Uta Staiger
@ukstaiger.bsky.social
Europeanist [literature, thought, politics] | Directing @uclei.bsky.social | Working with @ucl-global.bsky.social | Curating @europeanlitlondon.bsky.social
Pinned
Uta Staiger
@ukstaiger.bsky.social
· Feb 20
'One doesn't always have to speak'
- Hannah Arendt
- Hannah Arendt
Reposted by Uta Staiger
I’d like to bury these disruption labs in an ideas sandpit.
Just been invited to the launch event of a report considering the 'future of the UK's research system' where they will be considering the creation of disruption labs named after Ada Lovelace and the report will be introduced by a panel of five men
November 11, 2025 at 8:12 AM
I’d like to bury these disruption labs in an ideas sandpit.
Reposted by Uta Staiger
What's lost when we lose staff, departments, programmes and faculties in Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, and what's that got to do with organ donation?
Amid the looming losses faced by Cardiff, Edinburgh, Lancaster, Leicester and Nottingham (among many others), here's a worked example. 1/8
Amid the looming losses faced by Cardiff, Edinburgh, Lancaster, Leicester and Nottingham (among many others), here's a worked example. 1/8
The organ donation ‘opt-out’ has been a fatal failure | The Observer
observer.co.uk
November 10, 2025 at 10:10 AM
What's lost when we lose staff, departments, programmes and faculties in Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, and what's that got to do with organ donation?
Amid the looming losses faced by Cardiff, Edinburgh, Lancaster, Leicester and Nottingham (among many others), here's a worked example. 1/8
Amid the looming losses faced by Cardiff, Edinburgh, Lancaster, Leicester and Nottingham (among many others), here's a worked example. 1/8
Beautiful - and intellectually interesting (inspired by some classics of modern European thought - de Certeau, Jacobson, etc).
Quelques Feuilles / Some Leaves
New thing - this is a part of a much larger work. Each square comprises 4 of the colours of an actual leaf collected over a series of walks, and then photographed, uploaded, compiled and arranged in chronological order. The entire work has 144 leaves and 576 colours.
New thing - this is a part of a much larger work. Each square comprises 4 of the colours of an actual leaf collected over a series of walks, and then photographed, uploaded, compiled and arranged in chronological order. The entire work has 144 leaves and 576 colours.
November 9, 2025 at 10:22 AM
Beautiful - and intellectually interesting (inspired by some classics of modern European thought - de Certeau, Jacobson, etc).
Reposted by Uta Staiger
Not enough attention is being paid to the effective closure of the bulk of one of the 2 or 3 most important public archives for modern British history. A terrible own goal for the BBC as a public-service agency.
WAC wrong-headedness
(that's the BBC Written Archives Centre)
I've brought together the key links for the campaign against the changes which now make independent and exploratory research at WAC impossible - and why this matters.
www.illuminationsmedia.co.uk/wac-wrong-he...
(that's the BBC Written Archives Centre)
I've brought together the key links for the campaign against the changes which now make independent and exploratory research at WAC impossible - and why this matters.
www.illuminationsmedia.co.uk/wac-wrong-he...
WAC wrong-headedness - Illuminations
John Wyver writes: Some of you will know that I have been very involved over the past months with attempts to reverse the wrong-headed changes to access at the BBC Written Archives Centre (above, with...
www.illuminationsmedia.co.uk
November 7, 2025 at 4:41 PM
Not enough attention is being paid to the effective closure of the bulk of one of the 2 or 3 most important public archives for modern British history. A terrible own goal for the BBC as a public-service agency.
Reposted by Uta Staiger
Bit of excitement to see you into the weekend, the UK has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Oregon.
Who says UK trade policy is going nowhere fast? (me, actually)
www.gov.uk/government/p...
Who says UK trade policy is going nowhere fast? (me, actually)
www.gov.uk/government/p...
