The Society for Early Modern French Studies offers grants in support of conferences, workshops, and public engagement events concerned with research, teaching and learning in any area of Early Modern French Studies. This includes conferences and seminars, including creative practice and research through practice, postgraduate conferences, exploratory workshops, events promoting the teaching of Early Modern French in higher education, and public engagement events. See below for a link to the downloadable application form, and for a list of previous recipients.
Deadlines and Process
The deadline for applications, usually for events planned in the next academic year, is 1 April. Applicants will be notified within 4 weeks of the deadline.
Applications are judged by a subcommittee consisting of the Chair, the Treasurer, and the Secretary.
Purpose of Grant
The main purpose of conferences, workshops, seminars and other events supported must be the dissemination of research and/or pedagogic practice in the field of Early Modern French Studies. Grants will be awarded on perceived academic value of the event in competition with other applications. Both major international meetings and smaller-scale specialist colloquia, including one-day events, will be considered on their academic merits.
Eligible Subject Areas
The Society for Early Modern French Studies exists to promote and encourage the study of the culture and history of Early Modern France and events supported by this scheme should align to the Society’s principal objective.
Eligibility of Applicants
Applicants must be members of the Society for Early Modern French Studies. Applications should be made by the event organiser(s), who will normally be academics and postgraduates in higher education institutions. Priority may be given to early career scholars and postgraduate students.
Value of Grant
Individual grants will normally range from £100 to £1000. The maximum total value of grants is £3000 every academic year. The Society is happy to co-sponsor events, and encourages applicants to apply for other available funding, including from their institution and other sources of funding.
Eligible Costs
Eligible costs include:
· Travel, accommodation and maintenance expenses for speakers or participants from the UK or overseas
· Administrative expenses
Non-eligible costs include:
· Honoraria or other speaker fees or payments
· Regular annual meetings of major subject associations or learned societies
· Meetings that are projected to make a profit
· Events that coincide with SEMFS’ annual conference
Application
Please submit an application form with a full breakdown of costings and justification for the Society’s support: SEMFS Conference and Workshop Grant Application Form.
Conditions of Grant
Applicants should plan their event well in advance and apply for funding from their university institution, if possible, or other appropriate sources. Any other sources of funding (awarded or pending) should be detailed in the application. If a grant is awarded, organisers should acknowledge the financial support of the Society in all subsequent publicity, programmes, and in any resulting publications. Programmes should be included in the report dossier submitted after the event, together with the conference/event report and accounts, to the Secretary. Reports will be published on the Society’s webpages. Should the event make an unanticipated profit, the Society would expect to be reimbursed proportionally, up to an amount not exceeding the original grant. The Society reserves the right to ask for a refund, should costs not reach the expected level.
Previous Conference and Workshop Grant Recipients
2026:
Oriane Guiziou-Lamour (University of Virginia), for a co-organised symposium “Études de genre et littérature d’Ancien Régime” (Sorbonne Nouvelle).
The symposium examined the initial resistance of French scholarship to incorporating the methods and tools of gender studies into the study of early modern French literature. It also sought to showcase the progressive development of this field and, in particular, the exciting and stimulating research that has emerged in recent years, while highlighting the importance and relevance of transnational dialogue in academia. We welcomed more than thirty attendees from across the globe, ranging from master’s students and secondary-school teachers to emeritus professors. The highlight of the day was the roundtable between Jean-Christophe Abramovici (Sorbonne Université), Myriam Dufour-Maître (Université de Rouen), Sarah Nancy (Université Paris 8), and Jennifer Tamas (Rutgers University) on gender studies and pedagogy. It demonstrated the evolution of the field and changing conceptions of the literary canon, and provided concrete pedagogical tools for addressing certain texts with students at both the secondary and university levels. It prompted stimulating exchanges with attendees about how to teach texts that may elicit strong (and potentially negative) reactions from students, such as pastoral and libertine literature. We plan to submit the conference proceedings to Classiques Garnier for publication in the series Masculin/Féminin dans l’Europe modern.