UoA 28 Modern Languages and Linguistics

The Department of Modern Languages works across a range of research interests, concentrated in seven principal languages:

Modern Languages' principle is to take advantage of the disciplinary, chronological and linguistic variety of the department’s research to work in collaboration within the University and especially beyond, engaging with national and international partners.

We are active in the university Art History & Visual Culture initiative, which builds on the institution’s Arts and Culture strategy. We are ideally placed to take advantage of opportunities to engage with stakeholders beyond our disciplines by participating in , the AHRC’s Creative Economy Hub in the south west (2011-15).

Modern Languages will also build on the Humanities and Social Sciences Strategy research themes of ,  , and .

Key results

  • 30 per cent of our research was assessed as world-leading (4*), more than doubled since the RAE 2008.
  • We were ranked 22 for 4* research out of 57 national submissions.
  • 70% of our research environment was rated 4*, with 100% at 4&3*. 

Impact case studies

NameSummary

Engaging audiences in European Cinema

Research by film specialists in Modern Languages (ML) at the University of Exeter promotes the artistic value, diversity and continuing social, cultural and political relevance of European cinema to a variety of audiences in the UK and abroad. Their research has advanced community cohesion through memories of cinema-going, informed the teaching of European cinema in secondary schools and higher education and enhanced cultural life, promoting public appreciation of European cinema nationally and internationally. This has been achieved through contributing to online archival studies of cinema audiences, participation in film festivals, introductions to film screenings, public lectures and DVD commentaries.

Engaging the public with Karl Gutzkow

The Gutzkow project, co-directed by Professor Martina Lauster and Professor Gert Vonhoff of the Department of Modern Languages (German), has transformed public access to the author’s work through open-access, on-line publication. The project, which combines specialist scholarship with innovative editing, has considerably enhanced public appreciation of a widened canon of 19th-century German literature. User testimonies, the international press, public acknowledgement and public involvement in events in the region reveal a significant renewal of public interest in Gutzkow. The editorial results of the Gutzkow project have been requested by an interdisciplinary linguistic digitization project in Berlin and will be fully integrated in this open access linguistic database.

Linguistics research and its impact in the community

Research in Modern Languages linguistics at Exeter explores language use and variation, especially in spoken varieties of French and Italian. It has impacted on educational practices, helped encourage social cohesion, and enhanced public appreciation of language. The French-based research has informed language learning in higher education and schools, and featured in online training resources and the mass media. It features significantly on University courses (UK and abroad). Aspects of the research have contributed to shaping educational and policy initiatives in Italy and France, aimed at immigrant communities or designed to improve social cohesion.

Translating material and visual culture

Research led by Professor Emma Cayley (the Exeter Manuscripts Project) has enhanced appreciation of medieval manuscript culture, drawing upon unique Exeter holdings, and has increased public understanding of medieval game cultures and European manuscript production. Her iPad app, developed with Antenna International, related exhibition and workshops have effected a ‘translation’ of medieval material culture through modern media. Research by Professor Hugh Roberts has disseminated new understandings of Renaissance obscenity in visual form, influencing artistic practice, and engaging regional communities. Professor David Houston Jones has generated impact by stimulating public engagement with theatre and the visual arts (Impact 3) based on research offering new understandings of narrative and the visual.

Research centres

CentreAbout the Centre
Centre for Translating Cultures The Centre interprets translating cultures broadly and explores migrations, border-crossing, exile, diaspora, adaptation, intermediality and multimedia from the 1300s to the present day. We work with external partner the Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter.
Centre for Intermedia and Creative Technology The Centre for Intermedia promotes advanced transdisciplinary research in performance and the arts through collaborations between artists, academics and scientists from a range of disciplines.

Centre for Interdisciplinary Film Research

The Centre for Interdisciplinary Film Research embraces an exciting range of international research across the broad field of Film Studies. Our work spans film history and theory across American, East Asian, European, African and other World cinemas.
Centre for Medieval Studies 

The Centre for Medieval Studies provides the focal point for interdisciplinary scholarship and learning in a wide variety of subjects relating to the Middle Ages.

Centre for Early Modern Studies 

Colleagues involved in the Centre are engaged in research on all aspects of the period between c.1500 and 1800 and expertise spreads from Britain and Europe to the Middle East and North America.

Key areas of activity include: religious culture; social and economic relations; political and intellectual thought; gender and sexuality; space, landscape and national identities; the history of the book; theatre and performance.

Centre for Medical History

The Centre is dedicated to advancing methods and areas of research within the history of medicine, and forging links with medical and health care professionals in the region.

