IAS Reflections Symposium: Celebrating the UCL Institute of Advanced Studies A one-day symposium that will celebrate the wealth of highly innovative, interdisciplinary research that has been generated within the auspices of the IAS over the last ten years.

Our last big hurrah before we're shut down.
We hope you can join us (free lunch!)
28 April 2026, 9am-5pm
www.ucl.ac.uk/institute-of...

photo of person on a bike with a statue in the background. The photo appears to have been taken out of the window of a car, as it's slanting and not centered.

And Just Like That / I Find Myself in Port-au-Prince
13 May 5pm
Sigrid Thomsen explores how Laferrière’s texts can be said to turn toward diaspora both through switching between forms and through the protagonist switching between Montréal, Port-au-Prince, and New York
www.ucl.ac.uk/institute-of...

large and small pieces of confetti and glitter falling down

Celebrating the UCL Institute of Advanced Studies
28 April 9am-5pm
Not so much about marking its closure as signposting its accomplishments, and remembering what the IAS did best - preserving the tacit and the unspoken.
www.ucl.ac.uk/institute-of...

Writing with delight: Insights from Creative Writing This BA ECRN Writing Retreat is part of a series. Whilst previous retreats have explored themes such as languages of the future and slowness, this workshop will invite participants to reflect on the t...

Writing with delight: Insights from Creative Writing
27 March 9am-5pm
This British Academy Writing workshop participants will be invited to take part in a number of activities designed to explore the impact of creative writing practice on academic writing.
www.ucl.ac.uk/institute-of...

IAS Book Launch: The Cambridge Urban History of Europe We are pleased to host the international launch of this three-volume urban history of Europe - from ancient to contemporary times - and to welcome the editors and many of the contributors.

IAS Book Launch: The Cambridge Urban History of Europe
27 March 6:15pm
From pre-historic roots to today, with 100+ essays from experts across disciplines & countries, it provides a contemporary analysis of current issues & sheds new light on often ignored regions.
www.ucl.ac.uk/institute-of...

Changer la vie: poétique et usages de Rimbaud UCL Centre for French & Francophone Research welcomes author Denis Saint-Amand (Université de Naumur) to discuss his new book, which seeks to grasp the coherence of Rimbaud's complex poetic project an...

Changer la vie: poétique et usages de Rimbaud
26 March 5pm
Author Denis Saint-Amand (U. de Naumur) will discuss his new book, which seeks to grasp the coherence of Rimbaud's complex poetic project and undertake a pragmatic reading of its contemporary uses.
www.ucl.ac.uk/institute-of...

Blindness as Form: Rethinking Disability with Matthew Paris In her inaugural lecture, Jane Gilbert will explore how recent creative encounters between visually impaired people and various art-forms show us new ways to read blindness in medieval manuscripts.

Blindness as Form: Rethinking Disability with Matthew Paris
25 March 5pm
In her inaugural lecture, Jane Gilbert will explore how recent creative encounters between visually impaired people & various art-forms show us new ways to read blindness in medieval manuscripts
www.ucl.ac.uk/institute-of...

James Connolly - The French Revolution stand-up - dates and origins YouTube video by JEPC123

An extract from my stand-up routine on the French Revolution. Excuse the poor sound and image quality.

youtube.com/watch?v=SSLV...

Diversifying the French Stage: A Conversation with Penda Diouf Join us for a conversation about theatre and representation with the French playwright Penda Diouf

Diversifying the French Stage: A Conversation with Penda Diouf
TONIGHT! 6 Mar 2026, 17:00 – 18:30
Join us for a conversation about theatre and representation with the French playwright Penda Diouf
www.ucl.ac.uk/arts-humanit...

‘Fake News’ After the Paris Commune, 1871, or Why Studying Literature Matters Now Dr Jann Matlock will give this SELCS Society Lecture, reflecting on the way moments of crisis show how literature and critical theory make possible resistance, and instils hope for democratic values.

‘Fake News’ After the Paris Commune, 1871
11 March 4pm
Dr Jann Matlock will give this @uclselcs.bsky.social SELCS Society Lecture, reflecting on the way moments of crisis show how literature & critical theory make possible resistance & instil hope for democratic values
www.ucl.ac.uk/institute-of...

Song and the Modality of Realism Prof Jane Gilbert will examine song and the modality of realism in 'La Chastelaine de Vergi' and 'L’Istoire de la Châtelaine du Vergier et de Tristan le chevalier'

TODAY! 2 March, 5:30-7pm
Song and the Modality of Realism
Prof Jane Gilbert will examine song and the modality of realism in 'La Chastelaine de Vergi' and 'L’Istoire de la Châtelaine du Vergier et de Tristan le chevalier'
www.ucl.ac.uk/institute-of...

