Sophie V Ellis
@sophievellis.bsky.social
Researching radical hospitality and French visual culture | @newcastleuni.bsky.social | She/her/elle 💫
91,703 words, 380 pages and some minor formatting-induced breakdowns later, my PhD thesis is finally submitted!
Anticlimactic online submission aside, I could not be prouder.
Now for some well-earned repos à Marseille before preparations commence for my viva in November ... 🥳
Anticlimactic online submission aside, I could not be prouder.
Now for some well-earned repos à Marseille before preparations commence for my viva in November ... 🥳
October 9, 2025 at 12:59 PM
91,703 words, 380 pages and some minor formatting-induced breakdowns later, my PhD thesis is finally submitted!
Anticlimactic online submission aside, I could not be prouder.
Now for some well-earned repos à Marseille before preparations commence for my viva in November ... 🥳
Anticlimactic online submission aside, I could not be prouder.
Now for some well-earned repos à Marseille before preparations commence for my viva in November ... 🥳
An amazing time was had (as always) at #SFSBristol @frenchstudies.bsky.social ! As well as collecting my R Gapper Postgraduate Essay Prize, I got to see the fameux hot air balloons and sample some culture – scrumpy included 🎈
July 8, 2025 at 8:47 AM
An amazing time was had (as always) at #SFSBristol @frenchstudies.bsky.social ! As well as collecting my R Gapper Postgraduate Essay Prize, I got to see the fameux hot air balloons and sample some culture – scrumpy included 🎈
Voilà the visual impact case study that I was commissioned to make for Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art! It weaves together quantitative and qualitative data to map the impact of our wonderful exhibition, We all came here from somewhere, which drew in over 27,000 visitors 🤯
June 27, 2025 at 10:33 AM
Voilà the visual impact case study that I was commissioned to make for Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art! It weaves together quantitative and qualitative data to map the impact of our wonderful exhibition, We all came here from somewhere, which drew in over 27,000 visitors 🤯
Was so pleased to present our shortlisted project at the @newcastleuni.bsky.social #EngagementAwards2025. We may not have won (big congratulations, @astrofawcett.bsky.social 🥳) but co-curating this exhibition remains one of the highlights of my PhD and the jury's words had me brimming with pride:
April 25, 2025 at 5:53 PM
Was so pleased to present our shortlisted project at the @newcastleuni.bsky.social #EngagementAwards2025. We may not have won (big congratulations, @astrofawcett.bsky.social 🥳) but co-curating this exhibition remains one of the highlights of my PhD and the jury's words had me brimming with pride:
Today is the last day to see 'We all came here from somewhere', an exhibition of hospitable practice at @balticgateshead. Co-curating this has been the highlight of my PhD; i couldn't be prouder of what we have achieved !
April 27, 2025 at 10:28 AM
Today is the last day to see 'We all came here from somewhere', an exhibition of hospitable practice at @balticgateshead. Co-curating this has been the highlight of my PhD; i couldn't be prouder of what we have achieved !
Proud to see my latest article out in @MHRABooks Working Papers in the Humanities! In it, I consider the body (of work) as a site of (in)hospitality in the 'Agata' photobook to ask how we might engage more hospitably with the visual text and the marginalised bodies within it.
April 27, 2025 at 10:27 AM
Proud to see my latest article out in @MHRABooks Working Papers in the Humanities! In it, I consider the body (of work) as a site of (in)hospitality in the 'Agata' photobook to ask how we might engage more hospitably with the visual text and the marginalised bodies within it.
Some amazing coverage of our exhibition, We all came here from somewhere, that runs at @balticgateshead until 8th Feb 2025 🧵
April 27, 2025 at 10:27 AM
Some amazing coverage of our exhibition, We all came here from somewhere, that runs at @balticgateshead until 8th Feb 2025 🧵
Had a gorgeous time in Durham yesterday presenting my work on @olgakisseleva's contemporary still lifes at a Food Studies symposium. Was great to think about food as both a lens and methodology and I even got to speak Russian and chat about merguez ... a win-win !
April 27, 2025 at 10:27 AM
Had a gorgeous time in Durham yesterday presenting my work on @olgakisseleva's contemporary still lifes at a Food Studies symposium. Was great to think about food as both a lens and methodology and I even got to speak Russian and chat about merguez ... a win-win !
I was recently in Paris to review La Haine en comédie musicale immersive ! Novel use of media, an inspired BO, lots of fan service and an explicitly engaged (if at times twee) political through-line. Plus a surprise appearance by Kassovitz himself ! More thoughts to come ...
April 27, 2025 at 10:27 AM
I was recently in Paris to review La Haine en comédie musicale immersive ! Novel use of media, an inspired BO, lots of fan service and an explicitly engaged (if at times twee) political through-line. Plus a surprise appearance by Kassovitz himself ! More thoughts to come ...
I have been shortlisted to give a public lecture! If you like the look of my talk, which reflects on my co-curation of an exhibition all about welcome, I would be très reconnaissante for your vote:
ncl.ac.uk/events/noticeb…
ncl.ac.uk/events/noticeb…
April 27, 2025 at 10:27 AM
I have been shortlisted to give a public lecture! If you like the look of my talk, which reflects on my co-curation of an exhibition all about welcome, I would be très reconnaissante for your vote:
ncl.ac.uk/events/noticeb…
ncl.ac.uk/events/noticeb…
An inspiring morning meeting with our communities working group who are consulting on the exhibition I'm co-curating at @balticgateshead ! Here we are taking inspiration from @JoanneRCoates' 'Middle of Somewhere'. Details of said exhibition coming very soon ...
