John McTague
@johnjoemctague.bsky.social
Assistant Prof in C18th Studies, Univ. Bristol. Book: ‘Things that Didn’t Happen’ (2019). Co-director @ Bristol Common Press (www.instagram.com/bristolcommonpress). Co-President of Bristol UCU branch. 🎸&🎤 in Autocorrect (https://spoti.fi/4fIaTAJ). He/him.
Beautiful day for a picket with #UCU members in the Centre for Academic Language and Development, 45 of whom have been put at risk of compulsory redundancy. This is the first of TWENTY ONE days of strike action voted for by these members.
July 9, 2025 at 8:31 AM
Beautiful day for a picket with #UCU members in the Centre for Academic Language and Development, 45 of whom have been put at risk of compulsory redundancy. This is the first of TWENTY ONE days of strike action voted for by these members.
Bristol Common Press is ready to peddle at the @srsrensoc.bsky.social conference. We are printing two issues of the Bristol Mercury, the conference’s very own newspaper, and delegates can get involved by having a go at printing issues & submitting notices for inclusion in issue 2. Come find us!
July 2, 2025 at 2:16 PM
Bristol Common Press is ready to peddle at the @srsrensoc.bsky.social conference. We are printing two issues of the Bristol Mercury, the conference’s very own newspaper, and delegates can get involved by having a go at printing issues & submitting notices for inclusion in issue 2. Come find us!
Reposted by John McTague
My piece for History Workshop looks back at what feels, I'm sure to me and so many other academics in the UK, like a decade-long crisis in universities. A crisis of politics, of a particularly venomous form of "education as market" ideology, and now a crisis of desperate, annihilating job cuts. 1/2
UK universities are in crisis.
Dave Hitchcock (@davehitchcock.bsky.social) on how the sector became 'broken' and why it must be approached as an interdependent system.
www.historyworkshop....
Dave Hitchcock (@davehitchcock.bsky.social) on how the sector became 'broken' and why it must be approached as an interdependent system.
www.historyworkshop....
A Decade of Crisis
The UK's universities are in crisis. Dave Hitchcock on how the sector became 'broken' and why it must be understood as an interdependent system.
www.historyworkshop.org.uk
March 13, 2025 at 7:57 AM
My piece for History Workshop looks back at what feels, I'm sure to me and so many other academics in the UK, like a decade-long crisis in universities. A crisis of politics, of a particularly venomous form of "education as market" ideology, and now a crisis of desperate, annihilating job cuts. 1/2
If you’re attending the @srsrensoc.bsky.social conference in Bristol this summer (or thinking about it), please consider signing up to our (not-really-a-)seminar, ‘Mechanick Exercises in the History of the Book’. You can find a description and sign up link here: www.rensoc.org.uk/rensoc25-sem... 1/3
#RenSoc25 Seminar Descriptors – Society for Renaissance Studies
www.rensoc.org.uk
January 13, 2025 at 4:28 PM
If you’re attending the @srsrensoc.bsky.social conference in Bristol this summer (or thinking about it), please consider signing up to our (not-really-a-)seminar, ‘Mechanick Exercises in the History of the Book’. You can find a description and sign up link here: www.rensoc.org.uk/rensoc25-sem... 1/3
Reposted by John McTague
Don’t forget to sign up for these exciting seminars!
Deadline 22 January
#RenSoc25 #EarlyModern #Skystorians
Deadline 22 January
#RenSoc25 #EarlyModern #Skystorians
👀 OUR SEMINAR SIGN-UP IS LIVE!!! We've six scintillating seminars happening at #RenSoc25! To find out more & to sign up before 22 January 2025, see: www.rensoc.org.uk/rensoc25-sem...
#SRSlyGood Seminars require pre-circulating a paper & participating in perspicacious conversation at the conference!
#SRSlyGood Seminars require pre-circulating a paper & participating in perspicacious conversation at the conference!
January 10, 2025 at 3:30 PM
Don’t forget to sign up for these exciting seminars!
Deadline 22 January
#RenSoc25 #EarlyModern #Skystorians
Deadline 22 January
#RenSoc25 #EarlyModern #Skystorians
Reposted by John McTague
So this is very exciting! We have 16 places on our AHRC-funded Print Matters Summer School. There is no course fee, and applicants get 4 nights B&B accommodation and a travel bursary of up to £100. The Summer School is open to all disciplines and career stages.
www.thinicepress.org/events/print...
www.thinicepress.org/events/print...
