A Romanian Language Lectureship has been established at the prestigious University of Cambridge, within the Faculty of Modern and Medieval Languages and Linguistics (MMLL), a project funded by the Government of Romania / Ministry of National Education through the Romanian Language Institute (ILR) and promoted by the Romanian Embassy in London, the Embassy's official website informs.
The new lectureship will organize open Romanian language courses (beginner and intermediate level), as well as a program of cultural events dedicated to promoting the Romanian language and culture in the British academic environment, including "Romanian Movie Nights" - weekly screenings of Romanian films intended to offer an authentic perspective on Romanian society and culture.
This October, Romanian ambassador to the United Kingdom Laura Popescu visited Cambridge University and met with MMLL Co-Chair Professor John David Rhodes and Professor Ioanna Sitaridou, as well as with Lecturer Dr Stefania Costea. The diplomat expressed the Embassy's strong support for the initiative and conveyed her gratitude to the University of Cambridge for agreeing to implement this project in MMLL.
The Romanian Lectureship at Cambridge is fully funded by the Romanian state through the Romanian Language Institute headed by Professor Daiana Theodora Cuibus. This development makes Cambridge the second UK university with an ILR-supported Romanian lectureship, alongside Oxford, with the latter inaugurated in 2012.
The lectureship will be coordinated by Dr Stefania Costea, who completed her master's (MPhil, 2019) and doctoral (PhD, 2024) studies at MMLL, under the guidance of Professor Adam Ledgeway, a linguist who made an essential contribution to the development of Romanian language studies at Cambridge.
Her research centres on the syntax of Daco-Romanian and language contact. In 2023, she received the Cambridge SU Student-Led Teaching Award for Small-Group Teaching (Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences), in recognition of the outstanding reception of her optional Romanian classes.
"The lectureship aims to give Cambridge students and staff the chance to learn Romanian and to encounter Romania's culture, art, literature and cinema," says Dr Costea.
The courses are open to all members of the University and are based on an accessible and interactive format, the Embassy's website also specifies.
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