Left to right: Prof. Ioanna Sitaridou, Prof. John David Rhodes, HE Laura Popescu, and Dr. Ștefania Costea at the launch of the new Romanian Lectorate at the University of Cambridge.
The Faculty of Modern and Medieval Languages and Linguistics (MMLL) is delighted to announce the institution of a Romanian Lectorate at the University of Cambridge. The Lectorate will offer Open Courses in Romanian language and a programme of cultural events open to all members of the University.
In October 2025 the Romanian Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Her Excellency Laura Popescu, visited Cambridge and met with meet with MMLL Co-Chair Professor John David Rhodes and Professor Ioanna Sitaridou. Her Excellency expressed the Embassy’s strong support for the initiative and conveyed her gratitude to the University of Cambridge for agreeing to implement this proposed project in MMLL.
About the Lectorate
The Romanian Lectorate at Cambridge is fully funded by the Romanian state through the Institutul Limbii Române (ILR) and the Romanian Ministry of Education and Research. The Faculty gratefully acknowledges the ILR’s partnership and the support of its Director General, Professor Daiana Theodora Cuibus.
This development makes Cambridge the second UK university with an ILR-supported Romanian lectorate, alongside Oxford, whose lectorate was inaugurated in 2012.
Romanian at Cambridge — past and present
Romanian has been taught at Cambridge in the past, notably during the 1960s when it was taught in the erstwhile ‘Department of Other Languages’. Since then there has been no continuous, faculty-led teaching of Romanian until now. The new Lectorate therefore marks a significant expansion: for the first time, the instruction in Romanian at Cambridge extends beyond language to include culture, literature, film and the arts.
Meet the Lector: Dr Ștefania Costea
Dr Ștefania Costea completed both her MPhil (2019) and PhD (2024) at MMLL under the supervision of Professor Adam Ledgeway. Her research centres on the syntax of Daco-Romanian and language contact. In 2023, she received the Cambridge SU Student-Led Teaching Award for Small-Group Teaching (Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences), recognising the outstanding reception of her optional Romanian classes.
“The Lectorate aims to give Cambridge students and staff the chance to learn Romanian and to encounter Romania’s culture, art, literature and cinema,” says Dr Costea.
What’s on offer
- Open Courses in Romanian (Beginner & Intermediate). Weekly 2-hour classes during Michaelmas and Lent, with an optional conversation/consolidation hour each week.
- Romanian Seminars. Short lectures and discussions on Romanian language, film, literature, history and the contemporary arts.
- Romanian Movie Night. Weekly screenings offering a window onto Romanian society and culture across periods.
Courses are designed to be welcoming and accessible. While homework is not required, independent practice is encouraged and students receive individual feedback. Provision can be tailored where there is sufficient demand (e.g. advanced or one-to-one/online formats).
Timetables and sign-up details will be published on the MMLL website and circulated via Faculty channels.
Thanks and acknowledgements
The Faculty warmly thanks the Government of Romania, the Romanian Ministry of Education and Research and the Institutul Limbii Române for their generous support of Romanian at Cambridge. We also acknowledge Professor Adam Ledgeway, formerly of MMLL and now at the Università degli studi di Bergamo, for his longstanding advocacy of Romanian studies at Cambridge. In addition, we are grateful to the Romanian Ambassador Laura Popescu for supporting the idea of the Romanian Lectorate at Cambridge.
For questions about courses or events, please contact Dr Ștefania Costea: sc2078@cam.ac.uk.