The University of Cambridge has established a new Romanian Lectorate within its Faculty of Modern and Medieval Languages and Linguistics (MMLL), according to the official announcement. Fully funded by the Romanian government through the Institutul Limbii Rom\u00e2ne (ILR), it will offer open courses in Romanian language and a series of cultural events accessible to all members of the university.<\/p>\n
The initiative makes Cambridge the second UK university to host an ILR-supported Romanian lectorate, following Oxford, which inaugurated its program in 2012.<\/p>\n
Romania\u2019s Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Laura Popescu, visited Cambridge in October 2025 to meet with MMLL Co-Chair Professor John David Rhodes and Professor Ioanna Sitaridou, expressing the embassy\u2019s strong support for the project.<\/p>\n
\u201cHer Excellency expressed the Embassy\u2019s strong support for the initiative and\u00a0conveyed\u00a0her gratitude to the University of Cambridge for agreeing to implement this proposed project\u00a0in MMLL,\u201d the university said in the statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n Romanian has been taught at Cambridge in the past, notably during the 1960s when it was taught in the Department of Other Languages. Since then, there has been no continuous, faculty-led teaching of Romanian. Unlike previous initiatives, the new Lectorate expands beyond language instruction to cover Romanian culture, literature, film, and the arts.<\/p>\n Dr. \u0218tefania Costea, who completed her MPhil and PhD at Cambridge under Professor Adam Ledgeway, has been appointed as the new Lector. Her research focuses on the syntax of Daco-Romanian and language contact. In 2023, she received the Cambridge Student-Led Teaching Award for Small-Group Teaching in Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Lectorate aims to give Cambridge students and staff the chance to learn Romanian and to encounter Romania\u2019s culture, art, literature, and cinema,\u201d said Costea.<\/p>\n The program will offer beginner and intermediate open courses in Romanian during the Michaelmas and Lent terms, alongside seminars on Romanian language, film, literature, and contemporary arts. Moreover, a weekly \u201cRomanian Movie Night\u201d will showcase films reflecting the country\u2019s evolving society and culture.<\/p>\n Timetables and registration details will be published on the MMLL website in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n\n irina.marica@romania-insider.com<\/p>\n