Dave O'Brien
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drdaveobrien.bsky.social
Dave O'Brien
@drdaveobrien.bsky.social
3.1K followers 1.7K following 910 posts
Professor of Cultural and Creative Industries, University of Manchester and host of New Books in Critical Theory. Currently on secondment to DCMS, also at Creative PEC and the Whats On Project too
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drdaveobrien.bsky.social
Dave O'Brien @drdaveobrien.bsky.social · Jan 13
New Paper! In @mcsjournal.bsky.social Peter Campbell @markrt.bsky.social Danny Leigh & I analyse the impact of class on BFI funding, showing 'the dominance of those from middle class origins throughout each stage of funding' journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/... (summary 🧵 coming when I get time!)
Sage Journals: Discover world-class research
Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.
journals.sagepub.com
Reposted by Dave O'Brien
timbale.bsky.social
Should you or anyone else be interested in doing a PhD in London, here's details of the competition for funded places.
Open Competition - LISS DTP
liss-dtp.ac.uk
November 10, 2025 at 11:05 AM
Reposted by Dave O'Brien
cadebellaigue.bsky.social
Join us for what promises to be a fascinating session this week
oxfordlong19thc.bsky.social oxfordlong19thc.bsky.social @oxfordlong19thc.bsky.social · 1d
After a great discussion on lace workers last week, join us this Wednesday 12 Nov to hear Melissa Percival (Uni of Exeter) on 'Toile de Jouy - French printed textiles in cultural memory', 11.10am Kloppenburg Room, Exeter Cohen Quad
Programme for the rest of the term: Weds 19 Nov - Eric Storm: Nationalism: a world history, discussants Faisal Devji & Abigail Green; 26 Nov - Matilda Eriksson, Anders Zorn and the collecting of vernacular craft; 3 Dec, Luisa Levi d'Ancona Modena - Jews, Handicrafts and Ethnography in Liberal Italy
November 10, 2025 at 10:03 AM
Reposted by Dave O'Brien
christinegrandy.bsky.social
My first lot of marking has arrived but so has the cover of the book!
November 10, 2025 at 9:43 AM
Reposted by Dave O'Brien
wonkhe.bsky.social
Last week on Wonkhe: HESA researcher Tej Nathwani unpacks what would happen to our understanding of graduate outcomes if survey response rates continue to fall
What might lower response rates mean for Graduate Outcomes data?
HESA researcher Tej Nathwani unpacks what would happen to our understanding of graduate outcomes if survey response rates continue to fall
buff.ly
November 9, 2025 at 5:00 PM
Reposted by Dave O'Brien
tedunderwood.com
Our School of Information Sciences is running four searches, and we can hire more than four candidates. Here’s the first link, for a job that might appeal to people working in history of information, history of science, or digital humanities. +
Assistant/Associate/Full Professor in Information, Culture & Society - School of Information Science
Duties & Responsibilities
illinois.csod.com
November 6, 2025 at 4:58 PM
Reposted by Dave O'Brien
fransplains.bsky.social
If you take a longer view then Anglofuturism is *already* mainstream

doi.org/10.1177/0263...
November 9, 2025 at 9:18 AM
Reposted by Dave O'Brien
jpspencer.bsky.social
Liverpool City Region has been growing strongly since the pandemic - with particular strengths in education and science.

Is this momentum on the Mersey a sign of things to come?

