Nanette O’Brien
@nobriennanette.bsky.social
Honorary research fellow in English, University of Hull; interested in modernism, food and the environment. Author of “Food and Culture in the Works of Ford Madox Ford, Gertrude Stein and Virginia Woolf” (OUP, 2024); also childhood, reading and play
Reposted by Nanette O’Brien
Nottingham job cuts ‘pose systemic risks to research’, union warns.
Research-intensive university told it risks “intellectual stagnation” as 2,700 staff put at risk of redundancy.
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...
Research-intensive university told it risks “intellectual stagnation” as 2,700 staff put at risk of redundancy.
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...
Nottingham job cuts ‘pose systemic risks to research’, union warns - Research Professional News
Research-intensive university told it risks “intellectual stagnation” as 2,700 staff put at risk of redundancy
www.researchprofessionalnews.com
May 13, 2026 at 2:29 PM
Nottingham job cuts ‘pose systemic risks to research’, union warns.
Research-intensive university told it risks “intellectual stagnation” as 2,700 staff put at risk of redundancy.
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...
Research-intensive university told it risks “intellectual stagnation” as 2,700 staff put at risk of redundancy.
www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-u...
Reposted by Nanette O’Brien
In Cumbria… the last undergraduate degree in English literature and language has now closed to new entrants, admitting its last students in 2023-24’
Our latest updated cold spots analysis by @ruairicullen.bsky.social in @wonkhe.bsky.social
wonkhe.com/blogs/subjec...
Our latest updated cold spots analysis by @ruairicullen.bsky.social in @wonkhe.bsky.social
wonkhe.com/blogs/subjec...
Subject cold spots are growing. We need to address the root causes
New analysis from the British Academy shows us huge areas of the country where key areas of humanities, arts, and social sciences are not taught. Ruairi Cullen has the details
wonkhe.com
May 13, 2026 at 10:48 AM
In Cumbria… the last undergraduate degree in English literature and language has now closed to new entrants, admitting its last students in 2023-24’
Our latest updated cold spots analysis by @ruairicullen.bsky.social in @wonkhe.bsky.social
wonkhe.com/blogs/subjec...
Our latest updated cold spots analysis by @ruairicullen.bsky.social in @wonkhe.bsky.social
wonkhe.com/blogs/subjec...
Reposted by Nanette O’Brien
There are only a few weeks left to apply for the British Academy/Leverhulme Small Research Grants (supported by DSIT, @leverhulme.ac.uk and @wellcometrust.bsky.social). Grants are tenable for between one and 24 months. Apply now: https://bit.ly/4t0MDRl
May 13, 2026 at 4:51 PM
There are only a few weeks left to apply for the British Academy/Leverhulme Small Research Grants (supported by DSIT, @leverhulme.ac.uk and @wellcometrust.bsky.social). Grants are tenable for between one and 24 months. Apply now: https://bit.ly/4t0MDRl
Reposted by Nanette O’Brien
Ho @douglassday.bsky.social this is @unlv.edu here at UNLV Libraries with a cake from Cake Designs Las Vegas featuring the cover page of the first Colored Convention in the West & a timeline of Black American History of the West…ending with our award winning cake from 2024!
February 13, 2026 at 4:58 PM
Ho @douglassday.bsky.social this is @unlv.edu here at UNLV Libraries with a cake from Cake Designs Las Vegas featuring the cover page of the first Colored Convention in the West & a timeline of Black American History of the West…ending with our award winning cake from 2024!
Reposted by Nanette O’Brien
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!
@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!
February 9, 2026 at 1:56 PM
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!
@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!
Reposted by Nanette O’Brien
The government’s consultation on its proposed settlement proposals closes on Thursday. Over 130,000 responses had been received with a week to go & 232,000 people and 107,000 people signed two petitions about this debated in Westminster Hall on Mondsy
www.gov.uk/government/c...
www.gov.uk/government/c...
A Fairer Pathway to Settlement: statement and accompanying consultation on earned settlement (accessible)
www.gov.uk
February 7, 2026 at 9:07 AM
The government’s consultation on its proposed settlement proposals closes on Thursday. Over 130,000 responses had been received with a week to go & 232,000 people and 107,000 people signed two petitions about this debated in Westminster Hall on Mondsy
www.gov.uk/government/c...
www.gov.uk/government/c...