Memorandum of understanding on trade and economic co-operation between the United Kingdom and the State of Oregon
www.gov.uk
November 7, 2025 at 5:49 PM
Bit of excitement to see you into the weekend, the UK has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Oregon.
Who says UK trade policy is going nowhere fast? (me, actually)
www.gov.uk/government/p...
Who says UK trade policy is going nowhere fast? (me, actually)
www.gov.uk/government/p...
Reposted by Uta Staiger
UCL Grand Challenges launched a strategic partnership with Ukraine’s Ministry of Digital Transformation to drive digital innovation. UCL will support knowledge exchange in key strategic areas. I was honoured to take part remotely in the signing ceremony: www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2025/no...
UCL and Ukraine’s Ministry of Digital Transformation forge strategic partnership to drive innovation
UCL and the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine (MDT) have entered into a landmark partnership to advance Ukraine's digital transformation and economic recovery through research, innovation,...
www.ucl.ac.uk
November 7, 2025 at 12:04 PM
UCL Grand Challenges launched a strategic partnership with Ukraine’s Ministry of Digital Transformation to drive digital innovation. UCL will support knowledge exchange in key strategic areas. I was honoured to take part remotely in the signing ceremony: www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2025/no...
London is a place of constant slight discomfort [...]. You’re more attuned to it because it slightly rubs you the wrong way.(Iryna Shuvalova)
A city’s rhythm changes, just like that of living beings. The exhale of morning is not the same as the pulse of night. (Nisrine Mbarki)
A city’s rhythm changes, just like that of living beings. The exhale of morning is not the same as the pulse of night. (Nisrine Mbarki)
A special issue on city writing we co-curated!
Includes interviews with Nisrine Mbarki (the Netherlands), Tone Schunnesson (Sweden) & Iryna Shuvalova (Ukraine) on the complex fabric of urban modernity, London, and literary practice.
swedishbookreview.org/2025-2
Includes interviews with Nisrine Mbarki (the Netherlands), Tone Schunnesson (Sweden) & Iryna Shuvalova (Ukraine) on the complex fabric of urban modernity, London, and literary practice.
swedishbookreview.org/2025-2
2025:2 | Swedish Book Review
A special issue on city writing, featuring works by Lyra Ekström Lindbäck, Aris Fioretos, Maxim Grigoriev, Gabriella Håkansson, Uta Staiger, Hjalmar Söderberg, Elisabeth Åsbrink and more.
swedishbookreview.org
November 7, 2025 at 9:59 AM
London is a place of constant slight discomfort [...]. You’re more attuned to it because it slightly rubs you the wrong way.(Iryna Shuvalova)
A city’s rhythm changes, just like that of living beings. The exhale of morning is not the same as the pulse of night. (Nisrine Mbarki)
A city’s rhythm changes, just like that of living beings. The exhale of morning is not the same as the pulse of night. (Nisrine Mbarki)
Reposted by Uta Staiger
The Starmer government repeating many of the same cackhanded blunders that reflect a lack of strategic vision which Johnson and May stumbled into are another datapoint for the hypothesis that the UK has deeper structural dysfunctions towards the EU beyond party politics
November 7, 2025 at 8:42 AM
The Starmer government repeating many of the same cackhanded blunders that reflect a lack of strategic vision which Johnson and May stumbled into are another datapoint for the hypothesis that the UK has deeper structural dysfunctions towards the EU beyond party politics
Reposted by Uta Staiger
Marie Curie, Polish-French physicist, chemist, pioneer in radioactivity, first woman Nobel laureate & only winner of two Nobel prizes in different sciences (Physics & Chemistry); born #OTD 1867, buried in the Panthéon, Paris.
Nobel Prize | 5th Solvay Conference 1927 (colourised)
Nobel Prize | 5th Solvay Conference 1927 (colourised)
November 7, 2025 at 6:24 AM
Marie Curie, Polish-French physicist, chemist, pioneer in radioactivity, first woman Nobel laureate & only winner of two Nobel prizes in different sciences (Physics & Chemistry); born #OTD 1867, buried in the Panthéon, Paris.
