Cultural Studies PhD

The University of Edinburgh

This programme enables you to study cultural phenomena, practices and texts at an advanced level. You will critically engage with theories and methodologies of transdisciplinary cultural research.

Research topics

The programme supports a range of research topics in visual and urban cultural studies, with a particular interest in:

• place and memory
• spatial violence and urban disintegration
• post-socialist cities of Eastern Europe
• visual and semiotic landscapes
• materiality and spatiality of writing
• book space and architectures of reading
• photography and visual knowledges
• image-text-theory
• experimental publishing
• curatorial practices and multimodality in representation of research

Research community

Your project will benefit from:

• the diverse research expertise of staff from the Edinburgh School of Architecture & Landscape Architecture (ESALA)
• our collaborative exchanges with academic colleagues and research students across the University
• our broad range of contacts with local and international research networks, cultural and heritage institutions and archives

Assessment and progression

The PhD is a major work of independent research. It will prepare you for a future in academic scholarship or a research career at cultural and heritage institutions or government organisations.

To obtain the degree, you will research and present a thesis of 80,000-100,000 words, followed by a viva voce examination.

You will have two supervisors with whom you will work closely throughout the research period.

Accredited by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) for the purpose of exemptions from some professional examinations.

Accredited by the Association of International Accountants (AIA) for the purpose of exemption from some professional examinations.

Accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB).

Accredited by the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) for the purpose of exemption from some professional examinations through the Accredited degree accelerated route.

Accredited by the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy (CIPFA) for the purpose of exemption from some professional examinations.

Accredited by the EFMD Quality Improvement System.

Accredited by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) for the purpose of exemption from some professional examinations.

Accredited by the Institute of Chartered Accountants Scotland (ICAS) for the purpose of exemption from some professional examinations.