The School of Modern Languages and Cultures is deeply saddened to announce the death of Daniel Newman, Professor of Arabic Studies, following a period of illness.

Two MLAC alumni have recently achieved notable successes. Dr Matt Hilborn has won the Edgar Allison Peers Award (2025) from the Association of Hispanists of Great Britain and Ireland for the best early-career essay, while Dr Joss Morfitt will contribute to the 40th anniversary programme of the BFI Flare London LGBTQIA+ Film Festival, including delivering a sold out public talk.

An interdisciplinary workshop organised by MLAC and Durham’s Institute for Medical Humanities explores how literature and emerging research in epigenetics illuminate the transmission of trauma across generations. The event brings together scholars and the writer Igiaba Scego to examine women’s narratives of transgenerational trauma.

New MLAC publication: Professor Luke Sunderland has co-edited The Horizons of Medieval French and Occitan: New Approaches to Manuscripts and Texts, a new volume exploring how medieval French and Occitan manuscripts shape literary voice, cultural identity, and sensory experience.

The French section in the School of Modern Languages and Cultures (MLAC) at Durham University is delighted to announce that Professor Catherine Dousteyssier-Khoze (MLAC, Durham University) will deliver one of this year’s Wheeler Distinguished Annual Lectures, hosted in Bristol on Wednesday 4 March 2026.

Janita Van Dyk (Durham University) has published “Hustle Horticulture: Time, Plant-Discipline, and Meaningful Work” in Anthropology News (American Anthropological Association). The article examines food, labour, and temporality and contributes to Professor Rosi Song’s RELISH project on food, ethics, and sustainability.

Marie Darrieussecq celebrates the 30th anniversary of Pig Tales and discusses her new French translation of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein in a reading and Q&A at Collected Books (11 March, 7:30pm). Part of International Women’s Day and Francophone Month events, funded by the French Embassy. Student ticket holders receive 25% off Pig Tales.

An agenda-setting volume of essays on the contribution that art can make to our understanding of health and illness has been published, co-edited by Dr Fiona Johnstone from our Institute for Medical Humanities and School of Modern Languages and Cultures.

Durham hosts its first Japanese Film Festival on 25 February 2025 (17:00–21:00), featuring a pre-screening panel, the film The Lines That Define Me, and a reception with Japanese snacks and drinks. Free entry—registration required.

RELISH, a Horizon Europe project led at Durham by Professor Rosi Song, invites students and the wider community to contribute to research on European food cultures through three short online surveys exploring habits, heritage, and future perspectives.

Dr Dušan Radunović, Director of Russian Studies in Durham’s School of Modern Languages and Cultures, and Daniel O’Brien from the University of Essex, mark 100 years of Sergei Eisenstein’s The Battleship Potemkin. They explore why this silent masterpiece continues to resonate, inspiring filmmakers and audiences across shifting historical and cultural landscapes.

Polly Dickson explored her research on doodling and the potential virtues of idleness on BBC Radio 4’s Free Thinking