Nobel Prize | 5th Solvay Conference 1927 (colourised)
Nobel Prize | 5th Solvay Conference 1927 (colourised)
Reposted by Uta Staiger
Yes and yet several European countries are embracing a far-right worldview that would burn these policies to the ground, so let’s be not be smug or complacent here - particularly as Mamdani‘s pro-immigration stance is radical by European standards.
Europeans recognize Zohran Mamdani’s supposedly radical policies as ‘normal’ -- Critics of New York City’s mayor-elect have said his pledges of free bus service and universal childcare are unrealistic, but in Europe it’s a given www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Europeans recognize Zohran Mamdani’s supposedly radical policies as ‘normal’
Critics of New York City’s mayor-elect have said his pledges of free bus service and universal childcare are unrealistic, but in Europe it’s a given
www.theguardian.com
November 7, 2025 at 6:44 AM
Yes and yet several European countries are embracing a far-right worldview that would burn these policies to the ground, so let’s be not be smug or complacent here - particularly as Mamdani‘s pro-immigration stance is radical by European standards.
Reposted by Uta Staiger
From the EU-UK ‘Common Understanding’ in May:
“32. The SPS Agreement should provide for an appropriate financial contribution from the United Kingdom to support the relevant costs associated with the European Union’s work in this policy area.”
“32. The SPS Agreement should provide for an appropriate financial contribution from the United Kingdom to support the relevant costs associated with the European Union’s work in this policy area.”
EU demands UK pay into budget as part of relationship ‘reset’
Growing tension between London and Brussels just six months after summit set out to build stronger ties
on.ft.com
November 7, 2025 at 7:18 AM
From the EU-UK ‘Common Understanding’ in May:
“32. The SPS Agreement should provide for an appropriate financial contribution from the United Kingdom to support the relevant costs associated with the European Union’s work in this policy area.”
“32. The SPS Agreement should provide for an appropriate financial contribution from the United Kingdom to support the relevant costs associated with the European Union’s work in this policy area.”
A National Gallery show ‘full of shadowy wonder’. Until May 2026.
www.ft.com/content/3053...
www.ft.com/content/3053...
How Joseph Wright of Derby lit the way from darkness to enlightenment
Two of the most striking, original paintings in British art are reunited in a National Gallery show of shadowy wonder
www.ft.com
November 7, 2025 at 8:12 AM
A National Gallery show ‘full of shadowy wonder’. Until May 2026.
www.ft.com/content/3053...
www.ft.com/content/3053...
Reposted by Uta Staiger
A List of Things Said to Have Been Ruined by Women
🧵
🧵
November 6, 2025 at 8:43 PM
A List of Things Said to Have Been Ruined by Women
🧵
🧵
*Loved* co-curating this special issue of @swedishbookreview.bsky.social with its brilliant editor, literary translator Alex Fleming aftranslations.com.
New translations, superb interviews, and a short intro by yours truly - all on #CityWriting and all linked to @europeanlitlondon.bsky.social.
New translations, superb interviews, and a short intro by yours truly - all on #CityWriting and all linked to @europeanlitlondon.bsky.social.
We’re delighted to have co-curated the latest issue of the Swedish Book Review! 📚
This special issue on city writing features works by Lyra Ekström Lindbäck, Aris Fioretos, Maxim Grigoriev, Gabriella Håkansson, @ukstaiger.bsky.social and more.
swedishbookreview.org/2025-2
#Europe #CityWriting
This special issue on city writing features works by Lyra Ekström Lindbäck, Aris Fioretos, Maxim Grigoriev, Gabriella Håkansson, @ukstaiger.bsky.social and more.
swedishbookreview.org/2025-2
#Europe #CityWriting
2025:2 | Swedish Book Review
A special issue on city writing, featuring works by Lyra Ekström Lindbäck, Aris Fioretos, Maxim Grigoriev, Gabriella Håkansson, Uta Staiger, Hjalmar Söderberg, Elisabeth Åsbrink and more.
swedishbookreview.org
November 6, 2025 at 2:11 PM
*Loved* co-curating this special issue of @swedishbookreview.bsky.social with its brilliant editor, literary translator Alex Fleming aftranslations.com.
