Tom Cutterham
@tomcutterham.bsky.social
Historian of class and capital in the American Revolution. *Empire Ablaze* out in summer 2026. Previously, *Gentlemen Revolutionaries* https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691172668/gentlemen-revolutionaries
Reposted by Tom Cutterham
Managers cite concern for students in everything they do, but never actually prioritise student opinion or voices in any of their decision making. They do irreparable harm to student courses and turn around to staff and ask: ‘right: how can we improve student satisfaction and recruitment?’
We've had 2 massive mergers in 2 years. In both cases, QMUL refused to hear students (staff was told not to talk about it with students for fear of repercussions), and *after* both of them, management said 'our bad, we'll talk to students next time'.
#UKHE managers don't prioritise students.
#UKHE managers don't prioritise students.
Did @uniofnottingham.bsky.social consult any students before announcing the proposed course closures? @uonucu.bsky.social
www.bbc.com/news/article...
www.bbc.com/news/article...
November 10, 2025 at 7:33 AM
Managers cite concern for students in everything they do, but never actually prioritise student opinion or voices in any of their decision making. They do irreparable harm to student courses and turn around to staff and ask: ‘right: how can we improve student satisfaction and recruitment?’
Reposted by Tom Cutterham
Centre-left politicians worried about anti-car policies polling badly in the short term need to remember: every measure that pushes people to cycle or use public transport ultimately creates more centre-left voters; every measure that leads to more people driving creates more right-wing voters
There should be a tax on ridiculously bloated road boats registered in urban areas, because (a) they cause obvious problems in such areas (b) they are bad for the environment (c) they are dangerous for children (d) they are awful, and driving them should be expensive and socially stigmatised.
Cars the U.K are up to 55% larger today than they were in the 1970s and there are twice the number of motors on our roads as there were 30 years ago, but anti-Low Traffic Neighbourhood and anti-cycle lane campaigners keep claiming they 'cause congestion'.
Okay.
Okay.
November 6, 2025 at 12:30 AM
Centre-left politicians worried about anti-car policies polling badly in the short term need to remember: every measure that pushes people to cycle or use public transport ultimately creates more centre-left voters; every measure that leads to more people driving creates more right-wing voters
Reposted by Tom Cutterham
Compulsory team teaching on every module is perhaps the biggest ever threat to the quality of teaching in UK universities.
It causes chaos on the ground for timetabling, ruins course coherence and turns lecturers into permanent supply teachers. It is pedagogically incoherent… 1/
It causes chaos on the ground for timetabling, ruins course coherence and turns lecturers into permanent supply teachers. It is pedagogically incoherent… 1/
November 6, 2025 at 6:57 AM
Compulsory team teaching on every module is perhaps the biggest ever threat to the quality of teaching in UK universities.
It causes chaos on the ground for timetabling, ruins course coherence and turns lecturers into permanent supply teachers. It is pedagogically incoherent… 1/
It causes chaos on the ground for timetabling, ruins course coherence and turns lecturers into permanent supply teachers. It is pedagogically incoherent… 1/
Reposted by Tom Cutterham
CFP for Slavery North conference on "Rebellion, Resistance, and Refuge: Slavery and Border-Crossing during the American Revolution" @umassamherst.bsky.social 7/9-7/12/2026, abstracts due 12/19/2025 #vastearlyamerica slaverynorth.com/event/call-f... 🗃️
Call for Abstracts: Academic Conference - Slavery North
Rebellion, Resistance, and Refuge: Slavery and Border-Crossing during the American Revolution Call for Abstracts: Academic Conference Dates: Thursday, July 9 to Sunday, July 12, 2026 Location: Univers...
slaverynorth.com
November 5, 2025 at 4:27 PM
CFP for Slavery North conference on "Rebellion, Resistance, and Refuge: Slavery and Border-Crossing during the American Revolution" @umassamherst.bsky.social 7/9-7/12/2026, abstracts due 12/19/2025 #vastearlyamerica slaverynorth.com/event/call-f... 🗃️
Ok, I finally got around to writing something for the new blog. It's about what else I've been doing with my time lately! buttondown.com/cutterham/ar...
What I Do
I’m Tom Cutterham, and my job is to teach and research history at the University of Birmingham in the UK. I started this newsletter mainly to talk about a...
buttondown.com
November 4, 2025 at 4:28 PM
Ok, I finally got around to writing something for the new blog. It's about what else I've been doing with my time lately! buttondown.com/cutterham/ar...
