somak_history
@somakbiswas.bsky.social
eternal cat-lover!
historian: AIDS, race, migration
20th century Britain, South Asia, Global history
Author: Passages Through India (Gladstone Book Prize 2024)
Queer. Dalit.
https://www.hist.cam.ac.uk/people/dr-somak-biswas
historian: AIDS, race, migration
20th century Britain, South Asia, Global history
Author: Passages Through India (Gladstone Book Prize 2024)
Queer. Dalit.
https://www.hist.cam.ac.uk/people/dr-somak-biswas
Reposted by somak_history
With so many amazing new books coming into the Bookshop every week it can be hard to know what to read first. 📖 Including Nicolas Bell-Romero's groundbreaking new book, 'The University of Cambridge in the Age of Atlantic Slavery'.
Find all our new books on our website: 🔗
https://bit.ly/3ZNM6Wo
Find all our new books on our website: 🔗
https://bit.ly/3ZNM6Wo
November 13, 2025 at 4:45 PM
With so many amazing new books coming into the Bookshop every week it can be hard to know what to read first. 📖 Including Nicolas Bell-Romero's groundbreaking new book, 'The University of Cambridge in the Age of Atlantic Slavery'.
Find all our new books on our website: 🔗
https://bit.ly/3ZNM6Wo
Find all our new books on our website: 🔗
https://bit.ly/3ZNM6Wo
Reposted by somak_history
If you're a student who works with radio or podcasts, take a look at the Charles Parker prize. Brilliant opportunity for oral historians
www.cpatrust.org.uk/prize
www.cpatrust.org.uk/prize
Charles Parker Prize | Showcase Your Audio Talent — Charles Parker Archive Trust
Discover top student audio features and enter the Charles Parker Prize for a chance to broadcast on BBC Radio 4.
www.cpatrust.org.uk
November 11, 2025 at 7:33 AM
If you're a student who works with radio or podcasts, take a look at the Charles Parker prize. Brilliant opportunity for oral historians
www.cpatrust.org.uk/prize
www.cpatrust.org.uk/prize
Reposted by somak_history
Several of these have been digitised as resources for a module on Anglo-German relations - warwick.ac.uk/services/lib...
Cycling diaries kept during tours of 1933 & 1938, & lantern slides from journalist 'Petronella' in which tourist snaps are rendered less innocuous when you see the banners flying
Cycling diaries kept during tours of 1933 & 1938, & lantern slides from journalist 'Petronella' in which tourist snaps are rendered less innocuous when you see the banners flying
November 10, 2025 at 4:23 PM
Several of these have been digitised as resources for a module on Anglo-German relations - warwick.ac.uk/services/lib...
Cycling diaries kept during tours of 1933 & 1938, & lantern slides from journalist 'Petronella' in which tourist snaps are rendered less innocuous when you see the banners flying
Cycling diaries kept during tours of 1933 & 1938, & lantern slides from journalist 'Petronella' in which tourist snaps are rendered less innocuous when you see the banners flying
Reposted by somak_history
This week, UoN announced course suspensions for all modern languages, music, theology & religious studies, biosciences, mental health nursing and more.
@uonucu.bsky.social fighting management tooth & nail to prevent this reckless, shortsighted stupidity.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
@uonucu.bsky.social fighting management tooth & nail to prevent this reckless, shortsighted stupidity.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
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 8:44 PM
This week, UoN announced course suspensions for all modern languages, music, theology & religious studies, biosciences, mental health nursing and more.
@uonucu.bsky.social fighting management tooth & nail to prevent this reckless, shortsighted stupidity.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
@uonucu.bsky.social fighting management tooth & nail to prevent this reckless, shortsighted stupidity.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Reposted by somak_history
Membership of the Society for the Study of Labour History costs £37 (£21 for students) and includes three issues of Labour History Review.
If labour history matters to you, come and join us sslh.org.uk/join/
If labour history matters to you, come and join us sslh.org.uk/join/
November 6, 2025 at 3:37 PM
Membership of the Society for the Study of Labour History costs £37 (£21 for students) and includes three issues of Labour History Review.
