Course overview

This postgraduate degree takes a philosophical and historical approach to critical and cultural theory, offering an in-depth study of major paradigms of cultural analysis, which focus on themes of commodification, language, and subjectivity. The degree is necessarily interdisciplinary and leads to a wide spectrum of applications and opportunities.

We draw upon the major traditions of cultural theory, including semiology, feminism and gender theory, psychoanalysis, deconstruction, and Frankfurt School theories of the aesthetic, the media and technology. Other important critical references are postcolonial and critical race theory, as well as posthumanism and ecocriticism.

Alongside this exposure to a range of critical paradigms, you will develop your skills in close analysis: your ability to identify and unpack the key elements of a critical work or cultural artefact. This attention to the ‘textuality’ of these various texts, broadly defined, constitutes a crucial link between theory and practice, such that the line between critical and creative cultural practice is no longer determinative.

Career opportunities

You'll develop your critical and cultural awareness and expand your subject knowledge in theories and histories of culture. In addition, you will graduate with sophisticated research, analytical, critical and communication skills that will put you in a good position to succeed in a variety of careers.

Many of our graduates have also continued with their research at PhD level and secured external funding to support them – including AHRC scholarships. A significant number of our former research students are also now developing academic careers in the UK, Europe, Asia, USA and Australia.

In addition to those pursuing careers in academia, our graduates have careers across a broad range of critical and creative domains, including journalism, publishing, the creative industries and arts marketing, public relations, university administration and teaching, as well as working as curators and education staff in museums and galleries.