Holistic ecologies before modernity 18 March, 15:00-17:00 | Online, registration free but essential. With Minji Lee (Montclair State) and François Quiviger (Warburg Institute).

Holistic ecologies before modernity
18 March 3-5pm, online
Two fascinating pre-modern figures: the cosmic polymath Hildegard of Bingen & French artisan philosopher of a sentient world, Bernard Palissy. With Minji Lee(Montclair State) & François Quiviger(Warburg)
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/holistic-e...

All good things come to an end It is with great sadness that we are sharing the news that the UCL Faculties of Social & Historical Sciences and Arts & Humanities have decided to close the IAS on 31 July 2026.

It is with great sadness that we are sharing the news that the UCL Faculties of Social & Historical Sciences and Arts & Humanities have decided to close the IAS.

We will close our doors forever on 31 July 2026.

Follow the link to leave thoughts, comments, memories 💗

www.ucl.ac.uk/institute-of...

IAS Book Launch: Rethinking the Human in the Darwinian Novel We are pleased to welcome Niall Sreenan for the launch of his book Rethinking the Human in the Darwinian Novel. Zola, Hardy, and Utopian Fiction.

Book Launch: Rethinking the Human in the Darwinian Novel
3 Mar 6–8pm @ucl-ias.bsky.social
Sreenan revisits the legacy of Darwin’s thought in works by Thomas Hardy & Émile Zola, and in utopian fictions by Aldous Huxley & the more contemporary Michel Houellebecq.
www.ucl.ac.uk/institute-of...

Book Talk: 'Beyond Building: Architecture and Gender in Nineteenth-Century France' A rich historiography of architecture in France has long maintained that it was men alone who could become architects prior to 1902.  But were there, in fact, others?

Book Talk: 'Beyond Building: Architecture and Gender in Nineteenth-Century France'
25 Feb 5pm-7pm
A rich historiography of architecture in France has long maintained that it was men alone who could become architects prior to 1902. But were there, in fact, others?
www.ucl.ac.uk/institute-of...

'Feeling for the Sense': Tact & the Art of Interpretation A talk by Dr Katja Haustein (Kent) following the release of her latest book 'Alone with Others'. Chaired by Prof Patrick Bray

'Feeling for the Sense' Tact & the Art of Interpretation
5 Feb 6:30pm @uclselcs.bsky.social
Using Proust, Plessner, Adorno, Truffaut & Barthes, Dr Katja Haustein invites us to reconsider our ways of engaging with people, images & texts and gauge the significance of tact
www.ucl.ac.uk/institute-of...

'Mon vrai nom est Elisabeth': a history of post-war psychiatry UCL French & Francophone Research is delighted to announce the 2026 Noble Lecture with prize-winning French novelist Adèle Yon.

'Mon vrai nom est Elisabeth': a history of post-war psychiatry
UCL French & Francophone Research is delighted to announce the 2026 Noble Lecture with prize-winning French novelist Adèle Yon.
29 January 2026, 5pm-7pm
www.ucl.ac.uk/institute-of...

Please reshare @uclselcs.bsky.social and @artshumsucl.bsky.social

'Feeling for the Sense': Tact & the Art of Interpretation A talk by Dr Katja Haustein (Kent) following the release of her latest book 'Alone with Others'. Chaired by Prof Patrick Bray

'Feeling for the Sense': Tact & the Art of Interpretation
5 Feb 6:30-8pm
In her book 'Alone with Others', using reading encounters with Proust, Plessner, Adorno, Truffaut & Barthes, Dr Haustein asks us to reconsider our ways of engaging with other people, images & texts
www.ucl.ac.uk/institute-of...

Book Talk: 'Beyond Building: Architecture and Gender in Nineteenth-Century France' A rich historiography of architecture in France has long maintained that it was men alone who could become architects prior to 1902.  But were there, in fact, others?

Book Talk: 'Beyond Building: Architecture and Gender in Nineteenth-Century France'
25 February 5-7pm
A rich historiography of architecture in France has long maintained that it was men alone who could become architects prior to 1902. But were there, in fact, others?
www.ucl.ac.uk/institute-of...

Shady Quakers, or How Second Empire France Turned Against the Friends The Centre for French and Francophone Research welcomes Andrea Goulet (University of Pennsylvania) to give this talk.