Reposted by Tom Cutterham
Friends, I could not be more excited to let you know that my book, The American Revolution and the Fate of the World, is out today from Penguin. I’m super proud of it and super grateful to all the scholars whose work informs it. I hope you’ll take a peek and spread the word!
amzn.to/4nHkziG
amzn.to/4nHkziG
The American Revolution and the Fate of the World
The American Revolution and the Fate of the World [Bell, Richard] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. The American Revolution and the Fate of the World
amzn.to
November 4, 2025 at 2:21 PM
Friends, I could not be more excited to let you know that my book, The American Revolution and the Fate of the World, is out today from Penguin. I’m super proud of it and super grateful to all the scholars whose work informs it. I hope you’ll take a peek and spread the word!
amzn.to/4nHkziG
amzn.to/4nHkziG
Not my place, not my period, but I'm looking forward to some "intimate history" in the present tense, in my colleague @tricksterprince.bsky.social's new book.
October 29, 2025 at 11:29 AM
Not my place, not my period, but I'm looking forward to some "intimate history" in the present tense, in my colleague @tricksterprince.bsky.social's new book.
Reposted by Tom Cutterham
📣 Calling all PGR students, ECRs, & heritage employees: two weeks left to submit your abstract!
With a program of keynote speakers, paper presentations, & 10-minute ‘lightning talks’ to unpack works in progress, we welcome submissions from a range of research interests & disciplinary perspectives.
With a program of keynote speakers, paper presentations, & 10-minute ‘lightning talks’ to unpack works in progress, we welcome submissions from a range of research interests & disciplinary perspectives.
October 27, 2025 at 5:15 PM
📣 Calling all PGR students, ECRs, & heritage employees: two weeks left to submit your abstract!
With a program of keynote speakers, paper presentations, & 10-minute ‘lightning talks’ to unpack works in progress, we welcome submissions from a range of research interests & disciplinary perspectives.
With a program of keynote speakers, paper presentations, & 10-minute ‘lightning talks’ to unpack works in progress, we welcome submissions from a range of research interests & disciplinary perspectives.
What it feels like to work in "one of an elite group of School's" these days... 😑
October 24, 2025 at 9:04 AM
What it feels like to work in "one of an elite group of School's" these days... 😑
Reposted by Tom Cutterham
After submitting a FOIA request UKRI, I obtained success rates by three grant call scheme and I can only say that I am disheartened by the results:
- AHRC Responsive Mode 2025: 2%
- ESRC New Investigator Grant 2025: 1%
- ESRC Research Grant Round 2025: 1%
- AHRC Responsive Mode 2025: 2%
- ESRC New Investigator Grant 2025: 1%
- ESRC Research Grant Round 2025: 1%
October 22, 2025 at 7:55 AM
After submitting a FOIA request UKRI, I obtained success rates by three grant call scheme and I can only say that I am disheartened by the results:
- AHRC Responsive Mode 2025: 2%
- ESRC New Investigator Grant 2025: 1%
- ESRC Research Grant Round 2025: 1%
- AHRC Responsive Mode 2025: 2%
- ESRC New Investigator Grant 2025: 1%
- ESRC Research Grant Round 2025: 1%
Reposted by Tom Cutterham
An unrivaled opportunity to study in the ‘show me’ state:
Thanks to the generosity of the Kinder Institute at the University of Missouri, BrANCH is once again pleased to offer a fully-funded place on their MA program in Atlantic History and Politics for 2026-27!
www.branch.org.uk/kinderbranch...
Thanks to the generosity of the Kinder Institute at the University of Missouri, BrANCH is once again pleased to offer a fully-funded place on their MA program in Atlantic History and Politics for 2026-27!
www.branch.org.uk/kinderbranch...
Kinder-BrANCH MA Fellowship — British American Nineteenth Century Historians
www.branch.org.uk
October 22, 2025 at 3:54 PM
An unrivaled opportunity to study in the ‘show me’ state:
Thanks to the generosity of the Kinder Institute at the University of Missouri, BrANCH is once again pleased to offer a fully-funded place on their MA program in Atlantic History and Politics for 2026-27!
www.branch.org.uk/kinderbranch...
Thanks to the generosity of the Kinder Institute at the University of Missouri, BrANCH is once again pleased to offer a fully-funded place on their MA program in Atlantic History and Politics for 2026-27!
www.branch.org.uk/kinderbranch...
