Michael H. Whitworth

Michael H Whitworth

@profmhwhitworth.bsky.social

3.3K followers 1.2K following 670 posts

Oxford, U.K. Prof of Modern Literature and Culture. Literature & Science, Modernism, Book History, Virginia Woolf, 1920s & 30s poetry. Also found on IG under the same name. All posts in a personal capacity.

Videos

Art 29%

Philosophy 21%

Posts Replies Media Videos

Reposted by Thomas Arnold, Michael H. Whitworth

Johanna Winant @johannawinant.bsky.social · 22h

CALL FOR PITCHES

@dan-sinnamon.bsky.social and I are at work on a new version of Close Reading for the Twenty-First Century aimed at a more general audience.

We’re looking for new contributions: your model close readings of texts, canonical and not, from literary studies and not.

Details below!

Close Reading Is For Everyone
Dan Sinykin and Johanna Winant

Call for Pitches

Based on our previous Close Reading for the Twenty-First Century, we are at work on a new version that’s shorter, slimmer, and aimed at a more general audience.

We’re looking for a new set of contributors who would write excellent, brief, model close readings of texts that high schoolers might know and care about. Think: “The Gettysburg Address,” Macbeth, and Plato’s “Allegory of the Cave,” but also song lyrics, idioms, or even a visual image. What is your best, most instructive, most exciting, most welcoming example of how a close reading builds a real argument out from a tiny, perhaps overlooked detail?

If you’re interested in pitching us, please send us your 250-word close reading of the text you propose. Your close reading should be mappable using our vocabulary of close reading: the five steps of scene setting, noticing, local claiming, regional argumentation, and global theorizing. (Our close reading of “The Red Wheelbarrow” in the early pages of our introduction is the sort of thing we’re seeking.) If we think we can use yours, we’ll ask you to expand it to a 1,200 word essay in which you explain how your close reading works step by step.

We seek close readings both of texts that are canonical and also ones that aren’t. And so we invite contributors both from the discipline of literary studies, and other disciplines across the university, and the public humanities beyond it.

Send your pitches—please include your name and contact info—to daniel.sinykin@emory.edu and jwinant@reed.edu by March 15.

Reposted by Michael H. Whitworth

Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 1d

A rare recognition on the part of DfE that universities are not simply 'big schools' and are instead institutions that combine high-level teaching and research in ways that matter on a global political and scientific stage. With a sharing link for 3 non-subscribers.

UK universities told to step up defences against intimidation by China

Security services to launch advisory scheme for threatened academics in wake of Sheffield Hallam row

giftarticle.ft.com

Reposted by Jonathan Portes, Steve Peers, Tom Griffin , and 1 more Jonathan Portes, Steve Peers, Tom Griffin, Michael H. Whitworth

James Murray @james-bg.bsky.social · 1d

This is the key point that is lost in so much Westminster bubble talk on net zero. It is popular. It’s hugely popular with Labour’s base and with the progressive voters it needs to vote tactically to defeat Reform. And it’s even popular with Tories who Labour needs not to switch to Reform.

Simon Evans @drsimevans.carbonbrief.org · 1d

…as well as being supported by the vast majority of Lab/Lib/Gn voters, almost all Labour MPs, a 2-1 majority of voters overall and – even now – a healthy majority of Con voters

Reposted by Michael H. Whitworth

Simon Evans @drsimevans.carbonbrief.org · 1d

…as well as being supported by the vast majority of Lab/Lib/Gn voters, almost all Labour MPs, a 2-1 majority of voters overall and – even now – a healthy majority of Con voters

Reposted by Michael H. Whitworth

Ella Baron @ellabaron.bsky.social · 1d

Monday's @theguardian.com cartoon
#Trump #JeffBezos #WashingtonPost

Reposted by Michael H. Whitworth

Ennius @enniusredloeb.bsky.social · 2d

A duck is part of the decoration around the initial-word panel marking the beginning of Torah portion Mishpatim (מִּשְׁפָּטִים)
#ParashahPictures
BL Add MS 15423; Pentateuch; 1441 CE-1467 CE; Italy (Florence); f.49v

Reposted by Ben H. Ansell, Richard S.J. Tol, Stephan Lewandowsky , and 6 more Ben H. Ansell, Richard S.J. Tol, Stephan Lewandowsky, Will Jennings, Mel Bartley, Steve Peers, Lesley A. Hall, Jonathan Hopkin, Michael H. Whitworth

Jim Waterson @jim.londoncentric.media · 2d

Hate-filled fake videos about London are everywhere. We've obtained a recording of a TikToker confessing to secretly filming Londoners in their homes for clicks.

He says it's not political. He just wants to make money from far-right anger.

Read what he says: www.londoncentric.media/p/london-tik...

