Research
Special Expertise
- Literary Studies:
Research at the Institute of English Studies seeks to provide a historical and scientific understanding of the discursive, literary and cultural processes underlying the challenges connected to the construction of nationhood, national and cultural identities, as well as ethnic and linguistic diversities that currently present themselves in a European and international context. Closely intertwined with the Bachelor in European Cultures, research in literary studies seeks to reveal significant historical foundations and ideological ramifications of contemporary engagements with historical phenomena. We adopt productive and innovative approaches combining methods from literary and cultural studies as well as the Digital Humanities in order to select, visualise, and interpret big-data cultural heritage corpora.
- Linguistics:
Research in linguistics focuses on English language use and communication in academic, multilingual, and multicultural settings using national and international spoken and written corpora. It includes internationally topical issues such as English medium instruction in higher education and the teaching of English for Academic Purposes in multilingual classes as well as topics with more local relevance such as the characteristics of Luxembourgish English.
Research areas:
- Non-canonical writing (fictional and non-fictional)
- Popular culture and fiction
- Medical Humanities
- Digital Humanities
- Didactics of literature
- English-medium instruction and academic English
Research-Related Teaching Activities
Our research is highly interrelated with our teaching activities within the Bachelor of European Cultures (English Studies), where we offer courses on topics including popular culture, auto/biographical writing, illness narratives, specific periods in literature, applied linguistics, and multilingualism.
Institutional Cooperation
Many of our activities centre around the interface between English Studies and Luxembourg Studies, allowing us to combine our area of expertise with the context in which we live and work.
- Translation projects: Pierre Joris translating seminal texts from Luxembourgish Literature into English (with Luxembourg Studies)
- Teaching: Interdisciplinary seminars with colleagues from various institutes; Language Centre (ULLC); mentoring Fulbright ETAs
- Outreach: Close collaboration with Black Fountain Press (literary contests and publishing collections of short fiction), local secondary schools, and the Centre national de littérature
- Academic networks: Key Area MIS, Shakespeare Jahrbuch, BritCult (German Association for the Study of British Cultures), ISC (International Shakespeare Conference)
- Established collaborations: Universities of Sheffield, Buckingham, Coventry, Ghent, Saarland, Trier, Erlangen-Nürnberg, MUDEC
