PhD Stage and Screen

Course summary

• Work closely with specialists across film, TV and performance studies.
• Learn in our specialist film studies facilities including a purpose-built film theatre, The Void.

Our research strengths in film and TV include American, British and Irish, East Asian, and European cinemas, adaptation, documentary, horror, and popular television; and in performance studies they include applied theatre, contemporary British playwriting, site-based performance, theatre historiography, ethnography and popular culture, performance philosophy, and the monologue. Several members of the team engage with practice-as-research methodologies, including screenwriting. This PhD degree is hosted in the College of Social Sciences and Arts Graduate School.

How you learn

We have a vibrant research culture and we value and support all our research students, who make a vital contribution to the intellectual life of the University. You will be part of our community of researchers in the Humanities, with the opportunity to attend and/or contribute to a range of discipline, college and University-wide seminars, workshops, training and conferences. We offer formal research training events and academic seminars as well as more informal workshops where you can practise delivering conference papers in a supportive environment. Funds are available to support you in attending conferences and we encourage you to deliver papers and publish your work.

We recognise that doctoral researchers arrive with a diversity of skills and experience. Therefore, we provide flexible training and development opportunities covering a range of research-related skills, including transferable skills, research ethics and integrity (mandatory), data management, teaching skills and career planning. Your development needs are identified and agreed with your supervisory team at the start of your degree, and reviewed and updated as appropriate.

Future careers

A research degree is an essential qualification for academic careers such as teaching Film in further and higher education. You will have the opportunity to develop a range of transferable skills which are applicable in related areas such as the film industry, film curatorship and preservation, the creative industries and beyond.