PhD English

The Department of English conducts research in all the main branches of our discipline: literature, language, and creative writing. We aim to support world-leading work in all three areas and to foster and develop strategic partnerships, particularly with local and national cultural organisations, to reach those who can benefit from our research.

Overview

The Department of English has an outstanding international reputation. Students benefit from strong research-led teaching covering a wide range of literary, linguistic and applied linguistic fields, which equips students with the critical and communication skills and the capacity for adaptable intelligence which are in demand in all areas of modern life.

Our world-leading expertise in English and related literature spans all periods from medieval to contemporary. We also have expertise in many aspects of language study including sociolinguistics, pragmatics, stylistics, philosophy of language, discourse analysis and applied linguistics. Our creative writing degrees are supervised by published and award winning writers with particular expertise in critical and creative writing, especially in the area of poetry and/or poetics, and international poetics in translation. There is also the possibility of students sharing their time between the University of Liverpool and Paris-Diderot University and receiving a dual award.