April 27, 2025 at 10:26 AM
An inspiring morning meeting with our communities working group who are consulting on the exhibition I'm co-curating at @balticgateshead ! Here we are taking inspiration from @JoanneRCoates' 'Middle of Somewhere'. Details of said exhibition coming very soon ...
Very surreal to see my first publication in print: a chapter in 'Dwelling: Cultural Representations of Inhabited Places', thoughtfully edited by @OKPetocz and Naomi Segal.
April 27, 2025 at 10:26 AM
Very surreal to see my first publication in print: a chapter in 'Dwelling: Cultural Representations of Inhabited Places', thoughtfully edited by @OKPetocz and Naomi Segal.
Had THE best time at #sfs2024 seeing old/new friends & being inspired by the wealth of research (& approaches to hospitality) in French Studies. Personal highlights: Lydie Moudileno's fabulous keynote, @Onedeepthinker's 'Je Suis la France' film & ceilidh-ing into the wee hours 💃
April 27, 2025 at 10:26 AM
Had THE best time at #sfs2024 seeing old/new friends & being inspired by the wealth of research (& approaches to hospitality) in French Studies. Personal highlights: Lydie Moudileno's fabulous keynote, @Onedeepthinker's 'Je Suis la France' film & ceilidh-ing into the wee hours 💃
I've been using my research to develop a 'Radical Hospitality Toolkit' for cultural institutions (see @balticgateshead excerpt below). Distilling something as vast as hospitality theory into tangible takeaways grounded in everyday practice has been my most useful project yet!
April 27, 2025 at 10:26 AM
I've been using my research to develop a 'Radical Hospitality Toolkit' for cultural institutions (see @balticgateshead excerpt below). Distilling something as vast as hospitality theory into tangible takeaways grounded in everyday practice has been my most useful project yet!
Today we took our monthly Language Café on the road with an open-top bus tour of Newcastle! A highlight of my time on the Communities Team so far 🫶 @balticgateshead
April 27, 2025 at 10:26 AM
Today we took our monthly Language Café on the road with an open-top bus tour of Newcastle! A highlight of my time on the Communities Team so far 🫶 @balticgateshead
Had the most gorgeous time celebrating #Nowruz today at @balticgateshead ! We danced, enjoyed a Persian feast and appreciated the beautiful Haft-Sin table 🪻
April 27, 2025 at 10:25 AM
Had the most gorgeous time celebrating #Nowruz today at @balticgateshead ! We danced, enjoyed a Persian feast and appreciated the beautiful Haft-Sin table 🪻
Amazing talk from @AsylumMatters today about using courage and creativity to campaign for asylum ahead of the general election 🧡 Urging those who can vote to do so on behalf of our refugee & asylum-seeking neighbours who can't.
April 27, 2025 at 10:25 AM
Amazing talk from @AsylumMatters today about using courage and creativity to campaign for asylum ahead of the general election 🧡 Urging those who can vote to do so on behalf of our refugee & asylum-seeking neighbours who can't.
A lovely end to the semester covering all things essay technique with my first years! We moved around stations exploring structure, secondary reading & embedding quotes (fuelled by Christmas chocolate ofcs) 🍫
April 27, 2025 at 10:25 AM
A lovely end to the semester covering all things essay technique with my first years! We moved around stations exploring structure, secondary reading & embedding quotes (fuelled by Christmas chocolate ofcs) 🍫
Taught my first undergrad seminar today ... on the first text I ever studied in French! #FullCircleMoment
April 27, 2025 at 10:24 AM
Taught my first undergrad seminar today ... on the first text I ever studied in French! #FullCircleMoment
Back from a writing retreat in the gorgeous Northumberland countryside which felt like a deep breath into myself and my work. Thank you @nbcdtp for the opportunity! 🍂
April 27, 2025 at 10:24 AM
Back from a writing retreat in the gorgeous Northumberland countryside which felt like a deep breath into myself and my work. Thank you @nbcdtp for the opportunity! 🍂
Unexpected surprise of my weekend in Romania: Bucharest's Parisian architecture (even the street signs are the same!) 🇫🇷🇷🇴
April 27, 2025 at 10:24 AM
Unexpected surprise of my weekend in Romania: Bucharest's Parisian architecture (even the street signs are the same!) 🇫🇷🇷🇴
Also got chance to squeeze in a lil visit to @ExploreWellcome exhibition on milk cultures ! Got a lot from the links it mapped between health, whiteness, nation-building and the (in)hospitable childbearing body. On til Sunday for any delegates still à Londres ! 🥛
April 27, 2025 at 10:24 AM
Also got chance to squeeze in a lil visit to @ExploreWellcome exhibition on milk cultures ! Got a lot from the links it mapped between health, whiteness, nation-building and the (in)hospitable childbearing body. On til Sunday for any delegates still à Londres ! 🥛
Had a great first day at #asmcf2023 presenting on horizontality & hospitality in Iván Argote's oeuvre. Grateful for all the insightful questions and conversations, roll on day 2 of exciting panels!
April 27, 2025 at 10:24 AM
Had a great first day at #asmcf2023 presenting on horizontality & hospitality in Iván Argote's oeuvre. Grateful for all the insightful questions and conversations, roll on day 2 of exciting panels!
Led the final salon of the semester today on the topic of 'sharing' (borrowing from Irigaray's 'Sharing the World'). Lots of reflection on neoliberal discouragement of sharing & how this manifests at university & planetary levels. Proud of the vibrant PG group this is becoming!🇪🇺
April 27, 2025 at 10:24 AM
Led the final salon of the semester today on the topic of 'sharing' (borrowing from Irigaray's 'Sharing the World'). Lots of reflection on neoliberal discouragement of sharing & how this manifests at university & planetary levels. Proud of the vibrant PG group this is becoming!🇪🇺