We are delighted to present a programme of live events, run by our team of Early Career Researchers. All events take place online, and include some academic content and the opportunity to engage with student representatives. Some are open to all, whilst others require an invitation.
See below for further details and links to sign up where relevant. This page will be updated as further information becomes available.
Wednesday 10 February, 16.30-18.30
Languages Unlocked
Queen’s University Belfast
This event will bring together four language areas (French, Irish, Portuguese and Spanish) with the aim of encouraging Year 12 (Year 13 in NI) pupils to “rethink languages”. Challenging the idea that the benefits of language learning are limited solely to communication skills in the target language, these diverse sessions – covering topics from Parisian interiors, to Internet memes, to investigative linguistics – will highlight the vast array of doors that language learning can open, particularly in areas that are not often associated with school-level language study.
The event will open with a plenary session, continue with two sets of parallel, language-specific sessions and close with a final plenary. Some of the parallel sessions will require post-GCSE standard language skills, while others will have no specific language requirement. For further details and the links to each session, please visit the Events page on the School of Arts, English and Languages website: https://www.qub.ac.uk/schools/ael/events/
Thursday 11 February, 10.00; 12.30; 14.0
Rethinking (with) Languages: The Role of Rap in Multicultural France
Exeter University
This interactive session will provide an introduction to the study of Modern Languages at university level, introducing students to texts and topics they might study, and giving them the chance to ask current undergraduates questions about their course. Although the session will focus on French culture, with a workshop entitled ‘The role of rap in multicultural France’, support will be in place to enable participation from students studying any language at A-Level, and all languages students are encouraged to attend.
https://www.exeter.ac.uk/teachers/events/ (scroll down to Feb. 11)
Wednesday 17th February, 17.00-18.30
‘Decolonizing the Curriculum’: Rethinking the Study of Modern Languages at University
Queen Mary University / University of London in Paris
The event will give you an insight into the broad range of topics covered by a degree in Modern Languages, above and beyond the study of the language itself. It will focus in particular on recent debates around decolonizing the curriculum and the politics of education. The sessions will look at French and German materials, but translations will also be provided, and no prior knowledge of the language is necessary to take part. The event is primarily designed for sixth form students, but we warmly welcome students of any age.
Register here: https://app.geckoform.com/public/#/modern/FOEU024aqaVDqiKw
Thursday 18 February, 17.00-18.30
University of Oxford
Rethinking Modern Languages: How do Literature and Science interact?
These three interactive sessions will give you an insight in what it means to study modern languages at university by introducing you to the kind of texts that students might study, focusing primarily on French and German materials. One session will be on the theme above: how do literature and science interact, using German texts about imagined adventures into outer space. Another will look at ghosts in literature, using examples from French. Whilst the sessions will use French and German materials, English translations will be provided, so you do not need to know either language already to take part. There will also be the opportunity to ask questions to current Oxford students about what it is like to study Modern Languages. These sessions are primarily designed for students studying for A Levels and who are taking Modern Languages, but any students who are interested in Modern Languages are welcome to attend.
You can sign up here.
Wednesday 24th February, 16:00-17:30
University of Warwick
Rethinking Modern Languages: World Literature
This event will introduce you to different ways in which authors from across the world have used French in their creative writing. In two interactive sessions, we will consider how these writers have adopted and adapted the French language in novels, theatre, and poetry, as well as how they have incorporated other languages into their work. The sessions aim to give you a sense of the kinds of works and concepts you might study on a languages degree. You will also have the opportunity to take part in a Q+A session with current students studying a range of different languages at Warwick. No previous language knowledge is required, and while the event is primarily designed for Y12 students, pupils of all ages interested in Modern Languages are very welcome.
Timetable
4:00 – 4:10: Welcome and introduction to the event
4:10 – 4:35: Taster session 1: ‘Writing in French as Resistance: The Case of Kateb Yacine’
4:35 – 5:00: Taster session 2: ‘Anti-Colonial History on the Stage: Aimé Césaire’s A Season in the Congo’
5:00 – 5:25: Q+A with Warwick languages students
5:25 – 5:30: Closing comments
Sign up here: https://warwick.ac.uk/study/outreach/digitalactivity/smlceventsignup
Wednesday 24th February, t.b.c.
University of Aberystwyth
Modern Languages Outreach and Engagement 