PhD Humanities

What is Humanities MA by Research, PhD?

Research degrees in the Humanities offer you a multitude of opportunities depending on your discipline, interests, and experience. The University of Gloucestershire offers research degree options in five main areas, but also welcomes students who want to work across disciplines.

History:

Offers research opportunities in early modern, modern and contemporary Britain, American and African American history, Russian and Soviet history. A wide variety of topics can be supported: e.g. women and gender relations, domestic, social and cultural policy, popular movements, music, diplomacy, foreign policy and international relations, militarism, warfare and trauma, migration, and local history.

Creative Writing:

The team has specialisms in the writing of poetry, plays, short-stories, novels and novellas, and in the creative process, creative writing pedagogy, language and style, writing and cognition. There are also opportunities for interdisciplinary work with English Language and Literature, Fine Art or Performance.

English:

Opportunities for research in English cover Language and Literature as well as interdisciplinary projects. While our expertise is broad, we particularly welcome applications in: Romantic and Nineteenth-century and North American literature; Thomas Hardy; Crime Fiction; Children’s Literature; Women’s Writing; postcolonial and black British literature; nature writing; Ecolinguistics; Discourse Analysis; Language Variation; Sociolinguistics and Dialectology.

Philosophy and Ethics:

The underlying ethos is that philosophy is transformational and practical, and is a living tradition of engagement with the wider world. We offer research opportunities in continental philosophy, Buddhist philosophy, Islamic philosophy, and the philosophy of religion and aesthetics.

Theology and Religious Studies

This area has an established pedigree of wide-ranging research with students in UK and international contexts. We have special interests in: social scientific approaches to biblical studies; the socio-political use of biblical texts; New Testament theology; Islamic political philosophy; Buddhism; and the study of Religious Diasporas.

Study style

The Humanities subject community offers a stimulating and supportive intellectual environment, consisting of a diverse culture of specialist and interdisciplinary postgraduate research. You’ll benefit from working with a team of research-active and industry-connected supervisors, as well as being part of a research community. Working closely with your supervisors, you will shape a research project which is current and cutting edge in your discipline.

Possible careers

Research in the Humanities provides a myriad of critical, creative, and communication skills which can are valuable in a wide range of contexts. Some of our graduates go on to roles in publishing, management, the Civil Service, and the third sector, as well to academic and writing roles.