Research training
All postgraduates within the Department are provided with comprehensive research training in areas such as research skills (including information about working in libraries and archives, and using information technology), disciplinarity, methodology, current scholarly debates, and (most importantly) the development of a cogent research project. Training is delivered in the form of master classes, workshops, seminars, colloquia, tutorials, and extensive extra-mural instruction.
We provide two main schemes:
Masters research training
Each MA programme has been carefully designed to serve as the foundation for undertaking further research in the field towards a PhD. Our programmes are fully compatible with the Arts and Humanities Research Council's increased emphasis on ‘research preparation’ in its award scheme for MA courses.
In the first semester of your MA you will complete the module:
Students on the MA in Renaissance and Early Modern Studies will take:
In addition, you will take a specialist compulsory research module:
For MA in Writing in the Modern Age:
For MA in Writing and Society 1700-1820:
For MA in Renaissance and Early Modern Studies:
PhD research training
The Department runs a series of workshops on research methods and resources for new PhD students. These cover core research skills such as using electronic resources; record-keeping and bibliography; methodological issues relating to interdisciplinary research; theory; and practice-based research. The individual sessions are led by academic staff within the Department, giving students the opportunity to learn from and put questions to a range of experienced researchers within their field.
In addition to these introductory sessions, students are encouraged to attend workshops organised by the Humanities and Social Sciences Graduate School. Previous topics for these workshops have included ‘Preparing for Year Two’, ‘Publishing in the Humanities’, and ‘Beginning an Academic Career’.
The Educational and Staff Development Department at Queen Mary also has a varied and wide-ranging training programme aimed specifically at PhD students. Details of the courses they run can be found on the Educational and Staff Development website [new window].
New students will be guided towards the training that relates most closely to their project and career aims by their supervisors and by the head of Graduate Studies.