German Literature – (Ph.D.)

Contents

As well as the two MA programmes, we also offer supervision towards an M.Phil and/or PhD in German (on either a full- or a part-time basis). In particular, we can offer co-supervision with leading German universities, allowing PhD candidates to spend a year in Germany as part of their progamme of research.

Staff research interests include the Age of Goethe, the Faust Legend, German Linguistics, and 20th-century literature, especially Rilke, Kafka, Mann, Hesse, Grass, and W.G. Sebald. Other areas of specialism within the School include the European avant-garde; modernism and postmodernism; cross-cultural transmission; translation theory; literary theory and aesthetics; Jewish writing; and literature and fundamentalism.

We have excellent reseach facilities and good library resources in German and in the other languages taught at Kent: French, Italian, Spanish, Catalan, as well as in classical Greek and Latin.

Faculty

German is a language of great cultural and commercial importance. Within Europe, it is spoken by more people than English or French. A fluent command of German, combined with a knowledge of the cultural development of the German-speaking world, is a prerequisite to career opportunities in many parts of the continent - German graduates rank among the most employable of all university-leavers. As the first post-war Chancellor of Germany, Konrad Adenauer, famously stated: 'If I want to sell something, I'll speak your language; if I want to buy something, you'll speak mine'.

The German Section at the University of Kent is an important part of the School of European Culture and Languages. It comprises friendly, approachable staff with a range of specialist interests, from language teaching to the fields of literary studies and linguistics. Class sizes are deliberately kept small; whilst we encourage students to become independent learners, we also place great importance on contact time, feedback and student support.

Along with the other European language sections, German is housed in the Cornwallis Building, a purpose-built modern edifice at the heart of this attractive campus, next door to the Gulbenkian Theatre and coffee shop, one minute's walk from the well-stocked University Library and within easy reach of the rest of the campus. The building is provided with comfortable seminar rooms and excellent computing and audio-visual facilities.