Dr Karine Zbinden

I grew up in Lausanne, on the sunny shores of Lake Geneva,  Switzerland, where I graduated in French, English and Russian languages and literatures.

Modern Foreign Languages, culture(s) and translations are lifelong interests of mine. I came to the Bakhtin Centre here at the University of Sheffield to pursue my interest in the connections and intellectual debates arising from the dialogue of cultures and wrote my PhD on Russian thinker Mikhail Bakhtin, in particular on the transformations his thought encountered through its cross-cultural transmission. I then pursued my research still here at Sheffield with a postdoctoral project on French intellectual Tzvetan Todorov.

I have taught French language and culture, first at Oxford Brookes University, then in the School of Languages and Cultures here, and moved to the Modern Languages Teaching Centre to take up the position of French Coordinator in 2021.

I am passionate about sharing my interest in languages, especially in sharing the richness and quirks of my mother tongue, and I still wonder at how learning a new language can transform our own worldview and open up horizons. I have taught and designed courses in French from absolute beginners to proficient levels. And I also practice translation. I am particularly interested in using translation in language teaching as a way of deepening understanding and command of the target language (and sometimes of one's own!) and of its creative potential.

I look forward to meeting you and teaching you on one of our modules!"