RESEARCH PROFILE
- Current number of academic staff: 16.
- Current number of research students: 30.
- Recent publications:
- Selfless Cinema? Ethics and French Documentary.
- Special Effects: Still in Search of Wonder.
- Italian Neo-Realism: Rebuilding the Cinematic City.
- Pastiche.
- Journeys of Desire: European Actors in Hollywood.
- Beyond the Subtitle: Remapping European Art Cinema.
- Michael Haneke's Cinema.
- Nino Rota: Music, Film and Feeling.
- Hollywood Cinema and the Real Los Angeles.
- Heritage Film: Nation, Genre and Representation.
- Current research projects:
- Experimental Cinemas: Aesthetics, Values, Publics.
- Tales of the Deep South: Provence and the South of France in the Cinema.
- Serial Killers.
- The Soul of Film Theory.
- Religion and Film.
- South Korean Cinema.
- East Asian Sensibility.
- The Art of Exploitation.
KEY FACTS
Student destinations
We expect our PhD-awarded graduates will pursue academic careers in film and visual studies, as many have; others may develop their skills in careers in the media arts and related activities.
Head of group/division
Head of Department: Dr Sarah Cooper; Convenor of Postgraduate Research: Dr Jinhee Choi.
Duration
Expected to be PhD (initial registration for MPhil), three years FT, four-six years PT; September to September.
Location
Strand Campus.
Year of entry 2013
Offered by
School of Arts and Humanities
Department of Film Studies
Closing date
31 August. Students interested in applying to funding should be aware that deadlines for this differ and may be earlier, therefore applicants should view the Graduate Funding Pages at
http://www.kcl.ac.uk/study/pg/funding/sources/index.aspx for more information.
No set number.
Fees
CONTACTS
Contact information
Postgraduate Officer, Centre for Arts & Sciences Admissions (CASA)
tel: +44 (0) 20 7848 2736
fax: +44 (0) 20 7848 7200
Email
Website
RESEARCH DESCRIPTION
The Film Studies Department is the leading centre for the study of cinema in London, a position consolidated through its appointments and facilities for film research. We have internationally recognised research strengths in the following areas: European cinema, American cinema (mainstream and avant-garde), world cinema (especially East Asian), cultural approaches, and film theory. Staff publications and research encompass national cinemas together with popular European genres and stars, art cinema, documentary, and experimental film. Cultural approaches extend to a wider range of cinemas (American and Asian as well as European) and include national and transnational identity in film, gender and ethnicity, the representation of the city, music and film, and new media. Work in the area of film theory addresses the relationships among film and other disciplines such as philosophy, psychoanalysis, literature, geography, and art.
Staff interests associated with the research programme and its research groups
Interests:
Period drama and the historical film; film aesthetics and adaptation; contemporary European cinema, especially Spanish; cinephilia, film theory and cultural history; women and film.
Tel:
+44 (0)20 7848 2018
Fax:
Email:
Website:
Interests:
Film and Religion, especially Christianity; Film and Philosophy; Critical theory, especially theories of spectatorship; Animal studies; European cinema
Tel:
020 7848 1385
Fax:
Email:
Website:
Interests:
Chinese and East Asian cinema and screen cultures; Screens and Public Space; Gender, Sexuality and Cinema; Documentary Film; Theorizing Screen Studies; Theories of National and Transnational Cinema
Tel:
Fax:
Email:
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Interests:
Film history, European cinema (especially French); film stardom; crime cinema and film noir; women's cinema; feminist film theory.
Tel:
+44 (0)20 7848 1038
Fax:
Email:
Website:
Interests:
East Asian Cinema; the Global Film Industry; Classical and Contemporary Film Theories and Philosophy of Film
Tel:
020 7848 1373
Fax:
Email:
Website:
Interests:
British cinema and popular culture before 1970, silent cinema, film adaptation and cross media connections, musicals, film archiving and representations of the 1914-18 war.
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Interests:
Post-war European cinema (especially art cinema); Third and World cinemas; nationalism and national cinemas; exploitation cinema; film theory and historiography; the history of film studies; the archive.
Tel:
020 7848 1490
Fax:
020 7848 2001
Email:
Website:
Interests:
- history and geography of film and visual culture in the United States
- cinema and the city (especially Los Angeles)
- Italian neorealism
- the road moviecinema and radical politics (especially circa 1968)
- critical theory
Tel:
+44 (0)20 7848 2024
Fax:
Email:
Website:
Interests:
Avant-garde and experimental film; special effects; aesthetic theory and philosophy; film cultures.
Tel:
+44 (0)20 7848 1681
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Email:
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Interests:
Entertainment & representation; film music; African-American music; serial killers in film.
Tel:
020 7848 1158
Fax:
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Interests:
Film theory and philosophy; ethics and film, especially documentary; European cinema (especially French); modern critical theory, especially feminist theory, queer theory, and psychoanalysis.
Tel:
+44 (0)20 7848 2441
Fax:
Email:
Website:
Interests:
The ‘classical’ cinemas of Hollywood and France; The history of film spectacle (especially of the musical); The representation of history on film; The relationship between practices of close interpretative analysis, film history and classic film theory; Performance
Tel:
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ACADEMIC ENTRY REQUIREMENTS
General entry advice
Minimum 2:1 first degree or overseas equivalent and an MA with minimum 10,000 word dissertation involving substantial historical and/or theoretical research. A degree in film studies, or a subject in which film or media plays a significant part, is an advantage, although candidates from other disciplines and those returning to study will be considered on their own merits.
