Our research

Birkbeck is a world-class research and teaching institution and a vibrant centre of academic excellence.

Internationally respected research

The Department of English and Humanities achieved notable success in the 2008 national Research Assessment Exercise, with 90% of our research being deemed of ‘quality that is recognised internationally in terms of originality, significance and rigour’, 35% of which was declared to be ‘world-leading’.

Although we continue to research and teach (at all levels) English literature and culture - from Old English and Old Norse, through Medieval and Renaissance, eighteenth-century and nineteenth-century studies, to Modernism and Contemporary culture, as well as postcolonial studies, cultural studies and critical theory - we are expanding in other fields, in particular the areas of theatre studies and creative writing.

About our research interests and activities...

• Our staff research interests
• Our staff pages
• Research projects
• Research specialisms
• Conferences, seminars, workshops and lectures

Research centres / groups

Many of our research initiatives are associated with various research centres. All are designed to provide a forum for staff and postgraduate students to collaborate on conferences and seminars relating to their specialist research interests:

Birkbeck Centre for Contemporary Theatre

• Our new Centre for Contemporary Theatre was established by Birkbeck’s Theatre Studies staff - Rob Swain, Dr Aoife Monks, Dr Helen Freshwater, Professor Michael Dobson and Andrew McKinnon – in 2008.
• The Centre provides a forum for debate and collaboration between leading theatre practitioners and leading academics about the nature, function and future of theatre in the contemporary world.

Centre for Nineteenth-Century Studies

• Founded in 1996, the Centre for Nineteenth-Century Studies at Birkbeck focuses both on the work of academic staff and the research of graduate students, bringing together a range of interests that form a context for graduate teaching.

Eighteenth-Century Research Group

• The Birkbeck Eighteenth-Century Research Group brings together researchers across a number of Departments at Birkbeck to consolidate forms of collaboration and foster dialogue across disciplinary specialisations.