Arts and Humanities (PhD / MPhil) - 2012/2013 entry

This new programme in interdisciplinary arts and humanities supports research projects across disciplines or media or in practice-based research. Your original research project will be supported by new research and thinking on how to historicise, bridge, and transcend the disciplines. You will work under the supervision of two scholars from different departments in the School of Arts.

The School of Arts is a centre of international and world leading research, from Old Icelandic to the Post-colonial novel, from Medieval graffiti to the haunted gallery, from cultural memory to literature and film post-9/11, from performance to photography and digital aesthetics.

You will join a unique and innovative interdisciplinary graduate community working in literatures, languages, media and art historical studies, where new kinds of scholarship take their place in a larger academic conversation about cross-cultural transfer, cultural comparison, and interdisciplinary interpretation.

Birkbeck is at the geographical centre of London’s research complex, a short distance from the British Library, the University of London Library, the Warburg Institute, the Institute of Historical Research and the Wellcome Collection. The National Archives are easily accessible. We are also at the heart of Museum mile and within walking distance of the theatre district. For further details, see the relevant entries under the various departments in the School of Arts.

In Year 1, MPhil students take a programme of lectures, critical theory seminars, and interlocking research skills and methodologies classes on critical disciplinarity. You will be thinking about how to frame your research questions, what happens when your research object subverts your disciplinary boundaries, and how they might be seen differently through alternative or historical divisions of knowledge. From Year 2, you will take part in research in progress workshops and a range of other activities, including conferences, student-led seminars and reading groups.

Each student is assigned two co-supervisors drawn from different departments in the School of Arts. This programme supports PhDs in comparative studies (e.g. French and English literatures, Japanese and American film), multidisciplinary studies (e.g. English film and literature; photography and book history), and theoretical approaches that cut across disciplines (e.g. cultural studies), and practice-based research.

If your thesis involves studio-based, audio-visual or technological research it may include a portfolio, exhibition or other audio-visual display. This must be original work exemplifying and locating the ideas which are developed in conjunction with the written part of the thesis.

The School of Arts provision is complemented by the work of the Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities, and by interdisciplinary activities in the school  – see our thriving postgraduate community.

Research students who have upgraded to PhD status may have the opportunity of teaching on undergraduate courses appropriate to their areas. This is subject to financial and other limits, and we try to spread the available hours among as many applicants as is feasible. Research students who have progressed satisfactorily with their study can apply annually and will be put on a list of available teachers, subject to a satisfactory interview with the graduate teaching panel.

During the spring term, we offer a course on teaching arts in higher education; only those research students who have attended are eligible for teaching positions in the School.

The MPhil thesis is not more than 60,000 words; the PhD thesis is not more than 100,000 words. Both the MPhil and the PhD are assessed by a viva voce examination. The thesis requirements for a practice-based project vary according to the nature of the research and can be discussed with the admissions tutors.

The School of Arts offers committed, enthusiastic and dynamic research- based teaching, with a constantly evolving curriculum sensitive to developments in contemporary culture.

We actively foster the creation of a graduate intellectual community and our students’ professional development. A large number of our recent PhDs have successfully obtained permanent academic posts in leading universities in Britain, the United States and other countries. We have an excellent record in securing postgraduate studentships from the major funding bodies, and are able to offer a substantial number of studentships through the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Block Grant Scheme.

Students admitted to the programme will have two co-supervisors from different departments in the School of Arts. Contributing departments are those of English and Humanities, History of Art and Screen Media, European Cultures and Languages, Iberian and Latin American Studies, and Media and Cultural Studies. You may suggest potential supervisors on your application, but the admissions tutors will also endeavor to find suitable supervision.

• You can apply at any time.
• Students who wish to be considered for AHRC and other funding need to apply by the end of January 2012 for entry in October 2012.