The government managed to recruit only 43 per cent of its target number of modern foreign language teachers for initial teacher training in 2024-25. www.thetimes.com/article/df90...

Rethinking language education in the school curriculum in England www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Thrilled that @katharinemurphy.bsky.social and my co-edited Special Issue is now out in the Journal of Romance Studies! 🎉 Huge thanks to our contributors across French, Spanish, Italian & Portuguese studies—showing the value of a multilingual approach to the Medical Humanities: tinyurl.com/mrxmznsm

Join us on 23 September for the start of our CLACS Caribbean Studies Seminar Series 2025/26 @ilcs.bsky.social / @soccaribbeanuk.bsky.social The Long Road from Bog Walk: Electricity and Electrification in Jamaica, 1890s–1970s w/ Andrew Williams (University of the West Indies, Mona) shorturl.at/euVXU

"Modern Foreign Languages degrees are the most starkly affected, with the number of courses nearly halved since 2011" 👇

🎉 We’re proud to have launched LUP Open Languages A #SubscribetoOpen initiative aiming to make research in languages, literatures & cultures #OpenAccess. Thanks to partners & editors for their support. Find out more ⬇️ #S2O @frenchstudies.bsky.social @ilcs.bsky.social @aupresses.bsky.social

The four UK higher education funding bodies confirm the pause in the criteria setting and publication of final guidance for REF 2029 for a short period, as announced by the UK Science Minister Lord Vallance today at the Universities UK conference. 2029.ref.ac.uk/news/pause-t...

A new special issue of Contemporary French Civilization examines French & francophone documentary cinema in the new millennium. Essays explore aesthetic, ethical & political debates shaping the field. Browse the issue online at🔗 bit.ly/CFC-Vol-50-3 @sfps.bsky.social @ilcs.bsky.social #FrenchStudies

‘2023 polling for the @britishacademy.bsky.social found 71 per cent of Britons would support making language study compulsory in schools.’ Pleased to see this FT editorial makes the case for learning foreign languages on.ft.com/4mP3rrf

📢 Introducing LUP Open Languages – a Subscribe to Open initiative supporting access to research in languages, literatures & cultures. From French & Catalan to Hispanic & Francophone studies, explore journals with archives dating back to 1923. 🔗 bit.ly/LUP-Open-Lang #SubscribeToOpen #LUPOpenLanguages

Now postponed to a later date

📢 Tune into LBC tomorrow morning (Sat) at 10.50 to hear ILCS Director Charles Burdett talk to Matt Frei about languages and the decline in uptake. @ucflangs.bsky.social

Read UCFL's reaction to the new HEPI report on languages: university-council-for-languages.org/2025/07/31/n... The recommendations for HE are particularly welcome, as are those around equality of access and social justice. @emmacayley.bsky.social @cforsdick.bsky.social

Tomorrow is the *final opportunity to apply for our MA in Languages, Cultures and Societies* - co-delivered with RHUL, UCL, QMUL, ULIP and KCL Language Centre! www.sas.ac.uk/postgraduate...

🎙️What’s the value of speaking other languages? In this month’s Crossing Channels, Wendy Ayres-Bennett points out a major AI issue: big languages dominate training data, so smaller languages & dialects get left behind. That’s a problem. 🎧 pod.fo/e/2fb7e1 #AI #Multilingualism #podcast @iast.fr

Congratulations to all 92 newly elected FBAs including the wonderful @clairelanghamer.bsky.social whose sterling research is matched by her sterling (or is it platinum?) work for the discipline of History (in all its academic, public and other forms) at the also ace @ihr.bsky.social . 1/2

The ability to attract and retain global talent and international students is fundamental to the UK’s research and innovation excellence. We have today published our response to the Government’s Immigration White Paper. Read it here: buff.ly/0TEPdtz