futurenorth.substack.com/p/momentum-o...
Momentum on the Mersey?
The growth of education and science in the Liverpool City Region
futurenorth.substack.com
November 8, 2025 at 4:29 PM
Reposted by Dave O'Brien
katherineschof8.bsky.social
I am beyond thrilled that my @universitypress.cambridge.org book, Music & Musicians in Late Mughal India: Histories of the Ephemeral, has won the 2025 Otto Kinkeldey Award of the American Musicological Society for the best book written by "a scholar past the early stages of their career" 🙏♥️ #AMSMT25
Image: A painting by a late Mughal master of a seated singer playing a dholak drum and dressed in an exquisite kurta and Kashmir shawl, illustrating the entry for "qawwal" (Sufi shrine singer) in the copy of James Skinner's Persian-language Tashrih al-Aqwam (Delhi, 1825) now in the British Library (Add. 27,255). Text: Music and Musicians in Late Mughal India: Histories of the Ephemeral, 1748–1858. Katherine Butler Schofield. Cambridge University Press, 2024. Based on a vast, virtually unstudied archive of Indian writings alongside visual sources, this book presents the first history of music and musicians in late Mughal India c.1748–1858 and takes the lives of nine musicians as entry points into six prominent types of writing on music in Persian, Brajbhasha, Urdu and English, moving from Delhi to Lucknow, Hyderabad, Jaipur and among the British. It shows how a key Mughal cultural field responded to the political, economic and social upheaval of the transition to British rule, while addressing a central philosophical question: can we ever recapture the ephemeral experience of music once the performance is over? These rich, diverse sources shine new light on the wider historical processes of this pivotal transitional period, and provide a new history of music, musicians and their audiences during the precise period in which North Indian classical music coalesced in its modern form.
November 9, 2025 at 7:30 AM
Reposted by Dave O'Brien
yianniskalaitzis.bsky.social
Given what is happening with X, it's a good time to propose for anyone interested to read the "Algorithms of Resistance" by T. Bonini & E. Trere. It offers ways to challenge the logic of the platform, and there is a lot of research backing up the arguments of the book. It's open access too!
Algorithms of Resistance: The Everyday Fight against Platform Power
How global workers, influencers, and activists develop tactics of algorithmic resistance by appropriating and repurposing the same algorithms that control
direct.mit.edu
January 23, 2025 at 10:16 AM
Reposted by Dave O'Brien
beyondconference.org
💥 BEYOND 2025 is nearly here - and we've got a FLASH SALE on tickets! 💥

This year's conference brings together 100+ speakers across more than 50 sessions. With creative leaders from YouTube, V&A, Google DeepMind, Channel 4, BFI and more.

Use this link for £110 off - ends Monday!

t.ly/bka54
November 7, 2025 at 12:24 PM
Reposted by Dave O'Brien
hetanshah.bsky.social
Such a key point about cutting back on language provision - it’s not good for science and it’s not good for growth
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Max Hegarty, who is studying aerospace engineering, said the proposals also affect students on other courses. He has taken modules in German, and said this enabled him to do an internship in Germany. "So much of our European engineering is based in Germany," he said. "While a lot of people are willing to learn English, not returning that effort to them is not great for that collaboration, for that international co-operation that we need. "Cutting funding for modern languages courses serves only to paralyse our growth as a country."
November 8, 2025 at 10:46 AM
Reposted by Dave O'Brien
smitajamdar.bsky.social
But employers have been “in the driving seat” on skills policy for years and there remain massive gaps so I don’t think the answer is as simple as this. Plus when government talks about “employers” it usually means big employers which ignores the massive micro & SME employee base.
feweek.bsky.social FE Week @feweek.bsky.social · 3d
'This government's blind spot about employers is beginning to cause problems'
Ben Rowland of AELP on why employers are the most important stakeholders when it comes to skills reforms
feweek.co.uk
November 8, 2025 at 10:12 AM
Reposted by Dave O'Brien
scmsfaas.bsky.social
SIG members, don't forget that our event with @alfredmartin.bsky.social is a week from today. Al will be talking about his new book, FANDOM FOR US, BY US. Please register here to get the Zoom link: tinyurl.com/fandomforus
November 7, 2025 at 9:16 PM
Reposted by Dave O'Brien
bryonycoombs.bsky.social
I had a great time recently chatting with @cjfaraday.bsky.social about 'Visual Arts and the Auld Alliance' for the 'British Art Matters' Podcast. I am in the company of some wonderful authors discussing their (and others) works:
www.walpolesociety.org.uk/podcast
Podcast | The Walpole Society
www.walpolesociety.org.uk
November 7, 2025 at 1:28 PM
Reposted by Dave O'Brien
durham.ac.uk
Congratulations to @shaidmahmood.bsky.social on joining the Government’s HE Access and Participation Task & Finish Group.
Shaid is passionate about raising aspirations & helping people achieve their goals.
www.durham.ac.uk/news-events/...
@bphillipsonmp.bsky.social @departmentforedu.bsky.social
November 6, 2025 at 2:23 PM
Reposted by Dave O'Brien
sidlambert.bsky.social
It’s John Barnes’ birthday.