Reposted by Nanette O’Brien
PS. Not too late to tell the government what you think about their proposed changes to Indefinite Leave to Remain - the public consultation is open until 12th Feb.
www.gov.uk/government/c...
www.gov.uk/government/c...
February 3, 2026 at 3:34 PM
PS. Not too late to tell the government what you think about their proposed changes to Indefinite Leave to Remain - the public consultation is open until 12th Feb.
www.gov.uk/government/c...
www.gov.uk/government/c...
Reposted by Nanette O’Brien
There's still time to respond to the consultation on the awful proposed changes to settlement rules
The UK government is proposing radical and punitive changes to settlement rules. This is settlement, not citizenship. The consultation is open until 12 February; please respond to it and oppose these evil proposals. Amnesty have a good guide: www.amnesty.org.uk/resources/gu...
Guidance for responding to 'A Fairer Pathway to Settlement' consultation
We are Amnesty International UK. We are ordinary people from across the world standing up for humanity and human rights.
www.amnesty.org.uk
February 5, 2026 at 9:57 AM
There's still time to respond to the consultation on the awful proposed changes to settlement rules
Reposted by Nanette O’Brien
If you use GMail, AI (Gemini) was turned on yesterday by default and now scans all of your content for machine learning. To turn off, go to Settings>General and scroll down. Uncheck the box for "Smart features."
There's other "Smart" add-ons as well, but that's the one that reads your content.
There's other "Smart" add-ons as well, but that's the one that reads your content.
November 20, 2025 at 5:32 PM
If you use GMail, AI (Gemini) was turned on yesterday by default and now scans all of your content for machine learning. To turn off, go to Settings>General and scroll down. Uncheck the box for "Smart features."
There's other "Smart" add-ons as well, but that's the one that reads your content.
There's other "Smart" add-ons as well, but that's the one that reads your content.
Reposted by Nanette O’Brien
The University of Warwick has paid a lot of money, I'm guessing, for their internet banner ads on the Guardian and elsewhere.
But they can't spell "curiosity". This isn't a US-UK variant. They just, genuinely, have a massive spelling error in their banner ads.
But they can't spell "curiosity". This isn't a US-UK variant. They just, genuinely, have a massive spelling error in their banner ads.
August 8, 2025 at 8:22 AM
The University of Warwick has paid a lot of money, I'm guessing, for their internet banner ads on the Guardian and elsewhere.
But they can't spell "curiosity". This isn't a US-UK variant. They just, genuinely, have a massive spelling error in their banner ads.
But they can't spell "curiosity". This isn't a US-UK variant. They just, genuinely, have a massive spelling error in their banner ads.
Reposted by Nanette O’Brien
Ok, I keep thinking about this opening from the "Will AI revolutionize reading?!" New Yorker piece from the other day. Feel free to ignore what will be an inevitably rambling thread on the topic of reading
bsky.app/profile/phdh...
1/🧵
bsky.app/profile/phdh...
1/🧵
June 25, 2025 at 5:49 PM
Ok, I keep thinking about this opening from the "Will AI revolutionize reading?!" New Yorker piece from the other day. Feel free to ignore what will be an inevitably rambling thread on the topic of reading
bsky.app/profile/phdh...
1/🧵
bsky.app/profile/phdh...
1/🧵
Reposted by Nanette O’Brien
🧵Who is opposing the Trump administration?
I analysed 76 actions of the administration since inauguration and then searched for *meaningful* opposition to each.
I grouped the types of opposition and considered what we can learn from both them & actions where opposition has been lacking 1/24
I analysed 76 actions of the administration since inauguration and then searched for *meaningful* opposition to each.
I grouped the types of opposition and considered what we can learn from both them & actions where opposition has been lacking 1/24
February 17, 2025 at 6:42 PM
🧵Who is opposing the Trump administration?
I analysed 76 actions of the administration since inauguration and then searched for *meaningful* opposition to each.