New translations, superb interviews, and a short intro by yours truly - all on #CityWriting and all linked to @europeanlitlondon.bsky.social.
New translations, superb interviews, and a short intro by yours truly - all on #CityWriting and all linked to @europeanlitlondon.bsky.social.
Reposted by Uta Staiger
Heute ist Welttag des unzuverlässigen Erzählens. Vielleicht auch erst morgen.
November 5, 2025 at 7:20 PM
Heute ist Welttag des unzuverlässigen Erzählens. Vielleicht auch erst morgen.
Reposted by Uta Staiger
Between 11am and 1pm tomorrow, join Robert Spano, Jens Elo Peters Rytter, @colmocinneide.bsky.social and @profveronika.bsky.social to discuss the future of the European Convention on Human Rights, both in Europe and the UK.
Sign up to attend this in-person event at @laws.ucl.ac.uk 👇
Sign up to attend this in-person event at @laws.ucl.ac.uk 👇
The Future of the ECHR - In Europe and UK
Organised by the Human Rights Institute and the Global Centre for Democratic Constitutionalism.
www.ucl.ac.uk
November 6, 2025 at 8:00 AM
Between 11am and 1pm tomorrow, join Robert Spano, Jens Elo Peters Rytter, @colmocinneide.bsky.social and @profveronika.bsky.social to discuss the future of the European Convention on Human Rights, both in Europe and the UK.
Sign up to attend this in-person event at @laws.ucl.ac.uk 👇
Sign up to attend this in-person event at @laws.ucl.ac.uk 👇
Reposted by Uta Staiger
UK expands visa route to receive more European graduates.
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...
November 5, 2025 at 3:08 PM
UK expands visa route to receive more European graduates.
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...
Reposted by Uta Staiger
The #1 lesson from yesterday’s blowout:
Humanities majors killed on the job market
1) Mamdani- Africana Studies
2) Spanberger -French
3) Sherill - Global History
Humanities majors killed on the job market
1) Mamdani- Africana Studies
2) Spanberger -French
3) Sherill - Global History
November 5, 2025 at 3:59 PM
The #1 lesson from yesterday’s blowout:
Humanities majors killed on the job market
1) Mamdani- Africana Studies
2) Spanberger -French
3) Sherill - Global History
Humanities majors killed on the job market
1) Mamdani- Africana Studies
2) Spanberger -French
3) Sherill - Global History
Reposted by Uta Staiger
Turns out this news was in the public domain yesterday but no one has covered it as far as I can tell. Does no one care about our national library anymore? It was much the same with the cyberattack. If this was a bit of 'science' infrastructure can you imagine?
www.pcs.org.uk/news-events/...
www.pcs.org.uk/news-events/...
British Library chief executive quits midway through PCS strike
The British Library has been thrown into further turmoil midway through a two-week PCS strike with the resignation of its chief executive Rebecca Lawrence.
www.pcs.org.uk
November 4, 2025 at 3:32 PM
Turns out this news was in the public domain yesterday but no one has covered it as far as I can tell. Does no one care about our national library anymore? It was much the same with the cyberattack. If this was a bit of 'science' infrastructure can you imagine?
www.pcs.org.uk/news-events/...
www.pcs.org.uk/news-events/...
Perfect story.
🇵🇱⚖️🇬🇧 The European Convention on Human Rights turns 75 today! Everyone in this biz has a convention story, be it as an applicant, litigator, researcher, judge or sometimes a government agent before ECtHR. My Convention story is one about Patrick Stewart. 1/
November 4, 2025 at 1:57 PM
Perfect story.
