Modern Languages at Aberdeen University

Everyone in Languages at Stirling, and beyond, has been very concerned to read about developments across Languages, Translation and Interpreting at the University of Aberdeen and we wanted to express our solidarity with our colleagues there, across French, Gaelic, German and Spanish.

We have a long history of connections and friendship (academic and otherwise) with Aberdeen and we hope to be able to continue to see those connections and friendships thrive over the coming months and years.

We have co-supervised and continue to co-supervise PhDs together: our former student, Fraser McQueen, currently at the University of Bristol where he is a Lecturer in French and Comparative Literature, was jointly supervised by Fiona Barclay (Stirling) and Nadia Kiwan (Aberdeen). Aedín ní Loingsigh (Stirling) is currently co-supervising a SGSAH-funded student in Translation Studies with Nadia and Nicki Hitchcott (St Andrews). Others of us have taught or, indeed, studied at Aberdeen: Cristina Johnston was a Teaching Fellow in French there in 2004-2006 before joining Stirling, while Pete Baker and Fiona Noble (both now in Spanish and Latin American Studies at Stirling) studied there as undergraduates. Pete’s PhD was supervised by mentors who had taught him at Aberdeen, while Fiona stayed on at Aberdeen to complete her MLitt, PhD and PGDE, as well as working there as a Teaching Fellow. Our (now retired) colleague, Alastair Duncan, also did both his undergraduate degree and his PhD at Aberdeen.

We’ve been involved in external examining at each other’s institutions which has often led to research collaborations between colleagues: Trevor Stack (Aberdeen) was one of our externals in Religion at Stirling for many years, Nina Parish (Stirling) is a current external at Aberdeen. And we’ve been delighted to welcome colleagues from Aberdeen to speak at research events over the years, most recently Ed Welch, who is also Chair of the University Council of Modern Languages (Scotland), with Stirling colleagues, including Nina Parish, Pete Baker and Elizabeth Ezra also having given research papers in Aberdeen.

‘Aberdeen 2040’, the University’s strategic plan (available in Arabic, Gaelic, BSL and Braille, as well as in English), proudly asserts that: ‘Through outreach and the exchange of ideas, we will teach and research across borders. We already rank among the best for our global outlook. We will continue to expand our networks and partnerships, and seek new opportunities for international and intercultural exchange.’ These are fantastic aims for any global University to be working towards and achieving them is dependent on Universities being able to support ambitious, resilient, interculturally literate graduates, equipped with the wide range of skills that will allow them to contribute to local and global communities. These skills are precisely those that are fostered through the study of languages, from Gaelic to German, from French to Spanish, and far, far beyond.

We hope that Aberdeen finds ways to support colleagues across Languages as they work on creative solutions to the extremely challenging circumstances they are facing and we look forward to finding more ways to work with them over the months that lie ahead.

Online summer schools and insights into international business

Although, as you’ll have gathered from recent posts, experiences of Study Abroad have been very different for many students over the past 18 months or so, Study Abroad has still been happening. It’s just been taking different forms and not always involving physical travel abroad. However, we have been really pleased at Stirling to see our students finding ways of benefitting as much as possible from the opportunities that presented themselves. And it’s very much with that in mind that we’re delighted to be able to add the following article by Muirne, a Business Studies and French student who is about to enter her final year:

‘At the start of the summer, I participated in a summer school programme hosted by the EM Strasbourg Business School within the Université de Strasbourg. The course itself was very insightful and educational. Undeniably, it would have been more beneficial if the course had taken place in person and I had been able to visit the beautiful city of Strasbourg rather than solely complete the course online. Nevertheless, I was delighted to have the opportunity to take part in the course.

After hearing the devastating news that I was not able to complete my semester abroad to Perpignan, I tried my best to find another opportunity to study abroad as I was hopeful by the time the summer school was going to start, the COVID restrictions would have eased enough to permit travelling. I was thrilled when we were offered this summer school program, it looked optimistic especially as they had one month where they specified it would be in person. Clearly, sadly, this was not the case in the end but the course seemed perfect for me, since my degree at Stirling is in Business and French and it was fascinating to be able to get a better insight into international business while using French.

The course overall lasted about a month and it was rather intense with multiple classes every day during that month all lasting between 2-3 hours. Of course we had weekends off, although there was always something to be done for the classes, be it French homework or prep work for the other classes. Due to intense style of this summer school we were able to cover a lot of topics and I feel I learnt a substantial amount in such a short period of time.

Along the way through the course, I was able to make lots of new connections with people from across the globe. It was intriguing to learn more about each individual’s culture and country. This was done during the French classes where each person had 10 minutes to discuss their country and after was questioned about it. This helped to promote more natural and spontaneous responses. This was a great experience to build intercultural awareness and develop the ability to work in teams with people form multiple different cultures.

Unsurprisingly, although it was clear a lot of thought and planning went into the course, there is always room for improvement. It was challenging for everyone as this year was the first year it was available online and it is important to acknowledge that this did have some benefits for some, because it was a lot more accessible to those who would have not been able to travel over to France.

It was an eye-opening experience which I will be able to take with me into the world of work as it is something I would like to continue with. I would fully recommend this course to others looking to pursue a career in international business or to anyone who fancies trying something new for the summer. It is a great course for broadening your horizons and meeting new interesting people. And hopefully next time the summer school will be in person!’

Many thanks to Muirne for sending through this post. We’re pleased you were able to take this opportunity, despite the challenges of the year, and that you’re so positive about it as a potential avenue for future students. And, of course, we’re looking forward to welcoming you back to Stirling for the new semester!