I grouped the types of opposition and considered what we can learn from both them & actions where opposition has been lacking 1/24
I analysed 76 actions of the administration since inauguration and then searched for *meaningful* opposition to each.
I grouped the types of opposition and considered what we can learn from both them & actions where opposition has been lacking 1/24
Reposted by Nanette O’Brien
BAAS regrets to announce that the BAAS / US Embassy Small Grants Programme has been cancelled. 1/7
February 10, 2025 at 9:08 AM
BAAS regrets to announce that the BAAS / US Embassy Small Grants Programme has been cancelled. 1/7
Reposted by Nanette O’Brien
A CFP for a collection on care in modernism! See below for more details.
CfP alert!📣 We're looking for contributions to Caring Modernists: Locating Care in Modernist Production and Practice, co-edited by @jadefrench.bsky.social, Emily Bell, Paula Maher Martin and I. Send your abstract (250 words) and bio (100 words) to [email protected] by 14 March 2025. CfP below⬇️
Hello, Bluesky! We have a call for chapter abstracts for Caring Modernists: Locating Care in Modernist Production and Practice. This edited volume will explore care in modernist culture, broadly defined. Submit a 250-word abstract & 100-word bio to [email protected] by March 14, 2025 #CFP
February 7, 2025 at 2:03 PM
A CFP for a collection on care in modernism! See below for more details.
“Kids eat for free on Sundays” 😭
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
‘It’s horrible’: Hooters plots British ‘breastaurant’ expansion via Newcastle
Launch may be decisive test for franchise known for skimpy staff uniforms which has previously struggled in UK
www.theguardian.com
February 8, 2025 at 8:52 AM
“Kids eat for free on Sundays” 😭
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...
“The most fantastical addition to the goodnights takes place towards the end of the book. “Goodnight comb, goodnight brush. Goodnight nobody, goodnight mush.” It’s still a revelation to read this page where nobody and mush appear and stand firm—worth a goodnight.”
"Thinking abt this book, abt Margaret Wise Brown, I started to see how many children’s 📚 reference air, speech, noise, sound. Of course, these 📚—themselves always read aloud—are the material medium for beginning to learn speech... A space for closeness with words, pictures, sounds, repetitions..."
Room, Moon, Moon, Balloon: Reading and Breathing - The Paris Review
“Reading aloud is a magical exposure to words that speak to the enduring mystery of life, breath, language, sleep, and time.”
www.theparisreview.org
February 8, 2025 at 5:11 AM
“The most fantastical addition to the goodnights takes place towards the end of the book. “Goodnight comb, goodnight brush. Goodnight nobody, goodnight mush.” It’s still a revelation to read this page where nobody and mush appear and stand firm—worth a goodnight.”
Reposted by Nanette O’Brien
“Unless we are open to new approaches to university finance, we will remain trapped by the austere logics that are destroying our cherished institutions.
Unless we are willing to act imaginatively and fearlessly to save our universities now, we will soon find that there is nothing left to save.”
Unless we are willing to act imaginatively and fearlessly to save our universities now, we will soon find that there is nothing left to save.”
January 29, 2025 at 9:40 AM
“Unless we are open to new approaches to university finance, we will remain trapped by the austere logics that are destroying our cherished institutions.
Unless we are willing to act imaginatively and fearlessly to save our universities now, we will soon find that there is nothing left to save.”
Unless we are willing to act imaginatively and fearlessly to save our universities now, we will soon find that there is nothing left to save.”
Thinking about melting glaciers revealing a landscape resembling Scotland in Simon Armitage’s “The Summit” with my Writing the Environment students today: “there was no coming together / of skin and ice”
www.theguardian.com/books/2023/o...
www.theguardian.com/books/2023/o...
www.theguardian.com
January 28, 2025 at 3:08 PM
Thinking about melting glaciers revealing a landscape resembling Scotland in Simon Armitage’s “The Summit” with my Writing the Environment students today: “there was no coming together / of skin and ice”
www.theguardian.com/books/2023/o...
www.theguardian.com/books/2023/o...
