Dr Vessy Harizanova

“I am honoured and delighted to be appointed as Chair of the Board of Trustees for the Stuart Hall Foundation. The writing and ideas of Stuart Hall have underpinned both the teaching and research I have done throughout my academic career and, I hope, how I have done that work. Stuart was, as has often been noted, someone who thrived on a collaborative, interactive, conversational style of working. He loved the roundtable, the seminar, as well as the inter-generational encounters, whether during his university years or later when he was working in arts and cultural organisations. He always exuded a welcoming demeanour, he was, among so many other things, a sociologist of everyday life, an avid social observer. “The Stuart Hall Foundation has done so much to reflect the values that Stuart upheld, social justice, social inclusion, the necessity of extending the politics of difference, diversity and equality. Above all Stuart was one of the great thinkers of the post-war period. His contribution to cultural life today remains as important now as it has been at so many key turning points over the decades. I look forward to working with the team and contributing to the range of activities. I very much hope that we will be able to support more programmes, projects and events in a wide range of locations, nationally and internationally.”

Professor Angela McRobbie, the new Chair of the Stuart Hall Foundation, shares her thoughts on stepping into the role:

Learning to Tolerate Ease It’s funny how we always manage to find something to complain about.

I'm about 9 weeks into the PhD and I've been reflecting on how it is much more comfy and nice than what I was doing before (i.e. teaching and being busy).
Somehow that level of ease is making me uncomfy. (Capitalism huh?)
I wrote my first substack article on it:
open.substack.com/pub/underfun...

Finneas and Billie

Finneas is better at political messaging than 99% of the Democratic consultants in DC.

Graphic showing Peter Thiel - chair of Palantir Technologies - and some of the powerful figures in his network including Donald Trump, Elon Musk, Larry Ellison, Peter Mandelson, Steve Bannon

What’s happening in America is technofascism. It could happen here

Peter Thiel's data company is powering ICE operations in the US. In part 2 of the Nerve’s Palantir series, @carolecadwalla.bsky.social argues that the UK will be next - and we map Thiel’s network🧵
www.thenerve.news/p/technofasc...

16 rules of Sci Comm surrounded by various images such as snooker balls, Taylor swift and question marks

Because of huge demand (nearly a thousand people 🤯 ) @newscientist.com have made my 16 Rules of Sci Comm free and viewable on demand. Register here to get access www.newscientist.com/science-even...
If you'd like me to speak to your organisation - get in touch!

Everyone I know, myself included, is exhausted. We've got amazing students and colleagues, but we're being constantly asked to do more with less. Working long hours year round has become the norm because of the job cuts. It's benefitting no one.
#AcademicSky

What World Is This? Judith Butler on the rise of Fascism and Resistance. YouTube video by Frank Barat

What World Is This? Judith Butler on the rise of Fascism and Resistance. www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcZ1...

I can't get over how good this talk was. I can't wait to implement/repeat your amazing advice when I chat to researchers about their comms and engagement activities. Thank you!!

Thank you to @mrjamesob.bsky.social for having me on, one of the v few people in the UK press to follow this story during what is now a decade of media apathy &/or complicity

What do you do when your media org is captured? You start your own.

Introducing....The Nerve!!! @thenerve-news.bsky.social

We're all-female, journalist-owned & launching next week.

Please help us build a truly independent, progressive new media!👊👊👊

J.K. Rowling is wrong about Emma Watson Anti-trans activism covers up the reality of gender-based violence.

J.K. Rowling's anti-trans bigotry and the alt-right pipeline she's personified require her to undermine and perpetuate real misogyny, so she's browbeating a woman almost half her age who has already been subjected to plenty of sexual violence for playing Hermione
spitfirenews.com/p/jk-rowling...

Israel has just arrested Greta Thunberg and many others.

Statement from the Global Sumud Flotilla:

“People of conscience have been abducted. The flotilla broke no laws. What is illegal is Israel’s genocide, Israel’s illegal blockade of Gaza, and Israel’s use of starvation as a weapon.”
1/3

Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor · I do not have to be you: Audre Lorde’s Legacy Lorde never had to persuade her comrades about a strategy, tactic or new idea, lose an argument in order to maintain a...

‘Lorde offered a politics that dealt in the realities of survival as well as the necessity of defiance: she refused to give ground to white feminists or to a Black nationalism that assumed women’s subservience.’

@keeanga.bsky.social on Audre Lorde: www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

Into the World of Stonehenge - Trailer YouTube video by University of Reading

Step into the spectacular world of Stonehenge with Professor Duncan Garrow at the next @uniofreading.bsky.social public lecture, 14 October at 6-8pm! 🪨🌄

Register to watch the livestream now: rdg.ac/4gQGWQV

Watch the trailer: youtu.be/Lrjh7jWYXEM

Judith Butler | Trumpists against Trump Donald Trump has alienated a good number of his MAGA supporters by seeking to suppress the full disclosure of the...

‘Trump tells his supporters they have been duped by the Epstein conspiracy, but some now know that they have been duped and dismissed by him: they can see that is cloaking a confession in an allegation.’

Judith Butler on Trump and Epstein:

www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2025/au...

