Modern Languages, University of Southampton

Mike Kelly is a specialist in modern French culture and society, especially the history of ideas and intellectuals, and on public policy in the area of languages, in the UK and in Europe more broadly.

He studied French at Warwick University (BA and PhD), and lectured at University College Dublin, before being appointed Professor of French at Southampton. Mike is Director of the LLAS Centre for Languages, Linguistics and Area Studies, the Director of Routes into Languages, and Secretary of Speak to the future, the national campaign on languages.

Research Interests

French culture and society

Mike works on French cultural history in the 20th century, especially the history of ideas and intellectuals. He has published widely on the cultural and intellectual reconstruction of France after the Second World War. He has also published several articles on relations between Britain and France in culture and ideas. He is currently working on intellectuals and religion in the 1930s, and reflecting on current debates in both countries. He is a member of the Editorial Board of the journal French Cultural Studies, which he helped to found, and Editor of Synergies Royaume Uni et Irlande which publishes work on language and culture.

Language policy

Mike works on policy and practices relating to languages. He has recently completed an AHRC-funded project, Languages at War with Prof. Hilary Footitt (University of Reading) and has co-edited two books on the subject, with Palgrave Macmillan. He is currently working with Dr Catherine Baker on a study of language issues during the UN and NATO peace-keeping operations in Bosnia-Herzegovina during the 1990s.

Mike is particularly committed to strengthening the capability of people in the UK to communicate in languages other than English. He was a prime mover and member of the Nuffield Language Inquiry, which put languages on the public agenda in 2000. He is Director of the government-funded Routes into Languages programme, which aims to increase the take-up of languages in secondary and higher education, and Secretary of Speak to the future, the national campaign on languages, which aims to provoke a step change in the country's attitudes and achievements in language learning.

Beyond the UK, Mike is concerned to improve the ability of European citizens to live in a multilingual and multicultural world. He has completed a substantial project for the European Commission to develop a Profile for language teacher training across Europe, which EU member states have been invited to use in appraising their programmes for training language teachers. He has worked with successive phases of the Thematic Network in Languages to promote languages at European level, and recently led the ERASMUS-funded LanQua project working with 61 European partners to develop a toolkit for quality assurance in languages across Europe. He is Secretary of the European Language Council, and Editor of the European Journal of Language Policy/ Revue européenne de politique linguistique.

Research project

Languages at War - Policies and Practices of Language Contacts in Conflict

Language encounters were and are an everyday part of the multinational peacekeeping deployment in Bosnia-Herzegovina. We aim to investigate the policies and practice of language encounters in the Bosnian peacekeeping operation between 1995 (the end of the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina) and 2000.

Affiliate research group:  Franco–British network/ réseau franco–britannique

Research project