Welcome to English at Neuchâtel

The Institute of English Studies at the University of Neuchâtel is a vibrant community of researchers, teachers, and students devoted to the study of English linguistics and literature.

Our curriculum covers all aspects of English at the university level, including practical language, the most current approaches to linguistics, and the study of English-language literature from the middle ages to today. The institute’s relatively small size and excellent student / teacher ratio sets us apart from larger, more anonymous departments, allowing for more personalized instruction in oral, writing and research skills, and fostering intellectual exchanges in a congenial environment.

We offer BA and MA-level programs in English, and we participate in the Swiss CUSO doctoral school.

Courses are taught by scholars who are very active in their respective fields and who value the contribution of research to teaching. The institute also organizes study trips both locally and farther afield in England, Ireland, and Scotland, and hosts a number of social events during the semester.

Convinced that our students’ educational experience should extend beyond the classroom, we offer a number of opportunities for outside internships and student exchanges with several universities in Great Britain.

Why study English?

In our globalized age, an advanced proficiency in a foreign language helps to remind us that languages do not simply have an instrumental value: they are the basis of culture and help structure our thoughts.

Since 1945, English has become one of the most spoken languages in the world, a lingua franca in many professions and a ‘universal language’ that many aspire to. But it is also a lexically and culturally rich idiom, with hundreds of regional variants from Scots to Singapore English, and a fascinating, multiethnic literary heritage. This heritage has often been associated with values such as liberty and equality, yet it is also weighed down by its colonial past. Studying English will allow you to better understand the language’s complex historical and cultural contexts as well as its sometimes controversial linguistic politics.

In addition to being trained to participate in a specific academic discipline, students who study English can acquire the following competences and skills: the ability to read language and texts closely, recognizing and learning to appreciate their complexity; the critical skills to decode and evaluate contemporary social discourses as well as to detect cultural assumptions inscribed in language; the capacity to think rigorously but also creatively about various problems and about your own life experiences; communication skills, including argumentative, analytical and synthetic writing, and defending your critical judgement against the informed opinion of others; and a deepened knowledge of the English language and of English-speaking nations’ diverse histories, cultures and societies.

Combined with another major, study abroad, and one or several professional internships, a degree in English can lead to many different career paths. It is a first step to becoming an English language and literature teacher in Swiss secondary schools. Former students have also pursued careers in academia or have gone on to become, among other things, translators, editors, journalists, public relations managers, or administrators in the arts, the humanities and in NGOs (see our alumni page). The linguistic as well as the critical and analytical skills developed in the study of literature are an important asset for those interested in fields such as international law and international business.

Institute history and mission

History

Beginning in the eighteenth century, Neuchâtel has attracted a significant number of English-speaking travellers, artists and writers. Jane Austen’s brother, Edward, lived there for a time in 1785, the Shelleys passed through in 1814, and the Victorian critic and artist John Ruskin visited ten times, drawing over twenty views of the town and its surroundings. English was first taught at the university in 1870.

Until 1900, courses were given by a colorful series of expatriates, including the Reverends J.W. Coombs and Barry O’Meara Deane. In the first half of the twentieth century, several distinguished scholars and noteworthy personalities held lectureships or chairs in English literature: the pioneer Alpine historian Claire-Eliane Engel; Edmond Privat, a peace activist and leader of the Esperanto movement; and the renowned Beowulf scholar Adrien Bonjour. Professors who have belonged to the institute in the last three decades include François Matthey, George Denis Zimmerman, Pierre-Eric Monnin, Jenny Cheshire, Kenneth Graham, and David Spurr. Today, English is one of the most popular majors in the Faculty of Letters and Human Sciences.

Mission

Our mission is,

First, to provide our students with education of the highest quality in preparation for a career, for graduate work and to lead rich, intellectually satisfying lives.

Second, to contribute actively to English language and literature scholarship in Switzerland and internationally, by keeping abreast of and contributing to the latest research, establishing links with communities of scholars in various fields and helping to promote our discipline.

Third, to participate in and contribute to the wider community, in particular by organizing activities that help foster a better understanding and appreciation of English as a language and culture, and by developing a close working relationship with area teachers.