The School of English has a strong international reputation and global perspective, apparent both in the background of its staff and in the diversity of our teaching and research interests. Our expertise ranges from the medieval to the postmodern, including British, American and Irish literature, postcolonial writing, 18th-century studies, Shakespeare, early modern literature and culture, Victorian studies, modern poetry, critical theory and cultural history. The international standing of the School ensures that we have a lively, confident research culture, sustained by a vibrant, ambitious intellectual community. We also count a number of distinguished creative writers among our staff, and we actively explore crossovers between critical and creative writing in all our areas of teaching and research.
Staff supervise research in most areas of English and associated studies, and have particular expertise in theory, modernism and postmodernism, 18th and 19th-century studies, women's writing, literature and visual arts, Shakespeare and the Renaissance, early modern literature and culture, medieval studies, American literature, postcolonial literature and modern poetry. We have several research centres and clusters, many cross-disciplinary.
As a research student, you meet regularly with your supervisor, and have the opportunity to take part in informal reading groups and research seminars to which students, staff and visiting speakers contribute papers. You also benefit from a series of research skills seminars that run in the spring term, which gives you a chance to share the research expertise of staff and postdoctoral members of the department.
The School of English invites applications for PhD scholarships to commence in September 2020. These include a share of 75 AHRC scholarships offered by CHASE, the Consortium for the Humanities and the Arts South-East England, and 100 University of Kent Vice Chancellor's Research Scholarships.
The Research Excellence Framework 2014 produced very strong results for the School of English. With 74% of our work graded as world-leading or internationally excellent, the School is ranked 10th out of 89 English Departments in terms of Research Intensity. The School also received an outstanding assessment of the quality of its research environment and public impact work. In a highly competitive subject area, these results have strongly reinforced the position of the School as one of the leading English departments in the country.
Funding information
The University has a £12m Postgraduate Scholarship Fund which includes awards from the UK Research Councils such as AHRC. For details of the funding and scholarships we offer, please use the Find a Scholarship tool on our Postgraduate Scholarships and Funding page.
Continue with Facebook
