French (PhD / MPhil) - 2012/2013 entry

At PhD/MPhil level, we aim for students to make the transition into fully-fledged, independent academic researchers, with the skills necessary to present their research orally as well as in writing, in addition to pushing back the frontiers of knowledge. Such independence is achieved on the basis of a full appreciation of the hallmarks of good scholarship, such as original thought, the proper use of references and background material, appropriate use of methodology and accountable reporting procedures, and it is these priorities that we aim to impart to our students.

Once equipped with the generic and discipline-specific tools for carrying out research, you pursue your particular research interests, supported by regular meetings with your supervisor and attendance at PhD/MPhil seminars.

We are able to provide supervision in most aspects of French language, literature and culture, including: the Renaissance; classicism; the Enlightenment; literature from the eighteenth to the twenty-first century; travel literature; the fantastic; literature and the visual arts; literary criticism; gender studies; history of French thought; contemporary literature; French linguistics; bilingualism; French cinema; colonial and contemporary French history. Supervision in interdisciplinary subjects is also possible.

Find out more about studying French at Birkbeck.

We attract a large number of research students and hold regular PhD colloquia, research seminars and conferences at Birkbeck and other venues in the University of London. We also organise workshops in postgraduate research methods and presentation skills. Programmes are available on request and also on our website.

Regular contact is maintained with past postgraduate students, and new and current students are encouraged to discuss their research programme with former students as well as with staff.

As a research student, you will be given help to establish contacts in France with institutions such as Institut Mémoires de l'Édition Contemporaine in Paris, as well as with individual scholars.

Your supervisor will provide you with advice on your research and support on topics including:

• planning your thesis
• the nature of research and the standards expected
• the primary sources and secondary literature required to support the project
• research techniques (including arrangements for instruction where necessary)
• questions of originality, plagiarism and publication of research result.

For information about applying as a research student, read our Guide for Applicants.

• Andrew Asibong, BA, MA, PhD: Twentieth- and twenty-first-century French and francophone literature, film, critical theory and cultural studies.
• Jean Braybrook, MA, DPhil: Renaissance poetry and drama; Rémy Belleau; the epic; Montaigne; classicism.
• Agnes Calatayud, LèsL, MèsL, MA: Cinema and post-colonial studies.
• Damian Catani, MA, DPhil: Nineteenth- and twentieth-century literature; evil in modern French thought and literature; Mallarmé; Baudelaire; visual arts.
• Akane Kawakami, MA, MPhil, DPhil: Twentieth- and twenty-first century French literature; travel narratives; theories of photography.
• Ann Lewis, BA, MSt, PhD: Eighteenth-century literature and culture; text-and-image relations (especially illustration).
• Martin Shipway, MA, MPhil, DPhil: Contemporary history and politics; decolonisation.
• Nathalie Wourm, LèsL, MèsL, DPhil: New French writing; literature in mixed media; post-structuralist and anti-capitalist thought in contemporary literature.

The research proposal forms the core of the application to undertake an MPhil or PhD, as it is the main way in which we can assess you and your research ideas. A typical proposal should include the following sections and the questions you should consider, in the order indicated:

• Introduction
• Literature review
• Clear statement of research questions
• Methods
• Analysis
• Timetable.

The proposal should be 2000 words (not including references).

Introduction
This section is a broad setting of the scene for your research and can therefore be relatively short:

• What, in general, is the research about?
• Why, in general terms, is it academically important or interesting?
• What are the broad research questions your research is setting out to answer?

Literature review
This should be a substantial part of the proposal as it locates your proposed research in its theoretical and empirical context:

• What other research has been conducted which has directly or indirectly attempted to address your research questions?
• What is the theoretical basis of this research? How sound is this theoretical basis?
• How has theory developed in this field? Where is it heading?
• What methods have been used? What are the limitations of these methods?
• What are the unanswered questions in the field? How can your work make a contribution to the field? What is original about what you want to do?

• What are the questions you wish to address?
• Why are they important and interesting?
• How do they relate to the published literature discussed above?
• Are your questions answerable?

• What, in broad terms, are the data collection methods which are likely to be used?
• What types of data should be collected?
• How will this be done?
• What are the problems of collecting these types of data?
• How will access be gained to participants and organisations?
• What kind of design will be use?
• How many studies will be conducted, and why?
• In what ways do the methods and design answer your research questions?

• What, in general terms, will be done with the data you collect?
• What kinds of analytical techniques are you likely to use?
• What are their limitations?
• How will these analyses address and answer the research questions?

Timetable
While it is difficult to specify with certainty the course of the research, it is helpful to indicate how you see your work developing and the timescales involved. For full-time PhD students, the maximum period for completion under normal circumstances is four years. It is seven years for part-time students.

Please note: It is possible to undertake an entirely theoretical PhD. In this case, the structure of the proposal is likely to be different and should be discussed with the admissions tutor.

• Throughout the year for commencement in October or January.