Study at Cardiff | Postgraduate

Critical and Cultural Theory (PhD/MPhil)

Programme Aims

To offer knowledge and expertise to take you on to a role in Higher Education, or employment requiring high-level skills in research or advanced subject knowledge.

Special Features

• Opportunities for teaching on the undergraduate Cultural Criticism degree. PhD students have the opportunity to enrol on the School’s HEA-accredited M-level “Learning to Teach” module.
• A research programme that is both successful and rewarding.
• Continuing PhD students attend a weekly Reading Group and skills training sessions, as well as a Research Seminar and a postgraduate-led discussion group.
• A programme of research seminars with visiting speakers.
• A dynamic interdisciplinary research culture with a variety of research seminar series running throughout the academic year.
• Full-time PhD students are allocated study spaces with computing facilities, networked information and access to email and the Internet.
• The School makes funding available each year for PGR students who wish to attend conferences/undertake library or archive visits in order to assist with their PhD studies.

Programme Description

The School provides training and a high level of support, and the postgraduate community contributes substantially to the University's international reputation for research.

We offer a full range of expertise, but the following areas are of particular strength:

• Poststructuraliam
• Cultural history and politics
• Politics of gender
• Postmodernity
• Politics of race and colonialism
• Psychoanalytic theory
• Posthumanism
• Visual Theory
• Irish Studies
• Deconstruction

More information about staff and their research areas can be found on the School's website.

A list of current and recent PhD topics undertaken within the School is also available.

Career Prospects

In 2010, 73% of postgraduates in the School were in a form of employment within six months of graduation while 20% were engaged in further study.

Entry Requirements

Suitable for graduates in Humanities and Social Sciences. A First or Second class UK honours degree, or equivalent is required.

Students who have not completed an MA or a research training methods course normally follow the first two terms of the taught MA while reading for their PhD thesis.

As well as the application form, the research proposal and supporting documents, we also require two sample essays of about 2000 words in English written by you on any literary topic of your choice (something that you have previously submitted for your master’s degree, for instance).

Note: International students pursuing part-time programmes of study are not eligible for Tier 4 General Student) visas and must have alternative leave to remain in the UK if they intend to study at the University in person.

Funding Information

For the full range of funding possibilities on offer, see our Postgraduate Funding Opportunities page.

Next intake: The University has four entry points for research degrees; 1st October, 1st January, 1st April or 1st July

More information

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