Welcome to the ASMCF website
“The Association is established to advance and develop research and education concerning modern and contemporary France in the United Kingdom.” - The Constitution
Since its foundation in 1979 members of the Association for the Study of Modern and Contemporary France have seen expansion, retraction and reorganisation of the teaching of French in higher education. Throughout the past thirty years it has provided a forum for those involved in teaching and researching modern France and the Francophone world.
Many of the founding members (among them Douglas Johnson, Brian Darling, Peter Morris, Eric Cahm, David Hanley, Siân Reynolds, David Bell, Brian Jenkins and Tony Chafer) were from a historical and political background and sought to combine forces with UK colleagues working across disciplines and sometimes departments on new combinations of French Studies such as history, politics, geography and cinema, alongside innovative methods of teaching the language. Many staff in departments of History and Social Sciences as well as newly created languages departments in the Polytechnic sector joined the association and contributed to its vibrancy.
An annual three-day conference has been held every year at a university venue since 1979. The current membership reflects that historical diversity of academic disciplines and departments in higher and further education in the UK but also the increasing numbers of international subscriptions: our journal is currently selling very well to overseas HE library subscriptions.
Our association has three main areas of activity: the annual conference, publication of the journal and increasingly supporting local and regional research initiatives. Further information on past, current and future activities are available on this web site.
President's Welcome
Chers Collègues, Chères Collègues,
Welcome to the ASMCF website. I am delighted to have been elected as the fourth honorary president of the Association for the Study of Modern and Contemporary France. I feel very honoured to be following in the footsteps of my illustrious predecessors who founded the association, David Hanley, Siân Reynolds and the late and very much missed Douglas Johnson.
Although not a founder member of the association I have been a regular attendee of the annual conferences. These events have been academically stimulating and are usually ‘great crack’. I have been a key player having served on the executive (1986-1995), the editorial board (1995-2004) and co-organised the 1995 conference in Newcastle. The meetings of the Association have a unique friendly and supportive atmosphere. As an active member of ASMCF I have been able to witness first hand how instrumental the Association has been in facilitating scholarly research exchanges and professional support for academics working on contemporary France.
While most of the Association's membership is based in the UK, our annual conferences attract international interest from scholars and our reputation is such that we can rely on regular support from the French Embassy to invite international experts from France. Our members are frequently invited to participate in conferences abroad. Our journal Modern and Contemporary France is continuing to extend its international readership, particularly in North America. We have expanded our support programme for regional events organised by postgraduates and established academic staff and would encourage members to take full advantage of our offer to support research meetings. You will find details of our funding schemes on the website. In addition we encourage postgraduate membership of the Association by offering reduced rates for subscription to the journal, membership of the Association and attendance at our conferences.
I look forward to meeting colleagues at our annual conference.
Máire Cross
Professor of French Studies
University of Newcastle upon Tyne
ASMCF Annual Conference, 2013
University of Leicester, 5-7 September 2013
Download poster
Extended Call for Papers
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