Sig Sønnesyn
@sigsonnesyn.bsky.social
Lecturer in Medieval Christianity, a sheep farmer in De Wulf's clothing, aspiring well-meaning idiot. Lonergan, Burrell, MacIntyre, McCabe. Waiting not for a Godot, but for another – doubtless very different – Alasdair MacIntyre.
Pinned
Sig Sønnesyn
@sigsonnesyn.bsky.social
· Apr 15
a man is holding a microphone in front of a crowd and says " well it 's groundhog day ... again "
ALT: a man is holding a microphone in front of a crowd and says " well it 's groundhog day ... again "
media.tenor.com
‘A picture held us captive. And we could not get outside of it, for it lay in our language, and language seemed to repeat it to us inexorably.’
Ludwig Wittgenstein, Philosophical Investigations, §115
Ludwig Wittgenstein, Philosophical Investigations, §115
Please enlighten me: how reliable is the 'market research' in subservience to which we (UKHE) are increasingly made to hollow out or ‘streamline’ our study programmes? Is market prognostication still relying on the methodology that, say, spectacularly failed to predict the 2008 recession, 1/3
December 5, 2025 at 9:41 AM
Please enlighten me: how reliable is the 'market research' in subservience to which we (UKHE) are increasingly made to hollow out or ‘streamline’ our study programmes? Is market prognostication still relying on the methodology that, say, spectacularly failed to predict the 2008 recession, 1/3
Reposted by Sig Sønnesyn
The first school to market itself as AI free is going to corner the market on people interested in actually learning. And I would not be surprised if rich families and the children of people creating this tech were the first movers.
My employer, Dartmouth College, today boasts it's 1st Ivy "to launch AI at an institutional scale." It is doing this by partnering--"more than a collaboration"--with Anthropic, a company that stole the books of many faculty, me included, which many of us are suing.
December 5, 2025 at 1:40 AM
The first school to market itself as AI free is going to corner the market on people interested in actually learning. And I would not be surprised if rich families and the children of people creating this tech were the first movers.
Reposted by Sig Sønnesyn
When's the last time you heard a VC whose university has financial woes speak openly & eloquently about why what his/her/their institution does really matters & merits investment? Why can't/won't university leaders work to change the conversation? With this profile, this VC should be able to. 2/2
Professor Peter Edwards | The University of Aberdeen
www.abdn.ac.uk
December 3, 2025 at 8:59 AM
When's the last time you heard a VC whose university has financial woes speak openly & eloquently about why what his/her/their institution does really matters & merits investment? Why can't/won't university leaders work to change the conversation? With this profile, this VC should be able to. 2/2
Reposted by Sig Sønnesyn
'At the high risk of becoming one of those bores at a conference whose “question” is a speech about that very issue, I do think there is a choice to be made. We ought at least to ask if universities exist to sort and qualify, or to form and transform. AI forces the question.'
'Without judgement, abundance is useless.' Thoughtful longread from @jimdickinson.bsky.social about how AI is stripping things away to uncover what is actually valuable about higher education
wonkhe.com/blogs/the-en...
wonkhe.com/blogs/the-en...
The end of pretend – AI and the case for universities of formation
Jim Dickinson reflects on the end of scarcity, the rise of AI, and the challenge to a system of higher education built on pretence, performance and proxies Jim Dickinson reflects on the end of scarcit...
wonkhe.com
December 1, 2025 at 1:22 PM
'At the high risk of becoming one of those bores at a conference whose “question” is a speech about that very issue, I do think there is a choice to be made. We ought at least to ask if universities exist to sort and qualify, or to form and transform. AI forces the question.'
Reposted by Sig Sønnesyn
We loved hearing all about our own Steve De Hailes' Medieval Mountain project! 🏔️ #medievalsky #skystorians
✍️🗻 Dr @stevedehailes.bsky.social (@bristolunienglish.bsky.social) tells us about his Medieval Mountain AHRC project which seeks to raise awareness of our historical relationship to mountains & our continued role in their preservation
Read more about the project 👉 brnw.ch/21wXUsn
Read more about the project 👉 brnw.ch/21wXUsn
December 1, 2025 at 4:30 PM
We loved hearing all about our own Steve De Hailes' Medieval Mountain project! 🏔️ #medievalsky #skystorians
Reposted by Sig Sønnesyn
There are many reasons to question the term 'AI' and its inflationary use. Here's a particularly good one from @katecrawford.bsky.social's 'Atlas of AI':
December 1, 2025 at 12:23 PM
There are many reasons to question the term 'AI' and its inflationary use. Here's a particularly good one from @katecrawford.bsky.social's 'Atlas of AI':
Reposted by Sig Sønnesyn
@uobartsmatter.bsky.social, @uobrishistory.bsky.social, @bristolcms.bsky.social, @bristolunienglish.bsky.social, @bristoluni.bsky.social
🚨 Hwæt, medievalists: following its successful inauguration last year, the Bristol Medieval Studies Summer School will be running again in 2026! 🚨 Please share the good news or—even better—sign up yourself: www.bristol.ac.uk/centre-for-s... We're so proud of this course, and we'd love to see you! 🚨
November 27, 2025 at 8:23 AM
Reposted by Sig Sønnesyn
Partly an effect of the business speak (and approach) applied to universities. “Providers” “exit markets” all the time. It’s how The market works! Collective institutions of public good…now those are different things.
