Dr Joan Passey
@joanpassey.bsky.social
Senior Lecturer in English / Gothic / queer ecologies / coasts and seascapes / Shirley Jackson
Pinned
Dr Joan Passey
@joanpassey.bsky.social
· Nov 11
An intro! I'm a lecturer in English & I specialise in Victorian lit, the gothic from the c18-present & the representations of seas & coasts in lit & culture. I am writing a book about queer ecologies of the gothic! I post about ADHD, food, queer stuff, horror, TV & film, writing, fanfiction & cats
Reposted by Dr Joan Passey
Gothic Studies is recruiting! We seek a new assistant editor 🧛♂️
January 27, 2026 at 2:45 PM
Gothic Studies is recruiting! We seek a new assistant editor 🧛♂️
Jesus Christ the world is being eaten alive by this self optimisation bullshit
seriously though can someone not just make Instagram but without the algorithm
January 4, 2026 at 11:57 AM
Jesus Christ the world is being eaten alive by this self optimisation bullshit
Account has been hacked (badly) urgh bear with me
January 1, 2026 at 4:07 PM
Account has been hacked (badly) urgh bear with me
We need to bully these people, badly
December 19, 2025 at 7:02 PM
We need to bully these people, badly
I think one of the reasons why people don't take the study of the humanities seriously is they think being a history buff = being a historian and reading a lot = being a literature scholar because there's still so little public understanding of what methodologies in those fields actually look like
I’m jumping off a bit here but this is something that always grinds me about how people treat history. Lots of people are history hobbyists, and that’s great! It is different from being a Professional Historian. Passion does not equal skills and expertise.
"knowing all sorts of details" is a sufficient qualification for a history buff
being oblivious to the latest research is not a qualification for anything
being oblivious to the latest research is not a qualification for anything
December 19, 2025 at 6:46 PM
I think one of the reasons why people don't take the study of the humanities seriously is they think being a history buff = being a historian and reading a lot = being a literature scholar because there's still so little public understanding of what methodologies in those fields actually look like
Reposted by Dr Joan Passey
It's very exciting to say that Coastal Gothic, 1719–2020 has just been published in @universitypress.cambridge.org's Elements in the Gothic series – and it's currently open access and *free* to download until the end of December!
doi.org/10.1017/9781...
doi.org/10.1017/9781...
Coastal Gothic, 1719–2020
Cambridge Core - English Literature: General Interest - Coastal Gothic, 1719–2020
doi.org
December 18, 2025 at 2:24 PM
It's very exciting to say that Coastal Gothic, 1719–2020 has just been published in @universitypress.cambridge.org's Elements in the Gothic series – and it's currently open access and *free* to download until the end of December!
doi.org/10.1017/9781...
doi.org/10.1017/9781...
Reposted by Dr Joan Passey
For my American horror homies this Thanksgiving: A great article to send a family member on why we love scary movies. www.bbc.com/future/artic... #horrorcommunity #horrormovies #anxiety
'The paradox of horror': How scary films can soothe your anxiety
Jump scares and gore might not seem like the most soothing watching, but scary films can actually be the ideal therapy during anxious times.
www.bbc.com
November 28, 2025 at 4:30 PM
For my American horror homies this Thanksgiving: A great article to send a family member on why we love scary movies. www.bbc.com/future/artic... #horrorcommunity #horrormovies #anxiety
Reposted by Dr Joan Passey
My students said they love my rants on it. Taught The Time Machine. Told them OpenAI wants them to become Eloi.
This is why OpenAI is selling so aggressively to education at all levels—they want to create entire generations of users incapable of reading, writing and thinking without ChatGPT to hold their hands
And teachers and professors should call this out for what it actually is
And teachers and professors should call this out for what it actually is
To bear out this rosy projection, HSBC assumes that OpenAI will become "as ubiquitous [...] as Microsoft 365" (345mm users worldwide) while bringing in 10x the number of users (3bn).
November 26, 2025 at 6:09 PM
My students said they love my rants on it. Taught The Time Machine. Told them OpenAI wants them to become Eloi.
Reposted by Dr Joan Passey
it's the healthiest thing we can do for the internet!!!
y'all can get started for free on neocities!! it's like geocities but now!!! neocities.org go get started!!!
y'all can get started for free on neocities!! it's like geocities but now!!! neocities.org go get started!!!
