PhD Black Studies
Course Overview
The PhD in Black Studies offers a unique, interdisciplinary research environment for the advanced study of Black lives, cultures, and politics across the North American and transatlantic diaspora. As the only programme of its kind in Europe, it is dedicated to critical reflection and is particularly relevant to contemporary debates on curriculum and the Black experience in the UK and beyond. Students are supported by expert supervision and a vibrant academic community to produce an original thesis of up to 100,000 words.
Key Program Highlights
- Europe's only dedicated PhD programme in Black Studies, fostering a unique interdisciplinary research community.
- Close alignment with leading research centres, including the Centre for Black Studies and the Centre for Research in Race and Rights.
- Active, supportive student community with weekly work-in-progress seminars for continuous feedback and development.
- Opportunities for teaching, research assistance, conference organization, and public engagement activities.
- Strong track record of graduates publishing their theses as books with major international academic presses.
Course Overview
The PhD in Black Studies offers a unique, interdisciplinary research environment for the advanced study of Black lives, cultures, and politics across the North American and transatlantic diaspora. As the only programme of its kind in Europe, it is dedicated to critical reflection and is particularly relevant to contemporary debates on curriculum and the Black experience in the UK and beyond. Students are supported by expert supervision and a vibrant academic community to produce an original thesis of up to 100,000 words.
Key Program Highlights
- Europe's only dedicated PhD programme in Black Studies, fostering a unique interdisciplinary research community.
- Close alignment with leading research centres, including the Centre for Black Studies and the Centre for Research in Race and Rights.
- Active, supportive student community with weekly work-in-progress seminars for continuous feedback and development.
- Opportunities for teaching, research assistance, conference organization, and public engagement activities.
- Strong track record of graduates publishing their theses as books with major international academic presses.
Requirements
Modules
- You will complete a written thesis of up to 100,000 words. The topic will be agreed with your supervisors (usually two co-supervisors). You also take a verbal examination (viva voce) at the end of your thesis, where you explain your project in depth to an examination panel.
- As part of this course, you will attend research training sessions and weekly graduate work-in-progress seminars.
- The work-in-progress sessions are led by the research student community. They are an opportunity for everyone to present their ongoing research to their peers, supervisors and invited members of academic staff and research students. The idea is that you receive feedback and support from this community.
- Research areas
- By its very nature, the Black Studies PhD can cover a wide range of topics and disciplines connected to the study of the lives and cultures of Black people. These might include questions of racial systems, class formation, identity, creative expression, political futures, gender, sexuality and sexual expression, resistance, and popular culture.
- Recent Black Studies PhD topics
- Afrofuturism
- Black communities and environmental justice
- Digital blackness
- Community organising and archives
- Black musicians in the 'Early Modern'
- Blackness and mental health work
