Durham Modern Languages and Cultures

01/06/2026

Colleagues from Durham University's Hispanic Studies team enjoyed a highly successful panel at this year's annual conference of the Latin American Studies Association (LASA), held in Paris.

The panel brought together a range of complementary perspectives and generated lively discussion, with strong synergies emerging between the presentations. It was particularly rewarding to see contributions from across career stages, including doctoral researcher Jie Xu, whose participation highlighted the strength and diversity of research within our community.

The session attracted a good audience and prompted engaging questions and conversations, offering an excellent opportunity to showcase the breadth of research taking place in Hispanic Studies at Durham while strengthening international connections with colleagues working across the field of Latin American Studies.

More information about the conference can be found here: https://lasaweb.org/en/lasa2026/

We congratulate all the panel participants on a successful event and look forward to building on the collaborations and discussions that emerged from LASA 2026.

01/06/2026

A wonderful evening celebrating languages, cultures, and the power of ideas.

The 2026 Leslie Brooks Lecture brought together colleagues, students, alumni, and guests for an inspiring event hosted by the School of Modern Languages & Cultures at Durham University. The lecture once again highlighted the vital role that modern languages and cultural understanding play in addressing contemporary global challenges and fostering meaningful dialogue across borders.

Thank you to everyone who attended, contributed to the discussions, and helped make the event such a success. We are delighted to share some highlights from the day.

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To read more about this year's lecture:

https://www.durham.ac.uk/departments/academic/modern-languages-cultures/about-us/news/leslie-brooks-lecture-2026/

28/05/2026

Save the Date: 'The Creative-Critical' Series 🖋️🌍🎭🎨🎬🎤✍️

In the last decade or so, we have witnessed a remarkable shift in how we carry out scholarly research and academic writing with the emergence of what is now known as the “Creative-Critical”. From literary writing, through visual productions, to performative pieces, the boundary between what is “critical” in creative outputs and what is “creative” in critical work has become fluid. “The Creative-Critical” is a series that will examine three strands that remain largely overlooked within the current body of scholarship in the field. It features: a symposium on Creative-Critical work from and about the Global South; a panel on Creative-Critical practices, pedagogies and approaches to research-led teaching; and a workshop for Durham University’s A&H PGRs, post-first annual review, on the lecture form and its reimagining, both as a format adopted in academic talks and as a mode of presentation employed in classroom teaching.

Details of each event, programme and link will be circulated in July & August. PGR students will also be contacted separately with more details on the workshop and the select readings for Part 1. Any queries, please contact Abir Hamdar ([email protected])

28/05/2026

Progress to Postgrad: Your Next Move Matters
Join our panel of experts to find out more about staying on at Durham for postgraduate study.
Have you heard about our alumni discount? Do you want to delve deeper into your current subject, or further enhance your career prospects by exploring a whole new field of study? Join us to hear from students who have been in your shoes, find out how to apply and what financial support is available - your next move could be closer than you think!

For more information, scan the QR code!

If you want to know more about the MAs offered by MLAC, email Polly Dickson, [email protected].

27/05/2026

📚 Guest Writer Event

TheSchool of Modern Languages and Cultures (MLAC), in collaboration with the Living Texts Research Group, is pleased to invite staff, students, and the public to a hybrid event with Franco-American writer Benjamin Hoffmann with a reading and discussion of his forthcoming novel La Guerre des os (The Bone War, 2026).

Set during the legendary “Bone Wars” of nineteenth-century America, the novel brings together science, rivalry, and frontier history in a gripping blend of fiction and archival research.

Join us for an in-person and online event with a reading and conversation with Prof. Catherine Dousteyssier-Khoze.

📅 Tuesday 2 June 2026, 1–2 pm
📍 ER142, Elvet Riverside I + Teams
🎟️ Free (registration required: 📩 [email protected])

22/05/2026

21/05/2026

Signing up for your free email for life is a small but meaningful way to stay connected to the University and carry your Durham story with you, always. 📧

Sign up through your alumni portal today: https://brnw.ch/21x2GKV. Have any questions or trouble signing up? Comment below or send us a message. 💜

Know a fellow alum who needs to know about this? 👀 Send this post their way!

21/05/2026

Discover how undergraduate student Polly experienced her year abroad in Germany, including how she prepared for the experience, the skills and independence she developed, and how living and studying overseas has shaped both her academic journey and personal growth.

Hear directly how time abroad can transform a degree journey, opening up new perspectives, confidence and opportunities.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0uTPf0xZzo

Find out more about our undergraduate courses: https://www.durham.ac.uk/departments/academic/modern-languages-cultures/undergraduate-study/

Learn more about the School of Modern Languages and Cultures:
https://www.durham.ac.uk/departments/academic/modern-languages-cultures/

Learn about the unique experiences our undergraduate student Polly ...

21/05/2026

📣 Kitchen Table Conversation: “What is a Recipe?”

Join the next Kitchen Table Conversation hosted by the Oxford Food Symposium, exploring a deceptively simple but fascinating question: What is a recipe?

This informal online discussion invites participants to think across culinary practice, writing, culture, and interpretation—what counts as a recipe, how recipes function, and how they travel and change.

🗓 3 June 2026
🎙 Facilitated by Rosi Song, Simon A. Thibault, and David Matchett

📌 Registration is open now
🔗 Event details & registration

21/05/2026

Two days of workshops and discussion in Newcastle (29–30 May) exploring touch, gesture, and kinaesthesia in art and research, inspired by Touching the Unreachable: Writing, Skinship, Modern Japan.

The event includes a professional/academic programme on Friday and a public workshop day on Saturday, combining panel discussion and movement-based practice led by Surface Area Dance Theatre’s associated dancers.

Find out more and register: https://www.durham.ac.uk/departments/academic/modern-languages-cultures/about-us/news/movement-workshops-and-talks/