The second day of Christmas

Carols from King’s. Christmas has begun. Joyeux Noël! 🎄🥂

AI translation is replacing interpreters in GP care – here’s why that’s troubling

Great news!

Just received copies of my new book 'French Sports Films: Visions of Masculinity'. It's available to order from @routledgebooks.bsky.social.

Hello and welcome to our Francophone Friday thread, where we come together to highlight research being conducted in or about the Francophone world! These threads are created with help of our members, so if you want to advertise events, publications, etc about Francophone research, do reach out! 1/9

Thank you for this lovely welcome to the @asmcf.bsky.social committee!

Between jabs, sleep regression, and falling down a Kristeva-on-Bakhtine rabbit hole, I nearly didn't get round to today's thread, but I'm trying to get back into a routine and it was for a good cause: learning more about @profstevenwilson.bsky.social's work and introducing him to our members!

Hello and welcome to our first Meet the Committee Monday in a while! Today we are introducing our new president @profstevenwilson.bsky.social who was elected in September having previously served as a member of the Editorial Board of the Association's journal @francemodern.bsky.social since 2020.

Check out this thread highlighting new work by @asmcf.bsky.social members ⬇️. Please do send the Web Officers a message if you would like us to give a Francophone Friday platform to your research.

While we do have some new members of the Executive Committee to introduce, soon our Meet the Committee Mondays will become Members’ Research Mondays, so if you are a member and would like to share a new publication, event or anything relating to your research, do not hesitate to reach out. 2/8

With our team of Web Officers once again complete, we are delighted to resume our weekly threads! As a reminder, on Fridays we have our Francophone Friday thread, where we highlight research being done in or about the Francophone world. 1/8

Training: Engaging with Policy and Policy Papers from a Languages, Cultures and Societies Perspective, hosted by @ilcs.bsky.social 3 Dec, 2pm GMT ilcs.sas.ac.uk/news-events/...

Terrific opportunity to see this thought-provoking film at QUB yesterday, thanks to the Centre for Documentary Research, and with introduction by my colleague Maeve McCusker.

We are delighted to share details of the 16th Douglas Johnson Memorial Lecture, organised by @frenchhistory.bsky.social & @asmcf.bsky.social to be held on Monday 12th January 2026, at the Institut Français, London.

My talk was titled: ‘“The hospital requires treatment in order to treat” (Jean Oury): healing the hospital with contemporary French philosophy, literature and film’ 🏥 Wonderful to see Steven Wilson, Maeve McCusker, Sarah Bowskill, and Emma Humphries! Thanks for such a warm welcome!!

Colleagues and UCU members from UoN's Department of Modern Languages have put together this wonderful guide on supporting their programmes. A lot of what they suggest is also helpful in challenging the 48 courses at risk across the university www.savemlcatnotts.org.uk

A pleasure to welcome Ben to QUB yesterday and to hear his brilliant talk on ‘healing the hospital’ with contemporary French philosophy, literature and film.

"Given that the UK needs more graduates with languages qualifications, the task of universities is not to accelerate the decline of language learning but to find ways to bolster their student intakes" New piece in THE on #Nottingham and #Leicester proposals to close MLs. @ucflangs.bsky.social

Every university should renovate the disciplinary framework of its courses and ask whether it is responding to its global responsibilities. But no university should recognise any merit in withdrawing from the study of other languages, cultures & societies www.timeshighereducation.com/opinion/late...

The latest threat to UK modern languages is yet another faux pas www.timeshighereducation.com/opinion/late...

The effects of the proposed cull of languages provision at the University of Nottingham and the University of Leicester will be massive: for the wonderful staff, for current students, and for future budding linguists. Esp those who, like me, come from working-class backgrounds in the East Midlands.

Please sign this petition to save modern languages courses at the University of Leicester.

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.