Dr Amanda Dillon
@oddityofwings.bsky.social
SFF, gothic, time&gender&history, Victoriana. Time travelling women historians are my jam.
UEA History, sometimes UEA LDC. FHEA, Expat PA/VA. Wrangler of academics, books, & words. Sometime flutist. #wiasn Views own; she/her.
UEA History, sometimes UEA LDC. FHEA, Expat PA/VA. Wrangler of academics, books, & words. Sometime flutist. #wiasn Views own; she/her.
Reposted by Dr Amanda Dillon
And I'm also not in charge of the university, but I also feel like maybe the people who are in charge of making financial choices for the university should be the ones who face the consequences of these horrible decisions. Not staff, not students, not faculty, not the community.
February 3, 2026 at 3:34 PM
And I'm also not in charge of the university, but I also feel like maybe the people who are in charge of making financial choices for the university should be the ones who face the consequences of these horrible decisions. Not staff, not students, not faculty, not the community.
Reposted by Dr Amanda Dillon
This is horrific. Docking all pay for refusing to reschedule teaching due to strike action (for which pay has already been docked).
Well that’s me locked out. No pay for the foreseeable future, all because I refuse to reschedule lost teaching, for which I have already lost pay as part of the strike. Please donate to support @sheffielducu.bsky.social members like me at www.gofundme.com/f/heubvb-sup...
January 19, 2026 at 8:50 PM
This is horrific. Docking all pay for refusing to reschedule teaching due to strike action (for which pay has already been docked).
Reposted by Dr Amanda Dillon
Since yesterday, many people have DM’d to say that they were strongly affected by my essay & wished they could share it.
So I've revised, expanded, & posted it for free on both Substack & Patreon.
Please feel free to share.
www.patreon.com/posts/this-i...
catvalente.substack.com/p/this-is-wh...
So I've revised, expanded, & posted it for free on both Substack & Patreon.
Please feel free to share.
www.patreon.com/posts/this-i...
catvalente.substack.com/p/this-is-wh...
December 19, 2025 at 5:24 PM
Since yesterday, many people have DM’d to say that they were strongly affected by my essay & wished they could share it.
So I've revised, expanded, & posted it for free on both Substack & Patreon.
Please feel free to share.
www.patreon.com/posts/this-i...
catvalente.substack.com/p/this-is-wh...
So I've revised, expanded, & posted it for free on both Substack & Patreon.
Please feel free to share.
www.patreon.com/posts/this-i...
catvalente.substack.com/p/this-is-wh...
I don't talk about my 'other' job publicly very much, because I work as a managing editor for an academic journal, and honestly there's not much to talk about - it's very task-and-finish, and I obvs sit in an odd position re: for-profit publishing, as it *pays my rent*.
But today was reject day.
But today was reject day.
January 15, 2026 at 2:25 PM
I don't talk about my 'other' job publicly very much, because I work as a managing editor for an academic journal, and honestly there's not much to talk about - it's very task-and-finish, and I obvs sit in an odd position re: for-profit publishing, as it *pays my rent*.
But today was reject day.
But today was reject day.
Reposted by Dr Amanda Dillon
Reposted by Dr Amanda Dillon
Because it's absolutely true: if there's no point in doing anything at all, why would you do it? It's humans who make meaning. The events are just events. We make them mean something. What that is is entirely up to us. Story is uniquely human. Story is our one superpower.
January 11, 2026 at 1:50 PM
Because it's absolutely true: if there's no point in doing anything at all, why would you do it? It's humans who make meaning. The events are just events. We make them mean something. What that is is entirely up to us. Story is uniquely human. Story is our one superpower.
Reposted by Dr Amanda Dillon
'Despite all their difficulties, universities remain an enormous and irreplaceable national asset. As well as educating millions of people, they generate about £24bn in export earnings, which is about 1% of GDP – more than aircraft manufacturing and legal services combined'. 1/2
The Guardian view on universities: Labour needs a clearer plan | Editorial
Editorial: Ministers promised a ‘change of approach’, but their new tax could tip weaker institutions over the edge
www.theguardian.com
January 7, 2026 at 8:15 AM
'Despite all their difficulties, universities remain an enormous and irreplaceable national asset. As well as educating millions of people, they generate about £24bn in export earnings, which is about 1% of GDP – more than aircraft manufacturing and legal services combined'. 1/2
Reposted by Dr Amanda Dillon
Imagine running a higher education system/country so badly that you actually can't afford, or refuse to fund, research that is *literally defined as* "internationally excellent".
Stupid, stupid, stupid country.
Stupid, stupid, stupid country.
