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.

La francophonie au Royaume-Uni : état, enjeux, perspectives

The Faculty of Medieval and Modern Languages and the Maison Française d’Oxford are hosting a meeting of the Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie (https://www.auf.org/) and of UK universities on 6 - 7 June 2018. We warmly invite representatives of academic institutions to attend.

Czechoslovakia 100 Study Day

BASEES Czech and Slovak Study Day: Marking 100 years since the founding of the Czechoslovak state.

Clara Florio Cooper Memorial Lecture 2018

We are pleased to announce that the 2018 Clara Florio Memorial Lecture will be given by Professor Diego Zancani and titled 'Italian Renaissance Food and its Representation in Britain and Italy'. Taking place on May 8th at 5 pm, the lecture is open to all and will be followed by a drinks reception.

Joining the evening will be a delegation from the University of Padua and the Comune, celebrating a unique collaboration and possible twinning of cities and universities.

Modern Languages Open Day: Spaces Released

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.

Exhibition: PRINTING REVOLUTION 1450-1500

The 15cBOOKTRADE Project has produced a video promoting the exhibition PRINTING REVOLUTION 1450-1500: Fifty Years that Changed Europe.

Olomouc: Summer School of Slavonic Studies

The Summer School of Slavonic Studies at the Faculty of Arts of Palacký University in Olomouc organizes courses of Czech language for foreigners.

International Seminar: Balzac and England

On April 12th-14th, 2018 international seminar Balzac et l'Angleterre / Balzac and England will be taking place at Maison Française d’Oxford.

The seminar will be conducted in both English and French, with speakers arriving from across Britain and France, but also Morocco, Canada, Switzerland, Germany, the Czech Republic, and United States. Over the course of three days this international gathering of scholars will explore the nature of Balzac's engagement with Britain, but also of Britain's — and the world's — engagement with Balzac.

Dr Elisabeth Bolorinos Awarded the AHGBI Doctoral Publication Prize 2017

Congratulations to Dr Elisabeth Bolorinos Allard who has been awarded the Doctoral Publication Prize for 2017, by the Association of Hispanists of Great Britain and Ireland (AHGBI) and the Spanish Embassy. The Prize will cover Dr Bolorinos's thesis publication by Tamesis Books.

'In medieval Britain, if you wanted to get ahead, you had to speak French': A New Article by Huw Grange

A new article by Dr Huw Grange has been published by The Conversation: 'In medieval Britain, if you wanted to get ahead, you had to speak French' tells about the influence of the Normans, and of the early textbooks used to teach French to English speakers.

Dr Grange proceeds to tell about the difficulty of learning a foreign language without leaving one's home country, and about the shifts in the linguistic preferences of the British. In Oxford, French was once so popular that it was formally forbidden to neglect Latin in its favour.

Art, Heritage and Conservation: A Cross-Channel Conversation

To celebrate the European Year of Cultural Heritage 2018, Alfredo Pérez de Armiñán, President of Patrimonio Nacional, and Carole Souter, Master of St Cross College, University of Oxford, will talk about the challenges faced by the preservation of heritage, both in Spain and in England.

Alfredo Pérez de Armiñán is the current president of the Patrimonio Nacional Board; before that, he was Deputy General Director of Culture of UNESCO and has held different public positions in the field of Spanish cultural heritage.

The talk will take place in West Wing Lecture Theatre, St Cross College from 5.15 pm on March 23rd. This event is free and open to the public.

Earlier today members of our Schools Liaison team, together with enthusiastic volunteers, visited Tees Valley to meet local students and speak to them about language study. Students received taster sessions in French, German, Spanish, and Italian and learned about life at the University of Oxford.

This 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 here to answer any practical questions.

Galician Film Series in Oxford: Short Films Session

The fourth screening in the Galician Film Series, jointly organised by The John Rutherford Centre for Galician (University of Oxford) and the Galician Film Forum (GFF)-London, is taking place this Thursday, March 15th. This installment in the series will consist of five short films which will take you to Galicia, stopping by in London and Sweden.

The showings will take place at the Taylorian Institution; the event is free and open to the public upon registration.

Dreaming Romantic Europe - AHRC Network Grant

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.

Meeting with Lilian Thuram

On Thursday, March 15th we present Lilian Thuram in conversation with students and members of the public. The famous football defender, who helped France win the 1998 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2000 championships, is a UNICEF ambassador and promotes education as a way to battle racism. He will be speaking about his initiatives, which include a book My Black Stars, used in French schools.

This conversation will be convened by Dr Michael Abecassis and take place in the Holywell Music Room.

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

15th Annual Oxford German Graduate Symposium: Performing Philosophy

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.