German Research

Our current research students work mainly in literary studies from the Reformation to the present day; film and cinema studies; theatre studies; literary and cultural theory; and the history of ideas. In the field of literary and cultural studies, applications are further welcome from students with interests in the study of nation, identity and memory; gender; realism and modernism; the classical tradition; and comparative literature. The Department's links with European Studies also provide an important focus for research on migrant communities; post-1945 political movements; gender and politics; international relations; European identities and German history.

Joint PhDs available: Exciting opportunities to gain a joint PhD with the University of Stuttgart/Universite Paris-Sorbonne (Paris IV)/Humboldt University Berlin.

Research seminars, at which students and staff present papers for discussion are organised by the department; students also have access to the facilities of the Institute of Germanic and Romance Studies.

The department organises individual training for graduate students, tailored to their specific needs. Students also attend the relevant research training workshops offered by the School of Arts & Humanities, the Graduate School, and the Institute of Germanic and Romance Studies.

The Joint-PhD is an innovative integrated programme that offers unique opportunities for the very best PhD supervision in a pan-European context. The programmes offered provide candidates with the opportunity to divide their PhD study between two prestigious universities (King’s, Humboldt University Berlin, University of Paris Sorbonne, and the University of Stuttgart), enjoying full supervision at both. While supervisions and regular graduate seminars enable students to construct a theoretical, historical and systematic framework for their research, the Joint-PhD also organizes international colloquia and workshops at which students can present and discuss their work with peers and academic staff across the institutions involved. The programme builds on an extensive network of existing institutional links, joint teaching experience and collaborative graduate programmes between King’s and the partners universities.

Applications are welcome from across the field of German Studies, including Comparative Studies with a substantial German element. For projects involving the University of Stuttgart and the University of Paris Sorbonne, applications are particularly welcomed from projects that address the theme “The Internationalization of Literature, Science and Knowledge since the Early Modern Period”, especially those that aim to develop theoretical models for processes of internationalization and critically assess historical case studies of this phenomenon, including the role of exchange movements and networks and the transfer of topics, practices and methods.