We all know the difficulty the HE sector is in. But let’s work together to come up with solutions. The nuclear option damages our students & the reputation of our institutions. @ucflangs.bsky.social & @artsandhums.bsky.social are supporting colleagues www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Such a key point about cutting back on language provision - it’s not good for science and it’s not good for growth www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

The University of Nottingham has announced the suspension of all Modern Languages and Cultures (MLC) programmes from September 2026. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Please sign the petition below in support of colleagues at Nottingham, where courses in the highly respected Dept of Modern Languages & Cultures have been earmarked for suspension.

Check our this piece on the representation of the Irish revolution in the French press - coauthored with @siobhraaiken.bsky.social and Mark O’Rawe ! @cecille-ulille.bsky.social @irishstudiesqub.bsky.social @meshs.bsky.social @labnf.bsky.social @ccirlandais.bsky.social

Multilingual, Transnational and Translational: Rethinking the Medical Humanities thepolyphony.org/2025/10/24/m...

@cforsdick.bsky.social concludes the @readingbodies.bsky.social takeover and discusses how this project contributes to rethinking the medical humanities in ways that are simultaneously multilingual, transnational and translational. thepolyphony.org/2025/10/24/m...

In Part 2 of the @readingbodies.bsky.social takeover, @oliviaglaze.bsky.social considers the policy and impact potential of research on languages, identity and culture within the medical humanities. thepolyphony.org/2025/10/21/l...

@katharinemurphy.bsky.social introduces the @readingbodies.bsky.social takeover and discusses what historical discourses of illness in European literatures and cultures contribute to the medical humanities. thepolyphony.org/2025/10/20/h...

Thanks to Jordan McCullough for editing this week's Reading Bodies takeover of @the-polyphony.bsky.social!

Listen to our new podcast: @benbgdalton.bsky.social and @drmariatomlinson.bsky.social discuss our special issue on the BUMIDOM with @awimbush.bsky.social and Jennifer Boum Make. @asmcf.bsky.social @tandfresearch.bsky.social mcfrance.podbean.com

Our Initiative Fund is open for applications until 𝟯𝟭 𝗢𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱: a small grant to help defray the costs of research events intended to benefit a wide public, such as conferences, study days, workshops & support for postgraduate activities.

Please check out our wonderful new website and join in the activities of the association by renewing/taking out membership for 2026!

Pleased to have established the new *Global Cultures of Health and Illness* research centre at QUB. Watch this space for future plans and do get in touch if you’d like to collaborate.

Check out this piece on the multilingual skills of the Irish revolutionary generation authored with @siobhraaiken.bsky.social and Mark O’Rawe! And our digital exhibition tracing the history of visual representations of the Irish revolution in France! www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2...

Today's most read on @rtebrainstorm.bsky.social. Check out our new digital exhibition tracing the history of visual representations of the Irish revolution in France: @clairedubois.bsky.social meshs-omekas.univ-lille.fr/omeka-s/s/im... www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2...

Think Like a Linguist: It’s time for a national conversation about the value of languages www.hepi.ac.uk/2025/10/14/t...

A treat to receive the hard copy of @katharinemurphy.bsky.social and @oliviaglaze.bsky.social’s special issue, ‘Reading bodies: Narrating illness in European literatures and cultures (1870s-1960s&beyond)’. Looking forward to reading all the articles. www.liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/toc/jrs/25/3

Thank you!

21 November ILCS event on thinking strategically about the challenges faced by language educators. Don't miss it, sign up now! university-council-for-languages.org/2025/09/24/t...

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

The latest JRS special issue explores multilingual & transcultural narratives of health and illness in European literatures (1870s–1960s+). Read the introduction to the issue #OpenAccess. ➡️ bit.ly/JRS-Reading-Bodies @ilcs.bsky.social @katharinemurphy.bsky.social @profstevenwilson.bsky.social

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

Hot off the press! So happy to share our extended special issue of JRS on 'Reading bodies: narrating illness in European literatures and cultures (1870s to 1960s and beyond)'. 🩺📖 @profstevenwilson.bsky.social @ryanlor.bsky.social @nicolasfmedina.bsky.social @ilcs.bsky.social

New publication: ‘Colonial epidemiology: The poetics and politics of incommunicability in Sartre’s Typhus (1944)’, in Journal of Romance Studies special issue Reading bodies: Narrating illness in European literatures and cultures (1870s-1960s & beyond) liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/doi/10.3828/...