Print Matters summer school: Thin Ice Press — Thin Ice Press
What does it mean to think about matter and materiality through the medium of letterpress printing? We invite scholars of matter, materiality and/or material culture (broadly conceived) in any ...
www.thinicepress.org
January 10, 2025 at 10:34 AM
So this is very exciting! We have 16 places on our AHRC-funded Print Matters Summer School. There is no course fee, and applicants get 4 nights B&B accommodation and a travel bursary of up to £100. The Summer School is open to all disciplines and career stages.
www.thinicepress.org/events/print...
www.thinicepress.org/events/print...
Am starting to wonder if some members of UCU HEC are in the pay of Civica Election Services.
December 13, 2024 at 12:14 PM
Am starting to wonder if some members of UCU HEC are in the pay of Civica Election Services.
Reposted by John McTague
18th century historians: if you have an article nearing completion that you'd like a round of detailed feedback on in a friendly London setting, consider applying to join our '4* Society' on 19 February.
Funding available to cover childcare, travel, and free lunch
adamcrymble.org/cfp-18th-cen...
Funding available to cover childcare, travel, and free lunch
adamcrymble.org/cfp-18th-cen...
CFP: 18th century British history papers in need of feedback – Adam Crymble
adamcrymble.org
December 7, 2024 at 3:25 PM
18th century historians: if you have an article nearing completion that you'd like a round of detailed feedback on in a friendly London setting, consider applying to join our '4* Society' on 19 February.
Funding available to cover childcare, travel, and free lunch
adamcrymble.org/cfp-18th-cen...
Funding available to cover childcare, travel, and free lunch
adamcrymble.org/cfp-18th-cen...
#C18 Given fact I spent much of autumn writing about Swift’s /Lady’s Dressing Room/ and Montagu’s response (‘The Reason’s that Induc’d Dr Swift…’ &c.), I might include them in my unit The Author as Character, because Montagu’s response weaponises the authorial fallacy: Swift = Strephon, etc. 1/2
December 9, 2024 at 4:53 PM
#C18 Given fact I spent much of autumn writing about Swift’s /Lady’s Dressing Room/ and Montagu’s response (‘The Reason’s that Induc’d Dr Swift…’ &c.), I might include them in my unit The Author as Character, because Montagu’s response weaponises the authorial fallacy: Swift = Strephon, etc. 1/2
Watch out, it’s another handbook:
global.oup.com/academic/pro...
Come for essays by the luminaries of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century studies, be momentarily distracted by me arguing that ‘Bites and Shams’ are a bit like surprise parties.
global.oup.com/academic/pro...
Come for essays by the luminaries of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century studies, be momentarily distracted by me arguing that ‘Bites and Shams’ are a bit like surprise parties.
global.oup.com
December 2, 2024 at 3:42 PM
Watch out, it’s another handbook:
global.oup.com/academic/pro...
Come for essays by the luminaries of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century studies, be momentarily distracted by me arguing that ‘Bites and Shams’ are a bit like surprise parties.
global.oup.com/academic/pro...
Come for essays by the luminaries of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century studies, be momentarily distracted by me arguing that ‘Bites and Shams’ are a bit like surprise parties.
This is beautifully done.
November 30, 2024 at 8:15 AM
This is beautifully done.
A good couple of days work in the print shop at the end of this week.
November 30, 2024 at 6:17 AM
A good couple of days work in the print shop at the end of this week.
They’ve put a Low Traffic Neighbourhood in on a trial basis near where I live. It took a few weeks for me to realise that I should probably cycle through it, given fact that it is parallel to the first bit of my normal cycle commute, which was now a bit fuller of angrier-than-usual motorists 1/2
November 27, 2024 at 10:28 AM
They’ve put a Low Traffic Neighbourhood in on a trial basis near where I live. It took a few weeks for me to realise that I should probably cycle through it, given fact that it is parallel to the first bit of my normal cycle commute, which was now a bit fuller of angrier-than-usual motorists 1/2
On the plus side yesterday I think I cracked paper dampening and inking levels. On the other hand, now the end matter of the book looks nicer than the main text!
November 22, 2024 at 6:20 AM
On the plus side yesterday I think I cracked paper dampening and inking levels. On the other hand, now the end matter of the book looks nicer than the main text!
The dog just sniffed the baby and started crying and we were all ‘oh no that must be a really bad nappy’ but it turned out he just had two crusts of bread inside his baby grow.
November 21, 2024 at 9:07 AM
The dog just sniffed the baby and started crying and we were all ‘oh no that must be a really bad nappy’ but it turned out he just had two crusts of bread inside his baby grow.
Reposted by John McTague
You have until MIDNIGHT TONIGHT to apply for one of our bursaries. Details below. HURRY HURRY HURRY! #18thC 🗃️ #skystorians #history
Hello Bluesky! Did you know that we have 17 bursaries available for the BSECS Annual Conference?