7 x 3000+ students + 17 smaller institutions must mean 30,000+ affected students. That’s about the same size as Sheffield uni, which employs 8000ish staff. Why is the government tolerating the impending collapse of up to 24 related employers and 8000+ more lost jobs? Where is the sense of crisis?
Chief exec of OfS 'said the OfS believes there are 24 institutions at risk of exiting the market in the next 12 months, seven of which are large providers with more than 3,000 students. There are another 25 or so institutions of various sizes at risk over a two- to three-year period, she added.'
November 26, 2025 at 9:28 AM
Partly an effect of the business speak (and approach) applied to universities. “Providers” “exit markets” all the time. It’s how The market works! Collective institutions of public good…now those are different things.
Reposted by Sig Sønnesyn
I keep coming back to this
November 23, 2025 at 11:00 PM
I keep coming back to this
Reposted by Sig Sønnesyn
Oh for goodness sakes. What do they think science is? Just getting as many bogus publications as possible?
Exploring the use of AI authors and reviewers at Agents4Science – There is growing interest in using AI agents for scientific research. But fundamental questions remain about their capabilities as scientists and reviewers. Agents4Science is the first conferen... https://tinyurl.com/2afcdxhw #UsingAI
Exploring the use of AI authors and reviewers at Agents4Science
There is growing interest in using AI agents for scientific research, yet fundamental questions remain about their capabilities as scientists and reviewers. To explore these questions, we organized Agents4Science, the first conference in which AI agents serve as both primary authors and reviewers…
arxiv.org
November 22, 2025 at 12:54 AM
Oh for goodness sakes. What do they think science is? Just getting as many bogus publications as possible?
Reposted by Sig Sønnesyn
Delighted to announce that more than 80 MS fragments from Gubbio, dating to s. XI-XII, have just been published online, thanks to the hard work of my PhD student, Laura Rogari.
You can access them on @fragmentarium.bsky.social: fragmentarium.ms/search?sQuer...
You can access them on @fragmentarium.bsky.social: fragmentarium.ms/search?sQuer...
Fragmentarium
Fragmentarium - Digital Laboratory for Medieval Manuscript Fragments. Fragmentarium enables libraries, collectors, researchers and students to publish images of medieval manuscript fragments, allowing...
fragmentarium.ms
November 21, 2025 at 9:18 AM
Delighted to announce that more than 80 MS fragments from Gubbio, dating to s. XI-XII, have just been published online, thanks to the hard work of my PhD student, Laura Rogari.
You can access them on @fragmentarium.bsky.social: fragmentarium.ms/search?sQuer...
You can access them on @fragmentarium.bsky.social: fragmentarium.ms/search?sQuer...
Reposted by Sig Sønnesyn
Please do pass this on to anyone who may be interested! ☺️ #medievalsky #skystorians
Exciting news! 📣🎉The Bristol Summer team are hosting a Q&A event for people to find out more about the Bristol Summer School in Medieval Studies. 🙋🙋♂️🙋♀️ The event will run Jan 2026 (date tbc), and you can register your interest via the QR code or the link in the comments!😊 #medievalsky #skystorians
November 19, 2025 at 1:31 PM
Please do pass this on to anyone who may be interested! ☺️ #medievalsky #skystorians
Reposted by Sig Sønnesyn
Want to start the new year by learning new things? In January 2026 Anna Somfai will teach an online course on medieval philosophical and scientific manuscripts. More information here 👇 @warburginstitute.bsky.social @ies-sas.bsky.social #MedievalSky please reskeet!
ies.sas.ac.uk/news-events/...
ies.sas.ac.uk/news-events/...
IES: LIPS & LRBS Winter School | 2026
ies.sas.ac.uk
November 19, 2025 at 10:57 AM
Want to start the new year by learning new things? In January 2026 Anna Somfai will teach an online course on medieval philosophical and scientific manuscripts. More information here 👇 @warburginstitute.bsky.social @ies-sas.bsky.social #MedievalSky please reskeet!
ies.sas.ac.uk/news-events/...
ies.sas.ac.uk/news-events/...
Reposted by Sig Sønnesyn
It’s the universities encouraging students to use AI that really gets me. All this “we need to accept it’s here and teach them to use it” does not help students learn to think. Writing is for thinking and communicating, not just producing words.
I spent a lot of time this semester explaining why it produces bad work but at the end of the day, they're being asked to do a thing they find difficult, and this makes it easy for them, without any meaningful consequence. And the university encourages them to use it.
November 18, 2025 at 3:46 AM
It’s the universities encouraging students to use AI that really gets me. All this “we need to accept it’s here and teach them to use it” does not help students learn to think. Writing is for thinking and communicating, not just producing words.
