Julie Dearden (Modern Languages, 1979)

Educationalist

After living in France for many years, I returned to England and to Hertford where I developed and directed the International Programmes for 13 incredibly busy years. With the then Bursar, Peter Baker, and subsequently with my wonderful ‘A’ team, we built up relationships with overseas universities starting with Japan, the USA and then with China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Hertford now welcomes Visiting Students and English Language students from 40 or so universities around the world. This internationalisation was fraught with challenges and yet brought with it new opportunities for our students: opportunities to engage with the world, opportunities similar to those which the college had given me as an undergraduate in Modern Languages so many years before!

My present work at Oxford University Department of Education continues this international theme: My new research centre investigates the growing phenomenon of English being used to teach other academic subjects in countries all over the world.  I have also recently created Oxford EMI training working with professors around the world- many of them women- training them how to teach classes of international students.

How wonderful to see all these women’s faces in Hall! What a change from 1979!