;Eliminating funding for 3* research in the next Research Excellence Framework (REF) would benefit Russell Group institutions by about £50 million a year, suggests modelling into how potential changes to funding formulas may play out.' 1/3
‘Beware trade-offs’ of removing REF funding for 3* outputs
Review of formula used to allocate £2 billion QR funding could downgrade or withdraw money for ‘internationally excellent’ research, some fear
www.timeshighereducation.com
December 18, 2025 at 8:25 AM
Imagine running a higher education system/country so badly that you actually can't afford, or refuse to fund, research that is *literally defined as* "internationally excellent".
Stupid, stupid, stupid country.
Stupid, stupid, stupid country.
Reposted by Dr Amanda Dillon
happy ‘i will reply to your email on my return’ day to all who celebrate
January 5, 2026 at 7:00 AM
happy ‘i will reply to your email on my return’ day to all who celebrate
I don't really do end of year/ start of year anythings, but I did a bit of a 'best books I read in 2024' last year, and thought it'd be fun to do another this year.
So - without further ado - my favourite reads of 2025. (No particular order.)
So - without further ado - my favourite reads of 2025. (No particular order.)
January 1, 2026 at 2:53 PM
I don't really do end of year/ start of year anythings, but I did a bit of a 'best books I read in 2024' last year, and thought it'd be fun to do another this year.
So - without further ado - my favourite reads of 2025. (No particular order.)
So - without further ado - my favourite reads of 2025. (No particular order.)
Reposted by Dr Amanda Dillon
🤖🫧💥
just so it's clear: this is the exact core function of genAI
Fascist government and climate deniers love it because it can produce the aesthetics of knowledge without any actual tendency towards truth. It is automated denialism.
Shame on every climate scientist promoting its use (there are lots)
Fascist government and climate deniers love it because it can produce the aesthetics of knowledge without any actual tendency towards truth. It is automated denialism.
Shame on every climate scientist promoting its use (there are lots)
Bob and I were among the hundreds of researchers that were supposed to conduct the 6th U.S. National Climate Assessment. Now it looks like they're gonna produce it with a few people and Grok? Communities need rigorous and accurate information about climate change. This will put communities at risk.
January 1, 2026 at 2:24 PM
🤖🫧💥
Reposted by Dr Amanda Dillon
Just making sure that 2025 is definitely over
January 1, 2026 at 4:43 AM
Just making sure that 2025 is definitely over
Reposted by Dr Amanda Dillon
Starting your "research" with ChatGPT is like filling the foundations of your house with cotton candy or building your menu around radium.
I just read this line and I am going to SCREAM: "When used as a starting point rather than a substitute for research, [AI] can expand access to knowledge for authors without institutional resources."
EVERYONE KEEPS SAYING IT'S A GOOD STARTING POINT FOR "RESEARCH" BUT IT'S NOT??? IT LIES??
EVERYONE KEEPS SAYING IT'S A GOOD STARTING POINT FOR "RESEARCH" BUT IT'S NOT??? IT LIES??
December 28, 2025 at 6:39 PM
Starting your "research" with ChatGPT is like filling the foundations of your house with cotton candy or building your menu around radium.
I’ve had flu, so I missed it yesterday, but! 28 December was my book’s OFFICIAL birthday. Metafiction and Narrative Worlds in Science Fiction: Prism, Mirror, Lens (‘PML’ for short) was a labour of love, and is published by @livunipress.bsky.social .
Available wherever you buy your books.
Available wherever you buy your books.
December 29, 2025 at 11:06 AM
I’ve had flu, so I missed it yesterday, but! 28 December was my book’s OFFICIAL birthday. Metafiction and Narrative Worlds in Science Fiction: Prism, Mirror, Lens (‘PML’ for short) was a labour of love, and is published by @livunipress.bsky.social .
Available wherever you buy your books.
Available wherever you buy your books.
Reposted by Dr Amanda Dillon
This is a great expression of the thing I keep saying about text-generating algorithms: “Hallucination” isn’t some kind of glitch. ALL their responses are hallucinations. Sometimes they align with reality, sometimes they don’t.
December 27, 2025 at 8:07 AM
This is a great expression of the thing I keep saying about text-generating algorithms: “Hallucination” isn’t some kind of glitch. ALL their responses are hallucinations. Sometimes they align with reality, sometimes they don’t.
Reposted by Dr Amanda Dillon
The contempt that university managers have for their academic staff here in the UK is *off the scale*.
Ongoing decimation of British universities part 252:
Apx. 1000 academic staff at University of Essex just received formal ‘risk of redundancy’ letters via email.
Please share @ucuessex.bsky.social @ucu.org.uk
Apx. 1000 academic staff at University of Essex just received formal ‘risk of redundancy’ letters via email.