Reposted by Sig Sønnesyn
Ah yes Leicester, a tip-top History UoA in REF2021 currently eviscerating it’s History provision (among other subjects). Have they also won the THE irony of the year award?
#THEAwards Research Project of the Year: Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences goes to the University of Leicester for an interdisciplinary study, led by Dr Sarah Inskip, which uncovered the long-term health impacts of tobacco use in historical populations. Leicester’s second win tonight! 🤩
November 13, 2025 at 11:01 PM
Ah yes Leicester, a tip-top History UoA in REF2021 currently eviscerating it’s History provision (among other subjects). Have they also won the THE irony of the year award?
Reposted by Sig Sønnesyn
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.
Reposted by Sig Sønnesyn
📢Fully Funded PhD Opportunities @thetimes University of the Year @durham_uni's Institute of Medieval and Early Modern Studies 🎓
durham.ac.uk/research/ins...
durham.ac.uk/research/ins...
October 29, 2025 at 9:32 AM
📢Fully Funded PhD Opportunities @thetimes University of the Year @durham_uni's Institute of Medieval and Early Modern Studies 🎓
durham.ac.uk/research/ins...
durham.ac.uk/research/ins...
Reposted by Sig Sønnesyn
Back by popular demand, Introduction to Latin Palaeography will run online in February 2026 #MedievalSky 👇
ies.sas.ac.uk/news-events/...
ies.sas.ac.uk/news-events/...
Introduction to Latin Palaeography
ies.sas.ac.uk
October 23, 2025 at 4:59 PM
Back by popular demand, Introduction to Latin Palaeography will run online in February 2026 #MedievalSky 👇
ies.sas.ac.uk/news-events/...
ies.sas.ac.uk/news-events/...
Reposted by Sig Sønnesyn
We are SO excited to announce that applications are now open for this year's Medieval Studies Summer School! 🎉 Please do pass this information on to anyone you think might be interested!
We'll be sharing some highlights of last year's programme over the next few weeks!
#medievalsky #skystorians
We'll be sharing some highlights of last year's programme over the next few weeks!
#medievalsky #skystorians
October 23, 2025 at 9:36 AM
We are SO excited to announce that applications are now open for this year's Medieval Studies Summer School! 🎉 Please do pass this information on to anyone you think might be interested!
We'll be sharing some highlights of last year's programme over the next few weeks!
#medievalsky #skystorians
We'll be sharing some highlights of last year's programme over the next few weeks!
#medievalsky #skystorians
Reposted by Sig Sønnesyn
anyone in the area needs to attend this- the original was next-level and this one is not to be missed!!
Our brilliant PGRs are at it again! After last year's inaugural and highly-successful brat symposium (organised by CMS PGRs Shauna Roach, Sarah Collinson, Harry Lewis, and Isla Dawson), this year's committee is once again inviting Bristol PGRs to consider how 'brat' connects with their own research.
October 20, 2025 at 12:35 PM
anyone in the area needs to attend this- the original was next-level and this one is not to be missed!!
Reposted by Sig Sønnesyn
Our brilliant PGRs are at it again! After last year's inaugural and highly-successful brat symposium (organised by CMS PGRs Shauna Roach, Sarah Collinson, Harry Lewis, and Isla Dawson), this year's committee is once again inviting Bristol PGRs to consider how 'brat' connects with their own research.
October 20, 2025 at 12:31 PM
Our brilliant PGRs are at it again! After last year's inaugural and highly-successful brat symposium (organised by CMS PGRs Shauna Roach, Sarah Collinson, Harry Lewis, and Isla Dawson), this year's committee is once again inviting Bristol PGRs to consider how 'brat' connects with their own research.
Reposted by Sig Sønnesyn
Our online Winter School is now open for booking! We’re offering online courses on a range of topics for those interested in pre-modern books. Courses begin on 26 January. Check it out 👇 ies.sas.ac.uk/news-events/...
IES: LIPS & LRBS Winter School | 2026
ies.sas.ac.uk
October 17, 2025 at 1:09 PM
Our online Winter School is now open for booking! We’re offering online courses on a range of topics for those interested in pre-modern books. Courses begin on 26 January. Check it out 👇 ies.sas.ac.uk/news-events/...
Reposted by Sig Sønnesyn
Reposted by Sig Sønnesyn
University leaders: [terminate programs, close campuses, cave in to political pressure from demagogues]
Faculty, students, staff: you’re killing the university
Management consultants: looks like you got a real comms challenge here
Faculty, students, staff: you’re killing the university
Management consultants: looks like you got a real comms challenge here
October 13, 2025 at 11:51 AM
University leaders: [terminate programs, close campuses, cave in to political pressure from demagogues]
Faculty, students, staff: you’re killing the university
Management consultants: looks like you got a real comms challenge here
Faculty, students, staff: you’re killing the university
Management consultants: looks like you got a real comms challenge here