Outreach Event: Oxford Language Day in Bridgwater

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.

Professor Catriona Seth an Associate Member of the Académie Royale de Belgique

We are happy to announce that Professor Catriona Seth (Fellow of the British Academy, Marshal Foch Professor of French Literature and Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford) was recently made an associate member of the Académie Royale de Belgique — Belgium's National Academy, which was founded in 1772 under the aegis of Empress Maria Theresa.

On the occasion, Professor Seth was commended on her research, interdisciplinary approach to literary discourse, her work as an editor and as a specialist in Women's Studies. The new title was seen as especially appropriate given the Academy's background and Professor Seth's expertise in literature and the history of ideas of the long 18th century.

SRS Book Prize 2018 Awarded to Professor Katherine Ibbett

Our congratulations to Professor Katherine Ibbett, whose book Compassion’s Edge: Fellow-Feeling and its Limits in Early Modern France has been awarded the Society for Renaissance Studies Book Prize 2018. The prize is given biannually to encourage original research on any aspect in the field of Renaissance studies and to recognise significant accomplishments by members of the Society.

Compassion's Edge was published by the University of Pennsylvania Press in 2018, and is available from the Bodleian Libraries, including Taylor Institution Library. The title has been commended by SRS for its 'brilliant interdisciplinary range and relevance' and 'promises to inspire fresh scholarship in early modern French history'.

Open Days 2018: June and September

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.

In memory of Dr Roger Pensom

We were saddened to learn of the death on 8 June 2018 of Roger Pensom, Emeritus Fellow of Hertford College and formerly University Lecturer of Old French Language and Literature at the University of Oxford; he was 79.

XVIII Forum for Iberian Studies: Fictitious Realities, Real Fictions

The 18th edition of the Forum for Iberian Studies will take place in Oxford on the 20 and 21 June at the Taylor Institution.

Conference: Mediality of Smells

From Sunday, June 24th to Tuesday, June 26th 2018 the international conference Médialité des odeurs / Mediality of Smells will take place at Maison Française d’Oxford and Jesus College. This event is jointly convened by Dr Jean-Alexandre Perras (Jesus College, University of Oxford) and Dr Érika Wicky (Fonds National de La Recherche Scientifique and Université de Liège).

The study of scents and all things olfactory is currently thriving, a sign of the great interest that our information-based societies feel for a sense which seems to offer a direct and immediate experience of reality. The conference Mediality of Smells aims to develop the nascent interdisciplinary exchange around smells by examining the question of the media and the possible mediatisation of smells.

R. Gapper Book Prize: Congratulations to Prof. Roger Pearson and Dr Helen J. Swift

We are delighted to announce that the seventeenth R. Gapper Book Prize, given annually by the Society for French Studies, has been awarded to Professor Roger Pearson for his book Unacknowledged Legislators: The Poet as Lawgiver in Post-Revolutionary France (OUP).

The prestigious R. Gapper award yearly commends books of critical and scholarly distinction which have a clear impact on the wider critical debate. Professor Pearson's exploration of the public role of the poet in the nineteenth-century France has been honoured for its engaging and in-depth research of the topic.

Our congratulations to Dr Helen Swift, too, for being commended for her book Representing the Dead: Epitaph Fictions in Late-Medieval France (Boydell & Brewer). Dedicated to the literary representations of the dead, this volume analyses works in prose and verse, and casts fresh light on the ideas of selfhood in medieval culture, as well as on contemporary conceptions of literary representation itself.

Study Day: The World of the French Novel, 1800-1820

On Monday, June 18th 2018, together with Maison Française d’Oxford, we present an international study day themed Le Monde du roman français, 1800-1820 / The World of the French Novel, 1800-1820.

The French nineteenth-century novel was the genre that transformed multilingual European literature, and Le Monde du roman français, 1800-1820 will allow one to learn about the origins of that phenomenon.

