Dr Jennie Orr
@drjenniferorr.bsky.social
FRHistS SFHEA MHS
Vice President @bars.bsky.social
🇮🇪 & 🏴 Studies, 1798, transatlantic networks, MedHums
Senior Lecturer @newcastleuni.bsky.social
Member @thencps.bsky.social & Registrant @hypnotherapyhelps.bsky.social
Didn’t come up the Lagan in a bubble
Vice President @bars.bsky.social
🇮🇪 & 🏴 Studies, 1798, transatlantic networks, MedHums
Senior Lecturer @newcastleuni.bsky.social
Member @thencps.bsky.social & Registrant @hypnotherapyhelps.bsky.social
Didn’t come up the Lagan in a bubble
Pinned
Burns Nicht
YouTube video by NVTV Belfast
youtu.be
It’s been and gone on the box but journalist, producer and musician Mike Gaston put together this lovely wee programme on Robert Burns this week and yours truly had the honour of contributing: youtu.be/WMI63VHziZ0?...
#burnsnight #robertburns
#burnsnight #robertburns
Reposted by Dr Jennie Orr
Not really. The 2 most specialised universities are Cal Tech (ranked 7th) and Imperial (8th). Neither performs as highly as MIT (2nd), which outside its STEM strengths ranks 1st in Arts & Humanities, 1st in Business and 1st in Social Sciences. 3/5
February 11, 2026 at 2:21 PM
Not really. The 2 most specialised universities are Cal Tech (ranked 7th) and Imperial (8th). Neither performs as highly as MIT (2nd), which outside its STEM strengths ranks 1st in Arts & Humanities, 1st in Business and 1st in Social Sciences. 3/5
Reposted by Dr Jennie Orr
If research excellence is linked to research specialisation, why don't more specialist universities routinely outcompete more generalist ones in global league tables?
And should UK HEIs intent to climb the rankings think twice before mothballing their Arts & Humanities?
Asking for a friend. 1/5
And should UK HEIs intent to climb the rankings think twice before mothballing their Arts & Humanities?
Asking for a friend. 1/5
World University Rankings 2026 | Times Higher Education (THE)
Explore the 2026 World University Rankings by Times Higher Education. Compare over 2,000 top universities and discover this year’s leading institutions.
www.timeshighereducation.com
February 11, 2026 at 2:21 PM
If research excellence is linked to research specialisation, why don't more specialist universities routinely outcompete more generalist ones in global league tables?
And should UK HEIs intent to climb the rankings think twice before mothballing their Arts & Humanities?
Asking for a friend. 1/5
And should UK HEIs intent to climb the rankings think twice before mothballing their Arts & Humanities?
Asking for a friend. 1/5
Reposted by Dr Jennie Orr
Slavoj Zizek, Armitage Shanks’ philosopher, sweating, wiping his nose, scratching his beard: ‘Imagine how hard it is for toilets to understand their own function!’
Researchers working with the A.I. system Claude have come to understand that the model’s selfhood, like our own, is a matter of both neurons and narratives. newyorkermag.visitlink.me/kEX1vV
February 11, 2026 at 2:50 PM
Slavoj Zizek, Armitage Shanks’ philosopher, sweating, wiping his nose, scratching his beard: ‘Imagine how hard it is for toilets to understand their own function!’
