Jade Shepherd

OpenAI claims new GPT-5 model boosts ChatGPT to ‘PhD level’ GPT-5's release comes as tech firms continue to compete in an effort to claim the world's most advanced AI.

Obviously a lie, since the definition of PhD-level expertise, standard across universities worldwide, is that you can produce original knowledge.

Front cover of book; civilian men queuing to become soldiers

Delighted to see that my book Joining Up is published today, a mere 11 years after I started writing it. You can read it for free here: doi.org/10.7765/9781...
@manchesterup.bsky.social

Hey... our July titles in Modern History are all #OpenAccess on manchesterhive.com 🔓

Available from 29 July, these books are new in our @sshmedicine.bsky.social & Cultural History of Modern War series.

Feat. @sarahcrook.bsky.social, Joel Morley & more.

Ground-breaking research, completely free.

THIS.

Petition: Raise statutory maternity/paternity pay to match the National Living Wage Statutory maternity and paternity pay is £4.99 per hour for a full-time worker on 37.5 hours per week - approximately 59% less than the 2024 National Living Wage of £12.21 per hour for workers aged 21...

The government response to this petition is infuriating.
“Maternity and other types of Parental Pay are intended to provide a measure of financial security to support parents whilst they are away from the workplace; they are not a replacement of earnings” except they literally are??? Please sign:

What we're doing in the uni sector is shutting off routes for kids with Bs and Cs to do key (and prestigious) subjects, and closing down the ability of young people to go to the local uni just when it becomes ruinous expensive to go way. Will have incalculable consequences for social mobility.

Is there a better time to read and review books than summer? I don't think so - and I'm looking for reviewers for lots of titles for the Journal of Contemporary History. We now do review articles of up to 4,000 words, covering three books. These and many more are up for grabs:

When Universities are mismanaged or run into financial issues, it's always the staff and NEVER the management who lose their jobs.

On the contrary, they get above-inflation pay rises that are the equivalent to one or two of the full time jobs they cut.

How and why do we let this happen?

It's notable that the only student speech frequently shut down on university campuses is a) pro-Palestine b) pro-trans-rights. The OfS seems *deeply* unconcerned about that speech being limited. In fact, they want academics who oppose those positions to have the right to 'shock and offend' students.

Last year we ran a survey on UK HE redundancies.

Based on 349 responses, the UNIVERSITIES DEGRADED REPORT uncovers awful conditions, targeting of marginalised groups, & far more cuts than estimated.

People's stories matter. We can hold leaders to account. Please share widely tinyurl.com/48nzf7ew

Job Opportunity at Lancaster University: Lecturer in Modern History (Teaching and Scholarship) Lecturer in Modern History (Teaching and Scholarship)The School of Global Affairs at Lancaster University is seeking to appoint a new Lecturer in Modern History (Teaching and Scholarship).* This is a ...

We are currently advertising for a 1-year fixed term 0.8 FTE post in Modern History at Lancaster. It goes without saying that it would have been nice had it been a F/T post but, in the current climate, it is something ...

hr-jobs.lancs.ac.uk/Vacancy.aspx...

Exterior view of Armstrong Building, Newcastle University, red brick, neo-Gothic-ish architecture with many windows.

Newcastle University staff invited to a ‘Doodling for Wellbeing’ session (‘Let your pen dance across the page' in 'a perfect escape from the everyday hustle and bustle'. Invites sent on same day 153 academics were informed of their location in 'redundancy pools', with 38 redundancies planned. 1/2

Good, thanks. Hope all’s well with you. It’s a great project (& fab team) - still can’t believe my luck.

Such brilliant news, Leah. Congratulations!

this is in fact true for almost all early years interventions, which is yet another reason why the lack of childcare support in the UK is criminal

A fringe group of bigoted weirdos have dragged British media, government, and law into their hateful obsession with trans people. Grim, depressing, and dangerous. Everyone with power in the UK who's played along should be ashamed of themselves.

Making the Case for History: A View from the Royal Historical Society Lucy Noakes on how the crisis in UK higher education is impacting history and historians, and how the Royal Historical Society can advocate for our discipline.

How is the crisis in higher education impacting history and historians in the UK?

Lucy Noakes on the scale of cuts and closures, and how the Royal Historical Society (@royalhistsoc.org) can advocate for our discipline.
www.historyworkshop....

The “you might die” part of childbirth seems to escape pronatalists. I mean, aside from death, pregnancy also causes medical problems (life long!) for many ppl.

This. An emergency recall of parliament on a weekend for British Steel. Nothing at all for UK HE which employs far more people, has already shed 10,000 academic jobs, with several institutions on the brink of collapse.

A reminder: we train all the doctors, teachers, engineers, nurses, lawyers &c &c

University of Lincoln warns of potential job cuts The University of Lincoln says the majority of the cuts would be through voluntary redundancy.

Our second university of the day shedding jobs is Lincoln, much-praised for its superb innovative teaching and with a host of awards for it. Every single day in Higher Ed is like this, and every day will be like this until someone gets a grip. 🇬🇧 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Given the government is now looking at 'all options' for steel, as it's of 'huge strategic importance', here's a reminder of how localised steel employment (important though these jobs are) stacks up against HE as an employer and life float for numerous towns and cities in many neglected areas 👇

University of Lincoln warns of potential job cuts The University of Lincoln says the majority of the cuts would be through voluntary redundancy.

In the second wave of significant staff cuts and course closures, #ucu will be demanding #nocompulsoryredundancies www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Just awful. I’m very sorry to hear this, Cath. Such a horrible thing to go through. Solidarity.

University of Derby staff face mass job cuts as management plans to axe half of senior academics University of Derby staff face mass job cuts as management plans to axe half of senior academics

University of Derby faces mass job cuts as management plans to make half of senior academics redundant. Please spread the word. www.ucu.org.uk/article/1398...

Interesting to see what universities get fined record amounts for and what they don't. Trans inclusion policies are apparently many times more damaging than, for example, failing to resolve industrial disputes so graduations are delayed & students lose opportunities.

to be clear here, the ‘Office for Students’ supported by the UK Government is fining a university for upholding its duty of care to its trans and non-binary students, and ensuring they’re protected from discrimination as required under the Equaily Act 2010

Apropos nothing: a university educator who sees more importance in their unfettered right to harm their students than in their duty to safeguard and support those students should never, ever, ever see the inside of a classroom.

Oh wow I’ve just looked at this properly again against the fee rises due to NI contribution rule changes. And when our toddler goes from having 15 to 30 free hours a month, the cost will… go up by £9 a month.

A Decade of Crisis The UK's universities are in crisis. Dave Hitchcock on how the sector became 'broken' and why it must be understood as an interdependent system.

UK universities are in crisis.

Dave Hitchcock (@davehitchcock.bsky.social) on how the sector became 'broken' and why it must be approached as an interdependent system.

www.historyworkshop....

The UK university sector is on fire. This is happening virtually everywhere -- job cuts, hiring freezes, department closures, PhD funding programmes... full blown crisis