Visiting International Fellowships
The Society is pleased to congratulate Dr Abigail E. Celis (Université de Montréal), winner of the 2026-27 Visiting International Fellowship, and Dr Sarah Arens (University of Liverpool) and Dr Joseph Ford (University of London), the host applicants.
The Fellowship will further research between French Studies, museum studies and environmental humanities. It will be informed by Dr Celis’s work on artist-led projects addressing the restitution of African art and natural history collections. Her research will contribute to interdisciplinary collaborations at the University of Liverpool and the Institute of Languages, Cultures, and Societies. The Fellowship will support workshops, guest teaching, and public events at host institutions and other institutions in the London area. Outcomes from the collaboration will be shared at our 2027 conference and in a report to members of the Society.
About the scheme
The Society for French Studies supports an annual visiting fellowship, tenable in any UK or Irish university, or institution of higher education in the UK or Ireland, to allow outstanding academics in the French Studies field based in overseas universities to spend time at UK or Irish higher education institutions. The Society strongly encourages applications to support visits from scholars in all parts of the world, including Africa, Australasia and the Caribbean. Applications must be completed by an academic member of staff in a prospective host institution in the UK or Ireland.
The key objective is to promote the internationalization of French Studies in the UK and Ireland through collaborative work with the Visiting Fellow.
Previous fellows
2025/26: Dr Fanny Chabrol (Université Paris Cité), hosted by Dr. Benjamin Dalton (Lancaster University). The Fellowship will investigate the implications of research in French Studies on decolonization in health/care architecture for hospital design and alternative clinical futures. It will be informed by Dr Chabrol's work on francophone Africa and supported by the interdisciplinary health research contexts both at Lancaster University and nearby institutions in the North-West. Outcomes from the collaboration will be shared at our 2026 conference and in a report to members of the Society.
2024/25: Dr Myriam Moïse (Université des Antilles in Martinique), the first SFS Visiting International Fellow from a Caribbean institution, Dr Moïse’s appointment will foster collaboration between the Université des Antilles and UK universities with strengths in Caribbean postcolonial/francophone studies, including Cambridge, Edinburgh, and Queen’s University Belfast.
2023/24: Professor Roxanne Panchasi (Simon Fraser University, Canada)
2022/23: Dr Alison Downham Moore (Western Sydney University, Australia)
2019-20: Professor Martin Munro (Florida State University)
2017/18: Dr Natalie Edwards (University of Adelaide)
2016/17: Professor Anne Vila (University of Wisconsin-Madison)
2015/16: Professor Barbara Havercroft (University of Toronto)
2014/15: Professor Tom Conley (Harvard University)