Rachel Willie

Disgusting. Possibly even more cynical than my own institution which uses a subsidiary of all new staff to avoid paying a decent pension (I suspect they’ll try to do it to us all soon). The effect has been to deter all mid-career applicants but desperate young people and hourly-paid still come.

Sarah Ferguson 'homeless' after leaving Royal Lodge as Beatrice and Eugenie refuse to offer her permanent home

Have they reached the “King Lear” phase of their personal development?

I know a lot of people who suddenly went part time at UEA; while they’ve never told me the reason, I suspect it was to try and preserve jobs. You can probably guess the gender balance…

Cf. Wolverhampton, where this kind of thing has already happened and has gained little attention, despite the best efforts of those on the ground.

Where has this devilish fetish come from all of a sudden?

I definitely have no desire to hear a devil being gelded…or to see one for that matter.

🥰

I can’t work out if he’s struggling because he knows his answers are racist, antisemitic and misogynistic and is embarrassed about his “I’m following the executive order” line, desperately trying not to say the quiet bit out loud, or if he just doesn’t care and is this crass. It’s astonishing.

Is he treating this stage of his development as a practice-based research postdoc to complement good doctoral studies?

We Willies are a circumspect bunch!

Amazed they managed to catch you at all!

-ahem-

Am I (ok, I and @willtullett.bsky.social) the only one thinking…

Since the illegal proroguing of Parliament, it felt like we’ve been living through the not so good remake of the seventeenth century…

You mean, it’s not that Wales have become bad at rugby, it’s that Italy are becoming badass?

I like how some people’s response to “everything is TERRIBLE” is “we need fewer human rights” 😖

Burgundy background with pale blue/grey strip at the bottom with the pheonix logo in white on it, right aligned. To the left, 'Book Launch' in sans serif lettering is positioned vertically with the book covers to the right of it - Lillywhite positioned directly above Zanon. Text to the right reads: "Reforming Art in Renaissance Venice by Marie-Louise Lillywhite • • Cittadini of Venice: Shaping Identities between Networks and Patronage (c. 1530-1690) by Giulia Zanon • Join the authors in conversation with Alex Bamji and Philip Cottrell Wednesday 18th March 2026, 09.00 pdt / 12.00 edt / 16.00 gmt / 17.00 cet Register: https://www.crowdcast.io/c/lillywhite-zanon" The book titles are in an italicised serif font and the author's names are in the same serif font, without italics. The rest of the text is in a sans serif font that gestures towards a serif font. All text is in white.

#SRSlyGood BOOK LAUNCH! Join Marie-Louise Lillywhite & Giulia Zanon in conversation with @alexbamji.bsky.social & Philip Cottrell as they celebrate the publication of "Reforming Art in Renaissance Venice" & "Cittadini of Venice" 18 March 2026, 16.00GMT
www.crowdcast.io/c/lillywhite... #Skystorians

And I bet they can’t agrees on *which* 53%

Sometimes, I find the students who excelled at A Levels struggle with degrees because they learned the “formula”; those who received lower grades because they were too independent thinkers and couldn’t fit in the A Level box can find the transition to BA easier.

But he states “without A Levels or A Level equivalents” in the article and a BTec is an A Level equivalent. For some subjects, a BTec can be better than a traditional A Level. It’s why I was so confused when they introduced T-Levels: we already have Level 3 vocational qualifications.

I’m feeling nostalgic seeing your nostalgia!

It feels like, at best, he’s identified a non-problem and, at worst, is proposing we deny candidates who have potential a second chance.

Vice-chancellor calls for review into student loans for those without A-levels Adam Tickell, of University of Birmingham, says money is loaned to people who ‘are not really capable of graduating’

Which universities are offering places on degrees without a foundation year first to students without A Levels? And is this intended to target foundation students, who usually come from marginalised backgrounds and frequently excel.

www.theguardian.com/education/20...

When people celebrate “Celtic” nationalism as representing all that’s good about nationalism & English nationalism as all that’s bad because one’s rooted in civic pride and the other in racism, I’m sceptical; all forms of nationalism are built upon exclusion & inclusion, which can be dangerous.

Roland Mathias dismissed the idea that bilingual Henry Vaughan could be a Welsh writer because he failed the arbitrary Welsh purity test that said Llangattock wasn’t Welsh enough so I guess we’re in good company? 🤷‍♀️

Got it just yesterday & also got told I wasn’t really Welsh by a Welsh person. It’s not as cruel as the people who called me “English scum” as a child because I failed their Welsh purity test because they don’t count Gwent/Monmouthshire as Welsh enough, but both are pretty annoying.

👀

I was robbed of a “P” with the candles!

Thanks, Wouter! Hope the paperweight is being admired by all who are blessed to enter its orbit! 😜