Skip to main content

Language Areas

We have extensive expertise in East Asian, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Studies.

East Asian

Expertise in East Asian research crosses other Schools in the Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences.

Our researchers work in collaboration with East Asia experts in the Schools of History, Classics and Archaeology; Geography, Politics and Sociology; and Architecture, Planning and Landscape.

Our research covers:

  • political science
  • social anthropology
  • gender studies
  • film and media studies
  • literary studies
  • historical studies
  • heritage studies

Members of the East Asian subject group also participate in the Asian Studies Research Group.

French

Newcastle has long been an important centre for French studies. The French section has outstanding research in:

  • film, media and visual arts
  • translation and interpreting
  • linguistics and sociolinguistics
  • literatures, theory and thought
  • history, culture and society

Each research-active scholar specialises in one or more fields. They engage in the theoretical and methodological debates of the corresponding academic communities across the School and the Faculty.

Our staff

Students gathered around computer

German

Our research interests cover all aspects of modern German culture, literature and language, with special expertise in:

  • film, media and visual arts
  • linguistics and sociolinguistics
  • literatures, theory and thought
  • history, culture and society.

Within these broad areas, our current research projects encompass investigations into:

  • gender
  • memory
  • politics and trauma
  • the Anthropocene
  • comparative morphology

Our staff collaborate nationally, internationally, and locally, eg with the University's Environmental Humanities Research Group and the Film Research Centre.

Our staff

Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Studies

Our interdisciplinary research focuses on the study of languages, cultures and history in Latin America and the Iberian Peninsula. Researchers in our section have specialisms in:

  • languages, linguistics and sociolinguistics
  • history, politics and society
  • film, media and the visual arts
  • literature, thought and theory
  • popular culture
  • anthropological and ethnographic research methods

Our projects investigate diverse areas, including:

  • recent Iberian and Latin American social movements
  • cultural identities
  • nation-building
  • education and social reforms
  • indigenous issues
  • youth and women's movements

Our staff

Postgraduate Researchers

Group talk at desk