So start your day with 35 seconds of musical bliss.

“You’ve got to hold and give…”
November 7, 2025 at 7:23 AM
drdaveobrien.bsky.social
👂👂👂👂👂
November 6, 2025 at 6:08 PM
Reposted by Dave O'Brien
anandmenon.bsky.social
I did a lecture on the impact of Brexit on British politics. Watch it here if you're really bored www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztqL...
Reflections on the Brexit Revolution: 2025-26 Mackenzie-Stuart Lecture
YouTube video by Cambridge Law Faculty
www.youtube.com
November 5, 2025 at 9:25 AM
Reposted by Dave O'Brien
samfr.bsky.social
Congratulations to @beckyfrancis.bsky.social and team for producing a curriculum and assessment review that's evolutionary rather than throwing all the achievements of the last few years overboard. Lots of sensible recommendations.

www.gov.uk/government/p...
Curriculum and Assessment Review Final Report
The conclusions and recommendations of the independent review of the curriculum, assessment and qualifications system in England.
www.gov.uk
November 5, 2025 at 11:26 AM
Reposted by Dave O'Brien
jonhutchinson.bsky.social
The final report of the independent curriculum and assessment review is OUT.

Deep gratitude to the thousands who participated. One thing that’s clear is that there’s abundant expertise and passion across our system.

You can read the full thing here:

www.gov.uk/government/p...
Curriculum and Assessment Review Final Report
The conclusions and recommendations of the independent review of the curriculum, assessment and qualifications system in England.
www.gov.uk
November 5, 2025 at 8:06 AM
Reposted by Dave O'Brien
johndickenssw.bsky.social
🚨The curriculum review is out!

First: Government commits to a new national curriculum in 2028. Will also replace year 6 writing test, new oracy framework, financial literacy in primary

Our news story on the government's response to the key review findings: (1/4)

schoolsweek.co.uk/new-curricul...
New curriculum to be introduced in 2028 as review published
Government commits to scrap the EBacc and make citizenship compulsory in primary schools
schoolsweek.co.uk
November 5, 2025 at 6:15 AM
Reposted by Dave O'Brien
freelancersmake.bsky.social
Playwright and screenwriter Jack Thorne, creator of Netflix’s Adolescence, urges political leaders to recognise the scale of challenge facing the British theatre sector and to act before it’s too late.

uktheatre.org/jack-thorne-...

FreelancersMakeTheatreWork #UKArts #SaveTheArts
Image Description: Text card - “The future looks bleak for our creative industries unless we act now. Unless we let our government know the situation we’re in. Unless we get them to recognise that theatre doesn’t make sense in pockets of Britain but rather needs to be present in the entirety of Britain.” - The quote is credited to freelance writer, Jack Thorne
November 5, 2025 at 12:38 PM
drdaveobrien.bsky.social
👂👂👂👂👂
November 5, 2025 at 1:22 PM
Reposted by Dave O'Brien
cathfletcher.bsky.social
Our PhD studentship applications are open for 2026 entry and I'm keen to hear from outstanding candidates in history of early modern conflict and/or creative histories.
November 5, 2025 at 8:20 AM
Reposted by Dave O'Brien
katiehiggins.bsky.social
It’s been a long journey from submission to publication. Huge thanks to all who read, reviewed and discussed along the way 🙏
November 4, 2025 at 2:20 PM