How Second Empire France Turned Against the Friends
TODAY! 4pm
Using serial novels, vaudeville plays & newspapers of the Second Empire, Andrea Goulet proposes fictional Quaker as a screen on which the French projected their ambivalence about liberté, égalité, fraternité
www.ucl.ac.uk/institute-of...

Community Cinema: Soundtrack to a Coup d’État (+ Director Q&A) Jazz and decolonisation are entwined in this Oscar nominated historical rollercoaster.

Community Cinema: Soundtrack to a Coup d’État (+Q&A)
19 Nov 6:30–10pm
This historical rollercoaster rewrites the Cold War episode that led musicians Abbey Lincoln & Max Roach to crash the UN Security Council in protest against murder of Congolese leader Patrice Lumumba.
www.ucl.ac.uk/ucl-east/eve...

Shady Quakers, or How Second Empire France Turned Against the Friends The Centre for French and Francophone Research welcomes Andrea Goulet (University of Pennsylvania) to give this talk.

Shady Quakers, or How Second Empire France Turned Against the Friends
19 Nov 4pm
Using novels, plays & newspaper columns, Andrea Goulet proposes the fictional Quaker as a screen onto which the French projected their own ambivalence about “liberté, égalité et fraternité"
www.ucl.ac.uk/institute-of...

Ludic Literature The Centre for French and Francophone Research welcomes Tim Beasley-Murray (UCL), Aubrey Gabel (Columbia University), and Dennis Duncan (UCL).

⏰Happening tomorrow!
Ludic Literature
29 October 2025, 4pm-6pm
We welcome Tim Beasley-Murray (UCL), Aubrey Gabel (Columbia University), and Dennis Duncan (UCL) to discuss ludic literature.
www.ucl.ac.uk/institute-of...

Ludic Literature The Centre for French and Francophone Research welcomes Tim Beasley-Murray (UCL), Aubrey Gabel (Columbia University), and Dennis Duncan (UCL).

Ludic Literature
29 October 2025, 4pm-6pm
We welcomes Tim Beasley-Murray (UCL), Aubrey Gabel (Columbia University) and Dennis Duncan (UCL).
www.ucl.ac.uk/institute-of...

Is Metafiction still Post-Modern? We welcome Prof Anne Duprat (U. Picardy Jules Verne) to give this seminar. The Centre for French and Francophone Research are pleased to co-host this event with UCL Comparative Literature and UCL Fren...

**Note change of location**
Is Metafiction still Post-Modern?
29 Oct 3–4:30pm
We welcome Prof Anne Duprat (U. Picardy Jules Verne) to give this seminar. We are pleased to co-host this event with UCL Comparative Literature & UCL French .@uclselcs.bsky.social
www.ucl.ac.uk/institute-of...

Chardin and the Oeconomie of Painting For this Research Seminar, we welcome Dr Sarah Grandin (The Courtauld Institute of Art) for a talk on ‘Chardin and the Oeconomie of Painting’.

Chardin and the Oeconomie of Painting
9 Oct 5:30-7:30pm
In early modern France, “oeconomie” referred to the art of managing material resources, particularly within a household. @uclhistoryofart.bsky.social welcome Dr Sarah Grandin (Courtauld Institute) for this seminar
www.ucl.ac.uk/social-histo...

IAS Book Launch 'Émile Zola: Life and Dream' The IAS and the Centre for French and Francophone Research are pleased to host this triple book launch on the subject of Émile Zola.

IAS Book Launch 'Émile Zola: Life and Dream'
2 Oct, 5-7pm
'Émile Zola: A Determined Life' by Robert Lethbridge
'Zola's Dream: Idealism on Trial' by Claire White
'Émile Zola: Writing Modern Life' by Rachel Bowlby
www.ucl.ac.uk/institute-of...

Shady Quakers, or How Second Empire France Turned Against the Friends The Centre for French and Francophone Research welcomes Andrea Goulet (University of Pennsylvania) to give this talk.

Shady Quakers, or How Second Empire France Turned Against the Friends
19 November 2025, 4pm-6pm
We welcome Andrea Goulet (University of Pennsylvania) to give this talk.
www.ucl.ac.uk/institute-of...

IAS Book Launch 'Émile Zola: Life and Dream' The IAS and the Centre for French and Francophone Research are pleased to host this triple book launch on the subject of Émile Zola.

Émile Zola: Life and Dream
2 October 5-7pm @ucl-ias.bsky.social
We are pleased to host this triple book launch:
'Émile Zola: A Determined Life' by Robert Lethbridge
'Zola's Dream: Idealism on Trial' by Claire White
'Émile Zola: Writing Modern Life' by Rachel Bowlby
www.ucl.ac.uk/institute-of...