Research
The Department of English & History has a distinct and thriving research culture. Staff are active in research in Language and Linguistics, Literature, Writing, History and Film Studies, publishing books and articles, and working on research projects which underpin our curricula and ensure that what you are learning is up to date.
In the last national Research Assessment Exercise (2008), the Department achieved strong quality profiles in both English Language and Literature and History; we are currently preparing a greatly expanded submission to the Research Excellence Framework (2014). English & History staff have been successful in winning national research awards from bodies such as The British Academy, The Arts and Humanities Research Council and The Leverhulme Trust.
The Department offers two taught MA programme: the MA Creative Writing develops the writing of all the major literary genres, taught in a supportive workshop environment; the MA Humanities is an inter-disciplinary programme with named awards in English, History and Culture, and Popular Culture. There are also opportunities to study for a Masters by Research, with degrees of MRes. in English Language and Linguistics, English Literature, Film Studies, History, and Humanities. The Department also has a growing community of postgraduate research students, working on MPhil. and PhD projects; we welcome enquiries about postgraduate research in all of our major subject areas, and students are encouraged to consult the research interests in our individual staff profiles.
Some Areas of Academic Interest
- Creative Writing: linguistically innovative poetry; poetics; short fiction; poetry in translation; stage drama
- English Language: history of English; literary stylistics; modern English structure and usage; regional variation; language and gender; phonetics; sociolinguistics; language contact; historical linguistics; intercultural communication
- English Literature: the ‘long eighteenth century’; Romanticism; Gothic; Victorian studies; British drama since 1950; contemporary fiction; medieval literature; Renaissance literature; women’s writing; feminisms, masculinities, gender studies; postcolonial studies; contemporary popular culture
- Film Studies: genre and auteur studies; combat films; British disaster fiction; Japanese cinema; science fiction; fantasy; adaptation studies
- History: history of crime and punishment; poverty and popular protest; labour movements; imperialism; black American leadership and protest; modern French history; historiography and the philosophy of history; history of medical and psychological science; race and ethnicity