Dr Stuart McKie
@bigfridge224.bsky.social
Researching Roman magic and trying not to accidentally summon demons. Forever DM, Dad and Catholic.
Reposted by Dr Stuart McKie
I created a PRIVATE Facebook group 'Non-permanent MCRs in Humanities' at www.facebook.com/groups/14504...
This is a temporary measure and aims at carrying out a survey among the MCRs and offering initial peer support and advice while gathering together those with 7+ years from PhD... #MCRNetwork
This is a temporary measure and aims at carrying out a survey among the MCRs and offering initial peer support and advice while gathering together those with 7+ years from PhD... #MCRNetwork
February 8, 2026 at 1:45 PM
I created a PRIVATE Facebook group 'Non-permanent MCRs in Humanities' at www.facebook.com/groups/14504...
This is a temporary measure and aims at carrying out a survey among the MCRs and offering initial peer support and advice while gathering together those with 7+ years from PhD... #MCRNetwork
This is a temporary measure and aims at carrying out a survey among the MCRs and offering initial peer support and advice while gathering together those with 7+ years from PhD... #MCRNetwork
CURSES!
This Super Bowl Sunday, I’d like to introduce you all to the magical curse bowls used in Upper Mesopotamia and Syria in late antiquity. Written in Mandaic (as here) or Syriac Aramaic, they trap demons who trespass on a household by sucking them in with spiraling spells to the center of the bowl.
February 8, 2026 at 3:57 PM
CURSES!
Reposted by Dr Stuart McKie
i love european olympics opening ceremonies. the second the ioc names a european host city the prime minister calls the culture minister into their office and says "find me your strangest homosexuals. give each of them a period of our great nation's history, a kilo of cocaine, and Ten Million Euros"
February 7, 2026 at 4:22 AM
i love european olympics opening ceremonies. the second the ioc names a european host city the prime minister calls the culture minister into their office and says "find me your strangest homosexuals. give each of them a period of our great nation's history, a kilo of cocaine, and Ten Million Euros"
Reposted by Dr Stuart McKie
Your periodic reminder that you can start learning ancient Greek right now, free of charge!
Because I'm updating them today, I'd like to remind #AncientBluesky that we have *FREELY ACCESSIBLE* Ancient Greek resources at the Open University! 🏺
First, we have a 16 hour free OpenLearn course, which takes you from learning the alphabet to reading simple sentences: www.open.edu/openlearn/hi...
First, we have a 16 hour free OpenLearn course, which takes you from learning the alphabet to reading simple sentences: www.open.edu/openlearn/hi...
Getting started on ancient Greek
This free course, Getting started on ancient Greek, offers a taster of the ancient Greek world through the study of one of its most distinctive and enduring features: its language.The course ...
www.open.edu
February 5, 2026 at 12:30 PM
Your periodic reminder that you can start learning ancient Greek right now, free of charge!
Curling is my winter Olympics guilty pleasure.
February 4, 2026 at 7:23 PM
Curling is my winter Olympics guilty pleasure.
Even if Helen of Troy *was* a real person, Nolan could still cast Lupita Nyong'o because she's a great fucking actress. Why is this even a debate.
February 3, 2026 at 7:24 AM
Even if Helen of Troy *was* a real person, Nolan could still cast Lupita Nyong'o because she's a great fucking actress. Why is this even a debate.
This is all the incentive I need to get back into answering questions on there
Please make it your new resolution to visit AskHistorians once a week, because we've never been this invested in overtaking another community.
February 1, 2026 at 8:08 PM
This is all the incentive I need to get back into answering questions on there
From the perspective of a precarious ECR, this already exists. A whole generation of PhDs stuck in FT teaching-only contracts, covering the teaching of permanent researchers.
'We likely require fewer academics with research in their remit, but those that do need greater time allocated, and must be subject to a strategic research management regime'.
I remain very sceptical/negative about the medium- and long-turn impacts of separating research and teaching. 1/2
I remain very sceptical/negative about the medium- and long-turn impacts of separating research and teaching. 1/2
For Everything to Stay the Same, Everything Must Change
... a riposte to academic nostalgia
profserious.substack.com
January 31, 2026 at 3:48 PM
From the perspective of a precarious ECR, this already exists. A whole generation of PhDs stuck in FT teaching-only contracts, covering the teaching of permanent researchers.
Reposted by Dr Stuart McKie
Your day will be like...
an expert chariot rider, charging across the plain, shifting his weight perfectly, a wonder to all who see him.
Iliad 15.679.686
an expert chariot rider, charging across the plain, shifting his weight perfectly, a wonder to all who see him.