Neocities
Create and surf awesome websites for free.
neocities.org
November 26, 2025 at 10:41 PM
it's the healthiest thing we can do for the internet!!!
y'all can get started for free on neocities!! it's like geocities but now!!! neocities.org go get started!!!
y'all can get started for free on neocities!! it's like geocities but now!!! neocities.org go get started!!!
www.theguardian.com/education/20... the total lack of critical thinking in this article and obliviousness to the actual conditions of HE seems to suggest this writer would have benefited from exposure to a liberal arts course
It’s time to stop worshipping the liberal arts | Letters
Letters: While such institutions have intrinsic value, that doesn’t mean they are entitled to be socially favoured or economically exceptional for ever, says Jianyang Geng
www.theguardian.com
November 26, 2025 at 7:23 AM
www.theguardian.com/education/20... the total lack of critical thinking in this article and obliviousness to the actual conditions of HE seems to suggest this writer would have benefited from exposure to a liberal arts course
Reposted by Dr Joan Passey
OpenAI needs to raise at least $207bn by 2030 so it can continue to lose money, HSBC estimates on.ft.com/4ij0yh8
OpenAI needs to raise at least $207bn by 2030 so it can continue to lose money, HSBC estimates
A burning platform
on.ft.com
November 25, 2025 at 7:42 PM
OpenAI needs to raise at least $207bn by 2030 so it can continue to lose money, HSBC estimates on.ft.com/4ij0yh8
Reposted by Dr Joan Passey
' ... a foundational contribution to regional gothic studies.'
A brilliant review of 'Cornish Gothic' by @joanpassey.bsky.social in @victstudies.bsky.social!
muse.jhu.edu/pub/3/articl...
Discover more about this 'compelling' book here: www.uwp.co.uk/book/cornish...
A brilliant review of 'Cornish Gothic' by @joanpassey.bsky.social in @victstudies.bsky.social!
muse.jhu.edu/pub/3/articl...
Discover more about this 'compelling' book here: www.uwp.co.uk/book/cornish...
November 11, 2025 at 5:05 PM
' ... a foundational contribution to regional gothic studies.'
A brilliant review of 'Cornish Gothic' by @joanpassey.bsky.social in @victstudies.bsky.social!
muse.jhu.edu/pub/3/articl...
Discover more about this 'compelling' book here: www.uwp.co.uk/book/cornish...
A brilliant review of 'Cornish Gothic' by @joanpassey.bsky.social in @victstudies.bsky.social!
muse.jhu.edu/pub/3/articl...
Discover more about this 'compelling' book here: www.uwp.co.uk/book/cornish...
Reposted by Dr Joan Passey
I am genuinely dumbfounded that anybody, even for a nanosecond, might have thought that LLM simulations of human participants could provide novel insights on the human mind
Can AI simulations of human research participants advance cognitive science? In @cp-trendscognsci.bsky.social, @lmesseri.bsky.social & I analyze this vision. We show how “AI Surrogates” entrench practices that limit the generalizability of cognitive science while aspiring to do the opposite. 1/
AI Surrogates and illusions of generalizability in cognitive science
Recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI) have generated enthusiasm for using AI simulations of human research participants to generate new know…
www.sciencedirect.com
October 21, 2025 at 8:49 PM
I am genuinely dumbfounded that anybody, even for a nanosecond, might have thought that LLM simulations of human participants could provide novel insights on the human mind
I'm doing a talk in Bath! Come and join me at Komedia on the 4th November 2025 for a whistlestop tour of women in the Gothic across four delirious centuries! It will be fast, furious, and hair raising! www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/gothic-fic...
September 23, 2025 at 11:38 AM
I'm doing a talk in Bath! Come and join me at Komedia on the 4th November 2025 for a whistlestop tour of women in the Gothic across four delirious centuries! It will be fast, furious, and hair raising! www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/gothic-fic...
Reposted by Dr Joan Passey
Did Victorians believe heavy drinking caused spontaneous human combustion?
Dr Pam Lock @pamplemoussepam.bsky.social is going to enlighten us on this rather unusual subject, on Thursday 16th October at Glenside Hospital Museum, and we can't wait!
Tickets here: glensidemuseum.org.uk/introducing-...
Dr Pam Lock @pamplemoussepam.bsky.social is going to enlighten us on this rather unusual subject, on Thursday 16th October at Glenside Hospital Museum, and we can't wait!
Tickets here: glensidemuseum.org.uk/introducing-...
September 22, 2025 at 3:21 PM
Did Victorians believe heavy drinking caused spontaneous human combustion?
Dr Pam Lock @pamplemoussepam.bsky.social is going to enlighten us on this rather unusual subject, on Thursday 16th October at Glenside Hospital Museum, and we can't wait!
Tickets here: glensidemuseum.org.uk/introducing-...
Dr Pam Lock @pamplemoussepam.bsky.social is going to enlighten us on this rather unusual subject, on Thursday 16th October at Glenside Hospital Museum, and we can't wait!
Tickets here: glensidemuseum.org.uk/introducing-...
