Babel in Business: The Role of Language in International Business

My inaugural lecture at Middlesex University, Wednesday 13 April 2016

inaugural group picture

Like most countries, the UK has the tradition that newly appointed professors have to give an inaugural lecture to inform the outside world what they are "professing". Inaugural lectures in the UK are not as formal as in the Netherlands, where you write up and officially publish your inaugural. In the Netherlands, the lecture is also surrounded with much ceremony, often attended by hundreds of people, and held in the University's official auditorium.

Middlesex inaugural Wednesday 13 April 2016

My inaugural at Middlesex was held in a normal lecture theatre and the only people who dressed up in robes were me, the Vice-chancelor, and the Dean.

However, even though it was a fairly low-key event, it was still quite a special occasion and I was happy to share my research with my new colleagues. Many of my London-based collaborators and CYGNA members also attended.

A special thank-you to Markus Pudelko, who flew over specially from Germany and Thomas Hippler, who travelled from Colchester to attend. Sadly, it turned out to be one of the last times many of all saw Thomas in good health. See also A tribute to Thomas Hippler (1972-2018).

Want to know more?

The slides as well as an audio-recording of the lecture are online.

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Other Middlesex seminars

announcements middlesex language international business multinational companies hq-subsidiary relationships