Reposted by Dr Jennie Orr
Call for Contributions: 'To Be Forever Known: The Brontës and Poetry', a special issue of Brontë Studies, edited by @drbeard79.bsky.social
500-word abstracts due by 1st April. More details on the blog: www.bars.ac.uk/blog/?p=6317
500-word abstracts due by 1st April. More details on the blog: www.bars.ac.uk/blog/?p=6317
February 8, 2026 at 6:39 PM
Call for Contributions: 'To Be Forever Known: The Brontës and Poetry', a special issue of Brontë Studies, edited by @drbeard79.bsky.social
500-word abstracts due by 1st April. More details on the blog: www.bars.ac.uk/blog/?p=6317
500-word abstracts due by 1st April. More details on the blog: www.bars.ac.uk/blog/?p=6317
The curling has broken my heart. . In practise, it’s my knees (and ego) that normally take the strain 🥌 Great effort from Team GB 🏴
February 9, 2026 at 6:32 PM
The curling has broken my heart. . In practise, it’s my knees (and ego) that normally take the strain 🥌 Great effort from Team GB 🏴
Reposted by Dr Jennie Orr
Episode 4 is out: Scottish Folk and European Music with Kirsteen McCue, Professor of Scottish Literature and Song Culture at @glasgow.ac.uk We discuss the history of Scottish folk music and particularly its influence on the birth of modern music — from Beethoven to Bob Dylan. 🎼🏴
Link⬇️
Link⬇️
February 8, 2026 at 6:26 PM
Episode 4 is out: Scottish Folk and European Music with Kirsteen McCue, Professor of Scottish Literature and Song Culture at @glasgow.ac.uk We discuss the history of Scottish folk music and particularly its influence on the birth of modern music — from Beethoven to Bob Dylan. 🎼🏴
Link⬇️
Link⬇️
Can I just have a week when I’m not sick with something?
February 9, 2026 at 8:46 AM
Can I just have a week when I’m not sick with something?
We can’t go under it. We can’t go over it. We have to go…
Just a wee bit of flooding here in Northumberland
Just a wee bit of flooding here in Northumberland
February 7, 2026 at 3:41 PM
We can’t go under it. We can’t go over it. We have to go…
Just a wee bit of flooding here in Northumberland
Just a wee bit of flooding here in Northumberland
Reposted by Dr Jennie Orr
Call for papers: Romanticism Beyond Europe: Global Circulations, Translations and Transnational Literatures (London, September 2027)
Details on the blog: www.bars.ac.uk/blog/?p=6301
Details on the blog: www.bars.ac.uk/blog/?p=6301
CfP: Romanticism Beyond Europe: Global Circulations, Translations, and Transnational Literatures – BARS Blog
www.bars.ac.uk
February 5, 2026 at 3:08 PM
Call for papers: Romanticism Beyond Europe: Global Circulations, Translations and Transnational Literatures (London, September 2027)
Details on the blog: www.bars.ac.uk/blog/?p=6301
Details on the blog: www.bars.ac.uk/blog/?p=6301
Reposted by Dr Jennie Orr
Sir Ian McKellen performing a monologue from Shakespeare’s Sir Thomas More on the Stephen Colbert show. Never have I heard this monologue performed with such a keen sense of prescience. Nor have I ever been in this exact historical moment.TY Sir Ian, for reaching us once again.
#Pinks #ProudBlue
#Pinks #ProudBlue
February 5, 2026 at 11:50 AM
Sir Ian McKellen performing a monologue from Shakespeare’s Sir Thomas More on the Stephen Colbert show. Never have I heard this monologue performed with such a keen sense of prescience. Nor have I ever been in this exact historical moment.TY Sir Ian, for reaching us once again.
#Pinks #ProudBlue
#Pinks #ProudBlue
"It is just that [my] approach suits me ... It holds so much of interest to the enquiring mind, looking not just at symptoms & results, but at the ways we think, the ways we feel, the ways we relate, and ... the relationship between... the inner and the outer world" - this is why I ❤️ Michael Jacobs
February 3, 2026 at 6:27 PM
"It is just that [my] approach suits me ... It holds so much of interest to the enquiring mind, looking not just at symptoms & results, but at the ways we think, the ways we feel, the ways we relate, and ... the relationship between... the inner and the outer world" - this is why I ❤️ Michael Jacobs
Reposted by Dr Jennie Orr
'This year, The Reading Agency will launch Quick Reads as audiobooks for the first time, as well as giving half a million Quick Reads books to prisons across the UK.'
Stormzy calls reading a ‘superpower’ as he backs accessible books campaign
The musician is championing the annual Quick Reads initiative, which will release six short, digestible titles for ‘nonreaders and lapsed readers’ in April for £1 each
www.theguardian.com
February 3, 2026 at 8:10 AM
'This year, The Reading Agency will launch Quick Reads as audiobooks for the first time, as well as giving half a million Quick Reads books to prisons across the UK.'
