Browser does not support script.
Go to…
About
Research & Expertise
Connections & Outreach
Projects include the creation of a consortium of cultural and creative organisations to mark the Shakespeare Quatercentenary in 2016; a study of the value of dance as a global phenomenon attesting to human resilience; a celebration of melancholia as a creative and resistant force in European culture; and an account of cultural responses to genocide in Rwanda focussing on the role of photography in processes of witnessing, mourning and memory.
Learn more about current and past research projects from the Department of English.
The First World War is often referred to as an all-white European combat on the Western Front but King’s research now highlights the contribution of over 4 million non-white troops around the world. Addressing the European Parliament in January 2020 about Brexit, Belgian MEP Guy Verhofstadt Noted, ‘Sad to see a nation leaving, a great nation that has given us all so much […] even its own blood in two world wars.’ Yet the ‘British’ blood spilled in the two world wars is often used to promote a white triumphalist nationalist narrative.
King’s researchers across Literature, Art History and Engineering found new ways to bring the past alive to create an argument against the idea of digital culture as purely technical and modern. By locating the shift into digital culture in the mid-19th century, we offered artists and material scientists new contexts for understanding political concerns about coding and security of information in our era of deep connectivity and big data, which helped transform artistic practice.
In demonstrating the cultural, historical and artistic importance of communications technology to major London cultural institutions, we inspired museum and gallery programming teams to work more creatively across the Art/Science divide.
Rwandan government figures state that more than a million people died during the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi. Given the sensitive political context, King’s research shows artistic testimony plays a key role in opening up new ways to remember genocide victims and explore post-conflict identities.
Foregrounding Rwandan Voices built on eight years of research into Rwandan agency and artistic practice to foreground Rwandan voices and assist Rwandan photographers, writers and survivors in reaching new audiences. All are grounded in collaborations with institutions in Rwanda (Kigali Center for Photography, Huza Press) and the UK (Autograph ABP, Ishami Foundation).
Shakespeare can have a reputation of being only for those in the arts, those in the know, or those who have the time to delve into the meaning hidden behind every syllable. King’s partnership with Shakespeare's Globe, research and educational programmes, and outreach activities show that Shakespeare really can be for everyone.
Graduates from the Department of English share their careers journeys.
Our links with London-based cultural partners offer enhanced opportunities.
Find out how we are supporting more people to study English Literature.
Discover our wide-ranging expertise, from medieval literature to innovative writing forms.