Modern and Medieval Languages

Victoria Harvey’s research interests lie in 16th century French literature and visual culture. Victoria’s PhD thesis examined satirical representations of the figure of the vieille in French Renaissance poetry; more recent research examines 16th century representations of the 1495 syphilis epidemic.

Victoria has previously worked in outreach roles at Robinson College and Trinity Hall.

Ashwiny O. Kistnareddy completed her PhD in French Studies at the University of Cambridge. Her PhD focused on Masculinities in immigrant women’ writing in France and Canada (Forthcoming with Liverpool University Press). Her current interests are in Contemporary Black British and Francophone writing, and especially refugee writing. She has a monograph forthcoming on Diasporic Vetnamese Writing (Liverpool University Press) and another one on Refugee Children’ narratives. She has widely published on women’s writing and has a number of articles forthcoming on refugee and memory studies. She teaches both language and literature, for the MMLL faculty.

Her teaching interests are:

Language: Fr1A, B2, Fr1B, B3, FrAV, C1 and C2

Literature: FR1 (1st year French paper), FR6 (2nd year 20th and 21st century paper), Year Abroad projects, FR12 Scheduled paper (4th year 20th and 21st century paper) and FR12 Optional Dissertation

She is also a Lucy Cavendish College Bye-Fellow.

I thoroughly enjoyed my year at Lucy as an MMLL MPhil student. This incredible experience began with having the opportunity to work with internationally known experts in the field and carrying out research under high quality supervision. Furthermore, at Lucy, I found myself surrounded by lovely people who are passionate about their studies and are always ambitious to learn more. Inspiring conversations happen every day and everywhere, from breakfast to formal dinner. Besides study, Lucy has given me a sense of home. There are always people I can go to when I seek help in all aspects of my life. The friendship I made here is deep and strong.

I had already studied German and English for three years when I came to Cambridge as an Erasmus student to study German literature, German historical linguistics as well as first and second language acquisition. I love linguistics because it gives you an insight into the human mind, individual and societal development and our perception of the world. Furthermore, studying literature broadened my horizon immensely by confronting me with different historical periods and their authors and philosophers. At same time it appeals to me on an aesthetical level and stimulates my creativity. Studying these subjects at Lucy was a real pleasure! I love their beautiful library with its free coffee hours, the gardens, which are perfect for reading outside, and the friendly, international and empowering atmosphere of the place. The workload with all the essays is challenging indeed, but Lucy does everything to give you the support you need to succeed! Regarding the future, I am planning to become a secondary school teacher. I will use the credits from Cambridge to complete my Master at home and am also currently writing a book about teaching German grammar at school.