The Thriplow Charitable Trust has established a bursary for the MA in Refugee Protection and Forced Migration Studies by distance-learning. Apply by 1st August for the October 2025 intake. Learn more about the bursary here: www.london.ac.uk/study/fees-f... #RefugeeProtection #ForcedMigration

✨ The Languages in UK Education special issue is now complete! Many thanks to our guest editors @wendya-b.bsky.social & @cforsdick.bsky.social for compiling this important collection, and to every contributor for sharing bold ideas to shape language education policy. 🔗 www.lspjournal.com

The humanities are not a luxury—they are where a society’s ethical and imaginative life takes shape. They won’t give us all the answers, but they keep us asking the right questions—and without that, no future worth having can be built. wonkhe.com/blogs/our-fu...

A wonderful day of collegiality and sharing good practice for the @ucflangs.bsky.social Summer Plenary in the splendid surroundings of the @ilcs.bsky.social Spreading the good news about languages & optimism for our collective future. Thanks to our speakers and to all who made the effort to attend 💐

Our @ucflangs.bsky.social Summer Plenary today has a range of crucially important panels on current developments in languages provision in HE. First up: David Clarke (Cardiff University) & Derek Hird (Lancaster University) on Modern Languages in a Global Humanities Landscape.

Restricted access to language learning, and to developing language awareness, is a serious form of deprivation of multiple affordances, *especially* given the rapid rise of language technologies.

Curriculum and Assessment Review: ILCS, ALL and UCFL issue a statement. 'The development of a sustainable model for language provision across the whole of the educational sector is of the highest concern to all members of the subject community' Read the statement: ilcs.sas.ac.uk/research-pol...

Excited about this! Join us for a special live-streamed event with Professor Dame Angela McLean, the Government Chief Scientific Adviser, on Monday 7 July at 2.30pm. She'll discuss the value of the humanities and social sciences in policymaking. Join live: vimeo.com/event/5202389

“We’re at real risk of language education being accessible only to young people in the most affluent schools in England. This would be a disaster, shutting many young people out of essential education” : @cforsdick.bsky.social

'Watch the Policy Dimensions of Research' Olivia Glaze (@oliviaglaze.bsky.social), the current MHRA Languages and Policy Postdoctoral Researcher, gave an inspiring webinar under the auspices of the ILCS (@ilcs.bsky.social) in May, and the video is now available: www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkdg...

Another #language piece in the @theconversation.com @uk.theconversation.com (by our own @saschastollhans.bsky.social) focusing on #German and the benefit of language learning/of a curriculum that introduces students to #linguistics and linguistic concepts theconversation.com/learning-ger... #edusky

A rare opportunity for a permanent lectureship in German in our fabulous School! Please circulate to your networks. @ucfl-eca.bsky.social @ucflangs.bsky.social

What does it really mean to think like a linguist? Charlotte Ryland argues it's time to move beyond grammar drills and embrace creativity, culture, and collaboration in language education. 🔗 www.lspjournal.com/post/think-l... ✍️ Collection Edited by @wendya-b.bsky.social & @cforsdick.bsky.social

Curriculum and Assessment Review: ILCS, ALL and UCFL issue a statement. 'The development of a sustainable model for language provision across the whole of the educational sector is of the highest concern to all members of the subject community' Read the statement: ilcs.sas.ac.uk/research-pol...

having a great time at the Brenner-Archiv in Innsbruck looking at the papers of Max Riccabona. Many thanks to archive director @ulriketanzer2.bsky.social and everybody at the archive and to @ilcs.bsky.social (pictured Georg Trakl's and Ludwig von Ficker's graves and railway viaducts with mountain

Devastating news: "An end to teaching and research in ancient history, religion, theology, Portuguese, German, and Italian. The schools of ancient history and theology will close."

Elizabeth Ward is keen to hear from academics with an expertise in either film relations between the GDR & African countries or film relations between the GDR & Southern/East Asian countries for a potential edited volume contribution should contact Elizabeth directly. Contact details below.

