More than Words: A Symposium on Language Teaching and Learning

This full-day symposium will focus on language teaching and learning at UCL and in schools and is hosted by the Languages Stream within the newly founded UCL Centre for Humanities Education with members from the School of European Languages, Culture and Society (SELCS) and the School of Slavonic and East European Studies (SSEES).

The event will be divided into two parts: a panel discussion about languages at UCL with representatives from different departments involved in language teaching and learning; a panel discussion on language teaching and learning in schools with invited guest speakers from primary and secondary schools, and other stakeholders. Both roundtable discussions will be followed by networking workshops to encourage future collaboration across the institution and the sectors. The symposium will also include a viewing of the showcase exhibition Not Just Words: Learning Languages through Art and Objects currently on at UCL Art Museum. The symposium will be followed by the official launch of the new UCL Centre for Humanities Education.

The symposium is hosted and financially supported by the UCL Centre for Humanities Education, which is generously funded by generous support from the Lord Randolph Quirk Endowment Fund at UCL.

The Object-Based Learning Laboratory (OBLL) is located in the Wilkins Building, Gower Street, within the main part of UCL. The easiest way to reach it is by heading to the main university library entrance. Next to the library entrance is the Octagon Gallery (underneath the dome). The entrance to OBLL is in the gallery facing the stairs up to the Jeremy Bentham Room.

The evening launch of the UCL Centre for Humanities Education starting at 5pm will take place in the Jeremy Bentham Room.

9:30– 9:45: Registration

9:45–10:00: Opening Address and Introduction to the Language Stream

10:00–11:30: Languages at UCL (Roundtable)

• Panel discussion with Christine Hoffman (CLIE), Luke Pearce (English), Gesine Manuwald (Greek and Latin), Alinda Damsma (Hebrew and Jewish Studies), Wei Li (IoE), Claire Thomson (SELCS) and Ramona Gonczol (SSEES).

11:30–12:00: Mingle and Networking

12:00–13:00: Lunch

13:00–14:00: Languages in Schools (Roundtable)

• Panel with representatives from primary and secondary schools, Bernardette Holmes and Caroline Conlon (both IOE and National Consortium for Languages Education). Panel to be fully confirmed.

14:00–15:00: Workshop – UCL and Languages in Schools

15:00–16:00: Coffee and UCL Art Museum Exhibition

• During the break, participants will be able to view the language showcase 'Not Just Words: Learning Languages Through Art and Objects' exhibited at UCL Art Museum.

16:00–16:30: Concluding Remarks

* * *

17.00–18:30: Launch of the new UCL Centre for Humanities Education and Wine Reception

The evening event takes place in the Jeremy Bentham Room across the Octagon Gallery opposite the Object-Based Learning Laboratory.

Elettra Carbone (Associate Professor in Norwegian Studies, SELCS)

Ramona Gonczol (Associate Professor (Teaching) in Romanian Language, SSEES)

Anne Grydehøj (Lecturer (Teaching) in Danish, SELCS, Stream Lead)

Joana Jacob Ramalho (Lecturer (Teaching) in Portuguese, SELCS)

Rachel Morley (​Associate Professor of Russian Cinema and Culture, SSEES)

Christine Sas (Associate Professor (Teaching) in Dutch, SELCS)

The event is free for all, but participants will need to sign up using the Eventbrite ticketing option.

Please note that there are separate tickets for the symposium and the following launch of the UCL Centre for Humanities Education/wine reception. You will need two tickets if you are participating in both the symposium and the launch of the Centre.

If you have any queries about the event, please email Anne Grydehøj at [email protected].

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Object-Based Learning Laboratory (University College London), Wilkins Building, London, United Kingdom