari and pianist Hannah Quinn

Rosalía – Berghain-Lux (opera cover). Royal Opera House

www.youtube.com/watch?v=pK0q...

Representation of people from Malabar in Linschoten's Itinerario. Etching, black ink over paper.

This fellow, found in one of the etchings from Linschoten's Itinerario, spoke to me in dreams last night. I cannot recall what he said.

Retired or soon to be retired UK HE or IRO researcher, or 'retired' but still holding PT position up to 0.5FTE?

Awards of £k-£24 k available from @leverhulme.ac.uk to support your research. The deadline is 4pm 29 January 2026.

"Friendship Is Equality; A Friend Is Another Self" [fol. 10 recto] c. 1512/1515, French early 16th Century (National Gallery of Art) Two male friends holding a heart, above them allegorical figures of ANIMUS holding a scale and the hands of two blindfolded women with their hands on a wheel https://www.nga.gov/artworks/86038-friendship-equality-friend-another-self-fol-10-recto

Friendship Is Equality; A Friend Is Another Self!

Welcome new followers! Here are a few tips for succeeding on Bluesky from the Speculum principis, c. 1512:

Art Cure by Daisy Fancourt, professor of psychobiology and epidemiology at University College London, brings together numerous research projects confirming what we have always suspected - art is good for us. It helps us enjoy happier, healthier and longer lives. One study found that people who engaged regularly with the arts had a 31% lower risk of dying at any point during the follow-up period, even when confounding socioeconomic, demographic and health factors were taken into account. Studies also show that visiting museums and attending live music events can make people physiologically younger, and a monthly cultural activity almost halves our chances of depression. As Fancourt argues, if a drug boasted such benefits governments would be pouring billions into it. Instead, funding has been slashed across the culture sector and arts education has been devalued and eroded in the UK.

‘If a drug boasted such benefits [as the arts] governments would be pouring billions into it. Instead, funding has been slashed across the culture sector.’
www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

CoMMA: thousands of medieval manuscripts finally transcribed Transcribing thousands of medieval manuscripts by hand would be a monumental undertaking. Fortunately, researchers in computational humanities at the Inria Paris Centre have been able to automate the ...

Nice bit of digital humanities here - using AI to transcribe more than 32,000 manuscripts in the space of a few months. But with two years of preparation in training the model and creating standards for automating manuscript transcription
www.inria.fr/en/comma-med...

Bodega El Molino

Torre Riquelme in the Bodegas Fundador

Bodega de La Luz

Bodega El Molino

I was lucky enough to visit the splendid Bodegas Fundador -Domecq before travelling today

Thank you, Carsten. That’s my hope too. But because of a fault in their system we almost lost our flight from the UK, and I won’t trust any logic will be applied until I see it… also good luck to whoever sits besides our 2-year old…

Interior arches in the bodega La Mezquita

Andanas and arches in the Bodega La Mezquita

Tremendous interior with sherry wine casks and arches in the bodega

Bodega La Mezquita, 1974, Domecq, Jerez

Stork over a cloudy sky

Santiago’s Church bell tower with a a stork’s nest in Jerez

Grey clouds over the Plaza San Juan in Jerez with the Pemartín palace and a renaissance townhouse on the left hand side

Storks and grey clouds over palaces and churches in Jerez

#stork #greyclouds #winterscenes

Mensaje de la presidenta von der Leyen con motivo del 40.º aniversario de la adhesión de España a la Unión Europea "Todos hemos salido ganando gracias a nuestra estrecha colaboración. Habéis enriquecido Europa con vuestra cultura y con vuestra increíble creatividad."

40 years ago today Spain joined the European Union.

What a lovely anniversary; happy new year 🥳

spain.representation.ec.europa.eu/noticias-eve...

A handwritten text in Spanish: Vaso grande Medianos Mas mas medianos Mas medianitos

This inventory lists several types of medium-sized glasses: medium-sized, more more medium-sized, more little medium-sized. It is like middle class in neoliberalism, everybody thinks they are in it so there are like 600 levels of middle class 😂 #skystorians

Sun gleaming on the Playa de la Caleta

Sun gleaming on the rocks and the fort at the end, Playa de la Caleta, Cádiz

A pair of seagulls flying over the back of the Catedral nueva de Cádiz

Domes and towers of the Old and the New Cathedrals of Cádiz

Tacita de Plata; sunshine gleaming over the sea in Cádiz.

The Old and the New Cathedrals on a bright blue skyline

Statue of St Michael framed by organge tree branches

Medieval tower in Jerez

González Byass cellar

Cathedral of Jerez

St Michael of the Oranges 🍊 and a lovely afternoon stroll in Jerez

Thank you! Tulane is an amazing place and all good wishes for your work too!

Gracias, Víctor!

Dr Laura Fernández-González awarded an inaugural Jim and Penny Morrill Research grant | Staff News | University of Lincoln Dr Laura Fernández-González's project for the Jim and Penny Morrill grant explores the social organisation of the building trades in colonial Peru.

I look forward to returning to Tulane. Mil gracias!

staffnews.lincoln.ac.uk/2025/12/22/d...

Dr Laura Fernández-González elected to the Board of Trustees of the Society of Architectural Historian of GB | Staff News | University of Lincoln Congratulations to Dr Laura Fernández-González who has been elected to the Board of Trustees of the Society of Architectural Historians GB (SAHGB).

Very grateful for these two pieces of good news; a wonderful Christmas gift.

I’m honoured to join the SAHGB’s Board of Trustees

staffnews.lincoln.ac.uk/2025/12/22/d...

Volume 68 of Architectural History - SAHGB The issue features eight articles, twenty book reviews, and a special collection of tributes to the late Howard Burns.

Volume 68 of Architectural History, the Society’s principal publication, has been published. Printed copies will soon be delivered to Society members.

The cover depicts the spiralling Eternit Tower at the 1958 Brussels World’s Fair.

sahgb.org.uk/features/architectural-history-volume-68

SAHGB has conferred the inaugural Colvin Special Award 2025 on the editors of the Pevsner Architectural Guides, recognising their renewal of this landmark series for readers across the British Isles.

Full press release on our website.
www.sahgb.org.uk/features/col...

‘From her pen sprang unforgettable females’: 16th-century Spanish author’s knight’s tale given reboot Beatriz Bernal’s pioneering novel features brave, chivalrous women who ride dragons and her adapter wants his illustrated version to reach young readers

'Though completely eclipsed by Don Quixote, Cristalián de España, which was first published in 1545, has a unique claim to fame. Its 800 pages, bristling with swords, sorcerers, dragons and damsels, make up the earliest known work by a female Spanish novelist.' 1/2

The School of Advanced Study 'has developed Reshaped, an online training platform offering free resources for humanities researchers in the UK and further afield, covering topics such as digital skills for research and open access in humanities subjects.' 1/2

For UK academic and especially Humanities researchers and others who write books. This is good news:

REF portability for long form outputs is found in 6.10.3. Screenshot here: