Leonie V. Hicks
@lvhicks.bsky.social
Professor of medieval studies. Leverhulme major research fellow. Norman history and landscapes. Occasional gardening, knitting, cricket and Anglicanism https://normanlandscapes.wordpress.com/ 🗃⚱️📜
Pinned
Leonie V. Hicks
@lvhicks.bsky.social
· Oct 14
History is not something that can be tied up neatly into a package with perfectly mitred corners. Instead it looks more like a young relative's attempts to wrap a strangely shaped and possibly concerning birthday present. 8/
Filling in the staff survey was cathartic.
November 10, 2025 at 5:14 PM
Filling in the staff survey was cathartic.
Reposted by Leonie V. Hicks
The Courtauld is offering a a new fully funded Peter Fergusson PhD Scholarship in English Medieval Architecture for eligible projects focusing on England from the eleventh to the early sixteenth centuries. Statement of intents are due by 17 November 2025.
Peter Fergusson PhD Scholarship in English Medieval Architecture, Courtauld, statement of intent deadline 17 November 2025
The Courtauld is offering a a new fully funded Peter Fergusson PhD Scholarship in English Medieval Architecture for eligible projects focusing on England from the eleventh to the early sixteenth centuries. Statement of intents are due by 17 November 2025.
medievalartresearch.com
November 10, 2025 at 1:16 PM
The Courtauld is offering a a new fully funded Peter Fergusson PhD Scholarship in English Medieval Architecture for eligible projects focusing on England from the eleventh to the early sixteenth centuries. Statement of intents are due by 17 November 2025.
Reposted by Leonie V. Hicks
By a single line on the massive environmental impact of AI, its notorious hallucinations, or stealing everyone’s work. To be expected from university senior managers I suppose.
NEW on Wonkhe: There are legitimate use-cases for AI that deliver efficiency, but for Nick Jennings and Sam Grogan the real prize is active development of AI learning partnership skills buff.ly/UriccMh
November 10, 2025 at 8:37 AM
By a single line on the massive environmental impact of AI, its notorious hallucinations, or stealing everyone’s work. To be expected from university senior managers I suppose.
Reposted by Leonie V. Hicks
Please sign this petition against the further diminishment of Nottingham University, which seems not to appreciate what makes for a university.
Sign the Petition
Stop the removal of undergraduate Theology & Religion at the University of Nottingham
c.org
November 9, 2025 at 4:19 PM
Please sign this petition against the further diminishment of Nottingham University, which seems not to appreciate what makes for a university.
Today I am doing some initial prep for a sermon next week (It's the end of the world as we know it) and getting ready to lead choral Evensong for the first time.
Prayers appreciated, especially for the long-suffering, tolerant Maths Half #cofe
Prayers appreciated, especially for the long-suffering, tolerant Maths Half #cofe
November 9, 2025 at 4:13 PM
Today I am doing some initial prep for a sermon next week (It's the end of the world as we know it) and getting ready to lead choral Evensong for the first time.
Prayers appreciated, especially for the long-suffering, tolerant Maths Half #cofe
Prayers appreciated, especially for the long-suffering, tolerant Maths Half #cofe
Reposted by Leonie V. Hicks
Possibly even more cursed than usual.
Looking to Christmas, but still stuck in Remembrance? We have a typically unorthodox solution.
No, there's no arguing, this is demonstrably better than the original tune.
(That's damning with the very faintest of praise, but still.)
#CursedCarols
No, there's no arguing, this is demonstrably better than the original tune.
(That's damning with the very faintest of praise, but still.)
#CursedCarols
November 8, 2025 at 3:31 PM
Possibly even more cursed than usual.
E. A. R. Brown (aka Peggy Brown) of 'Feudalism: tyranny of a construct' fame.
Right, enough of James Watson - who's a senior academic you've met who's been an utter delight?
I'll go first: Jocelyn Bell Burnell
I'll go first: Jocelyn Bell Burnell
November 8, 2025 at 3:35 PM
E. A. R. Brown (aka Peggy Brown) of 'Feudalism: tyranny of a construct' fame.
I am always utterly bemused by sports teams wearing poppies on their jerseys. Are you engaged in an act of sombre remembrance and commitment to peace? No, you're playing a game of rugby, a game certainly not known for its irenic qualities. @remembrancewatch.bsky.social
November 8, 2025 at 3:25 PM
I am always utterly bemused by sports teams wearing poppies on their jerseys. Are you engaged in an act of sombre remembrance and commitment to peace? No, you're playing a game of rugby, a game certainly not known for its irenic qualities. @remembrancewatch.bsky.social
My thoughts exactly on reading the Nature article on Franklin.
This is a complex story, but frankly it still reveals a great deal of sexism and exclusion. There's a thread here of pompous British men calling other people idiots; I don't see them grappling with why Franklin was excluded from intellectual ownership networks.
If I see one more stupid Rosalind Franklin take I'm going to lose my mind. Thank god for @matthewcobb.bsky.social and @nccomfort.bsky.social. www.nature.com/articles/d41...
November 8, 2025 at 12:09 PM
My thoughts exactly on reading the Nature article on Franklin.
Reposted by Leonie V. Hicks
If any journalists would like a copy of Electric Wind: An Energy History of Modern Britain to review, please get in touch w me /MUP. It's a rigorous history of wind energy written for a wide audience, with plenty to say about today's energy challenges. manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526182968/
Manchester University Press - Electric wind
Electric wind - Browse and buy the Paperback edition of Electric wind by Marianna Dudley
manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk
November 3, 2025 at 3:03 PM
If any journalists would like a copy of Electric Wind: An Energy History of Modern Britain to review, please get in touch w me /MUP. It's a rigorous history of wind energy written for a wide audience, with plenty to say about today's energy challenges. manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9781526182968/
Reposted by Leonie V. Hicks
Did Geoffrey of Monmouth write this script?
Thanks to the BBC we've just learnt that the effigies of Gog and Magog, appearing in the Lady Mayors Show are:
"representations of 2 giants captured by the Roman general Brutus, first governor of Londinium, back in the day" 🧐
Thank you
"representations of 2 giants captured by the Roman general Brutus, first governor of Londinium, back in the day" 🧐
Thank you
November 8, 2025 at 11:34 AM
Did Geoffrey of Monmouth write this script?
Iniquitous.
Solidarity with Northumbria colleagues. General solidarity with all in the HE sector.
Solidarity with Northumbria colleagues. General solidarity with all in the HE sector.
'A post-92 university will freeze staff pay if they choose to remain in a more expensive pension scheme as institutions continue to find new ways to grapple with rising cost.' 1/3
Northumbria to freeze pay if staff refuse TPS-USS pension switch
University says moving employees from more expensive scheme will save it up to £11 million a year
www.timeshighereducation.com
November 7, 2025 at 8:28 AM
Iniquitous.
Solidarity with Northumbria colleagues. General solidarity with all in the HE sector.
Solidarity with Northumbria colleagues. General solidarity with all in the HE sector.
Reposted by Leonie V. Hicks
I'm lucky to have worked with one of the many brilliant people in these departments. Henry Parkes in Music is one of the cleverest, most insightful and inspirational historians I know - and one of the finest teachers too. Don't waste such talent @uniofnottingham.bsky.social.
Well this is awful news: tinyurl.com/yr65mjkx
'All modern language and music courses are being suspended for new students at the University of Nottingham.'
Nottingham friends: please be assured that we will join you in protesting against this decision in the strongest possible terms. Solidarity.
'All modern language and music courses are being suspended for new students at the University of Nottingham.'
Nottingham friends: please be assured that we will join you in protesting against this decision in the strongest possible terms. Solidarity.
Music and modern languages courses suspended at University of Nottingham
In a statement the institution also says it is
www.bbc.co.uk
November 6, 2025 at 5:38 PM
I'm lucky to have worked with one of the many brilliant people in these departments. Henry Parkes in Music is one of the cleverest, most insightful and inspirational historians I know - and one of the finest teachers too. Don't waste such talent @uniofnottingham.bsky.social.
And Music and several others.
So short-sighted.
So short-sighted.
'Music and modern foreign languages degrees are among courses being suspended at the University of Nottingham, with the institution saying it “cannot rely on additional income” from the coming tuition fee rises.' 1/3
Nottingham suspends music, language and nursing courses
University says financial uncertainties continue as government’s proposed student levy will ‘wipe out any benefits’ from rising tuition fees
www.timeshighereducation.com
November 6, 2025 at 1:31 PM
And Music and several others.
So short-sighted.
So short-sighted.
Further dispatches from the crisis in HE. Solidarity with colleagues at Nottingham.
I am hearing that @uniofnottingham.bsky.social is suspending (i.e shutting down) *all modern language courses* in 2026-27. One of the largest departments in the UK. A shocking short sighted move that damages regional and national prospects @britishacademy.bsky.social @hetanshah.bsky.social
November 6, 2025 at 1:30 PM
Further dispatches from the crisis in HE. Solidarity with colleagues at Nottingham.
