Researchers from across the AHRC Open World Research Initiative are launching a new Digital Modern Languages seminar series to raise the visibility of Modern Languages research and teaching which engages with digital culture, media and technologies. The series will provide new opportunities to share knowledge, experiences and examples of good practice from earlier and ongoing digital projects and initiatives across the Modern Languages community. Responding to the urgent need to incorporate the contemporary digital landscape into future Modern Languages research and teaching, the series aims to create a regular forum which will encourage further collaborations and initiatives.

The series will be launched on Tuesday 21 May 2019 with a seminar by Professor Claire Taylor (University of Liverpool), highlighting the contributions of Modern Linguists to digital research. Future seminars will focus on a range of pioneering digital projects from across different languages and areas of study, including:

• The Endangered Languages Archive digital repository introduced by its Director, Dr Mandana Seyfeddinipur (SOAS University of London)
• The Quipu transmedia and documentary project presented by Professor Matthew Brown (Bristol University) and creative technologist Ewan Cass-Kavanagh
• The Digi-Languages – Stimulating Language Learning in Schools project presented by Professor Claire Gorrara, Lucy Jenkins and Neil Mosley (Cardiff University).
• The KITAB (Knowledge, Information Technology, and the Arabic Book) project presented by the Principal Investigator, Professor Sarah Bowen Savant (Aga Khan University).

This series is launched as part of the AHRC-funded Open World Research Initiative, and is supported by the Cross-Language Dynamics: Reshaping Community and Language Acts and Worldmaking projects, and by the AHRC Leadership Fellow for Modern Languages (Janice Carruthers). The series is convened by Paul Spence, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Digital Humanities at King’s College London and Naomi Wells (Institute of Modern Languages Research).

Further details of the launch can be found on the seminars website where future updates and records of the series will be announced.