This study day will feature talks in both French and English, with the researchers arriving from across Britain and France, but also Belgium and New Zealand. The subjects are diverse and include the works of particular authors of the period (Mme de Genlis, Pigault-Lebrun, or Germaine de Staël — to name a few) as well as over-reaching themes, such as the Romantic, the Gothic, and the Feminine.

One-day Symposium on Puerto Rico After Hurricane María

On Friday, June 15th, together with the Rothermere American Institute (RAI) , we present a one-day symposium 'Puerto Rico After Hurricane María: Culture, Politics, Place'.

Meeting with Zabou Breitman

On 15 June, Cinéma et culture française à Oxford, with the support of the Society for French Studies, welcomes the French actress and director Zabou Breitman, or simply Zabou. Fresh from hosting the 30th Molière Awards in France, she will be talking about her career at the Taylor Institution.

MIMSS: Colloquim on Hispanic Texts and Manuscripts

The next MIMSS (Magdalen Iberian Medieval Studies Seminar) event is taking place on Friday next week: the Colloquium on Hispanic Texts and Manuscripts will be held at Magdalen College on June 8th, from 2 pm.

The colloquium programme includes accounts by four British researchers, whose works showcase different strains of Hispanic Studies in Oxford and London. The Faculty is represented by Professor María Morrás, whose presentation will conclude the event. All are welcome.

To learn more about MIMSS activities, please, follow this link.

Dr Imogen Choi Awarded the AHGBI Thesis Prize 2017-2018

We are pleased to announce that Dr Imogen Choi, Associate Professor in Spanish Golden Age Literature and Exeter College Fellow in Spanish, has been awarded the prestigious AHGBI and Spanish Embassy Publication Prize for 2017-18.

Dr Choi's doctoral thesis 'Conflict Ethics and Political Thought in Early Peruvian Epic' received the prize, while Dr Elizabeth Bolorinos Allard was given the runner-up AHGBI award for her thesis 'My Enemy or My Brother? Spanish Representations of Muslim and Jewish Culture during the Colonial Campaigns in Morocco, 1909-1927'.

Both works are to be published by Tamesis Books in 2018-2019.

The Magdalen Iberian Medieval Studies Seminar: Las serranas del Arcipreste de Hita y las pastorelas francesas

The next session of the Magdalen Iberian Medieval Studies Seminar is taking place on Friday, May 25th 2018. Professor Bienvenido Morros (Autonomous University of Barcelona) will give a lecture titled 'Las serranas del Arcipreste de Hita y las pastorelas francesas'. Dedicated to works of medieval Castilian poet Juan Ruiz — otherwise known as the Archpriest of Hita — the talk will explore the connection between the lyrical musings of Ruiz and French pastorals.

The lecture given by Professor Morros will take place in the Oscar Wilde Room at Magdalen College, from 5 pm.

The event is free and open to all, and will be in Spanish.

Meeting with Richard Anconina

On Friday, May 25th2018 we present Richard Anconina in conversation with students and members of the public. The famous French actor, whose work spans genres and decades, will be speaking about the art of cinema and his work. Richard Anconina is a winner of two César Awards (Best Supporting Actor, Most Promising Actor) and has worked with such directors as Claude Berri and Claude Lelouch.

This conversation will be convened by Dr Michael Abecassis and take place in the Auditorium of St John's College.

The event is free and open to all, and will be in French.

Professor Carolin Duttlinger Receiving the Oxford SU Teaching Award

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.

Francophone Seminar Keynote Lecture: Aimé Césaire and the Hermeneutical Circle, or, How We Know What We Know

On Tuesday, May 15th 2018 we invite you to the keynote lecture of the Faculty Francophone Seminar: 'Aimé Césaire and the Hermeneutical Circle, or, How We Know What We Know' by Professor A. James Arnold. The speaker will share his insight into the works of the famous Martinique author and founder of the négritude movement in Francophone literature.

The talk will be held in the Main Hall of the Taylorian Institute at 5 pm. The event is open to all and no booking is required.

Franz Kafka in Context

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.

Bringing Kafka’s Castle to Life: Podium Discussion

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.

German Study Day 2018: Bringing Kafka’s Castle to Life

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.