Steven Wilson is Professor of French Studies and the Medical Humanities in the School of Arts, English and Languages, Subject Lead for French Studies and Director of the Global Cultures of Health and Illness Research Centre. He was first appointed to a Lectureship at Queen's in 2013, having previously taught at the Universities of Manchester, Exeter and Leicester. 

Situated at the interface of French Studies and the Critical Medical Humanities, his research explores the ways in which modern French literature and thought, from the nineteenth century onwards, inform and respond to healthcare crises and the end of life. His 2020 monograph, The Language of Disease: Writing Syphilis in Nineteenth-Century France, was described as demonstrating "the urgency of a truly critical, comparative, and multilingual medical humanities” (Review in French Studies).

Other recent publications include a book co-edited with Piotr Blumczynski, The Languages of COVID-19: Translational and Multilingual Perspectives on Global Healthcare (Routledge, 2023; open access here), described as “a key intervention” that makes “a compelling case that any holistic response to (public) health crises [...] requires a purposeful sensitivity to language" (Review in The Translator), 7 journal special issues and a 'Manifesto for a Multilingual Medical Humanities'. His forthcoming book, French Studies and the Medical Humanities: Critical Intersections, co-edited with Larry Duffy, is under contract to appear with Liverpool University Press in 2026.

Steven's research has been funded by the AHRC (Leadership Fellow), the British Academy, the MHRA and the Institute of Languages, Cultures and Societies (ILCS). He is a member of the Peer-Review College of the AHRC, the UKRI Future Leaders Fellowships (FLF) Scheme and the British Academy's Knowledge Frontiers Programme: International Interdisciplinary Research Projects. He is also an advisor to the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF). He collaborates in a range of international scholarly networks, including as a member of the Advisory Board of Loire Val-Health, an €11.8M research project based at the Université de Tours, and an external member of Maynooth University's Critical Medical Humanities Research Cluster (Arts and Humanities Institute). Having led multidisciplinary research projects across languages, cultures and societies, he is committed to public engagement on the importance of multilingualism and intercultural knowledge in global healthcare, including through policy work. 

Steven is President of the Association for the Study of Modern and Contemporary France (ASMCF) and in his third term as a member of the Editorial Board of Modern and Contemporary France, an internationally prominent peer-reviewed journal offering a multidisciplinary view of all aspects of France from 1789 to the present day. He has previously served as an elected member of the Executive Committee of the Society for French Studies (SFS), ADEFFI (Association des études françaises et francophones d'Irlande) and the Society of Dix-Neuviémistes (SDN).

Postgraduate Research Supervision

Steven Wilson is a highly experienced PhD supervisor, having supervised to successful completion doctoral theses by James Illingworth (2018; with Prof. Margaret Topping), Poppy Boyd (2018; with Dr Rosalind Silvester); Mathew Rickard (2020; with Dr Claire Moran); Helen McKelvey (2021; with Prof. Maeve McCusker); Rachael Stockdale (2021; with Dr Claire Moran); Jayne Duff (2022; with Dr Claire Moran); Jordan McCullough (2023; with Dr Rosalind Silvester); and Mark O'Rawe (2024; with Dr Dominique Jeannerod).

He is currently supervising 7 PhD theses and would be pleased to hear from anyone interested in pursuing postgraduate (MRes, PhD or postdoctoral) research in nineteenth-century French literature, especially as it engages with questions of medicine, gender and/or religion; or in intersections of literary studies (19th century to the present) with the Medical/Health Humanities.

Steven Wilson is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA), which recognises outstanding achievement in teaching,  enhancing the student learning experience and academic leadership. The recipient of a QUB Teaching Award in the student-nominated category and a QUB Students' Union Education Award for 'Best Feedback', he was also shortlisted for the 'Excellent Use of Feedback Award' at the Students' Union Education Awards in 2019 and nominated for a Staff Excellence Award in 2022 in the 'Delivering Excellence in your Support to Students' category. 

Steven has been an Invited Lecturer at the Oxford Medical Humanities Summer School and an MA programme on Medical Humanities at the University of St Gallen in Switzerland. He is an External Examiner at the Universities of Birmingham (UG French), Lancaster (UG French; MLang Modern Languages & Cultures; MA Translation; MA by Research: Languages & Cultures) and Liverpool (MSc Global Healthcare), and was previously Director of Education in the School of Arts, English and Languages at Queen's (2021-24). 

Contact Details

Office: 10 University Square, Room 301

Tel: +0044 (0)28 9097 1401

[email protected]

Student Consultation and Feedback Hours: Tuesdays 1-3pm (in my office or via MS Teams).