Arts Faculty Research

Arts researchResearchers work on both individual projects, typically geared toward the production of monographs, articles and other scholarly publications, and in collaborative, interdisciplinary teams whose outputs include major electronic resources, performances, and public installations. The Humanities Research Centre plays a significant role in supporting interdisciplinary research in the Faculty.

Our research falls primarily within four broad areas which cross disciplinary and departmental lines. We have expertise in a wide range of research specialisms and further information about these can be accessed through departments and research centres.

Faculty Research Themes

Historical Cultures

The Faculty has substantial expertise in early modern history, 18th-century cultures, modern British and European history and the history of the Euro-American empires. Our chronological reach encompasses ancient Greece, the Roman Empire and early medieval cultures. The Faculty also has significant strength in Renaissance studies and in the histories of modern France, Germany and Italy. We carry out cutting-edge research on memory and survival.

Literary Cultures

The Faculty has extensive research expertise in the literature published in the main European languages. We are a major base for research in English literature, especially comparative literature. Staff expertise extends to the literature of the Medieval and Early Modern periods together with the 18th to 20th centuries (including the Romantic Period) and literature and gender. Our experts also specialise in Neo-Latin and French literature of the early modern period, 18th- and 19th- century literature and modern French literature; in German literature of the 18th and 19th centuries and modern German literature between 1918 and 1945; in Dante and early Renaissance literature and the modern novel; in the literature of the Americas; and in translation studies.

Performance Cultures

Cultural expression in theatre, dance and the arts represents an area of substantial research expertise in the Faculty. We have particular strengths in contemporary and modern theatre and performance studies, including the history of dance, theatre history and historiography, and theatre and performance theory.

Visual Cultures

Our expertise and interest in visual culture are significant and expanding. In chronological range, this research area extends from the ancient world to the present with particular interests including the receptions of visual images in the Greek literature of the Roman Empire and the representation of Greek mythology in Roman art. Visual cultures of the Renaissance period are prominent in the research of members of several departments as are film and the cinema.