Iliad 15.679.686
January 29, 2026 at 7:11 AM
Your day will be like...
an expert chariot rider, charging across the plain, shifting his weight perfectly, a wonder to all who see him.
Iliad 15.679.686
an expert chariot rider, charging across the plain, shifting his weight perfectly, a wonder to all who see him.
Iliad 15.679.686
Anyone else have a 'to read' list that works like a hydra? Every time I cross something off, another 3 articles fill the space.
January 28, 2026 at 3:28 PM
Anyone else have a 'to read' list that works like a hydra? Every time I cross something off, another 3 articles fill the space.
Reposted by Dr Stuart McKie
"The Dark Lord has taken over our land. What do we do?"
"Learn from the goblins."
"What? Those useless little-"
"Takes skill to mask rebellion as incompetence."
"What?"
"They know His reign will end. For now, they persist and resist."
"Oh."
"Also: remember every moment of joy is a victory."
"Learn from the goblins."
"What? Those useless little-"
"Takes skill to mask rebellion as incompetence."
"What?"
"They know His reign will end. For now, they persist and resist."
"Oh."
"Also: remember every moment of joy is a victory."
January 27, 2026 at 4:42 PM
"The Dark Lord has taken over our land. What do we do?"
"Learn from the goblins."
"What? Those useless little-"
"Takes skill to mask rebellion as incompetence."
"What?"
"They know His reign will end. For now, they persist and resist."
"Oh."
"Also: remember every moment of joy is a victory."
"Learn from the goblins."
"What? Those useless little-"
"Takes skill to mask rebellion as incompetence."
"What?"
"They know His reign will end. For now, they persist and resist."
"Oh."
"Also: remember every moment of joy is a victory."
In my Athenian history module this week we're getting to the bit where the hegemonic imperial power becomes so sure of it's position that it invades a distant island for its resources, fails spectacularly, pisses off its allies and ends up with an anti-democratic coup.
January 22, 2026 at 10:24 AM
In my Athenian history module this week we're getting to the bit where the hegemonic imperial power becomes so sure of it's position that it invades a distant island for its resources, fails spectacularly, pisses off its allies and ends up with an anti-democratic coup.
Today's job is to tackle the 'to read' folder of random pdfs I've downloaded. Give me strength.
January 21, 2026 at 10:54 AM
Today's job is to tackle the 'to read' folder of random pdfs I've downloaded. Give me strength.
Post a game you remember playing that nobody else remembers
January 15, 2026 at 7:33 PM
Post a game you remember playing that nobody else remembers
I don't know which other precarious academics need to hear this in January, but you are good enough. You are loved and appreciated and seen.
January 15, 2026 at 2:59 PM
I don't know which other precarious academics need to hear this in January, but you are good enough. You are loved and appreciated and seen.
Reposted by Dr Stuart McKie
📣 Places on @jactdurham.bsky.social are filling up fast 📣
Join us in July at St John’s College, Durham University for a week of #Latin and/or #AncientGreek! New for 2026: Classical Civilisation - Women: The Reality Behind the Myth!
Register online: www.durhamglss.org
Join us in July at St John’s College, Durham University for a week of #Latin and/or #AncientGreek! New for 2026: Classical Civilisation - Women: The Reality Behind the Myth!
Register online: www.durhamglss.org
Home | JACT Durham Greek & Latin Summer School
Welcome - The 32nd JACT Durham Greek & Latin Summer School will take place at St John's College, Durham University from 25th July - 1st August 2026
www.durhamglss.org
January 13, 2026 at 5:57 PM
📣 Places on @jactdurham.bsky.social are filling up fast 📣
Join us in July at St John’s College, Durham University for a week of #Latin and/or #AncientGreek! New for 2026: Classical Civilisation - Women: The Reality Behind the Myth!
Register online: www.durhamglss.org
Join us in July at St John’s College, Durham University for a week of #Latin and/or #AncientGreek! New for 2026: Classical Civilisation - Women: The Reality Behind the Myth!
Register online: www.durhamglss.org
It's been a bit of a mad week, hasn't it? It's Friday so let's do some ancient magic for fun.
The PGM contain a Homer Oracle. The idea is that you roll three 6-sided dice and, depending on the result, you get a line from Homer that predicts your future!
The PGM contain a Homer Oracle. The idea is that you roll three 6-sided dice and, depending on the result, you get a line from Homer that predicts your future!
January 9, 2026 at 3:16 PM
It's been a bit of a mad week, hasn't it? It's Friday so let's do some ancient magic for fun.
