Christopher Smith
@christophersmith.bsky.social
University of St Andrews; Executive Chair, Arts & Humanities Research Council; International Champion and Creative Industries Sector Champion UK Research and Innovation
All views my own, but none of the poetry.
All views my own, but none of the poetry.
Reposted by Christopher Smith
Two grant schemes from the School of Advanced Study are now open for applications: Being Human Festival 2026 and the Centre for Public Engagement Practice in Arts and Humanities’ new Collaboration and Innovation Grant.
Go to bit.ly/3ZoolUq for details on how to apply
Go to bit.ly/3ZoolUq for details on how to apply
February 10, 2026 at 11:10 AM
Two grant schemes from the School of Advanced Study are now open for applications: Being Human Festival 2026 and the Centre for Public Engagement Practice in Arts and Humanities’ new Collaboration and Innovation Grant.
Go to bit.ly/3ZoolUq for details on how to apply
Go to bit.ly/3ZoolUq for details on how to apply
"The story of UK commercialisation is a successful one. But as with any story it has various plots, and the story of commercial success in the creative industries is one that needs much more attention."
Opinion: Creativity counts.
Adam Crozier of @russellgroup.bsky.social welcomes a report that recognises the value of innovation in the creative industries.
Now free to access.
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-v...
Adam Crozier of @russellgroup.bsky.social welcomes a report that recognises the value of innovation in the creative industries.
Now free to access.
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-v...
Creativity counts - Research Professional News
Adam Crozier welcomes a report that recognises the value of innovation in the creative industries
www.researchprofessionalnews.com
February 9, 2026 at 9:37 PM
"The story of UK commercialisation is a successful one. But as with any story it has various plots, and the story of commercial success in the creative industries is one that needs much more attention."
Reposted by Christopher Smith
NEW on Wonkhe: Jim Dickinson explores the growing evidence that AI isn't just changing what students produce – it's changing what their brains are ready to do, and asks whether HE can redesign itself around a question it has been avoiding for decades buff.ly/uHtisNU
February 9, 2026 at 6:00 AM
NEW on Wonkhe: Jim Dickinson explores the growing evidence that AI isn't just changing what students produce – it's changing what their brains are ready to do, and asks whether HE can redesign itself around a question it has been avoiding for decades buff.ly/uHtisNU
Reposted by Christopher Smith
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
Reposted by Christopher Smith
Last week on Wonkhe: Tony Hickson's review into university-investor links is out and James Coe finds much to like on how culture, capital, and coordination can fuel the economy
The Hickson review on university-investor links makes the case for commercialisation as a team sport
Tony Hickson's review into university-investor links is out and James Coe finds much to like on how culture, capital, and coordination can fuel the economy
buff.ly
February 8, 2026 at 8:00 PM
Last week on Wonkhe: Tony Hickson's review into university-investor links is out and James Coe finds much to like on how culture, capital, and coordination can fuel the economy
"an institute dedicated to our physicality would be McGregor’s most ambitious and impactful project yet.. not everyone is a dancer, but everyone has a body. Everyone inhabits the world physically. Everyone needs some form of physical intelligence."
www.newstatesman.com/culture/the-...
www.newstatesman.com/culture/the-...
Choreographer Wayne McGregor: Art should not fear technology
The Royal Ballet innovator talks about his bold idea for the age of AI: physical intelligence
www.newstatesman.com
February 8, 2026 at 7:24 PM
"an institute dedicated to our physicality would be McGregor’s most ambitious and impactful project yet.. not everyone is a dancer, but everyone has a body. Everyone inhabits the world physically. Everyone needs some form of physical intelligence."
www.newstatesman.com/culture/the-...
www.newstatesman.com/culture/the-...
Reposted by Christopher Smith
Rodin’s Egypt reveals the profound influence Egyptian art had on Auguste Rodin’s work and the advent of modernity in European sculpture.
Out now!
Learn more about this richly illustrated book: press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...
#AncientWorld #Art #AugusteRodin
Bénédicte
Out now!
Learn more about this richly illustrated book: press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...
#AncientWorld #Art #AugusteRodin
Bénédicte
February 8, 2026 at 6:09 PM
Rodin’s Egypt reveals the profound influence Egyptian art had on Auguste Rodin’s work and the advent of modernity in European sculpture.
