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burgonsociety.bsky.social
The Burgon Society
@burgonsociety.bsky.social
2.6K followers 190 following 210 posts
Membership society, academic research publishers, and charity for the study of academic dress: history, design, and use. Universities. Robes. Regalia. Graduation. Cap & gown. Join us 🎓

https://www.burgon.org.uk
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burgonsociety.bsky.social
We’re busy preparing for Congregation on Saturday at St Mary’s University, Twickenham. After admitting new Fellows, we will settle in to hear talks on academic dress in Italy, at Lawrence U (USA), at St Mary’s, and the impact of mergers on dress. There’s still time to join us!
burgon.org.uk/events
Buildings at St Mary’s University, in Twickenham, England, including the Waldegrove Park houses, where we will meet.
October 7, 2026 at 2:07 PM
burgonsociety.bsky.social
Some splendidly begowned new students @caiuscollege.bsky.social! @cam.ac.uk
cam.ac.uk University of Cambridge @cam.ac.uk · 9d
Matriculations are underway across Cambridge! 🎓

Postgraduate students at @CaiusCollege are among the first to don their gowns and be formally admitted to membership of the University.

We couldn’t be more excited to see the University and the city come alive with our amazing students once again.
A large group of individuals dressed in formal academic attire are seated in rows outdoors, near historic stone architecture. The setting is a matriculation ceremony at Cambridge. The background includes an ornate structure and well‑maintained garden areas. A group of people in academic gowns standing outdoors on a stone path near a building with large windows and stone walls. Neatly trimmed bushes and grass are visible in the foreground. A group of people in academic gowns gather in an outdoor courtyard of Cambridge University at Gonville and Caius, surrounded by historic stone buildings and a lawn with a stone path.
September 29, 2026 at 10:37 PM
burgonsociety.bsky.social
Another academic dress mystery solved!
Now, what kinds of cars are they? One person identified at Gilburn GT.
reddite.eurosky.social Pete Smith @reddite.eurosky.social · 12d
@burgonsociety.bsky.social
navalairhistory.com Matthew Willis (Naval Air History) @navalairhistory.com · 13d
OK I think the photos that appeared on my film are from the 2001 conferment of an honorary degree by @openuniversity.bsky.social on Jon Snow at Portsmouth Uni
September 26, 2026 at 12:39 PM
Reposted by The Burgon Society
kula.tproa.net
The car appears to be a Gilburn GT. Please take with a heap of salt, for I am not a car person.
September 25, 2026 at 10:16 PM
burgonsociety.bsky.social
From Oxford Brookes University comes the new hood of the month. The Ph.D. hood is in the Cambridge shape [f1], of the same maroon cloth as that of the gown. A distinguishing addition is an inch-wide cream-coloured edging throughout. Read more at burgon.org.uk/hood-of-month
The Ph.D. hood of Oxford Brookes University is in the Cambridge shape [f1], of the same maroon cloth as that of the gown. A distinguishing addition is an inch-wide cream-coloured edging throughout. The hood is fully lined with blue Oxford Brookes dark blue silk brocade and edged throughout with one-inch cream silk. The M.Phil. and higher doctors’ hoods are the same, but with edging of different widths.
September 25, 2026 at 9:56 PM
burgonsociety.bsky.social
Anyone care to take a crack at it? Bonus points for identifying the make and model of the racing car.
reddite.eurosky.social Pete Smith @reddite.eurosky.social · 12d
@burgonsociety.bsky.social any clues as to the institution?
navalairhistory.com Matthew Willis (Naval Air History) @navalairhistory.com · 13d
When the photography shop assures you that these expired films are unused
September 25, 2026 at 9:48 PM
burgonsociety.bsky.social
Find out more about the Burgon Society at our annual Congregation on 11 October, when we induct new Fellows and hear reports on recent research. The latest Transactions will be available too. Join us at St Mary’s University, in Twickenham.
burgon.org.uk/events
Schedule for the day’s Congregation of the Burgon Society.
September 21, 2026 at 4:27 PM
burgonsociety.bsky.social
Some US univs welcome students to the autumn term with convocation. Here, the president of @columbiauniversity.bsky.social, Jennifer Mnookin, walks with faculty whose degrees are from @harvard.edu (crimson), @mit.edu (grey), and perhaps @colorado.edu (yellow). president.columbia.edu/news/preside...
President Mnookin Welcomes New Undergraduates in Her First Convocation Remarks | Office of the President
president.columbia.edu
September 7, 2026 at 3:39 PM
Reposted by The Burgon Society
janeym.bsky.social
For more on uniform see our 2019 book, edited with @lisagdub.bsky.social
September 5, 2026 at 5:18 PM
burgonsociety.bsky.social
We’re honoured to be included among the Starter Pack of Societies & Groups for Historians, UK and Ireland. Created by @royalhistsoc.org, the list includes numerous research groups.
bsky.app/starter-pack...
August 28, 2026 at 11:45 AM
Reposted by The Burgon Society
librarycongress.bsky.social
Ever wonder how maps are made accessible to the blind? A Library A250 project set out to do just that with some of our Revolution-era holdings, including this map made by George Washington!

