Sara Barker
Historian of early modern print, news, translation, pamphlets. Scotland/Yorkshire hybrid. Likes old printed things, France, rugby, embroidery. Always stops to talk to cats and dogs. Series editor MUP Studies in Early Modern European History. She/her.
- I like working in a place where a colleague sends you a picture of their cat to motivate you through the marking.
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- Not only is firing her pretty grim, but the actual email as reported is even worse. www.nytimes.com/2025/05/08/u...
- Reposted by Sara Barker“The days of the unaccountable ivory tower” have indeed been over, certainly since tuition fees were introduced, probably since Thatcher abolished tenure. It’s all metrics and performance ratings and league tables now!
- Oh my DAYS, how I would love to do something like this. Might have to be careful over what i picked though. Reckon I can get students to cos play the Colloquy of Poissy? Or the Estates General of 1614? www.nytimes.com/2025/05/06/u...
- Reposted by Sara BarkerCall for participants: Indigenous Narrations of the Sacred and Premodern Studies at the Newberry. Applications due 15 May 2025 www.newberry.org/calendar/ind...
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- Reposted by Sara BarkerOPEN LETTER: HISTORIANS FOR TRANS RIGHTS Are you a historian in the UK or working on UK history fed up at seeing the history of LGBTQIA+ discrimination repeat itself? Sign this open letter to MPs demanding they stand up for trans rights now! Letter: tinyurl.com/879vuver Sign: tinyurl.com/4p7wktrn
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- Reposted by Sara BarkerI wish more people knew the long and important histories of many of our ‘post-92’ universities. They all-to-often get judged as being somehow lesser than the pre-92s, but so many of them have much longer and, frankly, more venerable histories.
- Today I warned my students at the start of my lecture on France at War in the C17 that there were lots of images of men on horses coming up, so they'd best contain themselves, so yes, I think we're getting to the end of teaching.
- Reposted by Sara Barker‘Rights can be knocked out in a second’: older trans women shocked by supreme court ruling
- Ah, the cut and thrust of historical debate
- Half an hour into the new Race Across the World and I already have favourites and ones... I am waiting to be charmed by.
- I love that the WaPo has a serious infographic about this, when all I can think about is watching Conclave
- The death of Pope Francis sets in motion a carefully orchestrated transition aimed at ensuring the stability and continuity of the Roman Catholic Church. Here’s what happens next. wapo.st/4isdiAK
- Watching "L'Agence/The Parisian Agency" for fun, and they end up showing Tony Parker a château in Jarnac. "There's more history here" says Tony. Cue much yelping from someone who spends much of their time mentally in the French Wars of Religion. You're damn right there's history there.
- Reposted by Sara Barker#cfp I have received some fabulous news about an upcoming conference on the history of publishing, organised by the Universitat de Barcelona. The deadline for paper abstracts is 30 May 2025. Do consider submitting one! #publishinghistory #internationalnetworks
- Tu rigoles...
- I'm intrigued as to what starter packs I appear to be on, given the, er, range of people who now appear to be following me. Some of which, I'd really rather not have following me, to be honest. Might be time for a bit of a bluesky spring clean...
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- Reposted by Sara BarkerOn what is a really difficult day, here are some resources for our trans friends and allies. Solidarity 💜 goodlawproject.org/resource/sup...
- Solidarity with trans friends and colleagues.
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- Reposted by Sara BarkerNot at all concerning to learn that Universities UK are partnering with a company to sell an AI product that offers automated feedback on student work. Who needs staff?
- Reposted by Sara BarkerUniversity 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...
- Reposted by Sara BarkerNew report from @britishacademy.bsky.social on language skills & capabilities in the UK research base Multilingual capabilities are integral to research excellence, impact and integrity www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/publications...
- Excuse me, WordleBot, I think you'll find that was an answer reached through reason and logic, not a "lucky guess",you little oik
- Reposted by Sara BarkerBoston loves a Revolutionary War reference @ #HandsOff Boston
- Name 5 movies you have watched countless times and never get sick of: 1. All About Eve 2. The Philadelphia Story 3. When Harry Met Sally 4. Best in Show 5. La Haine
- Like many others, I don't see myself going to the US for the foreseeable. That's going to significantly impact my work plans, but I'm in the fortunate position to have some choice, and stories like this are just terrifying.
- Reposted by Sara BarkerWhat ethical responsibilities do we bear when we write about war? This is one of the questions we’re posing in our June colloquium on early modern war narratives. CFP here and the deadline is 11th April! Please share widely and consider submitting an abstract! kingsearlymodern.co.uk/events/lamen...