If labour history matters to you, come and join us sslh.org.uk/join/
If labour history matters to you, come and join us sslh.org.uk/join/
absolute pleasure to be in conversation with the ever brilliant Savi, Ritu and Parminder - icons of queer South Asian activism in Britain! thanks @lucydelap.bsky.social, @camhistory.bsky.social and @kingscollege.bsky.social for hosting
Great to be at the launch of Desi Queers, new intersectional oral history collection, with legendary founders of queer antiracist organisations Naz & Shakti
November 5, 2025 at 11:04 AM
absolute pleasure to be in conversation with the ever brilliant Savi, Ritu and Parminder - icons of queer South Asian activism in Britain! thanks @lucydelap.bsky.social, @camhistory.bsky.social and @kingscollege.bsky.social for hosting
was a pleasure to review Charu Gupta's latest work @theindiaforum.bsky.social
Hindi Hindu Histories brings to life a dynamic social world & its deep ambiguities. They signal plural modes of Hindu being & belonging as their eclecticism hark at a distinctly conservative cosmopolitan. Somak Biswas on Charu Gupta's book
www.theindiaforum.in/book-reviews...
www.theindiaforum.in/book-reviews...
Hindi Worlds, Hindu Worlds
"Hindi Hindu Histories brings to life a dynamic social world and its deep ambiguities. They signal plural modes of Hindu being and belonging, even as their eclecticism hark at a distinctly conservativ...
www.theindiaforum.in
November 4, 2025 at 11:11 AM
was a pleasure to review Charu Gupta's latest work @theindiaforum.bsky.social
fantastic virtual issue!
Our latest virtual issue on: "Immobility"
curated by 2023-25 @ihr.bsky.social Past & Present Fellows @anastruillou.bsky.social, Malika Zehni and Lamin Manneh
Can be read below and is free to access:
academic.oup.com/past/pages/i...
curated by 2023-25 @ihr.bsky.social Past & Present Fellows @anastruillou.bsky.social, Malika Zehni and Lamin Manneh
Can be read below and is free to access:
academic.oup.com/past/pages/i...
Immobility
academic.oup.com
November 4, 2025 at 11:10 AM
fantastic virtual issue!
brilliant, both book and review!
Such an honour to see a wonderful, long and thoughtful review of my book in the latest @lrb.co.uk - by the excellent Florence Sutcliffe Braithwaite. It captures how each of my books were products of their specific political moments. www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
October 30, 2025 at 11:23 AM
brilliant, both book and review!
Reposted by somak_history
We are in the last week of our campaign.
If ‘The India Forum’ has added value to your reading and helped you form better opinions, help us cross the finish line and meet our target. Please donate generously.
the-india-forum.danamojo.org/dm/donate-to...
If ‘The India Forum’ has added value to your reading and helped you form better opinions, help us cross the finish line and meet our target. Please donate generously.
the-india-forum.danamojo.org/dm/donate-to...
Donate to 'The India Forum' to meet 6 months' expenses - The India Forum - danamojo.org - experience the magic of giving
For six years now, ‘The India Forum’ has been a space for thoughtful writing on the issues that matter to all of us. On our pages, you’ve read leading commentators as well as fresh v...
the-india-forum.danamojo.org
October 27, 2025 at 3:13 AM
We are in the last week of our campaign.
If ‘The India Forum’ has added value to your reading and helped you form better opinions, help us cross the finish line and meet our target. Please donate generously.
the-india-forum.danamojo.org/dm/donate-to...
If ‘The India Forum’ has added value to your reading and helped you form better opinions, help us cross the finish line and meet our target. Please donate generously.
the-india-forum.danamojo.org/dm/donate-to...
Reposted by somak_history
Professor Lucy Delap will give the first Women’s History Seminar at Murray Edwards College, one of the two women-only colleges of @cam.ac.uk.
