New Research Grant: "CURLEW – a Census of Urban and Rural Language in England and Wales"
(Co-PIs: David Britain (Bern), Adrian Leemann (Bern), Paul Foulkes (York) and David Willis (Oxford)) (June 2026 - May 2030)
CURLEW will be the first large-scale, systematic survey of English dialects in England and Wales in more than 75 years. Using app-based, time-efficient methods, the project will document linguistic variation across urban and rural communities, generations, social classes, genders, and ethnic backgrounds. CURLEW will provide new insights into how decades of social and demographic change have shaped the English language – with outputs ranging from scholarly publications to an accessible dialect atlas. The project begins in mid-2026, with 2 postdocs, 5 PhDs as well as student and research assistants. It is funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) as part of a co-investigator scheme with the UK's Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC).
Nacht der Forschung
The English department was represented at the University's 2025 Nacht der Forschung event by Professor Crispin Thurlow and his 'Articulating Rubbish' research team: Laura Wohlgemuth, Alessandro Pellanda and student assistant Lukas Baur. Offered in French, German and English, their exhibit engaged members of the wider public in a conversation about 'Gratis zum Mitnehmen' / 'Gratuit – à emporter', a common but sometimes controversial practice of curbside donation and gleaning. With around 10,000 visitors, the Nacht der Forschung ran from 16:00 to 23:00 on Saturday, 06 September.
New Research Grant: 'Becoming Axolotl: Empathy, Simulation, and Embodiment in Medieval Narratives'
(Co-PIs: Prof. Dr. Annette Kern-Stähler, Bern; Dr. Mirko Sardelić, Zagreb; Dr. Catalin Taranu, Bucharest; July 2025-July 2029)
Funded within MAPS (Multilateral Academic Projects) – a multilateral funding instrument with Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Poland, and Romania, implemented under the second Swiss Contribution, mandated by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation.
Situated at the intersection of cognitive literary studies, affect studies, sensory studies, new materialism, and narratology, this project explores the role of medieval narratives in the simulation of cognitive, emotional, and sensorial experiences of radical others, both human and more-than-human (animals, plants, objects, spirits, gods, monsters).
SAMEMES Book Prize
Dr. Hannah Piercy was awarded the 2024 SAMEMES (Swiss Association of Medieval and Early Modern English Studies) Book Prize for her monograph, 'Resistance to Love in Medieval English Romance: Negotiating Consent, Gender, and Desire'. Her books is available open access thanks to the Swiss National Science Foundation.
