The Society for Early Modern French Studies was founded in 1977 as the Society for Seventeenth-Century French Studies. It held its first international conference in 1978, in Bedford College, University of London, and published the first issue of its journal in 1979. It became a registered charity on 11th January 1990 (Charity Number 802479) as an unincorporated association with a wider membership. The development of the Society is reflected in the evolution of the journal, as it expanded from a scholarly Newsletter to become Seventeenth-Century French Studies, and now Early Modern French Studies.
The Society is interdisciplinary and international, with a broad-based international membership reflected in the composition of our Executive Committee. It has always maintained close relations with fellow-organizations, notably the Société d’Étude du XVIIe Siècle, the Centre International de Rencontres sur le XVIIe Siècle, and the North American Society for Seventeenth-Century French Studies.
The Society has now expanded to welcome scholars working in all fields of French studies from the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries. “It offers Research bursaries to support members’ research projects, as well as Conference and Carers’ bursaries to support members attending its annual conference.
As well as its journal, the Society has held an international conference every year since 1978, sometimes in conjunction with other French and North American societies. Recent conferences have been held in Exeter (2024), Manchester (2025) and in Glasgow (2026); in 2027, it will be held in Ghent. For an archive of our previous conference venues and programmes, see https://www.semfs.org.uk/conference-archive/
For full details of recent and forthcoming events, and of all the Society’s activities, please see under the relevant headings on this website.