Joseph Ford
@drjoeford.bsky.social
Senior Lecturer in French Studies @ilcs.bsky.social | literature, culture and post/colonialism, comparative/world literature, Algerian culture/history | multilingualism and environments 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️🇵🇸
Deeply disturbing story, however this stems from abject failure of wider media to challenge linguaphobia and monolingual ideologies that are widely held. Why can’t a majority of Brits accept that we live in a multilingual world? And how is this fuelling rise of Far Right attacks on languages? 1/3
David Leask@leaskyd.bsky.social · 3w agoI am not sure that we appreciate how much hostility there is from the far right to the learning and speaking of languages. 1/2 www.thetimes.com/article/9a33...
This, in particular. Increasingly of the view that government policy towards universities is the test case of whether it really has a wider economic policy.
Jonathan Portes@jdportes.bsky.social · 3w ago"A closed country will be poorer. A country that underinvests will not grow. A state that refuses to reform tax will ration ambition. And a Labour government afraid to say these things will discover once again that caution, too, has costs." www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
If opportunities for the next generation of researchers continue to decline, the UK’s ability to develop the expertise, knowledge and research capabilities needed to address future economic and societal challenges is put at risk. www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/news/loss-of...
Loss of academic staff and "cold spots" for humanities and social science degrees threaten strategically important skills for UK, says British Academy
A new data map released today shows a sharp and widespread decline in opportunities for university staff in the humanities, social sciences and arts subjects in 2024-25. The data shows a precarious la...
thebritishacademy.ac.uk
Cutting language courses puts social mobility at risk, say UK experts www.theguardian.com/education/20...
Cutting language courses puts social mobility at risk, say UK experts
Exclusive: University moves and falling exam entries fuel concerns about opportunities for working-class pupils
theguardian.com
'People who speak more than one language seem to have younger brains and the more languages you speak and the earlier you speak them, the better, according to findings from a study being presented at the Federation of European Neuroscience Societies conference in Barcelona.' 1/2
Learning another language appears to slow brain ageing, scientists say
Study finds those who speak two languages have brains that appear around six years younger than those who speak one
theguardian.com
There’s definite plausibility to the idea that the critical thinking which can come from the humanities is in higher demand as AI gets better www.ft.com/content/c0ae...
It’s the billions v the billionaires, and the stakes could not possibly be higher | www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
A catastrophic climate event is upon us. Here is why you’ve heard so little about it | George Monbiot
Scientists say a crucial Atlantic system is set to collapse. But the billionaire death cult that steers humanity’s destiny just doesn’t do existential crises, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot
theguardian.com
Interviews are a research method increasingly used across humanities disciplines and creative practice. Our "Interviews as a Humanities Research Method" course, from researchers @ilcs.bsky.social & @qmul.bsky.social covers different approaches, ethical considerations and more: https://bit.ly/4bu4zhx
RESHAPED
RESHAPED is our new online training platform providing free and accessible training resources designed to support the learning and development needs of humanities researchers.
bit.ly
It was so intellectually rewarding to work with @global-ih.bsky.social on a special section on my book! The essays by @paulbabinski.bsky.social and @drjoeford.bsky.social extended the reflection temporally, while @saraharens.bsky.social and Richard Hibbitt made me reflect on my critical method.
A syllabus may mention social equality but if it is organised by grammar rather than social equality the syllabus may be thin on social justice issues Examples of how a theme of colonialism can integrate a focus on both social justice issues and grammar. Thank you @drjoeford.bsky.social
📢 Open Day: University of London MA Languages and Cultures Across Borders 🗣️ Join us **Wednesday 4 March at 2-4pm** on campus in Senate House London to find out more about the programme and funding opportunities: ilcs.sas.ac.uk/news-events/... ☕ Refreshments provided 🍰 🔗 Places limited register below
Open Day: University of London MA Languages and Cultures Across Borders
ilcs.sas.ac.uk
👀 Looking ahead at some of the brilliant books we have coming up this year... Organised Militarism in Interwar Britain by @rowan-thompson.bsky.social, part of our New Historical Perspectives series published with @ihr.bsky.social: uolpress.co.uk/book/organis... #Skystorians #History #OpenAccess
Organised Militarism in Interwar Britain - University of London Press
While militaristic and patriotic organisations formed an important part of Edwardian political culture, 1918 often marks a terminus for histories of organised militarism in Britain. Taking the end of ...
uolpress.co.uk
Thank you to the @ciol-linguists.bsky.social for sharing @drjoeford.bsky.social's recent article for @theconversation.com on the CIOL Voices blog. "Learning languages promotes cross-cultural understanding and tolerance of ambiguity in an increasingly ambiguous world." Read more: bit.ly/3XCKRIh
| CIOL (Chartered Institute of Linguists)
By Dr Joseph FordThe decline of languages education in England is a familiar and depressing story. Take-up of French at GCSE is down from 25% in 2009-10 to 18% in 2024-25. German has halved in the sam...
