Read all the latest news and upcoming events from the faculty on the main News page.
Together with the Taylor Institution, we are commissioning a new translation of the White Rose leaflets, to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the trials of the German Resistance group. This project is open to all students of German about to begin the second or fourth year in Michaelmas 2018. Applications will also be considered from students who are not studying German, but who are confident translating between German and English.
It is our pleasure to announce that the inaugural issue of The Oxford Polyglot, the Faculty e-newsletter, has now been published and can be seen in its entirety here. Professor Ian Watson, Chair of the Faculty Board, has provided the introduction, and the articles have been written by colleagues across Sub-Faculties, on topics varying from Romantic objects to Angolan women writers to epitaph fictions in late-medieval France and the friendships of the great German poet Goethe.
We hope that you enjoy learning about our research, activities, and events (find out about those in 'Our Events'). If you would like to be among the first to receive the future issues of The Oxford Polyglot, please, subscribe here.
On June 19th members of our Schools Liaison team ran an Oxford Language Day at Bridgwater and Taunton College in Somerset. At this event pupils from local schools met with University lecturers to learn about language study, receive taster sessions in French, German, and Spanish, and hear about life at the University of Oxford.
The Language Day is part of the larger Outreach programme undertaken by the Faculty to engage with young people in regions that are historically under-represented at Oxford. We encourage talented students across Britain to follow the opportunities and careers opened up by a degree in languages — and we are happy to answer any practical questions.
Open Days provide an excellent opportunity to visit the Faculty and meet our tutors and students. We welcome prospective applicants to have a look at libraries and classrooms, and to learn more about the admissions process and studying at Oxford.
The University of Oxford Open Days 2018 will take place on Wednesday, June 27th, Thursday, June 28th, and Friday, September 14th. The Faculty of Medieval and Modern Languages will be holding information sessions pm on all three dates; booking is required. To reserve your place at an Open Day, please, follow this link.
Congratulations to Professor Carolin Duttlinger, who received the Oxford University Student Union award for Outstanding Pastoral Support. The annual Teaching Awards ceremony took place on May 10th, Thursday last week, in the Town Hall and celebrated the achievements of University staff — as determined by the student body.
Professor Duttlinger teaches German language and literature from the eighteenth to the twentieth century — in particular, modernist and contemporary literature. She is available for graduate supervision.
Cambridge University Press recently published Franz Kafka in Context, edited by Carolin Duttlinger, Associate Professor in German, Fellow of Wadham College, and Co-Director of the Oxford Kafka Research Centre.
On Friday, June 1st 2018, we welcome you to a podium discussion dedicated to one of the most influential authors of the 20th century, Franz Kafka. Titled 'Bringing Kafka's Castle to Life', this event will take place in the Auditorium of St John's College from 5.00 pm.
The panel event will examine the legacy of the novel, bringing Kafka to new audiences, and Oxford’s position on the global map of Kafka Studies. Professors Carolin Duttlinger, Katrin Kohl, Barry Murnane, and Ritchie Robertson of the Oxford Kafka Research Centre will be joined by Roland Reuß, co-editor of the FKA Historical-Critical Kafka Edition, and award-winning playwright Ed Harris, who recently adapted the novel for BBC Radio 4.
We are pleased to annouce the German Study Day 2018, taking place at St John's College on Friday, June 1st 2018. The event is open to Year 12 students interested in studying German and taking at least one modern language to A-Level. The students will be introduced to higher level academic study of German and take part in a workshop led by the University tutors.
Please, note that the application deadline for the event is by 4 pm on Friday, May 18th 2018.
We are pleased to announce that more spaces have been opened on our Modern Languages Open Day, taking place on Saturday, April 28th at the Examination Schools. The event will run from 10.50 am to 4 pm and will offer an overview of Modern Languages at Oxford, as well as a chance for prospective students to ask our tutors any questions they might have about the degree.
Please, note that booking is required.
The Arts and Humanities Research Council has awarded a network grant to ‘Dreaming Romantic Europe’, a project led by Catriona Seth, the Marshal Foch Professor of French Literature here at Oxford, as co-investigator, and by Professor Nicola J. Watson of the Open University as Principal Investigator.
The award will make it possible to draw together individual academics, but also scholarly associations and cultural heritage institutions across Europe, which are devoted to the study and presentation of Romanticism.
We are pleased to announce that the 15th Annual Oxford German Graduate Symposium will take place at New College on Saturday, April 21st, 2018. The theme for the Symposium is Performing Philosophy.
Our keynote speaker is Stephen Mulhall, Professor of Philosophy at Oxford and Fellow and Tutor at New College. The Symposium offers an opportunity for graduate students and Faculty members to come together and share their research in a friendly, productive setting. We particularly encourage graduate students of all stages (Master’s and DPhil) to apply to present.
Our annual language competitions for schools are open for entries: choose between a French script, a short story in Spanish, or from a number of projects on the theme of ‘Freundschaft – Friendship’ in German.
The age categories are from Year 5 to Year 13, depending on the competition. Winning prizes include publication and monetary rewards.
The Open Days for spring 2018 have now been announced! We welcome prospective applicants to meet our tutors and students, to have a look at libraries and classrooms, and to learn more about the admissions process and studying at Oxford.
The main Open Day at the Faculty of Medieval and Modern Languages is taking place on Saturday, April 28th, with additional language-specific days from February to March.
A new prize was established in 2017 as part of the Oxford German Olympiad: ‘A German Classic’.
Public Engagement with Research describes the many ways that members of the public can be involved in the design, conduct and dissemination of research.
If you, or any of your students, are interested in applying for 2018 entry, the Faculty is holding an information session on Modern Languages Masters courses.
As the exact date for the quincentenary of the publication of Martin Luther’s 95 Theses is approaching (published on 31 October 1517), there are a number of Reformation events which combine the three strands which have been explored throughout the year (cf. the events during Bonn Week): Translating – Printing – Singing. This might be of interest for anybody interested in the literature, history and music of Protestant Germany and England in the 16th century and its legacy. All welcome! For more information, go to the Reformation 2017 blog of the Taylorian.
The next conference of the International Walter Benjamin Society will be held in Oxford at Worcester College and the Taylorian Institute on 24th-27th September 2017. To coincide with the conference, there will be a small exhibition at the Bodleian Library on the theme of “Reading with Benjamin,” which will include Kafka manuscripts, and other Benjamin-related rarities.
We are delighted to announce the launch of a new prize as part of the Oxford German Olympiad: 'A German Classic: Goethe’s Faust, part I - Essay Prize for Sixth-Formers'
The Prize is designed to be the focus of an annual celebration of a classic text of German literature, providing resources that will remain available via our website for the future.
The Crisis, Extremes and Apocalypse research network at TORCH is delighted to host a workshop on 'Crises of Meaning and Political Theology' on the afternoon of 6 June. Speakers will include: All are welcome. Coffee, tea and biscuits will be provided.