Reposted by Michael H. Whitworth, Farah Mendlesohn

Gretchen Felker-Martin 🍉 @scumbelievable.bsky.social · 2d

One of the most sickening realizations I've ever had came when it hit me that six hundred years from now historians will be writing things like "while technically illegal, intercourse with minors was broadly accepted as normal among the American ruling class, and even a marker of status"

Marisa Kabas @marisakabas.bsky.social · 2d

A desperate plea sent to me by a Minneapolis resident who's been on the front lines since the beginning of the ICE occupation:

Just a quick update from the Twin Cities. (Please forgive the unsolicited message). THINGS ARE NOT BETTER IN MINNEAPOLIS. The media is mostly moving on, Trump is focused on other stuff, BUT NOTHING HAS CHANGED ON THE GROUND. More than 2,000 DHS thugs continue to roam the streets, abducting people 24/7, assaulting legal observers with impunity, and routinely denying 1st, 4th, and 5th amendment rights. Drones and helicopters are overhead every day. Hundreds and hundreds of terrified families have not left their homes since mid-December ... relying on the community to bring them food and help with rent and other necessities. (Those people are NOT violent drug cartel sex offending murderers, as DHS would tell you. Most are legal residents or citizens.) If anything, things have just become more stressful and intractable (think trench warfare as a suitable metaphor): The resistance is better organized and numerous, but DHS has become more clever and better at disguise... and the county sheriff's office is increasingly supporting them . Do not let anyone tell you that Homans (the new person in charge of the occupation) is making anything better. Do not let anyone tell you that 700 ICE agents leaving the city has made much of a difference; the remaining force (again, ~2,000) is still larger than the entire city's police force (which is legally unable to do anything). Please call your congressional reps ... especially if there is any chance the administration might listen to them.

Reposted by Hilde Van den Bulck, Juan Cole, Robert C. Richards , and 10 more Hilde Van den Bulck, Juan Cole, Robert C. Richards, Rebecca Tushnet, Lyndsey Stonebridge, Michael H. Whitworth, Michael D. McDonald, Sarah Roberts, Philipp Sarasin, Nicole Guenther Discenza, Suzanne Conklin Akbari, Nathan P. Kalmoe, François Guesnet

Eoin Higgins @eoinhiggins.bsky.social · 2d

Concentration camps:

“For 280 days we haven’t eaten a single piece of fruit, banana, apple, orange, or anything fresh. We are all in one big room with no doors or windows. We can’t see any grass or trees. We are all constantly sick."

Exclusive: Detention Center Captives Are Throwing Lotion Bottles Wrapped With Notes to Organizers Outside Otay Mesa Facility ~ L.A. TACO

“For 280 days we haven’t eaten a single piece of fruit, banana, apple, orange, or anything fresh," an Otay Mesa captive communicated through handwritten note. "We are all in one big room with no doors...

lataco.com

Reposted by Michael H. Whitworth

Matt Eaton @matteatonmedia.bsky.social · 2d

Without naming your job, tell me something you say over and over again at work.

"Technology is the easy bit."

Hoosier Homer is reading For God and Kaiser by Basset @hoosierhomer.bsky.social · 2d

Without naming your job, tell me something you say over and over again at work.

"I'm sorry, I'm still waiting on the insurance to get back to me."

Nate Ledbetter @nhledbetter.bsky.social · 2d

"Without naming your job, tell me something you say over and over again at work."

"It's due Sunday at 11:59 PM"

Reposted by Anna O. Law, Michael H. Whitworth

Karin Wulf @kawulf.bsky.social · 2d

How I imagine the sophistication of my research.

How I present my research.

Swedish Chef muppet with large knife and chicken.

Reposted by Peter Holmes, Margot C. Finn, Michael H. Whitworth

Jim Pickard @pickardje.bsky.social · 2d

the perils of being a commentator

Reposted by Michael H. Whitworth

Tony White @tonywhite.bsky.social · 3d

*DRUM ROLL* – cover reveal! My new novel Phantom at the Feast, the follow-up to The Fountain in the Forest, is out from No Exit Press on 18 June ’26. It has a stunning cover designed by Mark Ecob, with image by the great London photographer Chris Dorley-Brown... www.waterstones.com/book/phantom...

Reposted by Michael H. Whitworth

Davenant 📸 @marcdavenant.bsky.social · 3d

It’s always difficult establishing a presence on a new social media site. You should all be following Ian McMillan who has made the move from X. Guaranteed to brighten up your timelines.

Ian McMillan @imcmillan.bsky.social · 3d

Early stroll. Gatherings of enigmatic shadows. Ghost miners work beneath my feet. I have a walk-on part in the morning. This is where Keith Barlow dropped that bottle, decades ago. In the distance a dog sends a voice note.

