Organization of the Research Degree
The research degree has two paths. The first is the standard research route comprising a thesis of 80,000 words. In September 2007, we are inaugurating a new research stream with a practical component designed for film and media professionals who wish to combine PhD research with practical production. The research will consist of a thesis of 60,000 words with an hour of film/video production (subject to approval).
- You will be registered as a research student in the Centre for Media and Film Studies, which is an autonomous entity within the School. Degrees are awarded by the University of London.
- Your research will be guided throughout by a research committee of three staff members, consisting of two supervisors and a head of the committee, normally the Postgraduate Tutor. Depending on the nature of your research, there are two possible kinds of supervision.
- You may either have a primary supervisor, who will be the main person responsible for guiding your research, and a second supervisor with a lesser role, who will provide additional expertise.
- Alternatively, it may prove more appropriate for you to have co-supervision, commonly one supervisor being a media or film specialist, the other being a specialist in the area you are researching or the discipline that you are linking to media or film. - In the first year, you prepare for research by following an MPhil training programme. There are certain required courses, the other elements being agreed between you, the Postgraduate Tutor and your supervisor(s). The aim of the training programme is to give you a thorough grounding in theory, methods, regional, cultural, linguistic and any special disciplinary expertise you may require for your research.
The required courses are:
- MPhil Training Seminar – a weekly course of seminar-classes specially for first year research students, the syllabus being determined by the interests and requirements of the students in that particular year
- Research Seminar – a weekly seminar at which research in progress is presented, commonly by leading scholars in media and film studies. Some seminar series are thematic, others not.
- Research Methods Course – a weekly course over one term, designed to provide a solid grounding in methods required for different kinds of research. It includes emphasis on discourse and interpretive analysis.
- Media or Film Theory – you will probably be asked to take the first term of one or more media or film theory courses, depending on what theoretical background you already have. The aim is to provide you with a range of theoretical approaches necessary for your research. The Centre has four such courses on offer:
- Theoretical and Contemporary Issues in Media and Cultural Studies
- Theoretical and Contemporary Issues in Global Media and Post-national Communication
- Comparative Media Studies
- Cinema, Nation and the Transcultural: Critical Approaches
Optional elements may consist of specialist disciplinary, language or regional culture courses, which you and the Centre staff agree are useful to your research. - Multimedia and video production – We also have a well equipped multimedia unit and training is available to meet a range of multimedia needs from introductory to relatively advanced. There are also introductory courses in video and film production (From Script to Screen) and courses in Theory and Practice of Film Video and Screen Media in collaboration with InSight.
Apart from your formal doctoral research, we encourage you to develop a portfolio, which includes downloaded and scanned materials, smaller projects (individual or collaborative), that may well be important for your future career. Also London is one of the media and film capitals of the world. So we encourage you to make full use of what is available. Apart from the British Film Institute, we have formal institutional collaboration with the main colleges in the University teaching media and film, including Birkbeck, Goldsmiths, Kings and Queen Mary. We are also a member of the Screen Studies Group , comprising the main film and media departments in the University of London, which has its own conference series. - In May of the first year, you submit of Research Report (of about 15,000 words), outlining your proposed research questions, empirical background and the theoretical framework that you propose to use. This is assessed by two independent scholars, who are specialists on the topic and normally drawn from within the School. On successful completion of the Research Report, you are formally upgraded to PhD and proceed to the research phase, which conventionally lasts up to a year. (If the assessors consider there to be shortcomings in the Report, you will be asked to revise it to their satisfaction before you can proceed to research.)
- The second year is normally spent engaged in research. This may be by any combination of fieldwork, research in libraries, film and media archives, international film or media festivals as agreed with your supervisor(s).
- The third year is devoted to writing up your research for your PhD thesis. During this time, you will normally give 2-3 presentations to the Postgraduate Research Seminar, comprising a small number of staff members with special expertise in your topic and other research students. During this time you will present draft chapters to your supervisor(s) for comment, before writing the final draft for examination. Your thesis will be examined by two leading authorities on media and/or film studies. The external examiner is always a scholar from outside the University of London.
- If you are studying part time, you take the required theory courses in your first year and attend the MPhil training seminar and write your Research Report in the second year. The length of time for field or other research, and writing up, is adjusted accordingly.