Out now!
Learn more about this richly illustrated book: press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...
#AncientWorld #Art #AugusteRodin
Bénédicte
Out now!
Learn more about this richly illustrated book: press.princeton.edu/books/hardco...
#AncientWorld #Art #AugusteRodin
Bénédicte
"a failure to uplift the humanities, not just as critical underpinning for STEM research and technologies, but as essential to every feature of the research enterprise, has been part and parcel of this catastrophe"
@kawulf.bsky.social absolutely 💯 right.
@kawulf.bsky.social absolutely 💯 right.
“The problem is that we have accelerated into a consuming and exclusive narrative about science in the national interest.”
Some day I’ll stop sharing my v personal perspective on how devastating humanities has in fact devastated science. Not today.
scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2025/06/26/d...
Some day I’ll stop sharing my v personal perspective on how devastating humanities has in fact devastated science. Not today.
scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2025/06/26/d...
Did My Father’s World Die with Him? Grieving the Incalculable Costs of “STEM.” - The Scholarly Kitchen
Grieving my father's death feels inextricably tangled with grieving the catastrophe overtaking the whole of our research infrastructure.
scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org
February 8, 2026 at 2:49 PM
"a failure to uplift the humanities, not just as critical underpinning for STEM research and technologies, but as essential to every feature of the research enterprise, has been part and parcel of this catastrophe"
@kawulf.bsky.social absolutely 💯 right.
@kawulf.bsky.social absolutely 💯 right.
Reposted by Christopher Smith
The biggest upheaval in UK science policy since the 1980s is currently underway, with the creation of a much more direct & explicit link between UK government priorities & £9bn/ yr of R&D funded by the agency UKRI
My attempt to explain & set in historical context
softmachines.org?p=3252
My attempt to explain & set in historical context
softmachines.org?p=3252
UK science policy in transition – Soft Machines, by Richard Jones
softmachines.org
February 7, 2026 at 9:43 AM
The biggest upheaval in UK science policy since the 1980s is currently underway, with the creation of a much more direct & explicit link between UK government priorities & £9bn/ yr of R&D funded by the agency UKRI
My attempt to explain & set in historical context
softmachines.org?p=3252
My attempt to explain & set in historical context
softmachines.org?p=3252
perthmuseum.co.uk/inside-the-m...
"I am to be executed like a criminal at eight in the morning... . The bearer of this letter and his companions.. will testify to my conduct at my last hour... a queen who has borne the title Most Christian, and who dies a Catholic, stripped of all her possessions"
"I am to be executed like a criminal at eight in the morning... . The bearer of this letter and his companions.. will testify to my conduct at my last hour... a queen who has borne the title Most Christian, and who dies a Catholic, stripped of all her possessions"
The Last Letter of Mary, Queen of Scots
Opening 23 January 2026
perthmuseum.co.uk
February 8, 2026 at 6:55 AM
perthmuseum.co.uk/inside-the-m...
"I am to be executed like a criminal at eight in the morning... . The bearer of this letter and his companions.. will testify to my conduct at my last hour... a queen who has borne the title Most Christian, and who dies a Catholic, stripped of all her possessions"
"I am to be executed like a criminal at eight in the morning... . The bearer of this letter and his companions.. will testify to my conduct at my last hour... a queen who has borne the title Most Christian, and who dies a Catholic, stripped of all her possessions"
Reposted by Christopher Smith
📢 A major new study led by the University of Stirling with an international team including our Dean, Professor Claire Gorrara, has been awarded £1.5m from the AHRC to explore how healthy language-learning cultures are built and sustained across the Celtic nations.
👉 www.sas.ac.uk/news-events/...
👉 www.sas.ac.uk/news-events/...
Major new study will pave the way for better language learning across the Celtic Nations
A major new study involving the University of London and led by the University of Stirling will explore how healthy language-learning cultures are built and sustained.
www.sas.ac.uk
February 6, 2026 at 12:13 PM
📢 A major new study led by the University of Stirling with an international team including our Dean, Professor Claire Gorrara, has been awarded £1.5m from the AHRC to explore how healthy language-learning cultures are built and sustained across the Celtic nations.