- Reposted by Sara BarkerI've written a new blog post on the French History Network blog which announces the publication of a special update of our open access @uclpress.bsky.social publication Paper Trails: Entente Cordiale - French collections in the UK 🗃️ frenchhistorysociety.co.uk/6553/
- Reposted by Sara BarkerCall for Papers: ‘Built with books: shaping the shelves of the early modern library’ Deadline 16th May 2025 9 –10 September 2025 at UCL, London
- Reposted by Sara BarkerHot on the heels of the first AHRC Rethinking Internationalisms conference on ‘Counter-hegemonic Internationalisms’, here is the CfP (5 May deadline) for our next ONLINE workshop ‘New Methods for New Histories’, with @jessicareinisch.bsky.social , @drmargottudor.bsky.social , Daniel Laqua and me.
- Got to love people's interior design choices getting historically analysed centuries later. Only wish I could be around to see what future scholars make of the Changing Rooms era.
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- Oi, "MZ", stop nicking our stuff
- I'm getting to reread a lot of NZD for work at the moment and it's not a bad life, I'll tell you that.
- Yes, the first thing I did upon waking this morning was check that he broke that record. Nicely done, CB.
- I would like a "Is Cory Booker still talking?" account on here like the old "Is John Curtice on TV?" Twitter account.
- Managed 35 min of working in the garden before I remembered that I really don't like working in the garden. As in, work work, not actual gardening. That i do quite enjoy, and in the garden seems the best place to do it.
- Sigh. It's not so much fun trying to spot the April Fool's stories in the papers when you wish that so much of what is actually happening in the world were in fact a joke, instead of grim reality.
- Reposted by Sara BarkerJUST IN: The staff of the Institute of Museum and Library Services was placed on administrative leave this morning, following a meeting between IMLS leadership and DOGE staff.
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- Had a conversation with my doctor this morning as to whether I am experiencing perimenopausal anxiety or is the world just shit? We concluded that it's both.
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- Reposted by Sara BarkerMeanwhile I’m over here needing double verification to check the OED.
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- Not sure what's more annoying, finding out exactly what things I've written turned up here (articles and book reviews, mainly) or discovering there's a biologist (i assume) with a similar name who is much more productive than me
- NEW: LibGen contains millions of pirated books and research papers, built over nearly two decades. From court documents, we know that Meta torrented a version of it to build its AI. Today, @theatlantic.com presents an analysis of the data set by @alexreisner.bsky.social. Search through it yourself:
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- OK then. That's where we are. Good to know.
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- Reposted by Sara BarkerFor anyone interested in the early Bodleian Library or early modern book owners, the Shaping Scholarship project at CELL, UCL has made the project data available: ebdo.org.uk/data/ It details every officially recorded donation made c. 1600-1620, plus some extras, which is around 10,000 items.
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- Reposted by Sara BarkerReaders & literary scholars, do you know any novels where a #port / #harbour plays a central or at least important role? (any period, any language) #literature
- Sigh, *another* of these cases. It's almost as if the people making these decisions have no clue or interest in how academics actually do their jobs. Proper "computer says no" twaddle. Solidarity with those affected.
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- Of course, I had to check which Penguin Classic the President in "Paradise" was reading, and whilst I was not surprised that it was Gibbon, I was a bit irked that it was the abridged version. Especially given (stops because of spoilers)
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- Reposted by Sara Barkeri firmly believe one of the main messages we should be telling our students about this whole thing is that generative ‘AI’ by definition will *never* have an original idea, and if you use it, neither will *you*
- Delighted to chuck some money towards this. Go teams!
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- Reposted by Sara BarkerWe are increasingly concerned about the crisis in UK Higher Education. Read our joint statement with @royalhistsoc.bsky.social , History UK and the @histassoc.bsky.social buff.ly/4hSg16N #history #skystorians
- [CN - ED] It's Eating Disorders Awareness Week in the UK. If you'e worried about someone, or want to find out more about eating disorders generally, then BEAT is an excellent source of information. If you are yourself suffering, then you have my love and support as someone who knows what it is like.
- I realise i should probably prioritise the academic preparation for an upcoming work trip to Istanbul, but really, these were on the recommended reads wall in Waterstones, what was I meant to do in the face of such serendipity?
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- Reposted by Sara BarkerCosta prize winner @jackfairweather.bsky.social will be launching his new book at Waterstones Piccadilly in London on Monday 3rd March and you can come! More info here: www.waterstones.com/events/jack-...
- Humble brag alert, but there really is something very lovely about students emailing to say something you've taught or said to them has had an impact.
- Reposted by Sara BarkerHappy Publication Day to me! 🎉😱🥹🧿 Between Two Rivers: Ancient Mesopotamia and the Birth of History is officially out! It’s a history of the region through objects found in an ancient museum in Princess Ennigaldi-Nanna’s palace, and I hope you all like it 💛 lnk.to/BetweenTwoRi...
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- I have only just taken down a copy of this from outside my office just this week, after having had it up for nearly a decade.