Reposted by Dr Jennie Orr
Somebody already did this for 2025 (& I would give credit if I could find the post). But in fact January deserves its own censure from Lady Catherine de Bourgh:
I take no leave of you, January. I send no compliments to your mother. You deserve no such attention. I am most seriously displeased.
I take no leave of you, January. I send no compliments to your mother. You deserve no such attention. I am most seriously displeased.
February 1, 2026 at 10:16 PM
Somebody already did this for 2025 (& I would give credit if I could find the post). But in fact January deserves its own censure from Lady Catherine de Bourgh:
I take no leave of you, January. I send no compliments to your mother. You deserve no such attention. I am most seriously displeased.
I take no leave of you, January. I send no compliments to your mother. You deserve no such attention. I am most seriously displeased.
Jupiter and the moon just out there, hanging out
January 31, 2026 at 10:47 PM
Jupiter and the moon just out there, hanging out
this is what it’s all about
January 31, 2026 at 8:24 PM
this is what it’s all about
Reposted by Dr Jennie Orr
Reposted by Dr Jennie Orr
Rest In Power, you absolute Queen 😭 #catherineohara
January 30, 2026 at 6:48 PM
Rest In Power, you absolute Queen 😭 #catherineohara
Very proud of all my PhD students this week for various reasons. It can be a tough balancing act to manage projects at best of times. Delighted that my most recent has passed her progression viva. After only 3 months working on the project, she rose to the daunting occasion with brilliance.
January 30, 2026 at 4:59 PM
Very proud of all my PhD students this week for various reasons. It can be a tough balancing act to manage projects at best of times. Delighted that my most recent has passed her progression viva. After only 3 months working on the project, she rose to the daunting occasion with brilliance.
Having slept a grand total of 3 hours last night and eaten mouldy yoghurt for breakfast, I’m dialling back on my optimism of yesterday.
January 30, 2026 at 8:15 AM
Having slept a grand total of 3 hours last night and eaten mouldy yoghurt for breakfast, I’m dialling back on my optimism of yesterday.
A bit knackered as we approach the end of the first teaching week of Semester 2 (still in the marking period to boot) and big admin and health challenges on the horizon. It has been energizing to teach first year again (as part of a brilliant teaching team).
January 29, 2026 at 8:46 PM
A bit knackered as we approach the end of the first teaching week of Semester 2 (still in the marking period to boot) and big admin and health challenges on the horizon. It has been energizing to teach first year again (as part of a brilliant teaching team).
It’s been and gone on the box but journalist, producer and musician Mike Gaston put together this lovely wee programme on Robert Burns this week and yours truly had the honour of contributing: youtu.be/WMI63VHziZ0?...
#burnsnight #robertburns
#burnsnight #robertburns
Burns Nicht
YouTube video by NVTV Belfast
youtu.be
January 25, 2026 at 7:29 PM
It’s been and gone on the box but journalist, producer and musician Mike Gaston put together this lovely wee programme on Robert Burns this week and yours truly had the honour of contributing: youtu.be/WMI63VHziZ0?...
#burnsnight #robertburns
#burnsnight #robertburns
Reposted by Dr Jennie Orr
A smart piece, looking beyond the hype to the humans.
The hard truth about AI at work? It won’t tell you
Automated office companions cut out the mess of human interaction, but convenience isn’t everything
www.ft.com
January 25, 2026 at 8:54 AM
A smart piece, looking beyond the hype to the humans.
I often hear people say Burns doesn’t do it for them (often based on ‘To a Haggis’ or the first line of ‘To a Mouse’; I thought I’d share my favourite ‘Is There For Honest Poverty’: you are not what you earn or who your parents are but what’s inside the heart.
January 25, 2026 at 8:55 AM
I often hear people say Burns doesn’t do it for them (often based on ‘To a Haggis’ or the first line of ‘To a Mouse’; I thought I’d share my favourite ‘Is There For Honest Poverty’: you are not what you earn or who your parents are but what’s inside the heart.