Our speaker will be Professor Charles Forsdick, who holds the prestigious positions of Drapers Professor of French at the University of Cambridge and Lead Fellow for Languages at the British Academy. His topic will be "The Essential Role of Language Skills in Building a Better World".

Professor Forsdick was born in Norfolk and is an old Norvicensian. He graduated with first-class honours in Modern Languages from Oxford University in the early 1970s and, at just 31 years of age, was appointed the James Barrow Professor of French at the University of Liverpool. While there he was elected a Fellow of the British Academy and Member of the Academy of Europe. He has published widely on travel, on colonial history and on literature, penal culture and slavery, reflecting his strong, lifelong, social conscience. He has also authored, co-authored and edited many excellent books, including Victor Segalen and the Aesthetics of Diversity: Journeys between Cultures and Toussaint Louverture: A Black Jacobin in the Age of Revolutions.

His lecture will address the growing importance of language skills in an increasingly complex and dangerous world, arguing that excellent AI translations will never be good enough. The ability to comprehend different ideas, emotions, and contexts and to communicate via spoken and nonverbal cues with people raised in other countries, is fundamental to building mutual understanding across cultures. Professor Forsdick will draw examples from diverse  fields, including international business, diplomacy and international relations, education, tourism and hospitality, journalism and academic research.