UoA 28 Modern Languages and Linguistics

The Department of Modern Languages works across a range of research interests, concentrated in seven principal languages:

Modern Languages' principle is to take advantage of the disciplinary, chronological and linguistic variety of the department’s research to work in collaboration within the University and especially beyond, engaging with national and international partners.

We are active in the university Art History & Visual Culture initiative, which builds on the institution’s Arts and Culture strategy. We are ideally placed to take advantage of opportunities to engage with stakeholders beyond our disciplines by participating in , the AHRC’s Creative Economy Hub in the south west (2011-15).

Modern Languages will also build on the Humanities and Social Sciences Strategy research themes of ,  , and .

Key results

  • 30 per cent of our research was assessed as world-leading (4*), more than doubled since the RAE 2008.
  • We were ranked 22 for 4* research out of 57 national submissions.
  • 70% of our research environment was rated 4*, with 100% at 4&3*. 

Impact case studies

NameSummary

Engaging audiences in European Cinema

Research by film specialists in Modern Languages (ML) at the University of Exeter promotes the artistic value, diversity and continuing social, cultural and political relevance of European cinema to a variety of audiences in the UK and abroad. Their research has advanced community cohesion through memories of cinema-going, informed the teaching of European cinema in secondary schools and higher education and enhanced cultural life, promoting public appreciation of European cinema nationally and internationally. This has been achieved through contributing to online archival studies of cinema audiences, participation in film festivals, introductions to film screenings, public lectures and DVD commentaries.

Engaging the public with Karl Gutzkow

The Gutzkow project, co-directed by Professor Martina Lauster and Professor Gert Vonhoff of the Department of Modern Languages (German), has transformed public access to the author’s work through open-access, on-line publication. The project, which combines specialist scholarship with innovative editing, has considerably enhanced public appreciation of a widened canon of 19th-century German literature. User testimonies, the international press, public acknowledgement and public involvement in events in the region reveal a significant renewal of public interest in Gutzkow. The editorial results of the Gutzkow project have been requested by an interdisciplinary linguistic digitization project in Berlin and will be fully integrated in this open access linguistic database.

Linguistics research and its impact in the community

Research in Modern Languages linguistics at Exeter explores language use and variation, especially in spoken varieties of French and Italian. It has impacted on educational practices, helped encourage social cohesion, and enhanced public appreciation of language. The French-based research has informed language learning in higher education and schools, and featured in online training resources and the mass media. It features significantly on University courses (UK and abroad). Aspects of the research have contributed to shaping educational and policy initiatives in Italy and France, aimed at immigrant communities or designed to improve social cohesion.

Translating material and visual culture

Research led by Professor Emma Cayley (the Exeter Manuscripts Project) has enhanced appreciation of medieval manuscript culture, drawing upon unique Exeter holdings, and has increased public understanding of medieval game cultures and European manuscript production. Her iPad app, developed with Antenna International, related exhibition and workshops have effected a ‘translation’ of medieval material culture through modern media. Research by Professor Hugh Roberts has disseminated new understandings of Renaissance obscenity in visual form, influencing artistic practice, and engaging regional communities. Professor David Houston Jones has generated impact by stimulating public engagement with theatre and the visual arts (Impact 3) based on research offering new understandings of narrative and the visual.

Research centres

CentreAbout the Centre
Centre for Translating Cultures The Centre interprets translating cultures broadly and explores migrations, border-crossing, exile, diaspora, adaptation, intermediality and multimedia from the 1300s to the present day. We work with external partner the Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter.
Centre for Intermedia and Creative Technology The Centre for Intermedia promotes advanced transdisciplinary research in performance and the arts through collaborations between artists, academics and scientists from a range of disciplines.

Centre for Interdisciplinary Film Research

The Centre for Interdisciplinary Film Research embraces an exciting range of international research across the broad field of Film Studies. Our work spans film history and theory across American, East Asian, European, African and other World cinemas.
Centre for Medieval Studies 

The Centre for Medieval Studies provides the focal point for interdisciplinary scholarship and learning in a wide variety of subjects relating to the Middle Ages.

Centre for Early Modern Studies 

Colleagues involved in the Centre are engaged in research on all aspects of the period between c.1500 and 1800 and expertise spreads from Britain and Europe to the Middle East and North America.

Key areas of activity include: religious culture; social and economic relations; political and intellectual thought; gender and sexuality; space, landscape and national identities; the history of the book; theatre and performance.

Centre for Medical History

The Centre is dedicated to advancing methods and areas of research within the history of medicine, and forging links with medical and health care professionals in the region.