👉 www.sas.ac.uk/news-events/...
👉 www.sas.ac.uk/news-events/...
A great historian, and a great friend of @bsrome.bsky.social, passes from us.
David Abulafia 1949-2026
www.cai.cam.ac.uk/news/david-a...
David Abulafia 1949-2026
www.cai.cam.ac.uk/news/david-a...
David Abulafia (1949-2026)
Professor David Abulafia CBE has died. He was 76.
www.cai.cam.ac.uk
January 26, 2026 at 12:20 PM
A great historian, and a great friend of @bsrome.bsky.social, passes from us.
David Abulafia 1949-2026
www.cai.cam.ac.uk/news/david-a...
David Abulafia 1949-2026
www.cai.cam.ac.uk/news/david-a...
Reposted by Christopher Smith
Prof @petermandler.bsky.social will give the James Ford Lectures 2026 @oxhistoryfaculty.bsky.social
Peter Mandler will chart the spread & use of the language of social science into everyday life in 20th-century Britain.
Thursdays, 5pm
Weeks 1-6 Hilary Term
🔗 www.history.ox.ac.uk/james-ford-l...
Peter Mandler will chart the spread & use of the language of social science into everyday life in 20th-century Britain.
Thursdays, 5pm
Weeks 1-6 Hilary Term
🔗 www.history.ox.ac.uk/james-ford-l...
The James Ford Lectures in British History
The Language of Social Science in Everyday Life - Peter Mandler (Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge)
www.history.ox.ac.uk
January 21, 2026 at 10:21 AM
Prof @petermandler.bsky.social will give the James Ford Lectures 2026 @oxhistoryfaculty.bsky.social
Peter Mandler will chart the spread & use of the language of social science into everyday life in 20th-century Britain.
Thursdays, 5pm
Weeks 1-6 Hilary Term
🔗 www.history.ox.ac.uk/james-ford-l...
Peter Mandler will chart the spread & use of the language of social science into everyday life in 20th-century Britain.
Thursdays, 5pm
Weeks 1-6 Hilary Term
🔗 www.history.ox.ac.uk/james-ford-l...
Reposted by Christopher Smith
O Wert Thou In The Cauld Blast by Robert Burns - read by Professor Peter Mackay, Scotland's Makar – our national poet. 🏴
Happy #BurnsNight from everyone at the University of St Andrews.
#EverToExcel
Happy #BurnsNight from everyone at the University of St Andrews.
#EverToExcel
January 25, 2026 at 12:21 PM
O Wert Thou In The Cauld Blast by Robert Burns - read by Professor Peter Mackay, Scotland's Makar – our national poet. 🏴
Happy #BurnsNight from everyone at the University of St Andrews.
#EverToExcel
Happy #BurnsNight from everyone at the University of St Andrews.
#EverToExcel
Reposted by Christopher Smith
'The editors of this volume have laid down a challenge, nothing less than the promotion of a new late antiquity: Eurasian Late Antiquity... the continental regions of Eurasia were subject... to forces bringing them together... a “hidden grid” of linkages connecting them.' Averil Cameron, p. 419
January 24, 2026 at 4:11 PM
'The editors of this volume have laid down a challenge, nothing less than the promotion of a new late antiquity: Eurasian Late Antiquity... the continental regions of Eurasia were subject... to forces bringing them together... a “hidden grid” of linkages connecting them.' Averil Cameron, p. 419
Reposted by Christopher Smith
Did you last visit when the ship was covered in ducting and visible through small windows?
Time for a return visit...
maryrose.org/Visit
Time for a return visit...
maryrose.org/Visit
January 24, 2026 at 9:15 AM
Did you last visit when the ship was covered in ducting and visible through small windows?
Time for a return visit...
maryrose.org/Visit
Time for a return visit...
maryrose.org/Visit
Reposted by Christopher Smith
Congratulations to Karen Solie on winning the TS Eliot Prize for her most recent collection Wellwater, published by @picadorbooks.bsky.social
Karen Solie teaches for half the year at St Andrews University and lives the rest of her time in Canada. Karen is part of @northseapoets.bsky.social group.