More accessible A250 materials: https://www.loc.gov/nls/services-and-resources/america250/?loclr=blsky
August 27, 2026 at 9:49 PM
Reposted by The Burgon Society
bibsoc.bsky.social
Our friends at Christ Church, Oxford have asked us to share this: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/women-and-...
Women and Their Books in Early Modern England and Scotland
A study afternoon exploring women as book producers and owners in Early Modern England and Scotland.
www.eventbrite.co.uk
August 25, 2026 at 10:45 AM
burgonsociety.bsky.social
What does academic dress mean to the people who wear it? Join a talk that continues last week’s by exploring a.d.’s sociology through the experiences of graduates, academics, and institutions.
Thursday, 27th August, at 19.00 British time.
Free: burgon.org.uk/events @columbiajournalism.bsky.social
Jelani Cobb, Dean of the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University, takes a selfie with graduates of the Master of Science degree in New York on 15 August 2026. The graduates are wearing light blue Columbia master’s gowns without hoods, as is US tradition. Only a few wear trenchers. Photo by ByK Photography.
August 25, 2026 at 1:47 PM
burgonsociety.bsky.social
We’re live now with our talk on how the study of academic has dress evolved, and why it matters today. If you signed up (it’s free!) and forgot to Zoom in, here’s your reminder.
burgon.org.uk/events
A humorous drawing of a distinguished scholar in black cap and gown with a scarlet hood. The caption reads, ‘Academic Dress Needs You! (And funding.) Support the Burgon Society Scholarship.’
August 20, 2026 at 6:08 PM
burgonsociety.bsky.social
How has the study of academic dress evolved, and why does it matter today? Join us for a talk that traces the development of the field over. You’ll see how the cap and gown can reveal rich personal, social, and cultural stories.
Free! Thursday at 19.00 British time. Sign up at:
burgon.org.uk/events
Lace on undress gowns of the University of Birmingham.
August 19, 2026 at 5:26 PM
Reposted by The Burgon Society
ihr.bsky.social
Are you studying, researching or teaching a history topic and not sure where to start? Try a search using the Bibliography of British and Irish History (BBIH) buff.ly/yD11954 @brepols.net
Using BBIH online: a help pack for students and lecturers
For the academic year, we've a help pack offering guides to BBIH in undergraduate and graduate teaching and research. With embeddable content for VLEs.
buff.ly
August 14, 2026 at 11:02 AM
burgonsociety.bsky.social
Just over a year ago we held our third North American Colloquium, at Yale.
We have two online talks soon, Expanding the Scope of Academic Dress Studies (August 20th) and Academic Evolution and the Sociology of Academic Dress (August 27th). Both are free.
Details at burgon.org.uk/events
Displaying doctoral gowns from Columbia and Tulane on the Yale campus in 2025. The back of a black gown of a student at The University of the South, which has embroidered on the yoke the initials of the wearer and his year of graduation, ‘M.P.L. II ’25’. Below it is the phrase ‘Avdiens sapiens sapientior erit et intelligens gvbernacvla possidebit,’ which roughly translates as The wise listener will be wiser and the intelligent will possess the rudder.
August 12, 2026 at 10:34 AM
Reposted by The Burgon Society
churchmonuments.bsky.social
Really looking forward to this - shrouds, skulls, funerals, all Julian Litten's favourite things! More details at churchmonumentssociety.org/events/an-ev...
Poster for Julian Litten memorial event - text in linked web post
August 8, 2026 at 5:58 PM
burgonsociety.bsky.social
The Burgon Society warmly congratulates Dr Graeme Brown on the Doctor of Laws by research, from the University of Aberdeen on 1 July. The LLD is a higher doctorate for a substantial body of original research, rather than as an honorary degree. @uniofaberdeen.bsky.social www.abdn.ac.uk/news/25855/
Dr Graeme Brown posing in the robes of an LLD of the University of Aberdeen: scarlet with light blue trim. Dr Brown is understood to be only the second academic in the modern era to receive the Aberdeen LLD by research, with the previous award having been made in 2006. The University issued a press release to mark the occasion: https://www.abdn.ac.uk/news/25855/. The accompanying photograph shows the University's current LLD gown. According to Shaw's Academical Dress of Great Britain and Ireland, Aberdeen's LLD gown was formerly purple, but the University has retained the long-standing tradition of scarlet gowns for its doctors, including holders of higher doctorates and PhDs, creating a striking and colourful spectacle at graduation ceremonies.
August 9, 2026 at 5:45 PM
burgonsociety.bsky.social
A terrific read. We whole-heartedly agree. The judicious use of concrete details “read like the kind of random things only a true eyewitness would notice.”
royalhistsoc.org Royal Historical Society @royalhistsoc.org · Jul 31
"Details, in their singularity and idiosyncrasy, point to the capaciousness of human experience."

