The Association of Hispanists of Great Britain and Ireland

The next AHGBI Annual Conference will take place at the University of Lancaster.

📍 Stay tuned for further details — coming soon on our website hispanists.org.uk.

... and the response from the Association for Language Learning, Institute of Languages, Cultures and Societies and UCFL Emma Cayley to the interim report of the DfE's Curriculum and Assessment Review.

Great to also hear about the latest Language Trends survey by the British Council (Vicky Gough); new insights from Destina Thompson (The British Academy) on how language skills support research across all fields...

Michael Slavinsky and Sarah presented the Languages For All project, a collaboration between Reach Academy Feltham and LLC RHUL Royal Holloway, University of London in the local borough of Hounslow.

Last week, as President of the AHGBI, Sarah Wright was invited to Westminster to take part in the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Modern Languages.

This week, AHGBI President Sarah Wright represented the AHGBI at the International Association of Hispanists (AIH) conference in Santiago, Chile. Below: the poet, Raúl Zurita; Director of Instituto Cervantes, Luis García Montero; and María Teresa Cárdenas (Academia Chilena de la Lengua).

🗓️ Deadline to apply: 30 September 2025
🔗 Full details on our website > Funding and Support > Research Excellence Plenary for Mid-Career Researchers

💼 Open to AHGBI members based in the UK or Ireland who identify as mid-career (typically 3–15 years post-PhD, not yet full professors), the award offers £2000 to support the presentation of a major research project as a keynote at the 2026 AHGBI Annual Conference.

👏 A huge congratulations once again to our 2025 recipient, Dr Jesse Barker, for a brilliant inaugural plenary:
“Frames of Nature: Ecology and Politics in Spanish Visual Media (1938–2024)”

The AHGBI launches the second edition of its Mid-Career Excellence Plenary!

With the generous support of the Embassy of Spain, this prestigious award celebrates bold, high-impact research in Hispanic Studies.

A renewed agenda for European Union – United Kingdom cooperation Common Understanding I. Introduction\n1. In view of the United Kingdom - European Union summit of 19 May 2025, the European Commission and the United Kingdom explored areas with the potential to strengthen bilateral coope...

ec.europa.eu/commission/p...

www.ukro.ac.uk/news/outcome...

From the AHGBI Association, we’d be really interested to hear how others see this. Could a return to Erasmus+ help strengthen our sector? What impact would it have where you work? Let’s open the conversation — feel free to share your views in the comments.

Rejoining Erasmus+ would represent more than just a return to a familiar programme. It could help rebuild the international connections that are vital for our students and our institutions — especially at a moment when language learning in the UK is in such a precarious position.

This lack of reciprocity, combined with practical barriers such as visa costs and complex funding arrangements, means it simply doesn’t offer the same integrated cultural and linguistic experience as Erasmus+ did.

The Turing Scheme, introduced as a replacement in 2021, has certainly enabled valuable opportunities — with over 40,000 placements funded last year in more than 160 countries. But crucially, it is a one-way scheme: it funds UK students going abroad, without supporting incoming exchange students.

Recent discussions at the UK-EU summit have raised the possibility of the UK rejoining Erasmus+, after leaving the programme as part of the Brexit settlement.

At a time when so many language departments, IWLP programmes and language centres across the UK are under threat — with closures and cuts becoming increasingly common — any sign of renewed support for international mobility and language learning feels especially significant.

Could Erasmus+ Help Reverse the Decline of Language Learning in the UK?

Portability within REF remains key to fairness Maria Delgado, Nandini Das, and Miles Padgett warn that separating research outputs from the researchers who created them in REF 2029 would undermine the integrity of the whole research environment

📚Colleagues might be interested in this co-authored piece by AHGBI member María Delgado on the potential impact of decoupling outputs from individuals in the REF—just out on Wonkhe: wonkhe.com/blogs/portab...

#REF #HigherEd #AHGBI

Full programme here: s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/assets.hispa...

At 3pm, join us for the final parallel session of this year's AHGBI Conference, featuring themes such as 'Body, Gender, and Politics in Literature,' 'Politics, Cultures, and Visual Practices in the Hispanic World,' and 'Words and Worlds Out of Place: Spanish Literature from the United States.'

📢The University of Edinburgh continues to lead the way in Linguistics, Sociolinguistics, and Catalan Language and Culture. This year, they’ve launched a new course in Catalan Sociolinguistics! Dr. Sergi Mainer and Ms. Roser Vich discuss the exciting developments in Catalan Studies at Edinburgh.

🗣️ After a brilliant PGR Workshop, we’re diving into the next session: Dr Peter Baker (University of Stirling) on “How to Sell Yourself Without Selling Your Soul: Applying for Academic Jobs”

Full programme here: s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/assets.hispa...

This day has offered deep insights into literature, identity, and pedagogy—looking forward to more engaging sessions tomorrow!

We also explored the influence of exile and queer themes in Galician literature, with contributions from Mario Regueira and Pablo García Martínez, among others.

The sessions covered a range of intriguing topics, from Cervantes’ early use of self-representation in his prologues to the playful ethos of authors like Carlos Pujol and Borges, as well as the interplay between literature and the margins. 🖋️🎭

🌟 Third Day Highlights of the AHGBI Annual Conference (Online) 🌟

This morning we delved into Literature and Play with a fascinating exploration of playful forms of self-representation in prologues.

More info on our website: hispanists.org.uk/events/ahgbi...