To find out more and apply, please use this form: (forms.office.com/e/ZJAmgxRHLd
Applications close at midnight UK time on 20th November
@bsecs.bsky.social @asecsoffice.bsky.social #18thC
To find out more and apply, please use this form: (forms.office.com/e/ZJAmgxRHLd
Applications close at midnight UK time on 20th November
@bsecs.bsky.social @asecsoffice.bsky.social #18thC
Microsoft Forms
forms.office.com
November 20, 2024 at 8:06 AM
You have until MIDNIGHT TONIGHT to apply for one of our bursaries. Details below. HURRY HURRY HURRY! #18thC 🗃️ #skystorians #history
Reposted by John McTague
🔔 Please share widely! A call for contributions for an edited collection _Reading the Queer Eighteenth Century_ which will be published by De Gruyter in early 2026. Submit a proposal or pass on to interested scholars! #Skystorians #18C #Queer #Disability #Ecocriticism #trans #transnational
April 25, 2024 at 9:14 AM
🔔 Please share widely! A call for contributions for an edited collection _Reading the Queer Eighteenth Century_ which will be published by De Gruyter in early 2026. Submit a proposal or pass on to interested scholars! #Skystorians #18C #Queer #Disability #Ecocriticism #trans #transnational
We’re lucky to have some splendid linocuts by our collaborator Victoria Barton of Press Genepy (www.instagram.com/press.genepy). This is Benjamin Franklin showing off by carrying formes of locked up type in each hand, instead of one at a time like the British Weaklings he worked with
November 14, 2024 at 10:29 AM
We’re lucky to have some splendid linocuts by our collaborator Victoria Barton of Press Genepy (www.instagram.com/press.genepy). This is Benjamin Franklin showing off by carrying formes of locked up type in each hand, instead of one at a time like the British Weaklings he worked with
Our dog Judy x Francis Bacon. Photo credit: our excellent dogsitter, Liv.
November 12, 2024 at 6:31 AM
Our dog Judy x Francis Bacon. Photo credit: our excellent dogsitter, Liv.
We at Bristol Common Press (www.instagram.com/bristolcommonpress) are making a book with some friends. Here are some proofs of the title page. My question to you is: should we have the horizontal rule at the top as well as the middle, or just one?
November 11, 2024 at 8:08 PM
We at Bristol Common Press (www.instagram.com/bristolcommonpress) are making a book with some friends. Here are some proofs of the title page. My question to you is: should we have the horizontal rule at the top as well as the middle, or just one?
Reposted by John McTague
For those who are new, clearsky.app will show you what lists (including starter packs) you have been added to in case you’re wondering.
Note: it also displays anyone blocking you, which I strongly encourage you to ignore as a general rule (all of us use socials differently, especially right now)
Note: it also displays anyone blocking you, which I strongly encourage you to ignore as a general rule (all of us use socials differently, especially right now)
November 10, 2024 at 2:18 PM
For those who are new, clearsky.app will show you what lists (including starter packs) you have been added to in case you’re wondering.
Note: it also displays anyone blocking you, which I strongly encourage you to ignore as a general rule (all of us use socials differently, especially right now)
Note: it also displays anyone blocking you, which I strongly encourage you to ignore as a general rule (all of us use socials differently, especially right now)
Reposted by John McTague
i want to create a starter pack of ECRs and grad students in humanities fields (all above terms broadly understood).
if that’s you, and you’re into it, like this skeet and i’ll include you.
if that’s not you, please reskeet (and do not like), so we can collect accounts we could be following!
if that’s you, and you’re into it, like this skeet and i’ll include you.
if that’s not you, please reskeet (and do not like), so we can collect accounts we could be following!
October 28, 2024 at 10:02 PM
i want to create a starter pack of ECRs and grad students in humanities fields (all above terms broadly understood).
if that’s you, and you’re into it, like this skeet and i’ll include you.
if that’s not you, please reskeet (and do not like), so we can collect accounts we could be following!
if that’s you, and you’re into it, like this skeet and i’ll include you.
if that’s not you, please reskeet (and do not like), so we can collect accounts we could be following!
Reposted by John McTague
"It is not merely that we have been here before: we have seldom been anywhere else."
Interesting comment piece by CHSTM colleague Dr James Sumner in Nature Reviews Physics, on why the AI revolution is always just out of reach.
doi.org/10.1038/s422...
doi.org/10.1038/s422...
October 29, 2024 at 10:00 AM
"It is not merely that we have been here before: we have seldom been anywhere else."
12-month MHRA postdoc working on digital edition of the letters of Hannah More at Bristol: www.bristol.ac.uk/jobs/find-in...
October 18, 2024 at 1:16 PM
12-month MHRA postdoc working on digital edition of the letters of Hannah More at Bristol: www.bristol.ac.uk/jobs/find-in...