Dr Barbara Eichner's Avatar

Dr Barbara Eichner

@barbaraeichner.bsky.social

Music historian, author of "History in Mighty Sounds" and a perenially half-written study of music in monasteries and nunneries around 1600. Loves country walks, reading, sightseeing, archaeology.

744 Followers  |  529 Following  |  781 Posts  |  Joined: 20.11.2024  |  2.0138

Latest posts by barbaraeichner.bsky.social on Bluesky


I salute the use of "ratatouille" as a verb.

23.02.2026 16:40 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 1    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0
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UK university staff: please complete our survey about redundancies Whether you are an academic or professional services staff member, employed or unemployed, we areย keen to hear yourย views

UK university staff: if your department/division has lost staff recently, how much has it increased your workload, damaged morale and worsened the student experience? Please let us know your views in our UK Redundancy Survey. @timeshighered.bsky.social

23.02.2026 14:17 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 2    ๐Ÿ” 7    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 2

Said nobody in the humanities ever.

23.02.2026 13:30 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 12    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

True, but I remember many students who just wanted to finish the assignment as quickly as possible, without attempting to play and explore, well before GenAI was widely available.

22.02.2026 17:59 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 1    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Don't jinx it.

21.02.2026 21:14 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 1    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

King Ralph!

21.02.2026 21:03 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 1    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Surely the rule about Catholics could be changed if need be, and if the CoE finds a workaround? The rule about divorced spouses was changed, too, after all.

21.02.2026 21:03 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 0    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

I wouldn't have expected a woman complaining about it. Shouldn't GB News employees be against all that woke EDI nonsense?

21.02.2026 17:53 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 4    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

But the very point is that the royal authority is *not* being used to shield a former prince.

21.02.2026 10:54 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 0    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Then Charlotte might take over and decide to make a success of being a royal, like her mother did.

21.02.2026 10:51 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 0    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

With his firm stand for the rule of law, King Charles compares favourably with the feckless nepotism of the Trump circle.

21.02.2026 10:48 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 0    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

And rightly so.

21.02.2026 09:48 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 2    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Possibly not why they went into law, but why they became corporate lawyers.

18.02.2026 21:19 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 1    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Such cowards.

18.02.2026 21:15 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 2    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Itโ€™s going to sound quaint, but the best way to resist an AI takeover of the humanities is to assign physical books, sit around, read them, and argue about ideas. Academic has become such a competitive arena, that we ourselves are trained to look for the winning angle, instead of the best education.

17.02.2026 16:42 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 619    ๐Ÿ” 123    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 17    ๐Ÿ“Œ 19

Odd number as in 5, 7, 13?

17.02.2026 19:41 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 2    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

I asked Jacqui Smith last year what other models she was looking at to avoid getting stuck in thinking the US and Australia are the only ways of running a higher education sector.

Her response?

That she didn't have time for that...

The deliberate ignorance is going to kill us all.

17.02.2026 16:59 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 59    ๐Ÿ” 15    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 2

Something a little bizarre with a UK debate over a failing funding model with higher education whose primary benchmark of comparison is a high fees US model rather than much nearer EU member state models that manage to put university teaching together with low or no tuition fees.

17.02.2026 09:10 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 194    ๐Ÿ” 50    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 8    ๐Ÿ“Œ 6

Then why did one university settle out of court and pay up, if there is nothing in it?

17.02.2026 17:48 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 0    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Sueing universities means treating them like businesses, making a few go under, and treating the lecturers with contempt. Non if which will bring back free HE.

17.02.2026 17:48 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 5    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

And if you insist on using the term "service", then show us where in-person teaching was promised.

17.02.2026 17:46 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 2    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Students were not locked into their accommodation by (all) universities. Most of the students I taught at the time went home to family, or stayed in their shared houses. And lecturers were in lockdown, too, which was at least unpleasant,and at worst back-breaking.

17.02.2026 17:43 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 1    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

During the pandemic, nobody got the life they expected. Including university lecturers.

17.02.2026 17:33 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 9    ๐Ÿ” 1    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

But with Martin Wolf's piece on this today in mind, the claim that UK policymakers had no other practical and moral option than squeezing a loans and fees ratchet for higher ed does not mesh well with very different financing choices made around the EU.

17.02.2026 09:16 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 63    ๐Ÿ” 4    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 3    ๐Ÿ“Œ 3

If you force public institutions to behave like enterprises, it's no surprise that the market rules supreme. See also the NHS.

17.02.2026 17:13 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 2    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 0    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

The debt is not the fault of the students, or the lecturers, or ven the universities, but of successive governments. Otjer countries fund their HE systems very differently, because they consider an educated populace a public good.

17.02.2026 08:07 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 1    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

You lost me at "useless courses".

16.02.2026 21:22 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 1    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Universities wouldn't mind having an adequate teaching grant instead of the fickle student fees.

16.02.2026 20:27 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 2    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Maybe she should read Blyton's "Famous 5", where one of the main characters is a short-haired girl called "George". Or maybe "Mallory Towers" where horse-mad "Bill" even gets to perform the baron in the Cinderella pantomime.

16.02.2026 17:55 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 8    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

Whatever the institutions are "selling", most lecturers resist viewing and treating students as "customers".

16.02.2026 17:50 โ€” ๐Ÿ‘ 1    ๐Ÿ” 0    ๐Ÿ’ฌ 1    ๐Ÿ“Œ 0

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