The PGM contain a Homer Oracle. The idea is that you roll three 6-sided dice and, depending on the result, you get a line from Homer that predicts your future!
The PGM contain a Homer Oracle. The idea is that you roll three 6-sided dice and, depending on the result, you get a line from Homer that predicts your future!
Reposted by Dr Stuart McKie
Begging Melian Dialogue lovers to see the sweep of the Thucydidean history, from Periclean virtue to an appeal (from virtue) through realism in the Mytilenean dispute, to brutal realism in the Melian Dialogue, to the slave mines of Sicily.
January 7, 2026 at 1:49 PM
Begging Melian Dialogue lovers to see the sweep of the Thucydidean history, from Periclean virtue to an appeal (from virtue) through realism in the Mytilenean dispute, to brutal realism in the Melian Dialogue, to the slave mines of Sicily.
Marking student essays on the growth of the Athenian Empire through bullying and direct attacks by a major power on smaller allies. It reminds me of something... can't think what...
January 7, 2026 at 2:08 PM
Marking student essays on the growth of the Athenian Empire through bullying and direct attacks by a major power on smaller allies. It reminds me of something... can't think what...
Reposted by Dr Stuart McKie
Are there any beautiful Latinists out there who could help me translate this? I can get the gist, but the specific details elude me. It regards the trial of Agnes Westland for bewitching Elizabeth Cheesewright to death (happy New Year!)
December 31, 2025 at 12:46 PM
Are there any beautiful Latinists out there who could help me translate this? I can get the gist, but the specific details elude me. It regards the trial of Agnes Westland for bewitching Elizabeth Cheesewright to death (happy New Year!)
Depending on which of her lives we're talking about, I'm either an air raid warden, a civil servant or a housewife. Or I died of Spanish flu during childhood.
Turns out I'm back to being a PhD student.
Soooo I’m an interdimensional warlock-ninja.
Or a consulting detective, if we’re counting short stories.
Or a consulting detective, if we’re counting short stories.
December 31, 2025 at 12:32 PM
Depending on which of her lives we're talking about, I'm either an air raid warden, a civil servant or a housewife. Or I died of Spanish flu during childhood.
2025 has been a particularly crappy year but there are some things I'm proud of anyway.
1) I published an article on the magical uses of bodily fluids in Pliny the Elder, and what we can learn about Roman attitudes to their own bodies: www.mohrsiebeck.com/en/article/p...
1) I published an article on the magical uses of bodily fluids in Pliny the Elder, and what we can learn about Roman attitudes to their own bodies: www.mohrsiebeck.com/en/article/p...
Partible Humans and Magical Bodies in Pliny the Elder's Natural History
The article examines the use of human bodily substances in healing, particularly those uses that blur the lines between religion, magic and medicine. Using Pliny the Elder's Natural History as the mai...
www.mohrsiebeck.com
December 30, 2025 at 7:32 PM
2025 has been a particularly crappy year but there are some things I'm proud of anyway.
1) I published an article on the magical uses of bodily fluids in Pliny the Elder, and what we can learn about Roman attitudes to their own bodies: www.mohrsiebeck.com/en/article/p...
1) I published an article on the magical uses of bodily fluids in Pliny the Elder, and what we can learn about Roman attitudes to their own bodies: www.mohrsiebeck.com/en/article/p...
So much this. I got a revise and resubmit on a journal article today, with a generous deadline of 6 months. But for the next 6 months I will need to spend serious time finding a job for when my current contract expires in September.
And time spent on anything long term is accordingly pointless, but also not available, because I have to spend time 1) trying to get a job and 2) worrying about not having a job. Which is not a small investment of my energy.
December 3, 2025 at 5:55 PM
So much this. I got a revise and resubmit on a journal article today, with a generous deadline of 6 months. But for the next 6 months I will need to spend serious time finding a job for when my current contract expires in September.
Reposted by Dr Stuart McKie
Rails thrum with trains that never arrive. Limbs made phantom by branch line butchery become ghost grooves for steam-powered spirits to move across the land. No aspect of what was once modernity is immune to temporal shading, is immune to being haunted. – #CJosiffe #Ghosts
November 11, 2025 at 1:04 PM
Reposted by Dr Stuart McKie
The current REF system really encourages temporary staff to burn down their own careers - either you complete research because you need it for your CV, but an institution can claim any resulting outputs before making you redundant so you've nothing to take elsewhere, or...
November 7, 2025 at 10:03 AM
The current REF system really encourages temporary staff to burn down their own careers - either you complete research because you need it for your CV, but an institution can claim any resulting outputs before making you redundant so you've nothing to take elsewhere, or...