Modern Languages Discipline+ Catalyst

The Modern Languages Catalyst runs an annual researcher-led training programme that draws on the expertise of dozens of staff in ML disciplines across Scotland, as well as that of external partners and distinguished guest speakers. Our aim is to nurture a Scotland-wide community in which PGR students in Modern Languages can share experiences, discuss ideas and develop their skills.

While our events are discipline-specific in that they are aimed at doctoral students based in ML departments, they embrace the inherent diversity and interdisciplinarity of this cohort by facilitating academic conversations about a broad range of cultural, social and technical topics. Some workshops adopt the style of a masterclass, allowing students the rare opportunity to work in a small group with an acclaimed international expert in the field, while other sessions are larger in scope and facilitate networking and relationship-building. Recent events, for example, have focused on writing about subjectivity, on working with a variety of visual media, on reading premodern texts, and on theory in translation. In all our activities, we want to provide a friendly and informal forum for exchange, and to work flexibly and collaboratively in order to meet the evolving needs of the Modern Languages PGR community.

Upcoming Events

Further information, dates, programme and registration links to follow. 

• Modern Languages Journal Publication workshop 28 March 2023

• Corpus Technology for Linguistic Research

The event will address the question of how corpus methodologies can be useful in translation studies and give an overview of the development of corpus-based translation studies. In the practical session, participants will learn how to use the interface of Sketch Engine and build corpora: your own corpora – monolingual and bilingual, web-based corpora as well as corpora available through the Sketch Engine platform. 

Past Events

• Public Humanities for a Drowning World 25 November 2022

  A workshop aimed at doctoral researchers working in environmental humanities, modern languages and literatures, and related fields. It will explore the role of public humanities in response to rising sea levels. The session will be led by César Domínguez, Leverhulme Visiting Professor at the University of Glasgow and Associate Professor of Comparative Literature at the University of Santiago de Compostela.

• Decolonizing Methodologies and Approaches: The Modern Languages Perspective (7 May 2021)

This workshop will explore how work in Modern Languages engages with current debates on decolonizing academic research and practice. It will consider the contribution of Modern Languages to date, in terms of the critical and theoretical paradigms developed within its disciplines, and what further questions need to be asked. In particular, it will explore what it might mean to decolonize research methodologies in Modern Languages, from the formulation of research questions to the use and critical interrogation of archives.

• Intermediality: Practice-led Research in Modern Languages (June 2022 as part of the SGSAH Summer School)

The session will be in two parts, Masterclass and Workshop. As part of the Masterclass, our guest speaker will present some of the principles and methods behind practice-led research, taking us through her work in intermediality, in particular her latest curatorial project on the legacy and after-life of Fascist Art, to show how practice-led research methods allow scholars to maximise impact and public engagement opportunities while testing innovative approaches to cocreation and coproduction in teaching. The challenges of a style of curatorship developed for academic pedagogy will provide the focus and the material for the interactive Workshop to follow.

When published, all event details and registration links will be found on the SGSAH Events and Training page. 

Have an idea for training? Want to learn more about a specific event? Get in touch with the Discipline+ Catalyst contact at your HEI. ↓