Writer and Oxford history MSt student
Oxford, England
- Tweets 1,649
- Following 1,314
- Followers 1,359
- Likes 10,095
Felice Basbøll retweeted
After I published my article on Korean adoptees today, a professor at an R1 university wrote to me: "It's a pity I can't assign this in one of my quantitative methods classes."
I got his point, but asked what exactly was stopping him. He wrote the following:
"In one sense, nothing. I have tenure and academic freedom and I don't think I would face the kind of Amy Wax style retaliation that FIRE could sue over. But there would be consequences. The most immediate would be that I would no longer teach or advise grad students – and not because the department chair was punishing me but because students would refuse to take my classes or have me on their dissertation committees. But the more important thing is reserving my credibility for when it is most likely to be effective. You want people to take you seriously when you speak in a faculty meeting or advocate a policy at your university or in your discipline. This isn't careerism, it's about strategic understanding of picking battles to have the most impact, especially given that I am not teaching about inequality and there are other ways to teach the auxiliary hypothesis problem that would be much more effective because they wouldn't make students too upset to appreciate the methodological point."
Good demonstration of how academic pressure comes from below. You can have all the free speech protections you want, and maybe you won't be disciplined or fired, but no law or regulation can stop students from refusing to take your classes, other academics from not wanting to write papers with you, etc.
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Felice Basbøll retweeted
Cambridge has abandoned its plan to investigate the hiring of Jason Arday. It will only investigate whether it offered him enough support.
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Felice Basbøll retweeted
Looking forward to the publication of my book, "The Spirit of the British Constitution: Parliamentary Reform from the Civil War to the Great Reform," next month. press.princeton.edu/books/ha…
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Felice Basbøll retweeted
My latest for @TheEconomist: AI writing is taking over politics.
10% of what was is said in Parliament is now AI-drafted, per Pangram. Yet more in the House of Representatives, or in Australia and Canada.
Link: economist.com/britain/2026/0…
And a 🧵 below, w/ some main offenders
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Felice Basbøll retweeted
“Among the Danes he found ‘no Enthusiasts, Mad-men, Natural Fools, or fanciful Folks’ and, he said, ‘everyone keeps to the ordinary beaten road of sense’. It was not a compliment.”
The Irish-born Whig’s time as a diplomat formed his view of Denmark as a cautionary tale for the English: of how a country descends into absolutism.
Robert Molesworth, denouncer of Danish tyranny | @fbasboll
engelsbergideas.com/portrait…
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Felice Basbøll retweeted
Wonderful piece by @fbasboll on English liberty vs Danish slavery.
engelsbergideas.com/portrait…
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Felice Basbøll retweeted
The Irish-born Whig’s time as a diplomat formed his view of Denmark as a cautionary tale for the English: of how a country descends into absolutism.
Robert Molesworth, denouncer of Danish tyranny | @fbasboll
engelsbergideas.com/portrait…
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Read my piece in @EngelsbergIdeas about Robert Molesworth and his scathing account of Danish absolutism! His _Account of Denmark_ is the best skewering of my country and people ever delivered.
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Excited to be part of this discussion!!
Hard hats or graduation caps: can schools solve the NEETs problem? Looking forward to chairing this discussion at the Battle of Ideas next month.
Speakers: @amanda_spielman, @KunleOlulode, @fbasboll and Dr Linda Murdoch battleofideas.org.uk/session… @acadofideas #battlefest #neets
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Must say I am really impressed with the Ed Sheeran opening artists (esp smaller ones) who were about to get the career boost of a lifetime and chose to stand up for free speech and what they believe instead. This is the solidarity we all dreamed of in 2020
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Felice Basbøll retweeted
"support for Palestine has long been a near-default position in progressive circles...Yet in the ostensibly Left-wing industries of music and the arts, being vocally pro-Palestine still makes individuals vulnerable to professional punishment."
I wrote about the Macklemore cancellation & the Israeli filmmakers of NAZA who have been threatened with revocation of their citizenship by Israeli govt because of their dissent...via @unherd
unherd.com/newsroom/israels-…
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Can people who purport to care about ‘cancel culture’ maybe stop digging up photos from 2014 as evidence of someone’s deeply held personal convictions?
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Felice Basbøll retweeted
I cite George Owers's wonderful book, along with his earlier research on Major Cartwright and Capel Lofft (!) in my own forthcoming contribution to eighteenth-century political history, which can be pre-ordered in both in the US and the UK. amazon.com/Spirit-British-Co…
I learn that, in total in all formats, 'The Rage of Party', with the paperback now out, has sold over 8000 copies. For a 1st time author writing about 18th century high politics, that's not bad at all. Thank you to all who have bought it. And those who haven't...well chop chop
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Felice Basbøll retweeted
I learn that, in total in all formats, 'The Rage of Party', with the paperback now out, has sold over 8000 copies. For a 1st time author writing about 18th century high politics, that's not bad at all. Thank you to all who have bought it. And those who haven't...well chop chop
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Felice Basbøll retweeted
THE UNITED KINGDOM IS OVER
@ #BattleFest 2026, Kevin Rooney - editor of the irishborderpoll.com - is going to convince you - the audience - that the Union is over (before you can interrogate him of course)
READ his provocation below 👇
🚨 NEW: The leaders of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland say the future of their nations "belongs in the European Union" as they call for independence from the UK
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Felice Basbøll retweeted
Must-read article here from @jburnmurdoch about the global decline in test scores seen on PISA.
Global education systems have adopted some bad ideas just as technology is making good education ideas more vital than ever.
giftarticle.ft.com/giftartic…
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Felice Basbøll retweeted
Great to take part in this podcast series with @SpeechUnion. Their Ian MacTaggart programme is doing invaluable work supporting students across the country.
🎙️🚨 Episode 2 of the FSU’s Student Specials is OUT NOW!
“If we were going to be controlled in what we could say and essentially told what to think, then we didn’t want to do it any more. So we walked away.”
In the second episode of our Student Specials limited series in the run-up to Freshers’ Week, FSU Education and Engagement Officer Vinay Kapoor is joined by Odhran Gallagher.
While studying at the University of Glasgow, @odhrangallaghe and fellow student Katie McKay co-founded the Hillhead Review — a student magazine established to provide a platform for non-partisan writing.
The magazine was supported by the Ian Mactaggart Programme, an FSU-administered grant programme that promotes free speech and open debate on campus.
Odhran explains that there was no longer space for them to report objectively and freely at the university’s established newspaper — one of the oldest in Scotland. Stories he and Katie repeatedly put forward were killed off, while a political culture had taken root that prevented them from covering contentious issues.
In its first year, the Hillhead Review swept the Herald Student Press Awards, winning Best Scoop, Best News Writer and Best Student News Brand, with Odhran named Student Journalist of the Year.
When a reporter discovered that a pro-abortion group on campus had been given free tickets by a local football team, which it later raffled off, the team said it did not want to be associated with the group. However, the editor-in-chief barred the newspaper from running the story without explanation.
Another proposed story examined whether trans-identifying men should be able to access rape crisis centres for women. It was blocked and branded “transphobic”.
Odhran also tells Vinay why he remains optimistic about his generation.
Watch the full episode on the FSU’s YouTube channel 👇
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