Reposted by Uta Staiger
NYC election coverage on German radio is a reminder that there’s a well-established German word for nearly every point of Mamdani’s socio-econ agenda, coming from the extremely centrist and non-radical social-democrat vocabulary. The US is too brain-washed by the Cold War and racism to even see
November 4, 2025 at 12:43 PM
NYC election coverage on German radio is a reminder that there’s a well-established German word for nearly every point of Mamdani’s socio-econ agenda, coming from the extremely centrist and non-radical social-democrat vocabulary. The US is too brain-washed by the Cold War and racism to even see
Reposted by Uta Staiger
Letzte Woche haben wir 5 Jahre #95vsWissZeitVG gefeiert. Viel hat sich seit 2020 & besonders seit #IchBinHanna geändert, nur ein paar spezielle Quatsch-Argumente für Befristung kommen immer wieder. Damit wir sie nicht ständig von vorn widerlegen müssen, hab ich das heute in #ArbeitInDerWiss gemacht!
Vom Durchlauferhitzer und anderen Dauerbrennern: Fünf Jahre…
Zum 5. Geburtstag von #95vsWissZeitVG widme ich mich im Newsletter den wiederkehrenden Quatsch-Argumenten der Debatte -- und lege dar, warum sie Quatsch sind.
steady.page
November 4, 2025 at 8:10 AM
Letzte Woche haben wir 5 Jahre #95vsWissZeitVG gefeiert. Viel hat sich seit 2020 & besonders seit #IchBinHanna geändert, nur ein paar spezielle Quatsch-Argumente für Befristung kommen immer wieder. Damit wir sie nicht ständig von vorn widerlegen müssen, hab ich das heute in #ArbeitInDerWiss gemacht!
Reposted by Uta Staiger
The fish is cheap, yet rents rise all around,
the butter’s salty and the water’s stale;
great distances here shrink by underground,
but I can’t nurse in peace my post-lunch ale.
(Theodor Kramer, From the first days in London, 1985)
www.europeanliterarylondon.org/feature/c016...
the butter’s salty and the water’s stale;
great distances here shrink by underground,
but I can’t nurse in peace my post-lunch ale.
(Theodor Kramer, From the first days in London, 1985)
www.europeanliterarylondon.org/feature/c016...
November 4, 2025 at 12:30 PM
The fish is cheap, yet rents rise all around,
the butter’s salty and the water’s stale;
great distances here shrink by underground,
but I can’t nurse in peace my post-lunch ale.
(Theodor Kramer, From the first days in London, 1985)
www.europeanliterarylondon.org/feature/c016...
the butter’s salty and the water’s stale;
great distances here shrink by underground,
but I can’t nurse in peace my post-lunch ale.
(Theodor Kramer, From the first days in London, 1985)
www.europeanliterarylondon.org/feature/c016...
Reposted by Uta Staiger
This looks superbly interesting: 'The voyage [which carried Walter Benjamin’s son Stefan to Australia] is a compound of many other voyages, on different fictional and historical wavelengths, its passengers a collection of stowaways, stand-ins, impostors, understudies, namesakes and doppelgängers.'
Congratulations to John Schad! His #OpenAccess book Walter Benjamin’s Ark published today! Read and download free at: uclpress.co.uk/book/walter-... #WalterBenjamin #Biography #ComparativeLiterature
Walter Benjamin’s Ark
In July 1940, amidst fear of Nazi invasion, HMT Dunera left England. On board were a few British soldiers guarding over 2000 interned male Enemy Aliens, mostly Germans. Some of the internees were pass...
uclpress.co.uk
November 4, 2025 at 12:05 PM
This looks superbly interesting: 'The voyage [which carried Walter Benjamin’s son Stefan to Australia] is a compound of many other voyages, on different fictional and historical wavelengths, its passengers a collection of stowaways, stand-ins, impostors, understudies, namesakes and doppelgängers.'