Reposted by Tom Cutterham
Interesting report which resonates with things my students told me when I worked at Birmingham. Proper student journalism is important for holding institutions to account and needs supporting!
Can student journalism survive and thrive?
Tanshpreet Kaur and I spent part of the summer talking to student journalists and other interested parties. Our report focuses on Redbrick, the flagship paper here at Birmingham. You can read it here: drive.google.com/file/d/1QiJG...
Tanshpreet Kaur and I spent part of the summer talking to student journalists and other interested parties. Our report focuses on Redbrick, the flagship paper here at Birmingham. You can read it here: drive.google.com/file/d/1QiJG...
October 21, 2025 at 11:48 AM
Interesting report which resonates with things my students told me when I worked at Birmingham. Proper student journalism is important for holding institutions to account and needs supporting!
Reposted by Tom Cutterham
Maybe British universities should be treated like failing rail franchises, getting gradually nationalised as they go bust one by one, then run cooperatively, democratically, comprehensively, strategically and collectively for the public good.
NEW on Wonkhe: Higher education reform is here – along with a comprehensive strategy for post-16 education and skills. Debbie McVitty and David Kernohan work through the details of the government's agenda for HE buff.ly/D73ayy4
October 21, 2025 at 9:51 AM
Maybe British universities should be treated like failing rail franchises, getting gradually nationalised as they go bust one by one, then run cooperatively, democratically, comprehensively, strategically and collectively for the public good.
Can student journalism survive and thrive?
Tanshpreet Kaur and I spent part of the summer talking to student journalists and other interested parties. Our report focuses on Redbrick, the flagship paper here at Birmingham. You can read it here: drive.google.com/file/d/1QiJG...
Tanshpreet Kaur and I spent part of the summer talking to student journalists and other interested parties. Our report focuses on Redbrick, the flagship paper here at Birmingham. You can read it here: drive.google.com/file/d/1QiJG...
October 21, 2025 at 8:59 AM
Can student journalism survive and thrive?
Tanshpreet Kaur and I spent part of the summer talking to student journalists and other interested parties. Our report focuses on Redbrick, the flagship paper here at Birmingham. You can read it here: drive.google.com/file/d/1QiJG...
Tanshpreet Kaur and I spent part of the summer talking to student journalists and other interested parties. Our report focuses on Redbrick, the flagship paper here at Birmingham. You can read it here: drive.google.com/file/d/1QiJG...
Reposted by Tom Cutterham
My interim editorship is over at the end of the academic year and we are hiring a permanent editor of the WMQ! Please share widely!
Job Ad❗Editor-in-Chief of the William and Mary Quarterly
williammary.wd12.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/WM/det...
williammary.wd12.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/WM/det...
Editor of William and Mary Quarterly
Job Requisition: JR100984 Editor of William and Mary Quarterly (Open) Job Posting Title: Editor of William and Mary Quarterly Department: CC00007 WM001 | PRES | OIEAHC - Omohundro Institute Job Family...
williammary.wd12.myworkdayjobs.com
October 20, 2025 at 6:14 PM
My interim editorship is over at the end of the academic year and we are hiring a permanent editor of the WMQ! Please share widely!
Reposted by Tom Cutterham
If you claim “rights” as a citizen that other citizens can’t claim, or rights as a person that other people don’t have, you don’t have rights, you just have privileges
October 17, 2025 at 3:41 PM
If you claim “rights” as a citizen that other citizens can’t claim, or rights as a person that other people don’t have, you don’t have rights, you just have privileges
Reposted by Tom Cutterham
This is, for clarity, exactly my position. A lot of machine learning is amazing (and has been for years!) - you will pry google lens from my cold dead hands f.ex. But poor quality, unnecessary, forced on you, misleading, thieving slopAI is stealing its valour & spoiling the whole brand/concept.
"I have a decent fluency in LLMs, and they have utility, but the absurd degree of over-hype, the way they're being forced on everyone, and the insistence on ignoring the many valid critiques about them make it very difficult to focus on legitimate uses where they might add value."
October 17, 2025 at 7:29 AM
This is, for clarity, exactly my position. A lot of machine learning is amazing (and has been for years!) - you will pry google lens from my cold dead hands f.ex. But poor quality, unnecessary, forced on you, misleading, thieving slopAI is stealing its valour & spoiling the whole brand/concept.
If you're on here you've probably already seen, but there's a 25% discount on these pre-orders at Waterstones, with the code OCTOBER25, until the end of the day on Friday.