APPLYING TO KING'S
To apply for graduate study at King's you will need to complete our graduate online application form. Applying online makes applying easier and quicker for you, and means we can receive your application faster and more securely.
King's does not normally accept paper copies of the graduate application form as applications must be made online. However, if you are unable to access the online graduate application form, please contact the relevant admissions/School Office at King's for advice.
APPLICATION PROCEDURE
Candidates should have a good Master’s degree (or its equivalent) in a relevant discipline. Admission to our research programmes is dependent partly on the availability of requisite research expertise, so before applying please consult the department's web pages to determine if there is a suitable research supervisor amongst our staff for your project. If this is the case, you should send a research project outline of approximately 1,500 words with your graduate application form. Your proposal should include the following sub-headings: Research Aims and Questions, Literature Review, Methodology, Provisional Chapter Outlines and Bibliography. We also ask for a sample of written work in the 4,000 word range. Admission will initially be for the MPhil but it is expected that students will transfer to the PhD after an appropriate period, by agreement with their supervisors and the Departmental Postgraduate and Research Committee.
PERSONAL STATEMENT & SUPPORTING INFORMATION
No information required.
FUNDING
AHRC, Graduate School and School of Arts & Humanities studentships and bursaries, self-funded.
Student profiles
Film Studies Research MPhil/PhDI decided to return to King's to do my PhD after an incredible MA year at the College. Besides being in about the most ideal location for a Film Studies course (between London's cinematic heart in Leicester Square and BFI Southbank), the course was inspiring, and the staff supportive. I am constantly amazed by the opportunities and support that the College and the Film department provide, with seminars and opportunities to improve academically seemingly at every turn. I know that I am a better academic for having studied at King's.
I was also fortunate enough to have been awarded a King's Alumni Bursary worth 20% of my fees, without which my dream of pursuing my studies further might not have been possible.
The Strand campus is right in the middle of my favourite part of London. It's near Leicester Square, Covent Garden, just across the river from Southbank, and there's always something nearby to do. London is the perfect city to study in; it's a different city every day, with something new to offer. It's a city filled with exciting opportunities, and all the facilities you could possibly need to further your studies. It is more expensive than most of the UK, but there are so many free attractions around, and the student Oyster Card is a big help with getting around.
I hope to progress with my academic career once I finish my studies. My course offers me the opportunity to get teaching experience alongside my studies, and to make contacts and meet some truly great people with similar interests. Coming to King's is one of the best decisions I have ever made...which is why I didn't hesitate to make the same decision twice.
Film Studies Research MPhil/PhDMy research is on films made in Okinawa, Japan, between the late 1980s and the 1990s, which I am trying to understand in comparison with various new cinemas which emerged in the 1980s across other East Asian regions, including Hong Kong New Wave, Taiwan New Cinema and South Korean New Wave.
I chose King’s College London primarily because
Dr Jinhee Choi, my MA supervisor at the University of Kent, moved to King’s last year. An expert in East Asian cinema, Dr Choi always gives me helpful advice on both my research on Okinawan cinema and other aspects of academic life.
I find the Film Studies Department at King’s College London a very vibrant research community for any researcher on Asian cinema, with top-quality faculty members such as Dr Choi and
Professor Chris Berry, and a group of research students sharing similar interests. I and a few other PhD students are currently working together to start up a reading group on transnationalism in East Asia, which we are planning to develop next year into a series of talks given by UK-based scholars on East Asian cinema.
We benefit enormously from the availability of small grants offered by the School of Arts and Humanities. Fortunately, I am awarded with King’s Overseas Research Studentship, which covers my tuition fee and provides me with a stipend for living costs. Since life in London can be a little expensive, I could never have afforded to study at King’s, if it were not for this award.
I am grateful for the stimulating research environment and exciting training programmes that I can now enjoy, and am convinced that research and communication skills that I acquire at King’s will be essential for my future career as a film scholar.
Film Studies Research MPhil/PhDMy doctoral project is centered around a series of British films made in Australia in the 1940s and ‘50s, and given that King’s hosts the
Menzies Centre for Australian Studies and the top-rated film studies department in the UK, it seemed like a perfect fit. I was so intent on undertaking this research at King’s, that it was actually the only university to which I applied. And I was fortunate enough to secure an
Arts and Humanities Research Council scholarship, which pays my fees and provides a living allowance, meaning I can focus entirely on my research without having to try to fit it around work.
King’s really is a great place to study. Obviously you can’t beat the central location in the heart of London (and just across the river from the BFI Southbank, perfect for a film student), but most important is having the freedom to undertake your research whilst being supported by a dynamic intellectual community.
I have co-supervisors from the Menzies Centre and Film Studies, both of whom are very supportive and encouraging of my project. As well as this one-on-one support, regular research seminars across the school of Arts and Humanities, technical training and personal development courses, links with other knowledge networks, and a focus on interdisciplinary interaction helps to broaden my knowledge and interests even further.
Once I have completed my studies, I hope to move into academic research and teaching, and King’s provides me with the skills, knowledge and experience needed to get a head start in academia.