Please share @ucuessex.bsky.social @ucu.org.uk
December 11, 2025 at 9:07 PM
The contempt that university managers have for their academic staff here in the UK is *off the scale*.
Reposted by Dr Amanda Dillon
If handing someone their arse, was a video clip
December 12, 2025 at 8:12 AM
If handing someone their arse, was a video clip
Reposted by Dr Amanda Dillon
Oh, even just for the comments below 🍿
An academic disliked an Oxford Very Short Introduction (145 pages) in his field so much that he wrote a 200 page book review attacking it. www.pierre-legrand.com/ewExternalFi...
December 12, 2025 at 9:30 AM
Oh, even just for the comments below 🍿
Reposted by Dr Amanda Dillon
A few doctors striking for a few days will not be what causes the collapse of the NHS.
Years of chronic underfunding and mismanagement will do that for you.
Years of chronic underfunding and mismanagement will do that for you.
December 12, 2025 at 9:35 AM
A few doctors striking for a few days will not be what causes the collapse of the NHS.
Years of chronic underfunding and mismanagement will do that for you.
Years of chronic underfunding and mismanagement will do that for you.
Reposted by Dr Amanda Dillon
1/ The universities crisis is basically about varieties of wishful thinking: that student numbers would keep growing; that international students would continue to arrive; that interest rates would stay at crisis-driven all-time lows; that a Labour government would prop the sector up if it had to.
December 12, 2025 at 9:00 AM
1/ The universities crisis is basically about varieties of wishful thinking: that student numbers would keep growing; that international students would continue to arrive; that interest rates would stay at crisis-driven all-time lows; that a Labour government would prop the sector up if it had to.
Reposted by Dr Amanda Dillon
When will this crisis get any attention whatsoever!? A THOUSAND ACADEMIC STAFF AT ONE INSTITUTION SERVED REDUNDANCY RISK NOTICES! And that's not counting what's surely being visited on professional services staff too. This is an economic catastrophe, to say nothing of the intellectual catastrophe!
Ongoing decimation of British universities part 252:
Apx. 1000 academic staff at University of Essex just received formal ‘risk of redundancy’ letters via email.
Please share @ucuessex.bsky.social @ucu.org.uk
Apx. 1000 academic staff at University of Essex just received formal ‘risk of redundancy’ letters via email.
Please share @ucuessex.bsky.social @ucu.org.uk
December 11, 2025 at 8:47 PM
When will this crisis get any attention whatsoever!? A THOUSAND ACADEMIC STAFF AT ONE INSTITUTION SERVED REDUNDANCY RISK NOTICES! And that's not counting what's surely being visited on professional services staff too. This is an economic catastrophe, to say nothing of the intellectual catastrophe!
Reposted by Dr Amanda Dillon
Ongoing decimation of British universities part 252:
Apx. 1000 academic staff at University of Essex just received formal ‘risk of redundancy’ letters via email.
Please share @ucuessex.bsky.social @ucu.org.uk
Apx. 1000 academic staff at University of Essex just received formal ‘risk of redundancy’ letters via email.
Please share @ucuessex.bsky.social @ucu.org.uk
December 11, 2025 at 4:59 PM
Ongoing decimation of British universities part 252:
Apx. 1000 academic staff at University of Essex just received formal ‘risk of redundancy’ letters via email.
Please share @ucuessex.bsky.social @ucu.org.uk
Apx. 1000 academic staff at University of Essex just received formal ‘risk of redundancy’ letters via email.
Please share @ucuessex.bsky.social @ucu.org.uk
Reposted by Dr Amanda Dillon
apparently there's 'falling growth' in the 'scientific research' sector, and yes, that is what will happen if you slash jobs in universities
UK economy unexpectedly contracts by 0.1% in October
Growth has slowed throughout the year
www.ft.com
December 12, 2025 at 7:58 AM
apparently there's 'falling growth' in the 'scientific research' sector, and yes, that is what will happen if you slash jobs in universities
Reposted by Dr Amanda Dillon
British Library staff asked for a decent pay. Instead they got ‘a few money-saving present ideas’, such as ‘consider not giving presents this holiday season’. They are on strike this week. I wrote about it for @lrb.co.uk. www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2025/de...
Anna Aslanyan | On the Picket Line
On Monday morning, more than a hundred people formed a picket line outside one of the entrances to the British Library...
www.lrb.co.uk
December 10, 2025 at 1:14 PM
British Library staff asked for a decent pay. Instead they got ‘a few money-saving present ideas’, such as ‘consider not giving presents this holiday season’. They are on strike this week. I wrote about it for @lrb.co.uk. www.lrb.co.uk/blog/2025/de...