Gary Rawnsley
Head of the School of Social & Political Sciences, University of Lincoln. Research on propaganda, public diplomacy, cultural diplomacy & soft power. Lover of all things literary. Has Crohn’s Disease. Views expressed here are mine & mine alone.
- Congratulations to my School of Social & Political Sciences colleague @mcslaven.bsky.social on the publication of his new & timely article on immigration politics in #Arizona
- View from a restaurant window, New Quay, #Wales #photography
- Keir Starmer referring to the danger of the UK becoming “an island of strangers”. Awful rhetoric from anyone but especially a #Labour Prime Minister. This is not my Labour Party
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- Congratulations - that’s great news. Fingers crossed!
- An extremely short-sighted decision that will damage the UK’s public diplomacy capacity for decades to come. The same David Lammy created the bizarre & unnecessary “soft power council”. This is a time when BBC World Service needs protecting & investment, not cuts
- I arrived in #Bangkok a couple of days after King Bhumibol Adulyadej died (October 2016). Although the country was in mourning I was still able to take a boat to visit the floating markets #Thailand #photography
- Congratulations to my Social & Political Sciences colleague Aideen O’Shaughnessy. Aideen was named first runner up in the British #Sociology Association’s Philip Abrams Memorial Prize for best new sole authored book in Sociology 2024. Aideen's book is Embodying Irish Abortion Reform
- Remembering the tragedy of the Valley Parade fire in my hometown #Bradford OTD in 1985. RIP those from my school among the 56 who lost their lives or lost members of their families. 40 years gone in the blink of an eye. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
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- As a #Bradford boy I remember this very well. Some at my school lost families in the fire; others lost their own lives.
- “It is a work of genius. Just think of it. A city in chaos, a smash-and-grab raid ,and four million dollars through a traffic jam.”
- Salisbury Cathedral #photography
- Sunday in the park, Ningbo #China #photography
- That’s my Thursday evening sorted: Isabel Allende’s just published book, My Name is Emilia Del Valle #booksky
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- But I bet they had the funds to provide tea and coffee …
- Congratulations to my old friend & former fellow Leeds PhD student, Prof Susan L. Carruthers. I have just seen this advertisement for her new book in @historytoday.com @cambridgeup.bsky.social
- This is appalling news. The Voice of America & its global audiences need & deserve better than news from an explicitly fat right pro-Trump platform. What an insult to the station, its journalists & audience, & VoA’s legacy! #VoA www.newscaststudio.com/2025/05/08/k...
- The MA in International Relations in the School of Social & Political Sciences, University of Lincoln. Here’s Quincy from the US - a student on my Comparative Legislatures module - to tell you all about it m.youtube.com/watch?v=a1c3...
- Hong Kong - taken on my last visit in 2017. Miss that place #photography
- Sad to see Professor Joseph S. #Nye has died. For over 30 years his analysis of soft power has shaped the thinking of scholars & statesmen, but he was so much more. He leaves behind a tremendous legacy of public service & intellectual rigour across IR. RIP www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...
- The Peace Corps isn't just about helping others - it's a key part of US Public Diplomacy theconversation.com/peace-corps-...
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- Congratulations- well deserved!
- A group of amateur musicians - one Spring Sunday in a Ningbo park, # China #photography
- An "influencer" helps introduce #China to worldwide audiences, but is it really "soft power"? Is there any evidence of "power", impact, influence, change of behaviours & attitudes?
- "Japan’s soft power gains a hard edge": Official Development Assistance in a "post-aid" world #Japan eastasiaforum.org/2025/05/06/j...
- A relaxing Bank Holiday with Ruth Prawer Jhabvala’s 1975 #Booker Prize winning Heat and Dust, a beautiful story of scandal in colonial #India #booksky
- The School of Social & Political Sciences, University of #Lincoln, is seeking a Research Assistant (plus PhD tuition fees) on the Discovering Liveability: Co-producing alternatives to suicide prevention project. Fixed term until 31 August 2030 & full-time at 1 FTE. Details below
- Love these trees on #Lincoln university campus - perfect for black & white #photography
- Many thanks to @jimchesh.bsky.social @uolhumanities.bsky.social for such a wonderful talk today on Tennyson & the Pre-Raphaelites
- The guns of HMS Belfast, #London 2019, #photography
- Final few shots of #Lincoln today as I try out my new camera lens #photography
- Good news: The #UK government signs a new cultural agreement with #India. "The UK’s arts & culture, creative industries, tourism & sport sectors are set to benefit from a major new cooperation deal & economic links with India" www.advanced-television.com/2025/05/02/n...
- #Lincoln on a busy sunny Saturday afternoon.
- The #Lincoln History Festival kicks off (pardon the pun) with some Viking combat
- How about the government focusing on investing in the university sector to protect jobs & the research talent we have?
- The Yingzhou CBD, Ningbo, #China #photography
- Showcasing the connections of the School of Social & Political Sciences with #Westminster. Thanks to MP Hamish Falconer & Lord Wilson of Sedgefield for talking with our students about today's local elections; and thanks to @adefty.bsky.social & @mcslaven.bsky.social for organising/facilitating
- A fascinating article highlighting former Iranian foreign minister Kamal Kharazi's thoughts on soft power. “We must craft initiatives & bring others to the table, investing in public & informal diplomacy, & speaking a new language,” he said. www.msn.com/en-ae/news/m...
- Professor Joseph Nye is spot on in this @cnn.com interview with @jimsciutto.bsky.social: "President Trump doesn't understand soft power". edition.cnn.com/2025/05/01/p...
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- That’s very kind
- What a fabulous venue on a sunny day. Thanks to Harlaxton College for inviting me for a lunch meeting - lots of ideas for future collaborations
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- Sorry I missed your talk, Louise, but just want to say thanks for coming to Lincoln. My colleagues tell me it was a fascinating research seminar
- As we head towards World #IBD Day on 19 May, sharing this primer about #Crohn’s Disease & #Colitis via @getyourbellyout.bsky.social
- Election for #Mayor of Greater #Lincolnshire. For me interesting numbers are: 30% turnout; & c.2000 rejected ballots. A win under present rules but hardly a thumping mandate. Need to pay attention to reasons why voters don’t turn out to vote or spoil their ballot papers when they do
- Fisherman, Jinmen, #Taiwan #photography
- So BBC Look North reporter was literally next to the University of Lincoln campus, location of a fantastic School of #Psychology … and decides to talk online to a psychologist from London