I love Amelia B Edwards, not least because 'A Thousand Miles Up the Nile' has so many euphemistic applications
August 27, 2025 at 4:21 PM
I love Amelia B Edwards, not least because 'A Thousand Miles Up the Nile' has so many euphemistic applications
absolutely gobsmacked to find red and white flags painted on zebra crossings and roundabouts in my little part of bristol, ST GEORGE.
August 27, 2025 at 2:46 PM
absolutely gobsmacked to find red and white flags painted on zebra crossings and roundabouts in my little part of bristol, ST GEORGE.
Reposted by Dr Joan Passey
Spotted @jendeavour.bsky.social and @joanpassey.bsky.social’s books in the wild (“the wild” being The Bodies in the Bookshop in Cambridge in this instance)
August 22, 2025 at 11:48 AM
Spotted @jendeavour.bsky.social and @joanpassey.bsky.social’s books in the wild (“the wild” being The Bodies in the Bookshop in Cambridge in this instance)
Ahh yes, my favourite Jane Austen novels - The Schutzstaffel, Postage and Packaging, Member of Parliament, Electronic, Not Applicable and Phosphorous <3
August 27, 2025 at 2:42 PM
Ahh yes, my favourite Jane Austen novels - The Schutzstaffel, Postage and Packaging, Member of Parliament, Electronic, Not Applicable and Phosphorous <3
Reposted by Dr Joan Passey
a university is not for generating profit, it provides cultural enrichment via weird little gremlin people who love visigoths or haikus, and very occasionally a scientist who figures out faster than light travel
August 12, 2025 at 9:54 AM
a university is not for generating profit, it provides cultural enrichment via weird little gremlin people who love visigoths or haikus, and very occasionally a scientist who figures out faster than light travel
it's been DAYS since i saw it but i still can't stop thinking of the GENIUS of casting Jacob Anderson as Daniel Hall
August 12, 2025 at 12:41 PM
it's been DAYS since i saw it but i still can't stop thinking of the GENIUS of casting Jacob Anderson as Daniel Hall
Reposted by Dr Joan Passey
This is why I am sometimes grumpy when people tell me how lucky I am to live somewhere with limited public transport links and an economy built on on low paid seasonal work. Yes, it's beautiful, but that's not enough, particularly for the young.
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Young people in England’s coastal towns three times more likely to have a mental health condition
They are suffering disproportionately and without help, say researchers, and unless they are given a voice, problems will continue to mount up
www.theguardian.com
July 7, 2025 at 9:12 AM
This is why I am sometimes grumpy when people tell me how lucky I am to live somewhere with limited public transport links and an economy built on on low paid seasonal work. Yes, it's beautiful, but that's not enough, particularly for the young.
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Reposted by Dr Joan Passey
I’m (Lauren) pleased to announce the safe arrival of my first child, ‘The Gothic at War’, weighing 75 pounds. It was a long and difficult birth but worth the effort.
If you want to support my sweet child, why not order a copy for you library: www.uwp.co.uk/book/the-got... #AcademicChatter #Gothic
If you want to support my sweet child, why not order a copy for you library: www.uwp.co.uk/book/the-got... #AcademicChatter #Gothic
July 1, 2025 at 10:18 AM
I’m (Lauren) pleased to announce the safe arrival of my first child, ‘The Gothic at War’, weighing 75 pounds. It was a long and difficult birth but worth the effort.
If you want to support my sweet child, why not order a copy for you library: www.uwp.co.uk/book/the-got... #AcademicChatter #Gothic
If you want to support my sweet child, why not order a copy for you library: www.uwp.co.uk/book/the-got... #AcademicChatter #Gothic
I actually loved Thunderbolts. A profoundly on the nose reflection on self loathing and loneliness where a group hug saves the day but I'm a simple creature and I love a haunted house story with found family
July 4, 2025 at 6:49 PM
I actually loved Thunderbolts. A profoundly on the nose reflection on self loathing and loneliness where a group hug saves the day but I'm a simple creature and I love a haunted house story with found family
Reposted by Dr Joan Passey
Did you know? 100 years ago today, the BBC broadcast the #ShippingForecast for the very first time, produced by the Met Office for the Maritime and Coastguard Agency.
More than just a lifesaver, it’s become a beloved part of Britain’s cultural identity. Learn more: bit.ly/4kg877D 🛳️🌊
More than just a lifesaver, it’s become a beloved part of Britain’s cultural identity. Learn more: bit.ly/4kg877D 🛳️🌊
July 4, 2025 at 12:37 PM
Did you know? 100 years ago today, the BBC broadcast the #ShippingForecast for the very first time, produced by the Met Office for the Maritime and Coastguard Agency.
More than just a lifesaver, it’s become a beloved part of Britain’s cultural identity. Learn more: bit.ly/4kg877D 🛳️🌊
More than just a lifesaver, it’s become a beloved part of Britain’s cultural identity. Learn more: bit.ly/4kg877D 🛳️🌊