New publication: ‘Colonial epidemiology: The poetics and politics of incommunicability in Sartre’s Typhus (1944)’, in Journal of Romance Studies special issue Reading bodies: Narrating illness in European literatures and cultures (1870s-1960s & beyond) liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/doi/10.3828/...

This whole thread.

Honoured, humbled and slightly daunted to have been elected President of @asmcf.bsky.social at the Canterbury conference (and to have delivered a keynote…). Thanks to members for your confidence. To all in French studies, including PGs and ECRs: come and join us!

Poppy, 14, loving summer nights on the beach

Rice University is seeking to appoint a ✅Tenure-track ✅Assistant or Associate Prof of #MedicalHumanities 💻Specializing in narrative and/or digital humanities approaches to medicine & health in the 20th-21st centuries Apply by 31 Oct to work with this amazing group! apply.interfolio.com/172836

Terrific first visit to Bern. Hope to have many opportunities to return to this beautiful, fascinating city🇨🇭

The glorious, breathtaking Swiss Alps. Could stay here forever!

Current status: Unavailable.

📢 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

Was pleased to represent @ucflangs.bsky.social on @lbc.co.uk today in conversation with Matt Frei about the crisis for languages & their importance for global Britain, following the @hepi-news.bsky.social report by Megan Bowler. Listen at c.10.50am: www.globalplayer.com/catchup/lbc/...

New HEPI report calls for urgent action on revitalising language learning - @ucflangs.bsky.social welcomes the release of a new HEPI report, sponsored by Duolingo, thqt highlights the urgent need to support and improve the uptake of languages: university-council-for-languages.org/2025/07/31/n...

HUGE DAY My editor copies of 'Critical Neurodiversity Studies: Divergent Textualities in Literature and Culture' arrived!! I'm so excited for this to be out in the world (officially 7th Aug) The volume asks 'what would a neurodivergent framework for literary studies look like'?

📣Important podcast on the value of speaking other languages 👇 The conversation looks at how the languages we speak influence how we think & affect how we relate to others. It explores how multilingualism can foster social cohesion, support cognitive flexibility, & even boost economic opportunities.

Macron is right – let's revive the school French exchange to secure a future together www.politicshome.com/opinion/arti...

A great afternoon in Westminster thanks to the APPG ML. We presented our collective response to the Curriculum & Assessment Review: university-council-for-languages.org/2025/06/23/c... Was pleased to be there to represent @ucflangs.bsky.social with @wendya-b.bsky.social & @marcecazzoli.bsky.social

We are pleased to announce the CFP for next year's annual conference which will take place at the University of Leicester. The deadline for submissions is 19 September 2025. For more information see the link below: www.sfs.ac.uk/conferences/...

Over the moon to share that Dr Fanny Chabrol and I have been awarded a Society for French Studies Visiting International Fellowship to enable Fanny to join us in Lancaster University School of Global Affairs for a period of collaborative research in 2026!

The role of a PhD supervisor…

My favourite day of the academic year. Proud of all our graduating students and what they’ve achieved.

Assisted Lab is hiring - please share widely! We are inviting applications for a fully funded PhD position (100%) as part of the ERC/SERI Assisted Lab team at University of St. Gallen, starting September 2025. More information here 👇 jobs.unisg.ch/offene-stell...

Last week I in Paris for the conference: Futures of the Hospital From the Global South (17-20 June), led by Fanny Chabrol at Université Paris Cité and with colleagues from HUMA - Institute for Humanities in Africa at Cape Town University.

Fiona Barclay considers the longstanding deficit in the social value associated with languages, true not just of Scotland, but across the UK. She proposes 3 avenues for improving public perceptions of languages www.lspjournal.com/post/languag... @cforsdick.bsky.social

@themhra.bsky.social is hiring another Policy Postdoctoral Researcher 🎉 This is an amazing opportunity for ECAs to gain policy experience, and I couldn’t recommend working with @wendya-b.bsky.social and @cforsdick.bsky.social more highly! Find out more here: tinyurl.com/mvzce4nt

Love spending time pausing and reflecting in the peace of the beautiful walled garden near where I live. The annual sculpture exhibition is always a treat andculture.org.uk/whats-on/for...