The Society for French Studies, or SFS, is the oldest learned association for French Studies in the UK and

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. It aims to promote teaching and research in French Studies within higher education. the president is Professor Judith Still.

Scholarly activities

The society has a quarterly

journal A journal, from the Old French ''journal'' (meaning "daily"), may refer to: *Bullet journal, a method of personal organization *Diary, a record of personal secretive thoughts and as open book to personal therapy or used to feel connected to onesel ...

published on its behalf called '' French Studies'' (

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

), as well as a bulletin for shorter pieces and news called '' The French Studies Bulletin''. The society also produces Research Monographs in French Studies with

Legenda (imprint) Legenda (Latin, "things to be read") is an imprint (trade name), imprint founded in 1995 by the European Humanities Research Centre at Oxford University, England. In 2004, Legenda became an imprint of the Modern Humanities Research Association, ...

and

Modern Humanities Research Association The Modern Humanities Research Association (MHRA) is a United Kingdom–based international organisation that aims to encourage and promote advanced study and research of humanities. It is most notable for producing the '' MHRA Style Guide''. Hi ...

. There is also an annual

conference A conference is a meeting, often lasting a few days, which is organized on a particular subject, or to bring together people who have a common interest. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always d ...

. Each year, the society awards the R. Gapper Book Prize, the R. Gapper Postgraduate Essay Prize, and the R. Gapper Undergraduate Essay Prize for the best scholarship produced by scholars at higher education institutions in the UK or Ireland. These prizes are presented to their winners at the annual conference.

Lobbying

The society promotes and defends languages learning and the humanities in general within the national educational agendas of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and

, and also internationally. It pursues these aims through a variety of activities and communications, including collaboration and active lobbying within the policy sphere. It has lobbied and published statements concerning open-access publishing, A-level exam content, and the future of modern language learning in schools and universities in the UK and Ireland. Agencies with which it has engaged since 2014 include

HEFCE The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) was a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom, which was responsible for the distribution of funding for higher education to universities and further education colleges in Engl ...

Ofqual The Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (Ofqual) is a non-ministerial government department that regulates qualifications, exams and tests in England. Colloquially and publicly, Ofqual is often referred to as the exam "watchdog ...

, and the UK

Department for Education The Department for Education (DfE) is a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It is responsible for child protection, child services, education in England, educati ...

and the

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) was a ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom. It was created by the Gordon Brown premiership on 5 June 2009 by the merger of the Department for Innovation, Uni ...

Past Presidents

*1996–1998: Celia Britton *1999: Wendy Ayres-Bennett *2015–2016: Mairéad Hanrahan *2016–2017: Bill Burgwinkle

References

External links

The Society for French Studies website
French literature Learned societies of the United Kingdom Literary societies {{UK-org-stub