Well, @kentcricket.co.uk, your fireworks are exceptionally loud and echoing all around the city.
November 5, 2025 at 7:18 PM
Well, @kentcricket.co.uk, your fireworks are exceptionally loud and echoing all around the city.
Bloomsbury is very insistent I opt in to its AI licensing agreement. I have absolutely no desire to do this.
November 5, 2025 at 12:40 PM
Bloomsbury is very insistent I opt in to its AI licensing agreement. I have absolutely no desire to do this.
Reposted by Leonie V. Hicks
Cerne Abbas: Secrets Beneath the Giant will be released this Saturday. A trailer for the @timeteam.bsky.social Special on @hugh-willmott.bsky.social's Cerne Abbey Research Project. So excited to finally share this!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7Tm...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7Tm...
Coming Soon! | Cerne Abbas: Secrets Beneath The Giant | TIME TEAM (Dorset) 2025
YouTube video by Time Team Official
www.youtube.com
November 3, 2025 at 11:06 PM
Cerne Abbas: Secrets Beneath the Giant will be released this Saturday. A trailer for the @timeteam.bsky.social Special on @hugh-willmott.bsky.social's Cerne Abbey Research Project. So excited to finally share this!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7Tm...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=i7Tm...
Reposted by Leonie V. Hicks
Reposted by Leonie V. Hicks
Intermediate Latin palaeography will run online in February 2026 for those who want more advanced training. Book now 👇
ies.sas.ac.uk/news-events/...
ies.sas.ac.uk/news-events/...
Intermediate Latin Palaeography
ies.sas.ac.uk
November 3, 2025 at 7:28 PM
Intermediate Latin palaeography will run online in February 2026 for those who want more advanced training. Book now 👇
ies.sas.ac.uk/news-events/...
ies.sas.ac.uk/news-events/...
One of my favourite bits of Anselm.
Come now, little man,
turn aside for a while from your daily employment, escape for a moment from the tumult of your thoughts.
Put aside your weighty cares, let your burdensome distractions wait, free yourself awhile for God and rest awhile in him.
turn aside for a while from your daily employment, escape for a moment from the tumult of your thoughts.
Put aside your weighty cares, let your burdensome distractions wait, free yourself awhile for God and rest awhile in him.
November 3, 2025 at 6:32 PM
One of my favourite bits of Anselm.
Today with the second years was Bayeux Tapestry day. They tried their hands at Bayeux Stitch, designed panels for a 'Canterbury Tapestry', discussed the controversy surrounding the loan, why the Tapestry is memeable and other matters liek 'Ubi unus clericus et Aelfgyva'. A good seminar!
November 3, 2025 at 6:31 PM
Today with the second years was Bayeux Tapestry day. They tried their hands at Bayeux Stitch, designed panels for a 'Canterbury Tapestry', discussed the controversy surrounding the loan, why the Tapestry is memeable and other matters liek 'Ubi unus clericus et Aelfgyva'. A good seminar!
Reposted by Leonie V. Hicks
Norwich Castle, c.13th Century graffiti of woman wearing a wimple.
Standing in front of this, you almost feel that nothing more than a blink separates you from the moment it was scored into the rock.
#StoneHeadSunday
Standing in front of this, you almost feel that nothing more than a blink separates you from the moment it was scored into the rock.
#StoneHeadSunday
November 2, 2025 at 11:23 PM
Norwich Castle, c.13th Century graffiti of woman wearing a wimple.
Standing in front of this, you almost feel that nothing more than a blink separates you from the moment it was scored into the rock.
#StoneHeadSunday
Standing in front of this, you almost feel that nothing more than a blink separates you from the moment it was scored into the rock.
#StoneHeadSunday
Reposted by Leonie V. Hicks
Am watching #GameOfWool but not sure whether I can cope with a gentle, individual, reflective activity being turned into a sort of team working time stressed nightmare
November 2, 2025 at 8:42 PM
Am watching #GameOfWool but not sure whether I can cope with a gentle, individual, reflective activity being turned into a sort of team working time stressed nightmare
Yes, Holger, I can't physically knit with size 20 needles either. #GameOfWool.
Shan't be watching this next week.
Shan't be watching this next week.
November 2, 2025 at 8:49 PM
Yes, Holger, I can't physically knit with size 20 needles either. #GameOfWool.
Shan't be watching this next week.
Shan't be watching this next week.