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Postgraduate Study

About the Department of French

Faculty of Modern and Medieval Languages and Linguistics (MMLL)

Faculty of Modern and Medieval Languages and Linguistics is the home of language and linguistics teaching and research at the University of Cambridge. With more than 770 undergraduate students, approximately 100 MPhil students and 190 PhD students we are one of the largest humanities Faculties in the University and one of the largest languages Faculties nationally. Numbers of staff and students are approximate as numbers fluctuate.

The Faculty comprises of six sections, which cover a range of languages and subject areas, and is also home to the Centre for Film and Screen Studies. The Faculty regularly tops a number of university and research rankings, and is home to a number of groundbreaking projects and initiatives.

The French Section

 French is one of the six Sections within MMLL.  Members of the Section produce world-leading research in many and varied areas of French studies, including: literature, thought, and culture from the early middle ages right through to the present day; cinema and visual culture; and the history and varieties of the French language. Cutting-edge international research is fostered in an environment that provides exceptional research facilities and extensive opportunities for exchange and debate in seminars and colloquia. Mentoring and close collaboration have facilitated the cohesion of a changing and dynamic community of researchers who carry forward a long tradition of excellence.

1 course offered in the Department of French

The French Section offers PhD supervision in an exceptional range of areas of French and francophone studies. It contains world-leading researchers in the literature, thought, and culture of the Middle Ages, the early modern period, the 19th century, and the 20th and 21st centuries, as well as in cinema and linguistics. There is usually more than one specialist in any given field, which helps to broaden the PhD student's approach to and understanding of their topic. There is a dynamic culture of research seminars, and the postgraduate students themselves run their own seminar and arrange an annual postgraduate conference.

More Information

Department Members


Prof Ian James
Postgraduate Teaching and Examining Officer

Prof Emma Gilby
Director of the French Section

  • 19 Academic Staff
  • 30 Graduate Students
  • 454 Undergraduates

http://www.mmll.cam.ac.uk/french/

Research Areas