Karen Solie teaches for half the year at St Andrews University and lives the rest of her time in Canada. Karen is part of @northseapoets.bsky.social group.
January 20, 2026 at 1:45 PM
Congratulations to Karen Solie on winning the TS Eliot Prize for her most recent collection Wellwater, published by @picadorbooks.bsky.social
Karen Solie teaches for half the year at St Andrews University and lives the rest of her time in Canada. Karen is part of @northseapoets.bsky.social group.
Karen Solie teaches for half the year at St Andrews University and lives the rest of her time in Canada. Karen is part of @northseapoets.bsky.social group.
Reposted by Christopher Smith
Happy to share that there will be MORE funding and MORE support than ever before for highly innovative creative organisations looking to build their businesses and have an impact. Many details to work through but this is a clear statement of intent and framework for brilliance 😁 Thanks @ukri.org !
January 20, 2026 at 5:15 PM
Happy to share that there will be MORE funding and MORE support than ever before for highly innovative creative organisations looking to build their businesses and have an impact. Many details to work through but this is a clear statement of intent and framework for brilliance 😁 Thanks @ukri.org !
Sad news; I worked with John Wallace to establish higher degrees at RSAMD, now the Royal Conservatoire of Music, validated by @uniofstandrews.bsky.social . He was funny, determined and passionate about music and education. RIP.
A great light has gone out. John Wallace – the brilliant musical polymath who did so much for music education, brass music, and music in Scotland – has sadly died. We were so pleased to present him with RPS Honorary Membership (pictured here) last year.
January 12, 2026 at 7:39 PM
Sad news; I worked with John Wallace to establish higher degrees at RSAMD, now the Royal Conservatoire of Music, validated by @uniofstandrews.bsky.social . He was funny, determined and passionate about music and education. RIP.
Reposted by Christopher Smith
Reposted by Christopher Smith
So... I've created a starter pack of UK government organisations currently on Bluesky: go.bsky.app/JHsY1Wz
(Currently includes all those listed under ministerial and non-ministerial departments here www.gov.uk/government/o... - let me know any I've missed, or got wrong)
(Currently includes all those listed under ministerial and non-ministerial departments here www.gov.uk/government/o... - let me know any I've missed, or got wrong)
January 11, 2026 at 7:09 PM
So... I've created a starter pack of UK government organisations currently on Bluesky: go.bsky.app/JHsY1Wz
(Currently includes all those listed under ministerial and non-ministerial departments here www.gov.uk/government/o... - let me know any I've missed, or got wrong)
(Currently includes all those listed under ministerial and non-ministerial departments here www.gov.uk/government/o... - let me know any I've missed, or got wrong)
Wonderful to see a shout out to Hay Castle, run by the excellent Tom True, in this super piece.
January 12, 2026 at 7:35 AM
Wonderful to see a shout out to Hay Castle, run by the excellent Tom True, in this super piece.
Reposted by Christopher Smith
Can’t write much about what I’m reading till we’re done on the judging of @womensprize.bsky.social for non fiction - but here’s something I wrote on Substack. The process helped me make sense of how much of my reading, and my life, has been shaped.
open.substack.com/pub/thangamd...
open.substack.com/pub/thangamd...
Why I can’t walk past a tiny second-hand bookshop: a romance
The first one set the template for this romance.
open.substack.com
January 11, 2026 at 4:01 PM
Can’t write much about what I’m reading till we’re done on the judging of @womensprize.bsky.social for non fiction - but here’s something I wrote on Substack. The process helped me make sense of how much of my reading, and my life, has been shaped.
open.substack.com/pub/thangamd...
open.substack.com/pub/thangamd...
Somewhere, in the middle of the song,
people held hands, the hall turned Blue.
Sean Scully
ropac.net/online-exhib...
people held hands, the hall turned Blue.
Sean Scully
ropac.net/online-exhib...
Sean Scully | Blue
ropac.net
January 12, 2026 at 6:18 AM
Somewhere, in the middle of the song,
people held hands, the hall turned Blue.
Sean Scully
ropac.net/online-exhib...
people held hands, the hall turned Blue.
Sean Scully
ropac.net/online-exhib...