Why New College?

New College is one of the strongest and liveliest colleges for Modern languages in the University, with a large undergraduate intake and six Fellows, including Tutors in French, German, Russian, and Linguistics. Students reading Spanish, Portuguese and Italian are looked after by College Lectures who are Fellows of other colleges. Native speaker tuition in both French and German is also available in the College, which has a lecteur/lectrice in French and a Lektor/Lektorin in German. 

Places available

13 in total for Modern Languages and Joint Schools. 

We are happy to consider applications for deferred entry. 

What we look for

In considering applications we look for people with a love of reading, and a real interest in how language and literature work. This need not mean having already studied literary texts before coming to Oxford: many students have not, and the first year course will introduce you to the study of literature in the foreign language. However, in preparing for interview, it is important that you find time to do a little independent reading (material in translation is fine, or indeed literature in English), so that you can work out whether the Oxford course is right for your particular interests. 

Tutors' research interests

Dr Andrew Counter (French): Dr Counter's research considers the intersections of law, politics, sexuality and literature in France between the Revolution and the Great War. His work draws on a broad range of methodologies and considers multiple genres, including literary, legal, medical and political discourse, though he has a particular interest in the novel. His second book, The Amorous Restoration (OUP, 2016) was awarded the Jeanne and Aldo Scaglione Prize by the Modern Language Association. 

Dr Vittoria Fallanca (French): Dr Fallanca is a scholar of the Renaissance period, specialising in the sixteenth century and particularly the work of Michel de Montaigne. Her first project looks at the workings of design ('dessein') in the Essais, uncovering the various uses to which Montaigne puts this term and, more broadly, what the concept of dessein reveals about the textual and authorial design of the Essais. Her second project, 'The Anterotic Lyric', will look at the uses of the mythological figure of Anteros in French Renaissance verse, with special attention to questions of subjectivity, gender, and poetic identity. A committed comparatist, her broader interests lie at the intersections of literature, philosophy and visual art. 

Dr Ros Temple (French Linguistics): Dr Temple specialises in phonetics and phonology, and is particularly interested in how pronunciation varies in connected speech. She has worked specifically on French, English and Welsh, but is also interested in the implications of variation for general linguistic and sociolinguistic theory and has supervised graduate and undergraduate work on a range of languages. Other areas of interest include sociolinguistic approaches to minority languages and bilingualism, and variationist approaches to French. 

Dr Josephine von Zitzewitz (Russian): Dr von Zitzewitz’s current main research interest is Russian poetry of the 20th and 21st century, including literary communities on the internet and the practice and theory of poetry translation. She has extensive experience studying late Soviet literature, in particular ‘underground’ literature of the 1970s, and a lively interest in Russian religious thought and its effect on literature.

Prof. Andrei Zorin (Russian): Prof. Zorin researches the literature and cultural history of Russia from the 18th to the early 19th centuries, as well as late-Soviet and post-Soviet literature, and the history of the emotions. 

Joint schools

We accept applications for Joint Schools with English, History, Philosophy, Linguistics, Classics, and Middle Eastern and Modern Languages.

Applications for English should be exclusively in combination with French, German, or Russian. 

Applications for Czech, Portuguese, Modern Greek, Italian, Spanish and Middle Eastern Languages should be in combination with French, German, or Russian. 

This is in order that undergraduates have access to a tutor at New College who can look after their academic affairs.

As at other colleges, applications for Beginners' Russian and German are possible only within the Modern Languages degree and with another languages studied to advanced level before entry to Oxford. 

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