Call for Proposals for Language and Language-related Video Tasters

The Language Stream of the Centre for Humanities Education is issuing a UCL-wide call for proposals for the creation of three new taster videos that will join the Language and Culture Show and Tell series and expand, in different ways, the scope of this project.

Background 

The Language and Culture Show and Tell is a series of short videos and related activities showcasing some of the languages we teach at UCL. Each video session is designed using an item from UCL’s Collections as a starting point. 
When the series was launched in 2020, each participating tutor was asked to produce a short video which took an object from the UCL Art Collections as its starting point and a worksheet based on the content of the video. The series, which initially counted 9 languages (Danish, Dutch, French, Icelandic, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish and Swedish) in 2020, expanded to a total of 13 (with the addition of Arabic, Finnish, German, and Mandarin) in 2021 and now counts 18 as Ancient Greek, Hebrew, Hieroglyphics and Romanian joined in 2023 and Faroese in 2024. As the series continued to expand, the initial model was adapted to allow for new collaborations across UCL Departments and beyond, with the Faroese language and culture taster being produced in collaboration with the University of the Faroe Islands. 

In January 2023 the video tasters became the centre of a temporary showcase hosted by UCL Art Museum, Not Just Words: Learning languages through art and objects where some of the objects featured in the video tasters are exhibited alongside iPads showing the videos. Over a year and half, the showcase and the video tasters have been at the centre of several events and activities (such as school visits, live tasters, creative workshops etc.) with the aim of promoting foreign language learning, multilingualism and, more in general, language awareness. 

While the showcase is due to close its doors to the public on 7 June 2024, the project is due to continue. We are therefore inviting calls of interest from colleagues and postgraduate students across UCL to help us expand the scope of this project and find new ways in which we can continue to raise the profile of languages and cultures both at UCL and beyond. 

Current Tasters

The current tasters can be accessed here: 
https://www.ucl.ac.uk/european-languages-culture/language-and-culture-show-and-tell 
For those considering putting forward a proposal, it might be helpful to watch the video The making of… (in the section About this series) to get sense of how the series initially came together. 

Until 7 June 2024, the video tasters can also be viewed as part of the showcase Not Just Words: Learning Languages through Art and Objects, co-curated by Dr Elettra Carbone (Associate Professor in Norwegian Studies) and Dr Andrea Fredericksen (UCL Art Museum, Curator). 
 

Location
UCL Art Museum, Main Building, South Cloisters
Opening hours: Tuesdays to Fridays, 1-5pm

Format and Content  
Following this call, we are aiming to select three proposals for new tasters. Staff members who have put forward the chosen proposals will be asked to produce:
•    A short accessible blurb of a maximum of a 100-words which describes the content and learning outcomes of the video taster; 
•    A 10-minute interactive video on a language and/or a language-related topic based around an object from UCL’s Collection;
•    A transcript of the video taster;
•    A worksheet based on the content of the taster (the activity should not take the learner more than 10 minutes and keys should be provided). 

The materials should
•    Take as their starting point one or more objects from UCL’s Collections;
•    introduce the topic assuming no prior knowledge of the language and culture or language-related topic presented (and bearing in mind that the current tasters were produced with Y12 students as their intended audience); 
•    reflect in different ways on the relationship between language and culture; 
•    ensure that all materials used in the video are copyright free. 

Ideas of possible proposals
•    languages / cultures not yet covered by the current tasters including but not limited to languages currently taught or researched on at UCL. New tasters could focus on one language, on language groups or on language contacts;
•    topics relating to linguistic justice; 
•    topics relating to different areas of language sciences.

Timeline 
The deadline for applications is Monday 10 June 2024. Successful proposals will be notified by no later than Monday 17 June 2024 and new tasters will need to be completed by the end of July 2024. 
 
Eligibility 
The call is open to all UCL members of staff and postgraduate students.
Please note that while no payment is available for full-time UCL members of staff, members of staff on part-time contracts and Postgraduate Students whose proposal is selected will receive a one-off payment of £350 to produce the materials. 

Postgraduate students who are not already employed by UCL will be asked to undertake a Right to Work check before any work is undertaken.

Please click here to access the short online form to submit your application. 
Informal enquiries should be directed to Dr Elettra Carbone (Associate Professor in Norwegian Studies, UCL SELCS/CMII): elettra.carbone@ucl.ac.uk