🔎 Title: Disabled women, the labour state and enterprise in 20th-century Britain
⏲️ Tues 28 Oct, 5–6.30pm
🏢 Vivien Stewart Room
Register for free tickets ⬇️
🔎 Title: Disabled women, the labour state and enterprise in 20th-century Britain
⏲️ Tues 28 Oct, 5–6.30pm
🏢 Vivien Stewart Room
Register for free tickets ⬇️
October 23, 2025 at 3:24 PM
Professor Lucy Delap will give the first Women’s History Seminar at Murray Edwards College, one of the two women-only colleges of @cam.ac.uk.
🔎 Title: Disabled women, the labour state and enterprise in 20th-century Britain
⏲️ Tues 28 Oct, 5–6.30pm
🏢 Vivien Stewart Room
Register for free tickets ⬇️
🔎 Title: Disabled women, the labour state and enterprise in 20th-century Britain
⏲️ Tues 28 Oct, 5–6.30pm
🏢 Vivien Stewart Room
Register for free tickets ⬇️
looking forward to this!
Join us for our next seminar on Tuesday 28 October, when @somakbiswas.bsky.social will be talking about how AIDS racialised late 20th century British border discourse. Details below:
Location: Keppel St. (LG81), Hybrid
Time: 12:45 - 14:00
www.lshtm.ac.uk/newsevents/e...
Location: Keppel St. (LG81), Hybrid
Time: 12:45 - 14:00
www.lshtm.ac.uk/newsevents/e...
AIDS and the screening debate: race, mobility and migration, 1985-1995 | LSHTM
This presentation explores how efforts to manage the spread of AIDS intersected with broader efforts to restrict African migration in late twentieth century Britain. Its target audience is students
www.lshtm.ac.uk
October 23, 2025 at 11:32 AM
looking forward to this!
Reposted by somak_history
Great 12-month opportunity for an historian. Salary: £36,799 (Grade 5: Development Worker grade). Edinburgh/hybrid. Closing date 21 October.
Vacancy: Legacy of Slavery Research Project Officer - The Scottish Episcopal Church
Salary: £36,799 (Grade 5: Development Worker grade)Contract: Fixed term for 12 months Hours: Fulltime, 35 hours a week (.8 FTE or 28 hours will also be considered). Some occasional evening or weekend ...
www.scotland.anglican.org
October 22, 2025 at 8:43 AM
Great 12-month opportunity for an historian. Salary: £36,799 (Grade 5: Development Worker grade). Edinburgh/hybrid. Closing date 21 October.
Reposted by somak_history
📅 Save the Date!
🎉 To mark 50 years of the Social History Society, we’re hosting a Social History Festival with @ihr.bsky.social!
🗓️ Fri 24 April 2026
📍 Senate House, University of London
Panels, a keynote + hands-on activities!
💡 Want to contribute? 👉socialhistsoc@gmail.com
More info coming soon!
🎉 To mark 50 years of the Social History Society, we’re hosting a Social History Festival with @ihr.bsky.social!
🗓️ Fri 24 April 2026
📍 Senate House, University of London
Panels, a keynote + hands-on activities!
💡 Want to contribute? 👉socialhistsoc@gmail.com
More info coming soon!
October 22, 2025 at 8:27 AM
📅 Save the Date!
🎉 To mark 50 years of the Social History Society, we’re hosting a Social History Festival with @ihr.bsky.social!
🗓️ Fri 24 April 2026
📍 Senate House, University of London
Panels, a keynote + hands-on activities!
💡 Want to contribute? 👉socialhistsoc@gmail.com
More info coming soon!
🎉 To mark 50 years of the Social History Society, we’re hosting a Social History Festival with @ihr.bsky.social!
🗓️ Fri 24 April 2026
📍 Senate House, University of London
Panels, a keynote + hands-on activities!
💡 Want to contribute? 👉socialhistsoc@gmail.com
More info coming soon!
