Research Centres and Projects in the Department of Modern Languages

French
German
Hispanic
Italian
Russian

Film
Linguistics
Medieval Studies
Translation
Sexuality and Gender in Europe

French

Birthing Tales
Valérie Worth-Stylianou, Professor of French, is carrying out a research project on birthing tales contained in medical texts written and published in French c. 1500-1630. The project is supported by a British Academy Small Research Grant (2008-9). Find out more on the Birthing Tales webpages.

The Bernadin de Saint-Pierre Correspondence Project
Professor Malcolm Cook, Emeritus Professor of French, is leading a team of scholars to produce the first critical edition of the correspondence of Bernardin de Saint-Pierre (1737-1814). The inventory of the correspondence is nearing completion and can be found and consulted on the web pages of the Voltaire Foundation in Oxford.

Obscenities in Renaissance France
Contact Hugh Roberts, Senior Lecturer in French, for information on research in Obscenities in Renaissance France.

For details of other research projects in French, contact Dr James Kearns.

German

Gutzkow Edition Project
The German journalist, novelist, dramatist and editor Karl Gutzkow (1811-78) was one of the most important public figures during the decades preceding the national unification of Germany, particularly during the turbulent 1830s-40s. His vast work which was never published in a complete edition and his enormous correspondence with illustrious and forgotten contemporaries, (hitherto printed only in small fractions) are made accessible through a work in progress - a digital edition based at Exeter.The edition project, Editionsprojekt Karl Gutzkow, comprises an international team of editors from Germany, the UK, Ireland and Switzerland. To see these go to the Gutzkow webpage and follow the link to Mitwirkende. Founded in 1997, the project makes Gutzkow's works available in a 'hybrid' edition. Texts appear in print (Oktober Verlag, Münster) as soon as this is possible, while the apparatus (historical commentary, sources, illustrations and a Gutzkow-Lexikon) is assigned solely to the electronic medium. Thus the commentary can be completed over time and updated whenever necessary. The project is currently supported by an MHRA Research Associateship.
Project co-ordinators are Dr Gert Vonhoff (German) and Prof. Martina Lauster (German).

For details of other research projects in German, contact Dr Sara Smart.

Hispanic

For details of other research projects in Hispanic contact Professor Derek Flitter.

Italian

Contract Luciano Parisi, Senior Lecturer and Head of Italian at the Department of Modern Languages, for information on research projects in Italian.

Russian

Russian Visual Arts, 1863-1910: Documents from the British Library Collection
The AHRB funded 3 year inter-institutional project, Russian Visual Arts 1800-1913: Documents from the British Library Collection, was run and hosted by; the Department of Russian at Exeter; the Department of Russian and Slavonic Studies at Sheffield.  And it was affiliated with the British Library; the Centre for Nineteenth-century Studies at Exeter; and the Humanities Research Institute at Sheffield. In Exeter the project was directed by Carol Adlam and the Research Fellow was Alexey Makhrov. After the funding period came to an end 30 September 2003, Adlam organised an international conference at Exeter ‘Art Criticism in Eastern and Western Europe, 1700-1900: Emergence, Development, Exchange’, 11-13 September 2003. It brought over forty scholars from many countries to Exeter, and was supported by several  Department of Modern Languages colleagues and Centre members who gave papers. The conference was supported by a grant from the British Academy, and selected contributions will form the basis of a published edited volume. Work on the project will also continue with the projected publication of material in both printed and electronic forums.

For details of other research projects in Russian, contact Dr Katharine Hodgson.

Film

Centre for Research into Film Studies
The Centre for Research into Film Studies provides an interdisciplinary research forum for research staff, academics, postgraduates and film practitioners. It encourages the interfacing of film theory and practice. To that effect, external speakers in both academia and creative industries are regularly invited to give papers, presentations and host workshops.

For details of research projects in Film, contact Dr Will Higbee.

Linguistics

For information on research projects in Linguistics contact:
Kim Schulte, Senior Lecturer in Hispanic Studies
Zoe Boughton, Senior Lecturer in French
Aidan Coveney, Senior Lecturer in French
Francesco Goglia, Lecturer in Italian

Medieval Studies

Centre for Medieval Studies
The Centre for Medieval Studies is a focal point for interdisciplinary scholarship and learning in a variety of subjects relating to the Middle Ages. It brings together a community of Exeter University staff with interests and expertise in areas that include; Archaeology; History; Arab and Islamic Studies; Law; Music; Theology; the literatures of England, Spain, Germany, France, and Italy; Food History; Material Culture; and the History of the Book.

AHRC-funded project on Citation and Allusion in the Late Medieval French Motet and Chanson
Yolanda Plumley, Director of the Centre for Medieval Studies, is leading a three-year an Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC) funded project on Citation and Allusion in the Late Medieval French Motet and Chanson, in collaboration with Dr Giuliano Di Bacco (research fellow), Gary Stringer (technical consultant) and Tamsyn Rose-Steel (PhD student). The project will lead to a series of articles, a monograph on citation in the chansons and lyrics of the fourteenth century, a PhD on citation in 14th-century motets, an online searchable database of lyrics, two workshops and a conference on the theme of citation in late medieval French music and literature.

Translation

Contact Richard Mansell Lecturer in Translation, for information on research in Translation.

Sexuality and Gender in Europe

Centre for the Interdisciplinary Study of Sexuality and Gender in Europe (CISSGE)
The Centre for the Interdisciplinary Study of Sexuality and Gender in Europe (CISSGE) promotes research and teaching in Sexuality and Gender Studies across the School of Arts, Languages and Literatures. It also draws members from, and collaborates with, other Schools and Research Centres within the University of Exeter, and external national and international institutions.