Still photograph of Judith Butler, wearing a black jacket and shirt, and looking into the camera. On the right of the image, white text is displayed saying: "10-Minute Talks / Gender as framework / with Judith Butler FBA

“Gender studies as a discipline…is defined by a set of debates and problematics.” In this 10-Minute Talk, Judith Butler FBA discusses gender as a field of study and its interdisciplinary contributions to research, social analysis and social movements.

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

Creating a breastfeeding-friendly workplace: Why employers hold the key - Connecting Research

This #WorldBreastfeedingWeek2025 make your workplace part of the #WarmChain of Support.

In this blog @profsarahjewell.bsky.social introduces a new toolkit designed to help employers create breastfeeding-friendly workplaces.

#PrioritiseBreastfeeding #WBW2025 #CreateSustainableSupportSystems
#WABA

Beyond the roots: exploring the link between black hair and mental health - Connecting Research

This #MentalHealthAwarenessWeek, Claudette Maharaj, Director of TRIYBE, highlights how Black hair serves as a powerful symbol of identity, culture and resilience and delves into the profound connection between Black hair and mental well-being.

What actually happens in the manosphere? As Netflix’s ‘Adolescence’ sparks a global conversation around the most insidious corner of the internet, Olivia Petter examines the ideologies underpinning it, how they’re becoming normalised, and wh...

Finally a critical journalistic attempt to understand the manosphere beyond "that scary thing that only exists online". Adressing misogyny online means understanding that it is not an online phenomenon, it is nothing new - it is a systemic problem.
www.independent.co.uk/life-style/m...

Judith Butler · This Is Wrong: Executive Order 14168 When diversity, equity and inclusion become ‘threats’ to the order of society, progressive politics in general is...

The UK supreme court today ruled that the terms ‘woman’ and ‘sex’ in the Equality Act refer to biological sex.

Trump's Executive Order 14168, issued on 20 January, similarly proclaims to be ‘Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government’.

Judith Butler: www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...

Sad day for feminism. The Supreme Court ruling on the definition of woman is taking society one step closer to the erasure of trans people and, ultimately, biological essentialism - denying the complexity of human identity and diversity, reinforcing stereotypes and justifying discrimination.

The rise of end times fascism The governing ideology of the far right has become a monstrous, supremacist survivalism. Our task is to build a movement strong enough to stop them

THE RISE OF END TIMES FASCISM

My first major piece of the new Trump era, co-written with @astra.bsky.social.

The governing ideology of the far right has become a
monstrous, supremacist survivalism.

Our task is to build a movement strong enough to stop them. www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...

The care ceiling: How precarious employment and maternity leave shape women’s careers in academia - Connecting Research In this blog, Karen Jones, Associate Professor in Educational Leadership and Management, sheds new light on the lived experiences of women academics by exposing the hidden ways in which academic struc...

On #InternationalWomensDay we celebrate women but we must also address #GenderInequality and the barriers that persist. Karen Jones (Institute of Education) explores how #maternityleave pressures and #precariousemployment create a #careceiling that limits women’s careers in #academia. #IWD2025

How to avoid common pitfalls in engaged research Engaged research has inherent risks. Shiwei Chen shares seven insights from the Vital Cities and Citizens initiative in Rotterdam for how researchers and their institutions can undertake responsibl…

👀ICYMI: "Universities are expected to engage with their local communities. However, these engagements can have unintended consequences"

#HigherEducation #CivicEngagement #ResearchImpact

We were delighted to host Sophie Duncan, NCCPE yesterday for an inspiring day of insightful discussions on the role of #publicengagement in #REF2029, the connections between #engagement and #researchimpact and the importance of ethical practice. A huge thank you to Sophie and to all our attendees!

Hello Bluesky! From dinosaurs to deer poo, bees to Beckett, & climate change to childhood literacy, our researchers get stuck into all sorts of topics. So if you’re into innovative, impactful & occasionally messy #research, hit follow – we’ve got you covered.

What makes the child penalty in academia different? Women are underrepresented in senior academic positions in economics. Ria Ivandić and Anne Sophie Lassen assess the impact of having children on men and women’s career trajector…

🗣️"New mothers are more likely to leave research careers entirely, new fathers to move into non-university research jobs"

#IDWGS

The Guardian view on campus cuts: academics pay a high price for Westminster’s mistakes | Editorial Editorial: The government should not stand aloof as a crisis unfolds in our universities. A new settlement is needed

Correct: “the dysfunctional marketisation of higher education [..]is at the root of today’s financial black hole”.

One change that should be introduced yesterday is to drastically cap the % universities are allowed to spend on private consultants who are draining the sector of money and skill

The UK’s redundancy crisis: four views from the front line Higher education news feeds are currently dominated by near-daily announcements of large job cuts across the UK. But what effect is all this having on the atmosphere within the departments affected – ...

On the front line of the redundancy crisis in UK higher education: “I found myself sobbing every time I came into the office. It felt unimaginable that an intellectual project into which so many people had invested so much of their lives would simply fade away” #AcademicSky #EduSky

Opinion piece in @counterpunchmedia.bsky.social by our own Prof Catherine Rottenberg:

www.counterpunch.org/2025/02/07/t...