Reposted by somak_history
Was Manchester really as segregated as Engels said? What kept the rich and poor apart.... if anything? My first article is out today in @historicaljnl.bsky.social and I'm so pleased to share it with you all! doi:10.1017/S0018246X25101246
@stjohnscollege.bsky.social @camunicampop.bsky.social
@stjohnscollege.bsky.social @camunicampop.bsky.social
October 21, 2025 at 7:17 AM
Was Manchester really as segregated as Engels said? What kept the rich and poor apart.... if anything? My first article is out today in @historicaljnl.bsky.social and I'm so pleased to share it with you all! doi:10.1017/S0018246X25101246
@stjohnscollege.bsky.social @camunicampop.bsky.social
@stjohnscollege.bsky.social @camunicampop.bsky.social
please donate to India Forum!
offering sane and sage writing in these trying times
offering sane and sage writing in these trying times
Readers, with your support and matching grants we have reached the halfway target in our campaign. We still have the other half to raise. Do donate generously and see your donation double with more matching grants.
the-india-forum.danamojo.org/dm/donate-to...
the-india-forum.danamojo.org/dm/donate-to...
Donate to 'The India Forum' to meet 6 months' expenses - The India Forum - danamojo.org - experience the magic of giving
For six years now, ‘The India Forum’ has been a space for thoughtful writing on the issues that matter to all of us. On our pages, you’ve read leading commentators as well as fresh v...
the-india-forum.danamojo.org
October 10, 2025 at 12:39 PM
please donate to India Forum!
offering sane and sage writing in these trying times
offering sane and sage writing in these trying times
Reposted by somak_history
I have a new article out.
TLDR: Actively courting deportation by air is a way to claim rights as a stateless person and even as a refugee.
academic.oup.com/past/advance...
TLDR: Actively courting deportation by air is a way to claim rights as a stateless person and even as a refugee.
academic.oup.com/past/advance...
Air Travel, Statelessness, and the Rights Claims of Ugandan Asians, c.1973*
Abstract. In the aftermath of Idi Amin’s expulsion of Uganda’s South Asians in 1972, some of those made technically stateless arrived in India unsupported
academic.oup.com
October 9, 2025 at 6:02 PM
I have a new article out.
TLDR: Actively courting deportation by air is a way to claim rights as a stateless person and even as a refugee.
academic.oup.com/past/advance...
TLDR: Actively courting deportation by air is a way to claim rights as a stateless person and even as a refugee.
academic.oup.com/past/advance...
Reposted by somak_history
📙 Bluesky is the only platform where I haven’t circulated my book, as I’d recently joined and was waiting for the physical copy. So here it is (last book post, I promise) 📙
☀️ Sunbed in Britain: Tanning Culture from Fad to Fear is free to download via: dx.doi.org/10.5040/9781...
☀️ Sunbed in Britain: Tanning Culture from Fad to Fear is free to download via: dx.doi.org/10.5040/9781...
October 8, 2025 at 11:05 AM
📙 Bluesky is the only platform where I haven’t circulated my book, as I’d recently joined and was waiting for the physical copy. So here it is (last book post, I promise) 📙
☀️ Sunbed in Britain: Tanning Culture from Fad to Fear is free to download via: dx.doi.org/10.5040/9781...
☀️ Sunbed in Britain: Tanning Culture from Fad to Fear is free to download via: dx.doi.org/10.5040/9781...
Reposted by somak_history
RHS First Book and Early Career Article Prizes, 2026.
We invite submissions for the Society's book and article prizes: for eligible titles published in 2025. Further details and how to apply: bit.ly/3KnR47v
Submissions are by self-nomination by an author. Closing date: 15 December #Skystorians
We invite submissions for the Society's book and article prizes: for eligible titles published in 2025. Further details and how to apply: bit.ly/3KnR47v
Submissions are by self-nomination by an author. Closing date: 15 December #Skystorians
Royal Historical Society Book and Article Prizes, 2026: submissions now invited - RHS
The Royal Historical Society invites applications for its First Book Prize, 2026 and Early Career Article Prize, 2026. The call for submissions opens on Monday 29 September 2025 and runs to Monday 15 ...
bit.ly
September 29, 2025 at 7:44 AM
RHS First Book and Early Career Article Prizes, 2026.
We invite submissions for the Society's book and article prizes: for eligible titles published in 2025. Further details and how to apply: bit.ly/3KnR47v
Submissions are by self-nomination by an author. Closing date: 15 December #Skystorians
We invite submissions for the Society's book and article prizes: for eligible titles published in 2025. Further details and how to apply: bit.ly/3KnR47v
Submissions are by self-nomination by an author. Closing date: 15 December #Skystorians
Reposted by somak_history
‘A report commissioned by Scottish Enterprise estimated that 2822 jobs depended on oil refining in Grangemouth. It’s hard to estimate the overall loss of economic activity, from food vans to specialised suppliers and administrative staff.’
