Community, Youth and Voluntary Sector (PhD / MPhil) - 2012/2013 entry

A PhD/MPhil is an opportunity to undertake a major piece of research under the supervision of someone with academic expertise in your field. The Department of Social Policy and Education offers committed, enthusiastic and dynamic research-based teaching. Our approach is interdisciplinary and is designed to foster a creative environment for graduate research.

As a research student, you will be seeking to engage in critical debate and key issues of community, youth and voluntary sector studies. You will develop your skills as an independent and active learner, and apply your research skills with theoretical perspectives and understandings of community theory and practice and youth and voluntary sector studies. You will be immersed in an academically stimulating and challenging environment, with easy access to high-quality research resources.

There are several academic experts in these research subjects, and supervision is offered in a range of areas which relate to staff fields of expertise as below. Students initially enrol for an MPhil and will be encouraged by supervisors to upgrade to PhD status once their work is sufficiently advanced.

You will be able to attend relevant modules on the MSc Voluntary and and Community Sector Studies and other modules in social sciences, as well as seminars arranged in the School for research students.

The first programme has close links with the specialist independent research centre: Institute of Voluntary Action Research which is based at Birkbeck and conducts leading edge research in this field. Staff in the Voluntary and Community Sector Studies and Youth Studies teams have also established excellent links with professional organisations in their fields.

We also have international links with academic institutions in the USA and South Africa working collaboratively on issues concerning religion and race in public life.

We have a range of links with other departments, both in Birkbeck and at other universities, and arrangements for joint supervision according to your interests are therefore possible.

• Linda Milbourne, BA, MSc, PhD: Change in voluntary and community sector; effects of changing policies and institutions on roles and identities of young people; inter-agency working; social exclusion; social policy in theory and practice.
• William Ackah, BA, MA, PhD: Black and ethnic minority community and voluntary sector; political and cultural movements in the African diaspora; political and community engagement of Black churches; race equality-legislation and practice.
• Sarah Hale, BA, MA, DPhil: Communitarianism in theory and practice; local government; political communication, rhetoric and lying; the uses of political theory; the politics of community; training and development of local councillors.

• You can start studying in September or January.