New today in the Society's journal 'Transactions': Joe Moran 'On Detail in Historical Writing': bit.ly/44UMi8C Now available OA

@joemoransblog.bsky.social @massobsarchive.bsky.social #Skystorians 1/2
Opening page of the Transactions article 'On Detail in Historical Writing' by Joe Moran. Full abstract: "This Comment considers the role of detail in historical writing, inflected through my own experience of writing ‘trade’ books for a general rather than specialist readership. I argue for the value of the detail that is slightly recalcitrant, that is more than just flesh on the bones of an argument or evidence marshalled to make a point. Detail is itself a kind of argument and thus, since beauty and elegance in writing derive from economy, a way of making a point without belabouring it. The gratuitous fact can be seductive, suggesting that the world has a randomness and overabundance that can't easily be rounded up into a dataset. Details, in their singularity and idiosyncrasy, point to the capaciousness of human experience. They correct our tendency to fixate on one story, to focus on the eventful at the expense of the marginal, and to invent a false unity of experience that erases social differences. With their obdurate specificity, they can shatter our presumptions about the past. I explore these ideas with reference to modern literature (Flaubert, Chekhov), the Mass-Observation archive and examples from my own work in contemporary cultural history and family history."
August 4, 2026 at 7:56 PM
burgonsociety.bsky.social
An excellent reminder that the names of colours and how they appear to the eye are often very different.
majnouna.com Joumana Medlej @majnouna.com · Jul 29
Another old photo I've dug up: dye tests on silk. The thread dyed with pomegranate flower is shown next to a swatch of ink made with the same, illustrating the fact dyeing with a colourant and applying it to the surface usually result in very different hues. #naturaldyes
A bobbin of bright yolk-yellow thread, labelled "saffron", and one of muted yellow like wet straw marked "pomegranate flower", next to which a swtach of bright red-orange is painted.
July 29, 2026 at 2:19 PM
burgonsociety.bsky.social
We agree with @fourredshoes.bsky.social! We also wish to see the dress use in its contemporary settings.
fourredshoes.bsky.social Hilary Davidson @fourredshoes.bsky.social · Jul 29
I wish for material access to all dress and textile collections so I can look inside them, feel the fabric and inspect the seams.

AI could definitely grant that wish, right??
carnage4life.bsky.social Dare Obasanjo @carnage4life.bsky.social · Jul 29
“What we need to explain to the world: Number one, we are close to creating a genie that can grant any wish. Number two, we are going to make sure that our first wishes broadly benefit humanity” - Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI
—
This is definitely the opposite of Anthropic’s AI kills all jobs pitch.
July 29, 2026 at 1:24 PM
burgonsociety.bsky.social
If participating in ‘the official procession’ means a dept ‘lend[s] our intellectual authority’ to it, to what degree, if any, does wearing academic dress to an alternative celebration do the same thing?
—> Submit your answer as a Fellowship dissertation!
burgon.org.uk/research/fel... @exeter.ac.uk
July 24, 2026 at 6:02 PM
Reposted by The Burgon Society
lsangha.bsky.social
Last week, about a third of the History department were able to gather together on graduation day.

Rather than lend our intellectual authority to the official procession and ceremony we invited our students to come and celebrate their achievements with us in a shady courtyard.

They came. 1/
A group of world leading historians in their finery, some in gowns, stand together under a tree. Some carry signs saying 'Historian at risk', other raise a glass to the camera.
July 24, 2026 at 7:18 AM
burgonsociety.bsky.social
We have some exciting upcoming events, starting with free online talks.
August 20: Expanding the Scope of Academical Dress Studies, on Zoom
August 27: Academic Evolution and the Sociology of Academic Dress, on Zoom
October 10: Congregation, at St Mary’s University, Twickenham
burgon.org.uk/events
A group of Burgon Society members in black bachelor’s and master’s gowns, under a chandelier and in the shadows of an afternoon sun shining through window panes, surrounded by wood-panelled walls.
July 24, 2026 at 2:28 PM