The Contemporary Novel: Practice As Research – (Ph.D.)

Contents

Location: Canterbury
Attendance: MA one year full-time or two years part-time, MPhil two years full-time or three years part-time, PhD three years full-time or five years part-time.
Start: At any time but preferably in September.

Staff supervise research in most areas of English and associated

* theory
* modernism and postmodernism
* the 19th century
* women's writing
* literature and visual arts
* enlightenment
* Shakespeare and the renaissance
* early modern literature
* medieval studies
* American literature
* postcolonial literature and theory
* modern poetry

As a research student you meet regularly with your supervisor, and have the opportunity to take part in informal reading groups and research seminars to which students, staff and visiting speakers contribute papers. In many cases, these papers-in-progress have led to significant publications for research students and staff in the School.

Research registration and upgrading
Research students in English and in Postcolonial Studies normally initially register for the research MA or the MPhil, with the possibility of upgrading to PhD at the end of the first year of registration. During the first year you have training in research methods and practice, while also receiving individual supervision from a specialist in your field. At the end of the year, to apply for upgrading, you submit 10,000 words of your research to date and a revised doctoral proposal for assessment and interview by a panel of qualified staff. This forms an annual monitoring procedure for all postgraduates.

Faculty

Why choose English at Kent?

We couldn't think of just five ...

1. Our students find jobs. 93% of our students graduating in 2008 had found employment or went onto further study within 6 months of leaving Kent. Our modules teach key skills and attributes to equip students with the tools they need to conduct research, solve problems, communicate effectively and transfer skills to the workplace.
2. Our students are happy with their degree. We achieved a very high rating of 90% in the last National Student Survey and we are aiming higher next time.
3. Excellent international opportunities to study abroad. All students can choose to take the year abroad option with their degree. The year abroad can be spent in one of our 10 EU destinations or one of our 16 US destinations.
4. Our curriculum is broad – we offer courses ranging from Chaucer to David Mitchell (Mitchell also did his English degree with us, Chaucer did not)
5. You can tailor your degree to suit your interests because of the research strength of our staff. In the last research-quality assessment our staff came 18th out of 87 departments submitted; a tremendous achievement. This level of research excellence is reflected in the enormous range and quality of the modules that they are able to offer incoming students.
6. Our department’s creative work is internationally recognised: they have been nominated for the Booker Prize, and The Orange Prize. We also have a John Llewellyn Rhys prizewinner and a Time Out ‘Book of the Year’ writer.
7. English at Kent provides a supportive and high quality student experience. The University was ranked 15th in the UK in the 2010 Times Higher Education UK Student Experience Survey, this reflects the quality of experience we aim to provide. Our excellent pastoral care system ensures that our students are supported throughout their entire student experience.
8. Our students write for the University newspaper, for the Creative Writing Society, for the English Society and for any number of the competitions run annually on the campus or locally
9. You will probably do better than you expect to do. In the Guardian University Guide for 2011 we scored 8/10 for value added. This is the score they give that compares students’ final degree results with their entry qualifications – the highest score they give is 9.
10. We are located in a beautiful and self-contained campus which overlooks the city of Canterbury with excellent transport links to London and mainland Europe and a variety of bars, shops and even a nightclub.
11. 1-2-1 essay feedback. We pride ourselves on giving one-to-one feedback on coursework essays submitted during term-time.