Reposted by Anders Nilsson, Michael H. Whitworth

Patrick Chovanec @prchovanec.bsky.social · 3d

"What you did was racist."

"Well ... you're fat."

Kind of proves the level of people we're dealing with.

Reposted by Michael H. Whitworth

Martin Paul Eve @eve.gd · 4d

I know that I shouldn't get my hackles up over this, but it's pretty disgusting to say "this is how men behave". It wouldn't justify individual instances, even if true, but they - we - don't have to behave like this and many of us do not.

Jacob T. Levy @jacobtlevy.bsky.social · 4d

I have been writing letters of recommendation for just shy of thirty years— 17 students this year alone— in ratios that more or less track the majority-women population of liberal arts students.

Obviously I have never commented on a student's looks... and no recipient has ever called me to ask.

Reposted by Martin Paul Eve, Ilya Somin, Rebecca Tushnet , and 5 more Martin Paul Eve, Ilya Somin, Rebecca Tushnet, Alan Richardson, Michael H. Whitworth, Timothy Burke, Ann Bartow, Nathan P. Kalmoe

Jacob T. Levy @jacobtlevy.bsky.social · 4d

Michael H Whitworth @profmhwhitworth.bsky.social · 4d

This, the 87th week of the English winter, seems darker and wetter than the sum total of its predecessors

Michael H Whitworth @profmhwhitworth.bsky.social · 4d

Finishing late despite starting early.

Reposted by Michael H. Whitworth, Nicole Guenther Discenza

madeline odent @oldenoughtosay.com · 4d

Hey, several batches of baby formula from a couple different brands in the uk and Europe have been recalled for contamination causing illness: if you formula feed, check your supply. Info here:

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

At least 36 UK infants ill after drinking contaminated baby formula

It comes after some batches made by Nestle and Danone were recalled after being contaminated with a toxin.

www.bbc.co.uk

Michael H Whitworth @profmhwhitworth.bsky.social · 4d

You have to wonder if the Kidlington illegal dump has been prioritised over the one in Wigan because it’s closer to London

Fumes, rats and maggots: peer urges Environment Agency to clear illegal dump in Wigan

Shas Sheehan challenges refusal to remove 25,000 tonnes of waste causing ‘grave environmental hazard’ near school

www.theguardian.com

Reposted by Michael H. Whitworth

Frances Evangelista @nonsuchbook.bsky.social · 4d

“Now I am quietly waiting for the catastrophe of my personality to seem beautiful again, and interesting, and modern.”

Frank O’Hara

Reposted by Michael H. Whitworth

Jonathan Cohn @jonathancohn.bsky.social · 4d

“Faculty are walking on eggshells. Administrators are walking on eggshells. Students are walking on eggshells. And what you get is the opposite of free speech.” www.nytimes.com/2026/02/04/u...

Professors Are Being Watched: ‘We’ve Never Seen This Much Surveillance’

www.nytimes.com

Lennart Jonasson @lennson.bsky.social · 5d

Reposted by David Pyle

Michael H Whitworth @profmhwhitworth.bsky.social · 5d

Romanticists and Long Eighteenth Centuryists — there’s an Associate Professorship (or Professorship) being advertised, a joint appointment with St Peter’s College.

www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DQK016/a...

Associate Professorship (or Professorship) of English Literature at University of Oxford

An academic position as a Associate Professorship (or Professorship) of English Literature is being advertised on jobs.ac.uk. Click now to find more details and explore additional academic job opportu...

www.jobs.ac.uk

Reposted by Michael H. Whitworth

Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 5d

Senate Republicans today are holding a hearing titled "Somali Scammers"

Committee Activity
Hearings
Subcommittee on Federal Courts, Oversight, Agency Action, and Federal Rights
Hearing status
POSTPONED:
Hearing titleSomali Scammers: Fighting Fraud in Minnesota and Beyond

Reposted by David H. Kaye, Michael H. Whitworth

Holly Brewer @earlymodjustice.bsky.social · 5d

“Marty Baron, a legendary former Post editor” called it “one of the ‘darkest days’ in the newspaper’s history. ‘Bezos’s sickening efforts to curry favor with President Trump have left an especially ugly stain of their own. This is a case study in near-instant, self-inflicted brand destruction.‘“

'A Massacre': Washington Post Slashes Hundreds Of Staff

The storied newspaper faced a backlash as its newsroom was gutted by devastating layoffs.

www.huffpost.com

Reposted by Michael H. Whitworth, Catriona Seth

UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies @uclssees.bsky.social · 5d

🔊 Job vacancy: Lecturer in Czech and Comparative Literature

The post-holder will specialise in the literatures and cultures of Central and Eastern Europe, with a particular emphasis on Czech literature.

🗓️ Deadline: 26 February
➡️ Apply here: bit.ly/3Moi6gj

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