bit.ly
'Being provided with real-life examples & templates was very useful.' - Attendee feedback on our 'Revising your PhD Thesis for Publication' session. Led by @drjoeford.bsky.social & @emmagallon.bsky.social. 8 Dec, 2-3:30pm 🔗https://www.sas.ac.uk/news-events/events/revising-phd-thesis-publication-3
**New article** on The Conversation UK about languages and the government's national curriculum review - theconversation.com/englands-nat... - @uk.theconversation.com @ilcs.bsky.social @sas-news.bsky.social
England’s national curriculum review misses opportunity to revitalise language learning
Capitalising on children’s existing multilingualism would be beneficial.
theconversation.com
Colleagues and UCU members from UoN's Department of Modern Languages have put together this wonderful guide on supporting their programmes. A lot of what they suggest is also helpful in challenging the 48 courses at risk across the university www.savemlcatnotts.org.uk
savenottinghamlanguages
The University of Nottingham has suspended applications to all languages degree programmes, with a view to permanent closure of all of its undergraduate languages degrees. Under the proposals, it…
savemlcatnotts.org.uk
**Open Day next Weds 26th Nov, 2-4pm at Senate House** for the 2026-7 intake on the intercollegiate MA in Languages and Cultures Across Borders. Register your place: ilcs.sas.ac.uk/news-events/... @llc-rhul.bsky.social @qmul.bsky.social @uclselcs.bsky.social @uclssees.bsky.social @ilcs.bsky.social
Open Day: University of London MA Languages and Cultures Across Borders
ilcs.sas.ac.uk
A very insightful article on the recent threats to UK modern languages: www.timeshighereducation.com/opinion/late... Support the petitions to stop the closures at Leicester and Nottingham, to sign click here: www.change.org/p/save-moder... www.change.org/p/stop-the-r... #languages #mfl
🪧A date for your diaries if you'd be interested in our training session, 'Revising your PhD Thesis for Publication', led by @drjoeford.bsky.social from @ilcs.bsky.social and our Publisher @emmagallon.bsky.social. 📅 Monday 8 December, 14:00–15:30 👉 www.sas.ac.uk/news-events/... #AcademicPublishing
Revising Your PhD Thesis for Publication
sas.ac.uk
This👇 and teaching materials are subject to intellectual property rights, not to be given to the chat bot billionaires for free
Dr Sarah J Young@sarahjyoung.bsky.social · 11mo ago“You can have a verbal conversation like you would with a professor and you can interact with it.” Alternatively, you can have a verbal conversation with your actual professor, who has office hours for this precise purpose. www.theguardian.com/education/20...
Take away our language and we will forget who we are: Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o and the language of conquest www.theguardian.com/books/2025/a...
Take away our language and we will forget who we are: Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o and the language of conquest
The long read: The late Kenyan novelist and activist believed erasing language was the most lasting weapon of oppression. Here, Aminatta Forna recalls the man and introduces his essay on decolonisatio...
theguardian.com
Tomorrow is the *final opportunity to apply for our MA in Languages, Cultures and Societies* - co-delivered with RHUL, UCL, QMUL, ULIP and KCL Language Centre! www.sas.ac.uk/postgraduate...
MA in Languages and Cultures Across Borders
This interdisciplinary MA brings together teaching and resources from several University of London federation members, offering a unique breadth of expertise.
sas.ac.uk
The humanities are not a luxury—they are where a society’s ethical and imaginative life takes shape. They won’t give us all the answers, but they keep us asking the right questions—and without that, no future worth having can be built. wonkhe.com/blogs/our-fu...
Our future may depend on the humanities
For Peter Sutoris, the humanities hold the key to understanding and responding to the many civilisational crises we face
wonkhe.com
REGISTRATION NOW OPEN! So excited to release the programme for our upcoming conference on the Maghreb - June 19-21!! 🤗 We’ve made the event hybrid so make sure to register for the Zoom link (or to attend in person of course)! www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/postcoloni... À bientôt! !أتطلع للقائكم 🇩🇿 🇲🇦 🇹🇳 🇱🇾
Postcolonial Temporalities: Space, Time and Identity in the Maghreb
A three-day hybrid conference aims to interrogate the ongoing challenges involved in the decolonial process of the Maghreb.
eventbrite.co.uk
🎉 We’re delighted to present our new LSP series: Languages in UK Education, guest-edited by @cforsdick.bsky.social and Wendy Ayres-Bennett. The series explores how the UK can better support linguistic diversity and respond to the languages crisis. 🌍📘 📖 Read more: lspjournal.com
I am so delighted to announce that we are #hiring! A two year full-time teaching and research post in French 🇫🇷 Come and join our big and beautiful School of Languages, Cultures and Societies in leafy Leeds! Please post to your networks. jobs.leeds.ac.uk/Vacancy.aspx... @lcsleeds.bsky.social
Job Opportunity at University of Leeds: Lecturer in French & Francophone Studies (Teaching and Research)
Are you an academic with proven abilities to carry out cutting-edge teaching and research in French and Francophone Studies? Could you deliver quality teaching in French and Francophone Studies in the...
jobs.leeds.ac.uk
