From Gothic grammar to the Holy Grail: 92‑year‑old former teacher graduates for FIFTH time

Bernice Juxon‑Jones, who taught in schools in Swansea and Port Talbot before later emigrating to Bermuda, has just been awarded a Master of Philosophy in Medieval German from Swansea University. Her thesis explored Parzival, Wolfram von Eschenbach’s medieval epic about the quest for the Holy Grail.

Fascination sparked by a dusty book

Bernice’s love of German began when she discovered a grammar book printed in 1889.

“It was an old German grammar, printed in Gothic script, with handwriting examples in Kurrent script. I was fascinated and began to teach myself,” she said.

“I feel particularly proud of my achievement of going from simple der, die, das, to A‑level, to a BA (Hons) London.”

Professors inspired by her dedication

Professor Julian Preece, chair in German at Swansea University, said:

“My colleague Dr Alison Williams and I found it a pleasure to work with someone so dedicated to her subject. To see Bernice examining the topic for its own sake in her retirement was inspiring and her achievement is incredible.”

He explained that Bernice’s interpretation of Parzival drew on her Christian faith, exploring themes of transformation and redemption.

A lifetime of study

Bernice began her career teaching art at a girls’ school on Swansea Docks before moving to Port Talbot, where she taught French and German. She later emigrated to Bermuda, continuing her studies alongside teaching.

She credits her mentor Kathleen Hennessy for helping her achieve her first BA in 1968:

“It is all thanks to her that in 1968 I got my BA. We then both went on to achieve our A‑level in Spanish, attending many summer courses in Spain.”

Her academic journey took her to Salamanca for an MA in Spanish and to California State University Dominguez Hills for an MA in Humanities, where she graduated with a perfect GPA.

“I have spent my life studying”

Even now, Bernice insists she has no plans to stop:

“Now, at 92, I have completed my MPhil thesis. I have spent my life studying and shall continue so to do until I depart for somewhere better. I feel content with my lot in life and grateful to those dear, good nuns who started me off on the path to learning at my convent school.”

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#education #German #languages #modernLanguages #Parzival #SwanseaUniversity #teacher

In France, using my rudimentary French, which I think has turned out to be possibly the most useful of my GCSEs!

Things I have never done outside of an educational setting:

* Differentiated anything
* Calculated the molecular weight of anything
* Analysed a poem for hidden meaning…

Things I have done recently, in French:

* Found out what time the bread shop opens
* Described a medical condition and obtained medicine
* Ordered coffee/beer (of course!)

🇫🇷 #French #ModernLanguages #GCSE

Yesterday Goldsmiths
Today Kent
Tomorrow - watch your backs

#MassacreOfTheHumanities #UniversityFunding #PhilistinePolitics #KentUniversity
#Music #Anthropolgy #HealthAndSocialCare #journalism #artHistory #ComparativeLiterature #EnglishLanguage #Linguistics #ModernLanguages #Philosophy #religion #ethics

UCU members at the University of Aberdeen have voted for strike action over plans to end single-honours degrees in modern languages and put 30 staff at risk of redundancy.

In their ballot, 80% of those who voted backed strike action on a turnout of 60%.

The local branch will meet over the coming days to consider its next steps.

https://www.ucu.org.uk/article/13454/Aberdeen-University-staff-overwhelmingly-back-industrial-action-in-row-over-modern-languages-cuts-and-job-losses?utm_source=Mastodon&utm_medium=Social&campaign=HE

#UCU #HigherEducation #UKHE #ModernLanguages

Well, they went and did it. Vile shortsighted vultures.

Despite National Pushback, West Virginia Will Cut Faculty, Programs

A month of intense public and on-campus pressure did not dissuade the Board of Governors from siding with the administration to slash programs and positions.

https://www.insidehighered.com/news/faculty-issues/shared-governance/2023/09/15/despite-national-pushback-wvu-will-cut-faculty

#WVU #HigherEd #ModernLanguages #Gee

Re-sharing for the weekend crowd. The official link to our lovely #OpenAccess collection, 'Minoritised Languages and Travel' in the Modern Languages Open journal.

https://modernlanguagesopen.org/collections/minoritised-languages-and-travel

This is a collection of 5 essays + introduction that explore frictions between traveller and travelee as well as the inherent instability of social, cultural and language hierarchies.

#TravelWriting #ModernLanguages #Romantodons #MinorityLanguages #MinorityCulture #Tourism #History #Travelguide #Diary #Wales #Ireland #Germany #France #Spain #Catalonia #Caribbean #DerekWalcott #Poetry

@academicchatter @histodons

As promised, here's now the official link to our lovely collection, 'Minoritised Languages and Travel' in Modern Languages Open.

Kathryn Walchester explores the silencing of the Welsh travelee. A century and a half later, Marija Bergam locates Derek Walcott as a writer of a minor literature in the sense of Deleuze and Guattari. Anna-Lou Dijkstra’s analysis of recent German and French guidebooks to #Wales uncovers how they pre-emptively interpret the travel destination, resulting in often skewed perceptions of a minoritized culture. Eimear Kennedy’s analysis of Irish travelogues about India explores how travelogues composed in endangered languages can originate from a position of relative socio-cultural privilege. Finally, David Miranda-Barreiro undertakes a close reading of Julio Camba’s travel writings and also in past and contemporary critical academic work on the author.

#TravelWriting #ModernLanguages #OpenAccess #Romantodons @academicchatter @histodons

https://modernlanguagesopen.org/collections/minoritised-languages-and-travel