Reposted by Nanette O’Brien
I think this is one of my favourite colourful climate chart type things, because it depicts two things at once:
- Things are going to get worse, no matter what
- The degree to which they get worse depends on decisions made today
theconversation.com/my-new-dark-... by @edhawkins.org
- Things are going to get worse, no matter what
- The degree to which they get worse depends on decisions made today
theconversation.com/my-new-dark-... by @edhawkins.org
January 17, 2025 at 8:40 AM
I think this is one of my favourite colourful climate chart type things, because it depicts two things at once:
- Things are going to get worse, no matter what
- The degree to which they get worse depends on decisions made today
theconversation.com/my-new-dark-... by @edhawkins.org
- Things are going to get worse, no matter what
- The degree to which they get worse depends on decisions made today
theconversation.com/my-new-dark-... by @edhawkins.org
Reposted by Nanette O’Brien
I wrote this short piece a few years ago on Anthropocene fires, art’s value, & what modernity’s artifacts allow us to see and not see about the climate crisis. Our disasters are always unique, always reruns.
spent a few minutes this weekend reminding myself of @thomassdavis.bsky.social's short, sharp 2019 account of a previous round of Getty-threatening wildfires 🌿😭
modernismmodernity.org/forums/posts...
modernismmodernity.org/forums/posts...
Modernism, Energy, and Environment | Modernism / Modernity Print+
In October 2019, The Getty Center in Los Angeles opened its “Manet and Modern Beauty” exhibit, a major reappraisal of Manet’s late work. The directors believed these canvases would reveal how “Manet’s growing fascination with contemporary fashion and femininity coincided with a steep decline in his health and mobility, a confrontation with his own human frailty.”[1] If the
modernismmodernity.org
January 13, 2025 at 3:25 PM
I wrote this short piece a few years ago on Anthropocene fires, art’s value, & what modernity’s artifacts allow us to see and not see about the climate crisis. Our disasters are always unique, always reruns.
Reposted by Nanette O’Brien
If you’d like the citation for that statement, it is the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s 1.5C report, which concluded:
January 9, 2025 at 5:30 AM
If you’d like the citation for that statement, it is the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s 1.5C report, which concluded:
Love this look at Peggy Guggenheim’s artist-made jewellery ✨
✨ Our first Modernist Maker feature of 2025 celebrates modern artists’ jewellery - from Peggy Guggenheim’s fabulous earring collection to Surrealist accessories crafted by a master goldsmith and jewellery made by Picasso for friends & lovers ✨
🔗 decoratingdissidence.substack.com/p/modernist-...
🔗 decoratingdissidence.substack.com/p/modernist-...
January 8, 2025 at 2:23 PM
Love this look at Peggy Guggenheim’s artist-made jewellery ✨
Reposted by Nanette O’Brien
I’m recruiting 2 Deputy Head of Policy roles to join my team at @britishacademy.bsky.social. First up - Deputy of Research Policy, helping guide all things R&D, innovation, research funding and culture. £50k salary, 34 days leave & an unbelievable pension! www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/about/jobs/d...
Deputy Head of Policy (Research)
The closing date for applications is 12 noon Monday 27 January 2025.
www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk
January 8, 2025 at 9:57 AM
I’m recruiting 2 Deputy Head of Policy roles to join my team at @britishacademy.bsky.social. First up - Deputy of Research Policy, helping guide all things R&D, innovation, research funding and culture. £50k salary, 34 days leave & an unbelievable pension! www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/about/jobs/d...
Reposted by Nanette O’Brien
"The baby has a note taped to them. The note says, “I can’t read. I can’t talk. I don’t care about stories or plots, classically speaking, or characters as they’re usually defined. What do you have for me?” What we have for them, it turns out, are board books."
Jon Klassen on the Art of the Board Book
Your imaginary audience has a note taped to them: “I can’t read. I can’t talk. I don’t care about stories, plots or characters. What do you have for me?”
www.nytimes.com
January 7, 2025 at 3:30 PM
"The baby has a note taped to them. The note says, “I can’t read. I can’t talk. I don’t care about stories or plots, classically speaking, or characters as they’re usually defined. What do you have for me?” What we have for them, it turns out, are board books."