Applications are now open for the International Writing Workshops. The scheme is designed to help early-career researchers enhance their writing skills and increase the uptake of their research in academic publications. Learn more: buff.ly/GxYuIKT

This free training event is taking place tomorrow! You can still register if you'd like an overview of the whole process of academic book publishing. www.sas.ac.uk/news-events/... #Authors #Publishing #AcademicSky #Researchers

🌿 A new special issue of Journal of Romance Studies explores how language teaching & research can address ecological crises. Featuring global voices, eco-pedagogies & cultural insights. Read more: bit.ly/ECOMODLANG @ilcs.bsky.social @erieriverbirch.bsky.social‬ @eedgington.bsky.social #envhum ‬

Panels will look at - Developments in the Modern Languages Curriculum in HE - Sustainability and Entrepreneurship in Modern Languages - Diversification of languages and levels offered For full details of the programme: university-council-for-languages.org/2025/06/06/u... @ilcs.bsky.social

Sign up now for our UCFL Summer Plenary on 4 July! You can join online or in person - registration closes on 18 June! Secure your place here: ilcs.sas.ac.uk/news-events/...

REGISTRATION NOW OPEN! So excited to release the programme for our upcoming conference on the Maghreb - June 19-21!! 🤗 We’ve made the event hybrid so make sure to register for the Zoom link (or to attend in person of course)! www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/postcoloni... À bientôt! !أتطلع للقائكم 🇩🇿 🇲🇦 🇹🇳 🇱🇾

Really pleased to see this new free training course on #OpenAccess launched, developed by @uolpress.bsky.social for the new RESHAPED platform 🎉 🙌 For humanities students, researchers, research office staff and anyone who wants to find out more about OA - please share and find out more below ⬇️

Stop cuts to Modern Languages at Bangor University 👉Sign the petition: chng.it/K2zRY6Jqqt 👉Share the petition with family/friends/networks. 👉Send emails outlining your objections. For details and templates visit the website: www.stopcutsinmlatbangor.uk/home/

Come and join the @ucflangs.bsky.social family! Hiring a new Vice Chair Research, Vice Chair External Engagement and Comms, Slavonic Rep, Early Career Rep, & Project Coordinator! Make a difference at a crucial time for UK languages in HE! @ucflangs.bsky.social @ucfl-eca.bsky.social @ilcs.bsky.social

Discussing the new intercollegiate MA which I'll be contributing to this coming year, looking at Languages and Cultures Across Borders. I'm contributing to the module on 'Materiality and Temporality: Cultural Products across Time and Space' www.sas.ac.uk/postgraduate...

Britain’s diplomats are monolingual Foreign Office standards have sunk unherd.com/2025/05/brit...

China threat to UK sees Mandarin lessons in schools spared the axe MPs and peers raised fears that the Mandarin Excellence Programme, which teaches 8,000 secondary school children, faced the Whitehall axe inews.co.uk/news/politic...

🆕 Inside the latest issue of Revista Iberoamericana Una Poética Intersticial: Fisuraciones del Sujeto Lírico en el Post Modernismo Hispanoamericano, by Gustavo Osorio de Ita. Online at: bit.ly/Revista-290-291 @ilcs.bsky.social #LatinAmericanStudies

'The four UK higher education funding bodies, working with the REF Main Panel Chairs and Advisory Panel members, have appointed chairs and deputy chairs for the 34 expert sub-panels that will assess research in REF 2029'

Happening now at @ilcs.bsky.social an engaging event on academic, artistic and social practices to critically tackle Italian colonial legacy @saslondon.bsky.social ilcs.sas.ac.uk/news-events/...

🌍 What happens when international exchanges vanish from schools and universities? Vicky Gough and Philip Harding-Esch argue for restoring international experiences to the heart of language learning—for all learners, not just a privileged few. www.lspjournal.com/post/interna...