Oh, and I think British readers can put your pre-orders in for the book already, too, if you want! www.waterstones.com/book/empire-...
Empire Ablaze by Tom Cutterham | Waterstones
Buy Empire Ablaze by Tom Cutterham from Waterstones today! Click and Collect from your local Waterstones or get FREE UK delivery on orders over £25.
www.waterstones.com
October 15, 2025 at 1:28 PM
If you're on here you've probably already seen, but there's a 25% discount on these pre-orders at Waterstones, with the code OCTOBER25, until the end of the day on Friday.
Reposted by Tom Cutterham
If academics could put their energy into one place, it should be toward decentralizing university governance.
This won't stop what's about to happen, but it can help make uni restructuring more humane and transparent, and reduce the odds of another HE boom and bust cycle.
This won't stop what's about to happen, but it can help make uni restructuring more humane and transparent, and reduce the odds of another HE boom and bust cycle.
October 12, 2025 at 5:23 PM
If academics could put their energy into one place, it should be toward decentralizing university governance.
This won't stop what's about to happen, but it can help make uni restructuring more humane and transparent, and reduce the odds of another HE boom and bust cycle.
This won't stop what's about to happen, but it can help make uni restructuring more humane and transparent, and reduce the odds of another HE boom and bust cycle.
Reposted by Tom Cutterham
I've lived in Birmingham six years. In that time, so far two cyclists have been killed directly along my short commute.
Here's wishing big lawsuits on the people who have the power to prevent these results but prefer car owner convenience instead.
Here's wishing big lawsuits on the people who have the power to prevent these results but prefer car owner convenience instead.
Birmingham by Bike - Change & Continuity along the Commute
YouTube video by John Munro - University of Birmingham
www.youtube.com
October 10, 2025 at 5:59 PM
I've lived in Birmingham six years. In that time, so far two cyclists have been killed directly along my short commute.
Here's wishing big lawsuits on the people who have the power to prevent these results but prefer car owner convenience instead.
Here's wishing big lawsuits on the people who have the power to prevent these results but prefer car owner convenience instead.
In 1776, a Scottish housepainter called James Aitken set out on a secret mission to destroy the British navy and win the War of Independence for the United States. His story is the core of my book, EMPIRE ABLAZE: The American Revolution and the Atlantic Working Class, out next summer with Verso!
October 10, 2025 at 2:47 PM
In 1776, a Scottish housepainter called James Aitken set out on a secret mission to destroy the British navy and win the War of Independence for the United States. His story is the core of my book, EMPIRE ABLAZE: The American Revolution and the Atlantic Working Class, out next summer with Verso!
UCU hasn't focused on university governance, but it should. Like their Australian counterparts, British universities are "profoundly undemocratic." @markpendleton.bsky.social is right we should learn from those in Australia who are taking the fight forward on this! ucucommons.org/2025/10/03/s...
Setting The Agenda for Change in Higher Education: Lessons from Australia
A discussion paper by Mark Pendleton (UK-elected HE) [Featured photo: the Australian national flag flying beside the Aboriginal Flag of Australia] Preface UCU Commons has long argued for more delib…
ucucommons.org
October 9, 2025 at 3:25 PM
UCU hasn't focused on university governance, but it should. Like their Australian counterparts, British universities are "profoundly undemocratic." @markpendleton.bsky.social is right we should learn from those in Australia who are taking the fight forward on this! ucucommons.org/2025/10/03/s...
Reposted by Tom Cutterham
Meanwhile people are out here writing books in stolen moments, between meetings about steering and assessment, 200 words at a time
October 8, 2025 at 7:12 AM
Meanwhile people are out here writing books in stolen moments, between meetings about steering and assessment, 200 words at a time
Reposted by Tom Cutterham
Terminal manager-brain, I'm afraid. What's seen as important is not research but the apparatus around research. Partnerships! Capacity-building for these partnerships that you just forced these institutions to form! Assessing and steering!
October 8, 2025 at 6:56 AM
Terminal manager-brain, I'm afraid. What's seen as important is not research but the apparatus around research. Partnerships! Capacity-building for these partnerships that you just forced these institutions to form! Assessing and steering!
Tory conference has "8.45am session on the last day of your discipline's big annual meeting" vibes.
October 7, 2025 at 12:06 PM
Tory conference has "8.45am session on the last day of your discipline's big annual meeting" vibes.