Professor Adam Watt

I am Deputy Pro-Vice-Chancellor (DPVC) for the Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences. Prior to this I was Associate Dean for Research and Impact for the College of Humanities (2021-22), Head of Modern Languages and Cultures (2018-21) and Director of Research for the department (2014-18).

As DPVC I have oversight and line-management responsibilty for the Law School, the School of Education, Humanities and Social Sciences Cornwall, Languages, Cultures & Visual Studies, and Classics, Ancient History, Religion and Theology. I co-chair our Faculty Wellbeing, Inclusion & Culture Board and chair the University Arts & Culture Board and Assurance Group. I also sit on the Board of the Bill Douglas Cinema Museum.

Since 2022 I have been a trustee on the Board of Exeter UNESCO City of Literature (ExCoL): see https://www.exetercityofliterature.com/about-who-we-are. Part of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network, ExeterCoL works to increase literary and storytelling activity across Devon, engaging organisations and people in the region’s literary life, and sharing Exeter and Devon’s stories with the world.

I am currently honorary secretary of the Association of University Professors and Heads of French (AUPHF+) and am a member of the French Studies Editorial Board.

Biography:

I was born and schooled in Edinburgh and studied for my undergraduate and postgraduate degrees at the University of Oxford. I was awarded my BA in French and Spanish (First Class) in 2001. My doctorate, completed as a Senior Scholar at Christ Church and awarded in 2005, was supervised by the late Professor Malcolm Bowie. Prior to my appointment at Exeter I taught at Trinity College, Dublin (2005-2006) and Royal Holloway, University of London (2006-2012). I came to Exeter as Associate Professor in September 2012 and was promoted to a personal chair in December 2016. I was appointed Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts in 2022.

Research supervision:

I am delighted to hear from individuals wishing to pursue postgraduate study in the following areas:

• the life and works of Marcel Proust (from a French or Comparative Literary perspective)
• topics relating to nineteenth- and twentieth-century French poetry (in particular Mallarmé, Valéry, Leiris, Beckett, Bonnefoy)
• the novel in French, especially from the late nineteenth to the early twentieth century
• literary modernism, especially comparative topics
• topics relating to translation and French literary writing from the late 19th century to the present