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2023-08-04

News and Activities

Call for Nominations – Executive and SIG roles

We are calling for nominations for the following Executive roles:

Vice Chair in Languages and Intercultural Education
Representative for Celtic Studies
Representative for Northern Ireland
Chair or co-Chair for the Year Abroad Special Interest Group

These roles offer membership of the Executive Committee, and will be elected for a period of three years in the first instance. They may be re-elected for one further year.

Role descriptions and nomination forms are attached herewith: please complete a form with your statement and the names of Nominator & Seconder and return to the UCFL Hon. Secretary, Dr Marcela Cazzoli, on marcela.a.cazzoli@durham.ac.uk by noon on Friday 15th December, 2023.

The Executive Committee meets twice a year, in person or online. Each representative is in charge of their sub-discipline or nation, and is required to submit a report at each Exec meeting (and, for the three nations, also Plenary meetings), which will be discussed at the meeting. Further detail is in the attachments.

All Officers & Exec members are also expected to attend the biannual UCFL Plenaries, in January & June/July of each year.

UCFL seeks to ensure a balance of sexes, regions, and types of HEI (pre- and post-92) among the members of its Steering Group and Executive Committee. Interested candidates are invited to consult the current Chair (e.cayley@leeds.ac.uk) or the UCFL Project Coordinator, Liam Lewis (contact@ucflangs.com).

UCFL Role Profile VC Languages and Intercultural Education

UCFL Nomination form VC Languages and Intercultural Education

UCFL Role Profile Northern Ireland Representative

UCFL Nomination form Northern Ireland Representative

UCFL Role Profile Exec Celtic Studies

UCFL Nomination form Celtic Studies

UCFL Role Profile Chair of Year Abroad Special Interest Group

UCFL Nomination form Chair of Year Abroad Special Interest Group

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Final Languages Gateway Launch

The final on-line launch event for The Languages Gateway will take place Tuesday 28^th November 2023, 16:30-17:30 on Zoom. This event will have a focus towards the languages landscape in England. There are still a few places available for the event, which will feature 3 speakers to discuss the national strategy context, a tour of the website, and a reflection on some policy questions related to languages in England.

The event is aimed at all language professionals, form primary to lifelong learning, teachers, researchers, those engaged in policy, publishing, assessment, and technology, and all those using languages professionally in the public and private sectors. The Languages Gateway is a shared resource for all of us.

You can register for the launch event via this Eventbrite link.

If you cannot attend, but are still interested in finding out about the Gateway, please feel free to get in touch either by email or via the contact form on the website. You can access the Languages Gateway itself via www.thelanguagesgateway.uk.

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Aberdeen Postcard Campaign

In the context of threats to Modern Languages degrees at the University of Aberdeen, an online postcard campaign has been launched. Please see below how you can take part and disseminate.

The University of Aberdeen is facing a sudden major financial deficit, in the context of which it has announced that it intends to make ‘drastic changes’ to LLMVC (School of Language, Literature, Music and Visual Culture), with a particular focus on Modern Languages. It has been indicated so far that the University will be committed to languages learning but is not necessarily aspiring to maintaining languages degrees (in French, Gaelic, German and Spanish). Such a move threatens the existence of degree programmes that have been in place for a century or more (French and German since 1898, Spanish since 1924, and the first Gaelic lecturer appointed in 1916, whilst Gaelic has been present since the University’s Foundation in 1495).

The current direction of travel would create significant issues in terms of the offer of language degrees in the north of Scotland. There is an obvious reliance in the region on the University to train graduates and teachers for the broader area, as a matter of civic duty and social justice, as part of its Charity mission. As a department, staff in Modern Languages have an excellent reputation in both teaching and research, and would be the university’s best resource to come up with solutions.

Please support the Postcard Campaign to showcase to Senior Management at the University of Aberdeen all the reasons why an ancient university with an international outlook should keep language degrees.

Colleagues at Aberdeen have launched a postcard campaign – please send one or more postcards to management at the University of Aberdeen, using the pdfs in this folder, and share widely across the sector: Cards to save languages degrees at Aberdeen – Google Drive.
Please post on social media with hashtags #CallingChris #Greetings2George #Card2Karl
UCFL has written a statement of support for languages degrees at Aberdeen, which are currently under review.
Charles Burdett, Director of the Institute of Languages, Cultures and Societies (SAS, University of London), has written a piece for Times Higher Education, questioning the direction of travel at the University of Aberdeen: Teaching modern languages without culture will harm global relations.

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