@ewangibbs.bsky.social: www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
@ewangibbs.bsky.social: www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Ewan Gibbs · Goodbye to Grangemouth
Any form of ‘just transition’ – managing the move to a greener economy while also protecting workers and...
www.lrb.co.uk
September 16, 2025 at 2:32 PM
‘A report commissioned by Scottish Enterprise estimated that 2822 jobs depended on oil refining in Grangemouth. It’s hard to estimate the overall loss of economic activity, from food vans to specialised suppliers and administrative staff.’
@ewangibbs.bsky.social: www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
@ewangibbs.bsky.social: www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Reposted by somak_history
Reposted by somak_history
Reminder that I am open for business for all your research, writing, editing and copy-editing needs! Recent projects include creating a personal archive catalogue, and copy-editing English academic manuscripts for authors of other languages. Get in touch via website or DM!
www.drvicclarke.co.uk
www.drvicclarke.co.uk
September 3, 2025 at 7:40 AM
Reminder that I am open for business for all your research, writing, editing and copy-editing needs! Recent projects include creating a personal archive catalogue, and copy-editing English academic manuscripts for authors of other languages. Get in touch via website or DM!
www.drvicclarke.co.uk
www.drvicclarke.co.uk
Reposted by somak_history
I am sickened by the relentless demonisation of refugees.
No refugee underfunded a school.
No refugee closed a hospital.
No refugee took away support from the sick and disabled.
We need solutions not scapegoats. Stop blaming refugees and tax the rich instead!
No refugee underfunded a school.
No refugee closed a hospital.
No refugee took away support from the sick and disabled.
We need solutions not scapegoats. Stop blaming refugees and tax the rich instead!
August 27, 2025 at 9:11 AM
I am sickened by the relentless demonisation of refugees.
No refugee underfunded a school.
No refugee closed a hospital.
No refugee took away support from the sick and disabled.
We need solutions not scapegoats. Stop blaming refugees and tax the rich instead!
No refugee underfunded a school.
No refugee closed a hospital.
No refugee took away support from the sick and disabled.
We need solutions not scapegoats. Stop blaming refugees and tax the rich instead!
Reposted by somak_history
If you love women's history, sign up for the Women's History Network @womenshistnet.bsky.social annual conference. Running over 4-5 Sept, it's free, online, & packed with great panels on activism, archives, the arts and fashion, economic life, sexualities
womenshistorynetwork.org/the-womens-h...
womenshistorynetwork.org/the-womens-h...
The Women’s History Network Annual Conference
Women’s History Network 33rd Annual Conference Online via Zoom Thursday 4 & Friday 5 September 2025 Hidden in Plain Sight: Women in Archives, Libraries, Museums and Personal Collections Reg…
womenshistorynetwork.org
August 26, 2025 at 8:15 AM
If you love women's history, sign up for the Women's History Network @womenshistnet.bsky.social annual conference. Running over 4-5 Sept, it's free, online, & packed with great panels on activism, archives, the arts and fashion, economic life, sexualities
womenshistorynetwork.org/the-womens-h...
womenshistorynetwork.org/the-womens-h...
Reposted by somak_history
Thought-provoking approach to identity politics to be discussed at this exciting workshop: laoms.org/workshop-ide... The organisers welcome contributions from the perspective of the history of sexuality and gender. Deadline falling soon!
Workshop: identity politics and social movements - LAOMS
Workshop: identity politics and social movements Centre on Social Movement Studies, Scuola Normale Superiore, Florence 27-28 October 2025 The politics of identity has become one of the most contested ...
laoms.org
August 19, 2025 at 10:16 AM
Thought-provoking approach to identity politics to be discussed at this exciting workshop: laoms.org/workshop-ide... The organisers welcome contributions from the perspective of the history of sexuality and gender. Deadline falling soon!